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National Situation Update: Sunday, July 27, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

Midwest
Several upper-level disturbances, moving along and north of a boundary over the Mississippi River Valley, will trigger locally severe and flash flooding thunderstorms from the Dakotas southeastward to Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Michigan.

The parts of Iowa and Missouri that were hit hard with heavy rain July 25 are in the zone for more multi-inch downpours.

100-degree heat or higher is forecast for Kansas today and tomorrow.

Northeast
A cold front will move eastward through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic today, pushing offshore tomorrow morning.

Thunderstorms will accompany the front from Maine to Virginia, with some of the storms forecast to turn severe with damaging wind gusts and hail.

South
Except for lingering rain in the El Paso area, Dolly's affects will remain over the Texas Rio Grande Valley today.

The heat wave will dominate the south-central states from Oklahoma and Texas into the lower Mississippi Valley.  High temperatures will be as much as five-to-twelve (5 - 12) degrees above average as afternoon readings peak over the century mark.

West
Moisture from the remnants of Dolly will continue to enhance the monsoon over the Four Corners' states today and into the upcoming week.

Thunderstorms are again forecast for the southeast sections of Nevada today, producing more flash flooding.

High temperatures will be between 100 and 118 degrees across the Desert Southwest.  (National Weather Service, Media Sources)

Tropical Depression Dolly (FEMA-1780-DR-TX)

FEMA Region VI Actions
FEMA Region VI is activated Level II 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CDT today
2 LNOs and DCE at Texas EOC
4 Division Commanders in McAllen, with Regional Liaison Officers in Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo and Starr Counties
Interim JFO to be established at Weslaco National Guard Armory; IOF to be established in McAllen today; JFO to be operational in McAllen by July 31
Delivered 4 DISC packs from Denton, Texas to JFO setup July 26
4 additional DISC packs ordered from Mt. Weather
3 PA PDA teams and 4 IA PDA teams operational
Start date for PA PDAs tentatively scheduled for July 28 - 29
PA PDAs for Cameron County to begin July 28
Start date for IA PDAs scheduled to begin July 28
IA PDAs for Cameron County began July 26
2 teams to begin work Brownsville and 2 teams to begin work in South Padre
2 additional PA PDA teams and Environmental have placed 5 staff on standby in support of PDA teams
State requested assistance with generator assessments
Deployable Tactical Operations System (DTOS) Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) arrived in Edinburg July 25

State Actions - Texas
TX State EOC fully staffed at Emergency Operations/Highest Level, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. CDT, July 26 - 29
Operating 15 POD sites throughout impact area
POD sites operating 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. CDT, until no longer needed
16 shelters; 1,174 occupants (NSS Report, 10:30 p.m. EDT, July 26)
1 injured, no reported fatalities
86,095 without power  (FEMA Region VI SITREP #5, 7:00 p.m. EDT, July 26)
State Rio Grande Medical Center power restored.
Restoration work remains in 3 counties (Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy)
Significant transmission line and substation damage on South Padre Island
40 crews assigned; 8 transmission structures being rebuilt
Boil water notice in effect for Laguna Madre Water District (Port Isabel, Cameron County) due to power outages
City of Weslaco (Hidalgo County) water system out of service, unable to provide potable water to citizens
Knapp Medical Center water service restored July 25, waiting results of water analysis; will continue to use trailer of bottled water until test results received
Approximately 14 days to repair and meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requirements for safe water
US 83 (Hidalgo County, between Mercedes and La Feria, Texas) allowed for 18-wheelers in one lane of traffic, but remains closed to passenger vehicles
US International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) crews continue to patrol Rio Grande Flood Control Project levees to assess conditions and respond to any problems that could arise  (FEMA Region VI RRCC SITREP #5, 7:00 p.m. EDT, July 26, FEMA Region VI Operations Report, July 26)

Louisiana Oil Spill

FEMA Region VI Actions
FEMA Region VI is activated Level II, 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CDT today.
FEMA-State liaison at LA EOC
USCG Liaison at LA EOC 
USCG has opened river on limited use basis as necessary, determined by USCG
FEMA has 30 truckloads (543,000 liters) of water prepositioned 70 miles from New Orleans in Carville
An additional 14 truckload (approximately 252,000 liters) are available in Purvis, Mississippi
Additional water caches prepositioned at FEMA Logistics Centers in Fort Worth, Texas and Montgomery, Alabama and could be delivered within 12 - 24 hours

State Actions
Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) focusing on continuing response and containment
About 250 barrels of product have been recovered
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality estimates 100 miles of Mississippi River shore are contaminated
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals testing water processed by water plants before injection into the water distribution networks
Water intakes in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard Parishes open; drinking water deemed okay for consumption 
Intakes in Plaquemines Parrish remain closed pending cleanup of boomed areas and completion of testing for oil and oil byproducts by US EPA and LA Department of Health
One truck (15,000 liters of bottled water) sent to Plaquemines Parrish Government Building in Belle Chase, to be distributed by local officials
One truck (15,000 liters of bottled water) sent to St. Bernard Parish as a precautionary measure, to be distributed by local officials, as necessary
No requests for Federal assistance.  (FEMA HQ Senior Leadership Briefing Sheet, 5:00 p.m. EDT, July 26)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
No tropical cyclone activity.

Eastern Pacific:
Tropical Depression Genevieve
At 5:00 a.m. EDT, the center of Tropical Depression (TD) Genevieve was located about 980 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

TD Genevieve is moving toward the west near 12 mph and this general motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph, with higher gusts.  Continued weakening is forecast, and TD Genevieve is expected to become a remnant low pressure system later today.

Western Pacific:
No tropical cyclone activity. (NOAA, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, NHS HPC)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

National Fire Activity as of Saturday, July 26, 2008:
National Wildfire Preparedness Level: 4
Initial attack activity: Light (140 new fires)
New large fires: 1
Uncontained large fires: 35
Large fires contained: 2
States with Large fires - CA, CO, FL, MT, NC, ND, TX, UT, VA and WA

Warmer and dry across much of the West with an increase in wind across the Northwest, northeast California, and portions of the northern Great Basin.  Thunderstorms are expected in Montana, Wyoming, southern California and the Four Corners states.  Hot temperatures and low relative humidity will develop in central northern Texas. (National Interagency Fire Center, National Incident Information Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)