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Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

West

Flow northward out of the western Gulf Coast will produce snow over the northern and central Rockies and then advance out over the Central Plains, spreading snow from Wyoming southward into Colorado and eastward into the High Plains. Cheyenne and Denver may see from 5 to 8 inches or more of snow before it ends tonight. The mountains and foothills may see at least 10 and possibly more than 20 inches in isolated locations. Lighter amounts of snow will spread into the High Plains. Conditions along the West Coast will be dry from Washington to California.

Midwest

The Plains will experience rapidly falling temperatures, light rain, and a chance for late afternoon thunderstorms over parts of the southwest and lower elevations of the Great Basin. Snow will develop over parts of the central plains, while rain will extend eastward from parts of the Middle Mississippi Valley into the western Ohio Valley and Great Lakes by Saturday. River flooding will continue across parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota but the rate of melting snow will be slowed by falling temperatures. The Red River at Fargo will remain at major flood stage for several days but is forecast to crest by Sunday, a few feet below the record set last year.

South

Light rain along the southeast coast will end by morning as a high pressure system moves northeastward out over the Western Atlantic. Conditions will be dry from the Central Gulf Coast to southern New England through Saturday.

Northeast

A weak system moving across the U.S./Canadian border from the upper Midwest to the northeast will produce light rain over extreme northern parts of the northeast tonight through Saturday.(NOAA’s National Weather Service, Hydro Meteorological Prediction Center, and various media sources)

East Coast Flooding

Recovery continues along the east coast where the Nor’easter of the past weekend brought heavy rains and flooding. Flood Warnings remain in effect across portions of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; however most rivers across the Northeast have crested, are receding, and are forecast to be below flood stage by the end of the weekend.

Fewer than 20,000 customers remained without power among the hardest-hit utilities in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut on March 18, days after the storms cut power to more than 1.1 million customers across the Northeast. All boil water restrictions in the State of New Jersey, initially affecting over 80,000, have been lifted. Region I State Liaison Officers (SLNO) are deployed to the Massachusetts and Rhode Island EOCs. Individual Assistance and/or Public Assistance Preliminary Damage Assessments have begun or are scheduled for Massachusetts (6 counties), New Jersey (6 counties), and New York (4 counties).

Upper Midwest Flooding

Over the next 3 days, the heaviest rainfall across the Midwest will be found from Missouri to northern Illinois. The Red River Basin will be precipitation-free. Cooler temperatures are anticipated over the snow pack this weekend, reducing the rate of snow melt. Flood Warnings continue from North Dakota to eastern Illinois:

Moderate to major flooding is observed and forecast to continue on rivers and streams in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and North Dakota. River flooding in South Dakota is expected to continue for remainder of the week along the James River, Vermillion River, Big Sioux and Little Sioux rivers and tributaries leading to main stream rivers. Some highways and rural roads are closed due to flooding. Flooding continues at a moderate level on portions of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and along the state borders of Illinois and Missouri. The threat of ice jams continues on rivers across the Midwest. Ice jams have been reported in Iowa, Illinois, North and South Dakota and Minnesota and other northernmost locations within the past few days.

FEMA Headquarters

FEMA Response Watch Center remains at 24/7 operations monitoring flood response and recovery activities. NRCC activation team and Emergency Support Functions are on alert for potential activation. The FEMA Logistics Management Division (LMD) continues to coordinate sourcing and shipment of commodities and generators to Incident Support Bases established at Grand Forks AFB, ND, National Guard Armory at Mitchell, South Dakota, and Twin City Army Ammunitions Plant, Ardent Hills, MN. MERS is coordinating the staging of resources to North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.

FEMA Regions and State Actions

Region V
The RRCC is activated at Level III (continuous operations). The Planning Section, Command and General Staff are activated as a result of flood preparation activities. Region V IMAT Red Team is deploying to the Minnesota Interim Operating Facility (IOF) on Saturday, March 20, 2010 and the IMAT White team is on alert. Region V External Affairs has completed proactive outreach with all three potentially effected tribes, including: Red Lake, White Earth and Upper Sioux Tribal Communities and deployed one External Affairs Specialist, field PIO and one Tribal liaison to IOF. Two Liaison Officers and pre-designated FCO have deployed to Minnesota State EOC.

Minnesota
Minnesota State EOC is fully activated at level III with 24 hour operations. On March the Governor declared a State of Emergency for 29 counties to protect property and infrastructure from damage due to flooding along the Red River, Mississippi, Minnesota and Crow Rivers. Local States of Emergency have been declared in 18 Counties.

MN Dept of Natural Resources deployed four boats with operators to Clay County to assist with personnel transport and rescue. MN State Patrol assigned State Troopers to northwest MN to assist with traffic control points, rapid response teams and command and control. MN National Guard is supporting Clay County with dike and security patrols, monitoring pumps and providing command and control. EMAC agreements include MN National Guard supply of helicopters, one with hoist capability, to stage at Hector Airfield, Fargo, ND. Department of Transportation reports road closures and travel advisories for numerous state roads and highways in west and northwest MN related to high water.

Region VII

The RRCC is monitoring the situation at Watch/Steady State.
Iowa
Rivers throughout the State continue to recede; however eight rivers in Iowa remain at moderate flood stage. Most of the affected areas are agricultural or low-lying. The State EOC is not activated, and there are no unmet needs or requests for Federal assistance. USACE is monitoring overtopping occurring on the Saylorville Lake Reservoir in Des Moines, IA and will install a Pneumatic Crest Gate system on the weekend. Currently, the levee is at 865 feet (flood stage 890 ft). The Saylorville levee is forecast to crest early next week at 888.5 feet. 7000 residents live or work near the reservoir. The Bird Land Park levee is another area of concern due to unstable boiling spots and rodent intrusion. Hesco Barriers have been purchased to provide secondary containment around weakened portions of the levee.

Region VIII

The RRCC is activated at Level III. Advanced Planning Region VIII IMAT teams are deployed to SD and ND. The Region VIII IMAT in SD surveyed several counties within the State for possible Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) locations, and the DRC project is complete pending Huron County approval, review of mass care plan with State planners, and coordination with volunteers for long term recovery strategy and Long Term Recovery Centers. A 15 person IMAT-A, deployed to North Dakota on Mar 1,

merged with the FEMA-1879-DR-JFO

team located in Bismarck, ND. A FEMA

Tribal Liaison and other staff are in

contact with each tribe and tribal chairman in SD to discuss resource needs.

North Dakota
State EOC is activated at Level I, Full Activation. The Operations Area Field Offices (OAFO) will be staffed in Fargo, ND beginning today, March 19. Grand Forks EOC is also open. FEMA-1879-DR-ND was signed Feb 26 for Severe Winter Storms. The President signed state of emergency FEMA-3390-EM in North Dakota on March 14, 2010 to provide emergency protective measures (Cat B), including Federal Assistance under the Public assistance Program. The JFO is operational in Bismarck, ND. The Operations Section is supporting the SEOC with an intelligence request from the National Weather Service for a UAS (Predator) Flyover Mission of the Red River south of Fargo. North Dakota National Guard activated on Mar 16 to assist in levee construction and traffic control.

The City of Grand Forks declared a State of Emergency to allow the City to prepare for high waters. Flood controls are in place and additional crews, equipment and supplies are on standby if needed.

The Salvation Army has 5 mobile feeding stations in Fargo/Moorhead area and 5 fixed feeding sites where over 2,000 meals were served on Mar 18. Coordination is occurring for PDAs for Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

South Dakota

State EOC is activated at Level III, Full Activation. The JFO in Pierre, SD became operational on Mar 16, and is identifying available housing in coordination with the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. The City of Aberdeen is concerned flood waters may reach the wastewater treatment plant. Eight to ten broken dikes in Turner County are affecting agricultural areas. Initial meetings with FEMA representatives and Tribal leaders were held for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (Mar 16) and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Mar 17) and the Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Tribe on March 18.

Tropical Weather Outlook

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Earthquake Activity

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Disaster Declaration Activity

Arizona

On March 18 the President signed major disaster declaration FEMA-1888-DR for the State of Arizona for Severe Winter Storms and Flooding that occurred January 18-22, 2010. Public Assistance is authorized for Apache, Coconino, Gila, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai Counties and the Gila River Indian Community, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, San Carlos Apache, Tohono O’odham Nation, and White Mountain Apache Tribe. All counties and Tribal Reservations in the State of Arizona are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The Federal Coordinating Officer is Mark A. Neveau of the National FCO Program.(FEMA HQ)