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National Situation Update: Sunday, November 16, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

Midwest:  An area of low pressure (clipper) will move into the Great Lakes Sunday, producing light snow from North Dakota to Michigan and Ohio.  West to southwest winds ahead of the system will produce lake-effect snow over Lower Michigan and the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Snow showers will blanket the eastern Ohio Valley with heavier snow possible in northeast Ohio.

Temperatures will range from between 5 and 15 degrees below average east of the Mississippi River to between 5 and 15 degrees above average in the central Plains. Behind the clipper, lake-effect snow will continue to move out Sunday night across Upper Michigan, Lower Michigan and Indiana as the winds turn increasingly northwest.

Northeast:  Lake-effect snow will increase over Pennsylvania, and New York.  As low-pressure (clipper) moves southeastward into the Great Lakes, the lake-effect snow bands could shift northward toward Buffalo and Watertown.

West:  The California offshore flow, very warm temperatures and low relative humidity will continue Sunday, but the Santa Ana winds will be much diminished.

Highs Sunday across the Desert Southwest and lower elevations of California will be mainly in the 70s and 80s although a few spots in Southern California may still hit 90 Sunday.  (NOAA, National Weather Service and Various Media Sources)

North Carolina Tornadoes

On November 15, 2008 at 3:00 am EST, tornadoes touched down in Johnston and Wilson Counties, NC. 

North Carolina reports two (2) fatalities and 1 injury.

Wilson County reports 12 structures damaged.  There were about 8,000 without power immediately after the storms - all power is restored.  The ARC opened a shelter in Johnston County; population 10.

Local Emergency Management is assessing damage.  No requests for State or Federal assistance   (FEMA Region IV)

California Wildfire

State Actions:

• Governor declared State of Emergency for Santa Barbara on November 13, 2008
• California OES SOC is at Level II, 24 hour operations.
• California OES Southern Regional Emergency Operations Center is at 24 hour operations.
• California has requested fire resources under the mutual aid agreement with the Federal fire community.
• Fire Command is maintaining Level 2 status.
• California is not currently requesting any Federal Aid as specified under the Stafford Act.

FEMA R IX Actions

• FEMA Regional Watch is operating at Level 2, 24/7 with selected ESFs
  • ESFs 1,4, 6, 7 ,8, DOD and ARC
• Region 9 liaisons are in Southern REOC in Los Alamitos; the GACC SouthOps in Riverside; and OES SOC in Sacramento

Federal Actions:
Fire Management Assistance Grants FMAGS Issued:

• 2790 (Tea Incident) (November 13, 2008)
• 2791 (Sayre Fire) (November 15, 2008)
• 2972 (Freeway Complex Fire) (November 15, 2008)

Specific Fire Incidents (Priorities set by California Fire):
Priority 1

• Freeway Fire reclassified as Freeway Complex (multiple fires)(Riverside/Orange County): In the Anaheim Hills area west of Corona in Riverside County toward and into Yorba Linda in Orange County.
• Approximately 5,800 acres burned with 5 percent containment.
  • Fire burning on both sides of Hwy 91
• No fatalities; 2 injuries (firefighters) reported
• 61 homes destroyed; 101 homes damaged; 1 commercial property destroyed
• 1,000 homes, 100 businesses threatened
• Approximately 25,600 residences under mandatory evacuation
• Yorba Linda and Chino Hills threatened.
• Two shelters open
• Cal Fire Damage Assessment Teams en route
• Cal Fire ICT 6 is now assigned to this incident
• Tanker 910 (DC-10) is currently working the fire.

Priority 2

• Sayre Fire (Los Angeles County): The fire is currently listed at 8,000 acres with 20 containment
• No fatalities; 6 injuries (1 civilian/serious - 5 firefighter/minor) reported
• A minimum of 104 structures were destroyed
  • 613 homes confirmed destroyed
  • 10 commercial properties destroyed
  • 15 residences; 1 commercial property damaged
• 7,500 residences threatened.
• 750 commercial properties threatened.
• 200 outbuildings threatened.
• Units demobilizing from the Tea Incident are immediately being sent to the Sayre fire.
• The fire is moving in the direction of areas previously burned by the Sesnon Fire last month.
• Burbank International Airport was the only commercial airport affected. One runway was closed, affecting operations, but is now open.
• Two General Aviation airports are affected:
  • Van Nuys is restricting some takeoffs and landings.
  • Whitman Airport is restricted to IFR only. 
• Infrastructure:
  • Power lines through the fire area are threatened, prompting a request from Los Angeles mayor to conserve energy.
• Intermittent power disruption to portions of Montecito and Santa Barbara as crews works to repair power lines.
• Evacuations/Shelters:
  • Mandatory evacuations for 10,000 residences.
  • 5 shelters were established with 420 occupants; 5 animal shelters established.
• 1,031 firefighters currently assigned to this fire. Los Angeles County has requested Mutual Aid resources from the State.

Priority 3

Wildfires in LA Reduce Hundreds of Homes to Ash

Southern Californians endured a third day of destruction Saturday as wind-blasted wildfires torched hundreds of mobile homes and mansions, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and shut down major freeways.  No deaths were reported, but the Los Angeles police chief said he feared authorities might find bodies among the 500 burned dwellings in a devastated mobile home park that housed many senior citizens.

"We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park," a Fire Capt. said. "I can't even read the street names because the street signs are melting."

The series of fires destroyed hundreds of homes from coastal Santa Barbara to inland Riverside County, on the other side of the Los Angeles area. Smoke blanketed the nation's second-largest city Saturday, reducing the afternoon sun to a pale orange disk.
As night fell, a fire hopscotched through the winding lanes of modern subdivisions in Orange and Riverside counties, destroying more than 50 homes.

A blaze in the Sylmar community in the hillsides above Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley destroyed the mobile homes, nine single-family homes and several other buildings before growing to more than 8,000 acres - more than 12 square miles. It was only 20 percent contained Saturday. It sent residents fleeing in the dark Saturday morning as notorious Santa Ana winds topping 75 mph torched cars, bone-dry brush and much of Oakridge Mobile Home Park. The blaze, whose cause was under investigation, threatened at least 1,000 structures, a city Fire Department spokeswoman said.  Police Chief William Bratton said cars were found in the debris at the park, raising concerns bodies might be found. Crews were waiting for the ground to cool before bringing in search dogs, he said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles. Fire officials estimated that at its peak 10,000 people were under orders to evacuate, including residents of the mobile home park.

Extreme fire conditions were expected to continue into Sunday morning, with humidity at just 10 to 15 percent and winds gusting to 45 mph through canyons. Winds, however, could reverse direction and dip to 5-mph breezes Sunday afternoon.  "We still have another 15 hours of red flag conditions," a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, warned fire officials at a briefing Saturday night.  Many heat records were set as the region withered under the Santa Anas. Downtown Los Angeles was 20 degrees above normal at a record 93 degrees.

The Santa Anas - dry winds that typically blow through Southern California between October and February - tossed embers ahead of flames, jumping two interstate highways and sparking new flare-ups. Walls of flame raced up ridge lines covered in sun-baked brush and surrounded high-power transmission line towers.

The Mayor said the fire caused problems that shut down power lines in places, and he asked residents to conserve power to help avoid possible blackouts.
Shortly after midnight, the Sylmar fire burned to the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus, knocking out power and forcing officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients.

The shifting winds caused the fire to move uphill toward the San Gabriel Mountains, downhill toward homes and sometimes skip across canyons. It also jumped across Interstates 5 and 210, forcing the California Highway Patrol to shut down portions of both freeways and some connecting roads.  More than 60 homes were damaged or destroyed in a fire that erupted in the Riverside County city of Corona and spread west to the Orange County communities of Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills.

About 2,000 acres - more than 3 square miles - were charred by that fire, with more than 12,000 people in 4,500 dwellings ordered to evacuate in Anaheim alone. Six firefighters were injured, including four Corona firefighters who were hurt when flames swept over their engine. Two of the Corona crewmembers were treated at a hospital and released.

Winds began to decrease in the afternoon and were expected to drop further overnight, but humidity was expected to remain low.

The night before, northwest of Los Angeles, more than 180 homes burned to the ground Thursday in Santa Barbara and the community of Montecito, said a spokesman for the city of Santa Barbara. The total could reach 200, he said.

At least half of the area's 5,400 evacuees had been allowed to return home by Saturday night, he said. The fire was 40 percent contained, a city spokesman said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. At least 13 people were injured.   (Media Sources)

Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

FMAG-2791-CA was requested and issued November 15, 2008 for the Sayre Fire near Sylmar, Los Angles County, CA.

FMAG-2792-CA was requested and issued November 15, 2008 for the Freeway Complex Fire in Riverside and Orange Counties, CA. (FEMA HQ)

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
No tropical cyclone formation is expected during the next 48 hours.

Eastern Pacific:
No tropical cyclone formation is expected during the next 48 hours.

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

Earthquake Activity

On November 15, 2008 at 9:22 am EST, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 25 miles north-northwest of Husalia, AK, at a depth of 6.2 miles.  There were no reports of damage or injuries.

On November 15, 2008 at 9:23 am EST, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 30 miles south southwest of Shungnak, AK, at a depth of 6.2 miles.  There were no reports of damage or injuries.

On November 16, 2008 at 12:43 am EST, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck offshore from northern California 17 miles west of Petrolia, CA at a depth of 12.1 miles.  There were no reports of damage or injuries and no Tsunami was generated. (USGS, Earthquake Hazards Program, West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Caribbean Tsunami Warning Center)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)