Today’s brief leads with flood recovery in Upshur County, West Virginia, where two deaths are confirmed, two people remain missing, and boil-water advisories and shelters remain active. The nation holds at Preparedness Level 5 with 70 uncontained large fires: Go Now evacuations continue on Washington’s Kaiser Canyon Fire and Oregon’s new Ten Mile Fire, and a lightning bust sparks dozens of new starts in central Oregon. Bertha makes a second landfall northeast of Galveston and weakens to a depression, leaving river flood warnings on the Frio and Nueces. Also covered: CISA’s joint advisory on a Russian phishing campaign against Zimbra users, the State Department’s reissued Worldwide Caution, Utah’s burn-scar flooding emergency, and Puerto Rico’s fourth major grid event in under a week. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.

Key Takeaways

• West Virginia flooding: Two deaths confirmed in Upshur County with two people still missing; National Guard recovery operations, FEMA damage assessments, three boil-water advisories, and open shelters continue in the Buckhannon area.

• National fire posture: Preparedness Level 5 with 70 uncontained large fires and more than 1.6 million acres on active incidents; MAFFS airtankers are staged in Oregon and California.

• Washington and Oregon evacuations: Level 3 Go Now orders remain near Nespelem on the 79,642-acre Kaiser Canyon Fire; new Go Now orders cover parts of Wasco and Jefferson counties on Oregon’s Ten Mile Fire after a 2,000-strike lightning bust.

• Bertha winds down: Second landfall northeast of Galveston Thursday, now a remnant over east Texas; flash flood risk continues in coastal and South Texas and river flood warnings hold on the Frio and Nueces.

• Cyber: CISA and partners detail a Russian state-supported phishing campaign against Zimbra Collaboration Suite users; confirm patching and review the two new KEV catalog entries.

• Water systems: Boil water actions in Arkansas (Winslow, entire system), Pennsylvania (Ephrata area), Florida (Williston), and West Virginia (Upshur County systems and Weirton area); Carrizo Springs, Texas is under Stage 4 critical water restrictions.

• Puerto Rico grid: A Costa Sur unit trip cut power to just over 254,000 customers Wednesday night, the fourth major grid event in under a week; service is restored but grid instability continues.

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Sources

NIFC and Wildfire

• NIFC National Situation Report: PL 5, 70 uncontained large fires, national incident detail

CISA

• CISA AA26-204A: Russian state-supported phishing campaign targeting Zimbra Collaboration Suite

• NSA press release on the joint Zimbra advisory

• CISA adds two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to catalog, July 22

Travel Advisories

• Worldwide Caution for U.S. citizens: reissued July 23, via U.S. Embassy Jordan

Weather and Tropical

• NWS national forecast: heat in the Southern Plains and Gulf Coast, heavy rain Tennessee Valley to Southeast

• NHC Atlantic outlook: last advisory on remnants of Bertha, no development expected next 7 days

USGS

• USGS significant earthquakes past day: none reported

• HVO Kilauea daily update: eruption paused, next episode forecast July 25 to 29

Alaska

• Alaska Public Media: Talkeetna flooding and railroad landslide closure

Arkansas

• Arkansas Department of Health: active boil water orders (Winslow Waterworks, entire system)

• NWA Homepage: Winslow under boil order after water main break

California

• CAL FIRE: Biscar Fire incident page

• Sierra Daily News: Biscar Fire update with containment progress and weekend wind concerns

• Patch: Creelman Fire near Ramona 60 percent contained, evacuation orders remain

Colorado

• NIFC National Situation Report: Aspen Acres and Gold Mountain fire detail

Florida

• WCJB: precautionary boil water notice issued in Williston

Louisiana

• GOHSEP: Tropical Storm Bertha emergency event page

• Fox 8: Bertha landfall in St. Bernard Parish

Michigan

• WWMT: Spectrum outage may have blocked some 911 calls in Kalamazoo County

Minnesota

• MPR News: evacuation zones lift, homeowners escorted to properties

• MPR News: firefighters protect homes near Boundary Waters wildfires

Nevada

• Washoe County regional emergency information: Biscar Fire

• 2 News: Biscar Fire expands into Nevada, evacuation orders in Lassen and Washoe

North Carolina

• WBTV: flood advisories active across the Charlotte region

• WBTV: more rain for the Charlotte region Friday into Saturday

Oregon

• Central Oregon Fire Info: Ten Mile Fire fact sheet with evacuation detail

• Central Oregon Fire Info: Rowe Creek Fire and Wheeler County evacuations

• Central Oregon Daily: dispatch update, lightning bust and new fire reports

• KPTV: Akawa Butte Fire grows past 26,000 acres, Sisters residents evacuate

Pennsylvania

• LancasterOnline: boil water advisory for Ephrata Area Joint Authority customers

Texas

• TDEM: July severe storms and flooding disaster operations

• News 4 San Antonio: Carrizo Springs Stage 4 critical water restrictions

• News 4 San Antonio: Frio and Nueces rivers remain a major flood threat

• AP via ClickOrlando: Bertha makes landfall and moves toward Texas

Utah

• KPCW: state of emergency for Beaver, Piute, and Sevier counties after burn-scar flooding

Virginia

• Fox Weather live coverage: flash flooding in Virginia and the Carolinas

Washington

• Washington State Patrol: state fire mobilization authorized for the Railroad Fire

• Fox 13 Seattle: Kaiser Canyon Fire evacuation levels

• The Spokesman-Review: Railroad Fire claims 7 homes in Grant County

West Virginia

• My Buckhannon: latest updates as floodwaters recede in Upshur County

• WV MetroNews: two flood-related deaths confirmed in Upshur County

• Weirton Daily Times: boil order issued for Kingsview Drive area

Puerto Rico

• NotiCel: governor criticizes LUMA hours before another outage; Costa Sur unit trip

• PowerOutage.us: Puerto Rico current outage status

Northern Mariana Islands

• CUC: precautionary boil water notice cancelled for the island of Saipan

• Marianas Variety: Saipan power service update

Good morning.

The nation remains at Preparedness Level 5, the highest tier of wildland fire readiness.

Thursday's National Interagency Coordination center situation report lists six new large incidents, 70 uncontained large fires and 1,640 3,853 cumulative acres on active incidents with 21,171 personnel committed.

Military MAFs C130 air tankers are operating out of Klamath Falls, Oregon and San Bernardino and Santa Maria, California in support of firefighting operations across the West.

On the weather front, the National Hurricane center has issued its last advisory on the remnants of Bertha, now inland over East Texas, and tropical cyclone formation is not expected in the Atlantic during the next seven days.

Hazardous heat continues across the Southern Plains, Gulf coast and desert southwest through the weekend while a stalled front brings heavy to excessive rainfall and a flooding threat from the Tennessee Valley into the Southeast today.

The USGS reports no significant earthquakes in the past day and Kilauea's summit eruption remains paused at advisory level with the next fountaining episode forecast between July 25 and July 29.

In cyber and security news, CISA, NSA, FBI and international partners published a joint advisory on a Russian state supported phishing campaign targeting users of the Zimbra collaboration suite.

Administrators are urged to confirm patching against the exploited vulnerability.

CIESA also added two vulnerabilities to the known exploited vulnerabilities catalog.

Official update published about two days ago.

The State Department reissued its worldwide caution for US Citizens on Thursday, citing heightened tensions in the Middle east and the potential for flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions.

Let's run through the states.

Alaska the Talkeetna river reached minor flood stage at the railroad bridge Thursday and a flood advisory for the central Susitna Valley runs until 3:15pm Friday.

The Alaska Railroad has stopped service north of Talkeetna after a landslide covered the tracks.

Crews are working to clear the slides.

The Arkansas Department of Health lists a boil water order for the entire Winslow Waterworks system in Washington county issued Thursday at 8:52am After a major main break.

The city warns of low pressure service interruptions or complete cutoffs while crews locate and repair the leak and storage tanks refill.

California the Biscar fire in Lassen county stands at roughly 69,300 acres.

Thursday morning's National Situation Report lists 10% containment, while a later local update reports 42% with 509 personnel assigned evacuation orders remain in several Lassen county zones and hot, dry, windy conditions building Friday and Saturday threaten containment gains in San Diego County.

The Creelman Fire near Ramona held at 347 acres and 60% containment Thursday morning with evacuation orders still in place for five zones.

And the Rock Fire north of Independence grew more than 7,000 acres in a day to 11,141 acres at 15% containment, prompting area road and trail closures.

Colorado the Aspen Acres Fire in Custer county has burned 101,546 acres at 61% containment, with 915 structures lost and evacuations still in effect.

The Gold Mountain Fire near auray is at 38,044 acres and 24% containment, also with evacuations in effect.

Florida the city of Williston in Levy county issued a precautionary boil water notice Thursday after well issues caused a loss of system pressure.

Residents should boil water for drinking and cooking until testing clears the system.

Louisiana bertha made its first landfall near the Biloxi Wildlife Management Area in St. Bernard Parish Wednesday afternoon with maximum sustained winds around 45 per hour.

Official operational update published about 36 to 48 hours ago.

GEOTSEP ran 24 hour operations at the State Emergency Operations center and supplied thousands of sandbags to Orleans Parish.

Impacts were minimal.

No evacuation orders were issued and all watches and warnings are now discontinued.

A charter spectrum phone outage Thursday morning may have prevented some 911 and 988 calls from connecting in Kalamazoo county, and dispatchers directed callers to the non emergency line.

The Forest Service has extended the overnight camping ban in the Boundary Waters Canoe area wilderness through July 29.

The bear trap Fire on the Superior national forest stands at 29,682 acres and 34% containment and the statewide peacetime emergency remains in effect.

Nevada the Bisker Fire has crossed the California line into rural Washoe county, where a partial evacuation order remains in effect.

Fire officials warn that increasingly windy weather Friday and Saturday could challenge containment lines on the fire's flanks.

North Carolina up to 5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours across parts of the Charlotte region Thursday, flooding streets and low lying areas and covering the Little Sugar Creek Greenway at Cordelia Park.

Flood advisories covered Anson, Iredell, Mecklenburg, Richmond, Rowan, Stanley and Union counties and more rain is expected Friday into Saturday, though forecasters say the highest flood threat has passed.

OREGON A lightning bust has central Oregon crews responding to more than 25 new wildfire reports on top of 24 confirmed fires from the previous day driven by more than 2,000 lightning strikes in 72 hours.

The new 10 mile fire northeast of Madras triggered level three go now evacuation orders in Wasco and Jefferson counties Thursday afternoon.

Wheeler county has Level 2 and 3 evacuations near the Row Creek Fire and and Highway 26 is under pilot car control between mileposts 53.5 and 58.5.

The Ekawa Butte fire near Sisters has grown to more than 26,000 acres by Thursday evening, reports destroying at least one home northeast of Sisters, with evacuations in effect for Sisters area residents elsewhere in the state.

The Brewer Fire is at 29,878 acres and 5% containment and the Powder River Fire is at 21,051 acres and 24% containment, both with evacuations in effect.

PENNSYLVANIA EPHRATA Area Joint Authority customers in Ephrata Borough, Ephrata Township and Clay Township remain under a boil water advisory after a sample tested positive for bacteria, official guidance issued Wednesday night.

Still active, the authority says.

Confirmation testing continues with the next update expected Saturday.

TEXAS bertha made its second landfall Thursday afternoon about 75 miles northeast of Galveston and weakened to a tropical depression with remnants expected to drop 1 to 3 inches of rain and isolated totals near 4 inches that could trigger flash flooding in coastal and South Texas river flood warnings continue on the Frio and Nueces rivers, where the Nueces is forecast to reach a second crest near 23.2ft today and state disaster operations for the July severe storms and flooding continue across 59 counties.

Separately, Carrizo Springs in Dimmick county enacted Stage 4 critical water restrictions Thursday after flood damage left the city's water system running on one well and one booster pump.

Outdoor watering, vehicle washing and pool filling are prohibited while permanent repairs are completed.

Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency for Beaver, Pte and Sevier counties after debris laden flash flooding across recent burn scars, damaged homes, closed roads and contaminated drinking water, official Update published about 36 to 48 hours ago.

The declaration activates the state emergency operations plan and clears the way for state resource deployment and federal assistance requests as as monsoon season debris flow risk continues.

Virginia Flash flooding hit parts of the state Thursday as Bertha's moisture streamed north including Danville, where 3 to 3.

5 Inches of rain fell at rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

Flood watches continue into Friday as part of the multi day flood threat stretching across the Mid Atlantic and Carolinas.

WASHINGTON the Kaiser Canyon Fire on the Colville Reservation is listed at 79,642 acres and and 3% containment in Thursday's National Situation Report with numerous structures threatened and more than a dozen already burned.

Level 3 go now.

Evacuations are in effect for Cartar Road, Coyote Creek Road and BIA Road 54 near Nespellum with warmer, drier, windier weather forecast into the weekend.

In Grant county, the railroad fire near Beverly and Schwanna prompted state fire mobilization at 2am Thursday at an estimated 750 acres and growing with Level 1 and Level 3 evacuations in effect.

Regional reporting counts at least seven homes destroyed on the fire.

West Virginia Two flood related deaths are confirmed in Upshire county and crews are working to reach an overturned vehicle believed connected to two people still missing.

Buchanan lifted its shelter in place order as floodwaters receded.

The National Guard is running countywide flood recovery operations.

FEMA personnel are on site for preliminary damage assessments and shelters remain open in Buchanan, Weston and Philippi.

Three boil water advisories are active in the flood Mount Hope water Association, Adrian PSD and Elkins Road PSD and WVU Medicine St. Joseph's Hospital canceled Thursday clinic and surgical appointments over flood related connectivity problems, though its ER remains open.

A free TDAP and Hepatitis A vaccine clinic for anyone who contacted Floodwater opens at 10am Friday at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Separately, the Weirton Area Water Board issued a boil order for the Kingsview Drive area, including Lakeview and Glenview drives.

All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.

Lets run through the Territories Puerto rico Just over 254,000 customers lost power Wednesday evening after Unit 5 at the Costa Sur plant tripped offline, removing 380 megawatts and creating an estimated 500 megawatt generation deficit alongside an earlier Eco Electrica unit failure.

Official operational context published about 36 to 48 hours ago.

It marks the fourth major grid event in less than a week.

Service has since been restored and the governor publicly criticized grid operator Luma the same day.

Northern Mariana Islands the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation canceled the precautionary boil water notice for the entire island of Saipan.

Official Update published about 40 to 48 hours ago.

A guidance change for residents.

Typhoon Bavi recovery continues with line crews restoring power across Saipan villages, while on Rota water service is fully restored, but power restoration in some areas could take up to three months.

All other territories and the district of Colombia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.

That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.

New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5am hour PT, so the day starts with clarity instead of catch up.

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