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National Situation Update: Saturday, September 6, 2008

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED).

Significant National Weather

South
Hanna will produce heavy rain and strong winds from the Carolinas up through the Chesapeake Bay overnight into Saturday morning. Rainfall totals may reach 3 to 5 inches with locally higher amounts. Rough surf, beach erosion, some coastal flooding and dangerous rip currents will occur. Isolated tornadoes are possible over the coastal plains of south and North Carolina and southeast Virginia through Saturday morning. Weather conditions from remnants of Hanna are forecast to move northward and improve on Saturday. Ike may become a threat to the Gulf Coast by later next week.
Northeast
Tropical Storm Hanna will generate heavy rain and strong winds for the Northeast. Winds will be strongest near the coast, reaching tropical storm strength. High surf will occur along the beaches, along with rip currents and some erosion. Isolated tornadoes are possible all the way up to New Jersey. Rainfall totals will quickly reach into the 2-to-5-inch range, but parts of the Delaware Valley and the west side of Chesapeake Bay could see over 6 inches. Localized flash flooding and urban flooding is possible. A cold front moving into western New York, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia will generate showers over the remainder of the Northeast.
Midwest
Showers and cool temperatures are forecast for most of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest. A cold front will move through the Plains this weekend on its way eastward, resulting in scattered showers from the northern and central Plains to the Great Lakes.
West
Except for a few showers across Montana and northern Wyoming, most of the West will be dry this weekend. Temperatures will be cool across the northern Rockies and hot across much of California, Nevada and adjacent areas. (NOAA, National Weather Service, Various Media Sources)

Tropical Storm Hanna

National Weather Service radar data indicates that the center of Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall near the border between South Carolina and North Carolina at about 3:20 a.m. EDT.

At 5:00 a.m. EDT the center of Tropical Storm Hanna was located about 150 miles northeast of Charleston South Carolina, and about 25 miles west-northwest of Wilmington North Carolina.

Hanna is moving toward the north-northeast near 22 mph. A gradual turn to the northeast with an increase in forward speed is expected today and tomorrow. On the forecast track the center of Hanna will move across eastern North Carolina this morning and along the mid-Atlantic coast later today and tonight, and along the coast of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada on Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 60 mph with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next couple of days. Hanna is expected to lose tropical characteristics by late on Sunday.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 200 miles from the center.  (NOAA, HPC, National Hurricane Center)

Hanna and Ike Federal / State Response and Preparations

Regions I, II, and III have a combined staff dedicated to Hanna and Ike, referred to as the "East Coast RRCC" in order to coordinate preparation and response operations along the East Coast. The combined RRCC is activated at Level I, with select ESFs.
FEMA Region I
Activated at Level III.

FEMA Region II
RRCC remains activated to Level II. The Region II ERT-A has deployed to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency's EOC is partially activated with selective ESFs. 4 shelters are open in Anasco and San German with 53 occupants.
New York
The EOC will be operational Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. EDT. The NYC Flash Flood Emergency Plan has been activated.

FEMA Region III
RRCC activated at Level II until Saturday morning, then Level I, 24/7 operations. Maintaining Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) support for TS Hanna.

Virginia
Declared a State of Emergency. EOC will be 24/7 Friday and will be fully staffed Saturday morning. ERT-A arrived in Richmond EOC today. Nine shelters are open with a population of 97.
District of Columbia
EOC is currently at Level IV with majority of ESFs reporting.
Maryland
The Governor has amended the limited State of Emergency to include the entire State.  This action was taken to allow for the free movement of resources, the usage of the National Guard, and is needed for any resources to be requested through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. EOC increased to Level III with select ESFs. Nine shelters have been identified to open. Major concern is the potential for flash flooding, wind damage and storm surge in the lower eastern shore counties MD State Highway Dept. (SHA) has cleared all road obstructions & work zones on the eastern shore
Delaware
The EOC is monitoring with partial activation scheduled through midnight Saturday.
Pennsylvania
EOC is increasing staff to Level III, 24/7 watch for Saturday and Sunday. State is consulting with threatened counties and may change staffing if needed.

FEMA Region IV
RRCC Level I, 24/7. Region IV IMAT is enroute to Orlando, FL. ERT-A status is deployed to State EOCs in NC and SC.
Florida
EOC Activated at Level II; (Partial Activation). The Governor has requested an Emergency Declaration as a result of Hurricane Ike. Florida has 3 shelters open, sheltering 70 evacuees. Mandatory evacuations for all Monroe County residents to begin Sunday, September 7. Evacuations for visitors, non-residents, RVs, travel and boat trailers will begin on Saturday. Evacuations will continue through Monday.
Florida International University (FIU) Shelter in Miami is opening on Sunday, September 6.  Additional shelter locations will be announced as soon as available.
Georgia
Activated at Level II, 24/7. GEMA is making preparations for coastal evacuation and preparing for contra-flow, although evacuations are not currently anticipated. Search and Rescue (S&R), National Geospatial Agency (NGA) and Mobile Emergency Response System (MERS) support staged in Atlanta. Georgia has 4 shelters, with a total population of 221.
South Carolina
Activated at Level III (Full Activation) 24/7. 2,129 SC National Guardsmen have deployed in support of Tropical Storm Hanna. 19 shelters are open with a population of 333.
North Carolina
Level I (Full Activation). The Governor declared a State of Emergency for the pending impacts of Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike. The State has issued an emergency evacuation order for Sunset Beach. 45 shelters are open with a population of 1,265.

All visitor centers for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Lighthouse, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Wright Brothers National Memorial were closed by noon on Friday, September 5, and non-essential staff released. All essential Incident Command staff and Law Enforcement personnel remain on duty. The parks will remain closed until further notice. Onslow County has issued a voluntary evacuation order. NC National Guard has been activated, along with Swift Water Rescue Teams.

The State Emergency Response Team is coordinating state agency response and support to the counties. Coastal county officials met today to determine what areas they would need to evacuate for Hurricane Ike. (FEMA Regions I, II, III and State EOC Reports)

Gustav Federal / State Response

FEMA Region IV
RRCC is activated at Level I, 24/7 with all ESFs. Region IV ERT-A deployed to State EOCs in NC and SC. Region IV IMAT deployed to Orlando, FL. Florida, Alabama and Texas staff coordinating EMAC activities in Region IV. Region IV has no unmet needs.
Tennessee
Activated at Level III (partial activation). 25 shelters are open with 3,875 occupants.
Mississippi
Activated at Level I (Full Activation). One confirmed fatality. PDAs began on September 4. Numerous Flood Warnings in effect for rivers in the state. Nine shelters open with 952 occupants.
Alabama
The Governor is requesting a major disaster declaration for PA (all categories). EOC activated at Level III (Partial Activation). PDAs began on September 4. Oil and Hazardous Materials assessments found no significant HAZMAT releases. Two shelters are open with 89 occupants.

FEMA Region VI
RRCC is elevating to Level II on Saturday. National IMAT EAST is deployed to JFO in Houma, LA. IMAT is operational at Texas SOC in Austin.
Louisiana
GOHSEP activated the EOC at Level I. (Full Activation). Louisiana has 49 shelters open with 16,583 evacuees. FEMA will coordinate the return air movement of Critical Transportation Needs (CTN) evacuees to Louisiana beginning at 8:00 a.m. CDT on Saturday, September 6.  The Department of Defense has contracted for commercial and charter aircraft to relocate evacuees. Entergy expects to have power restored to 90% of New Orleans customers within three days. All interstate highway systems are open. Numerous Flood Warnings in effect for rivers in the state. 26 shelters are open with a population of 3,145.
Texas
Texas State Operations Center (SOC) is at Level I. Special Needs population re-entry is complete. Evacuation order lifted; self evacuees are returning home. Six buses began transporting LA evacuees back to LA yesterday. Texas has 2 shelters open with 134 evacuees.
Arkansas
State EOC operational at level IV (Full Activation). Region VI is monitoring localized flooding in Arkansas.  43 shelters are open with a population of 3,494.
Oklahoma
EOC activated Level III (Normal Operations). Oklahoma has 2 shelters with 2 occupants.

Tropical Weather Outlook

Atlantic/Caribbean:
Hurricane Ike
At 5:00 a.m. EDT the center of Hurricane Ike was located about 265 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk Island. Ike is moving toward the west-southwest near 16 mph. A continued west-southwestward motion is forecast during the next day or so, followed by a more westward motion beginning by Sunday. On this track Ike is expected to pass near or over the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas later today or early Sunday, and near the central Bahamas and the northern coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday night and early Monday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 115 mph with higher gusts. Ike is a Category Three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Some fluctuations in strength are possible during the next 48 hours, but Ike is expected to be a major hurricane during this period. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 125 miles.

Tropical Depression Josephine
Josephine weakens to a Tropical Depression. At 5:00 a.m. EDT the center of Tropical Depression Josephine was located about 855 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The Depression is moving toward the west-northwest near 9 mph. This motion is expected to continue at a slightly faster forward speed during the next two days. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph, with higher gusts. Slow weakening of the winds is anticipated for the remnants of Josephine during the next two days.
Eastern Pacific:
A large area of showers and thunderstorms extends a few hundred miles off the coast between Nicaragua and Manzanillo, Mexico. Some slow development of this system is possible over the next couple of days as it moves west near 10 mph. Regardless of development, heavy rains will likely spread across portions of Central America and produce localized flooding during the next day or two. Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the Next 48 hours.
Western Pacific:
No tropical cyclone activity.(NOAA, HPC, National Hurricane Center, Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Earthquake Activity

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred today at 12:00 a.m. EDT in the San Francisco Bay area, about 14 miles east northeast of Oakland CA, at a reported depth of 10.1 miles. No damages or injuries were reported. (USGS/NEIC, Pacific, West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Centers)

Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)

Wildfire Update

The National Wildfire Preparedness Level is 2. National Fire Activity as of Friday, September 5, 2008 was Light, with 82 fires and no new large fires reported. There are four uncontained large fires in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. Fires in Nevada and Texas were 100% contained.
Fire Weather: Northern California and southwest Oregon will see locally gusty winds along with very warm temperatures and low humidity. Elsewhere, most of the area west of the Rockies will be warm and dry.  (National Interagency Coordination Center)

Disaster Declaration Activity

New Hampshire
On September 5, 2008 the President approved Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-1787-DR for the State of New Hampshire for damage as a result of severe storms and flooding that occurs July 24 to August 14, 2008. This declaration is for Public Assistance for Belknap, Coos, and Grafton Counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide.
Alabama
On September 5, 2008 the Governor requested a major disaster declaration for the State of Alabama for damages resulting from Hurricane Gustav, beginning on August 29, 2008, and continuing. The Governor is specifically requested Public Assistance (all categories), including direct Federal assistance, for Mobile and Baldwin Counties; Public Assistance (Categories A & B), including direct Federal assistance, for the other 65 counties; and Hazard Mitigation for the entire State. The Governor further requested Public Assistance (Categories A & B) for Mobile and Baldwin Counties and Public Assistance (Category B) for the other 65 counties at 100 percent Federal funding for the first 72 hours.

Texas
On September 5, 2008 the Governor requested an adjustment to the Federal cost share under Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-1780-DR, declared for Texas on July 24, 2008 as a result of damages resulting from Hurricane Dolly during the period of July 22 to August 1, 2008. The Governor is specifically requesting 100 percent federal funding for debris removal and emergency protective measures (Categories A and B) under the Public Assistance program for 30 days for the counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy.
Alaska
On September 5, 2008 the Governor requested a major disaster declaration for the State of Alaska for a series of storms that caused severe flooding, landslides, seawall damage and wind damage during the period of July 27 to August 6, 2008. The Governor is specifically requesting Public Assistance for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, North Slope Borough, Yukon-Koyukuk Regional Education Attendance Area, and the Denali Borough, and Hazard Mitigation statewide.
Florida
On September 5, 2008 the Governor requested a emergency declaration for the State of Florida for damages as a result of Hurricane Ike, forecast to hit the Florida peninsula in the coming days. The Governor is specifically requesting Public Assistance (Categories A and B), including direct Federal assistance, for the entire State. The Governor also requests 100% federal funding for the first 72 hours. (FEMA HQ)