Shownotes
Catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country leaves two dead and drives more than 230 rescues as flood waves move down the Frio, Nueces, and Guadalupe rivers, with a boil water notice now covering dozens of Comal County area communities. The nation holds at Preparedness Level 4 with 49 uncontained large fires: a Central Oregon lightning bust forces the full evacuation of Antelope, FEMA approves a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Lower Dry Creek Fire, and Colorado’s Aspen Acres Fire structure losses rise to 850. Canadian wildfire smoke pushes Pennsylvania to a statewide Code Purple alert with Code Red conditions across the Mid-Atlantic, CISA adds three actively exploited vulnerabilities to its KEV catalog, and Puerto Rico begins 48-hour water rationing under an expanded drought emergency. 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
• Texas flooding: Two confirmed deaths and more than 230 rescues in Kerr and Uvalde counties after up to 26 inches of rain; downstream mandatory evacuations in Comal and Bandera counties, and a boil water notice for dozens of Canyon Lake area communities. Flood warnings continue into Friday evening.
• National fire picture: Preparedness Level 4 with 49 uncontained large fires and roughly 688,000 acres active; Red Flag Warnings return to the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin this afternoon.
• Oregon evacuations: The entire city of Antelope is under a Level 3 Go Now order after a Central Oregon lightning bust; about 1,700 people are evacuated near Milton-Freewater for the Lower Dry Creek Fire, now backed by a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant; Jackson County and Shady Cove declared local emergencies for the East Evans Creek Fire.
• Colorado structure losses: Aspen Acres Fire losses rise to at least 850 structures with about 11,000 people still evacuated; crews held a spot fire that jumped a defensive line.
• Smoke event: Friday is forecast as the worst day of the Canadian wildfire smoke event; Pennsylvania is at statewide Code Purple, Philadelphia has suspended trash collection and closed pools, and Code Red alerts span the Mid-Atlantic.
• Cyber: CISA added three actively exploited Fortinet FortiSandbox and Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities to the KEV catalog; federal remediation deadlines for the July 14 SonicWall and SharePoint additions land today.
• Puerto Rico lifelines: 48-hour water rationing begins today in Río Grande and Canóvanas under an expanded drought emergency, and more than 100,000 customers saw rotating outages Thursday after a Costa Sur unit failure.
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Sources
NIFC and National Fire Situation
• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: July 16, 2026, PL 4, 49 uncontained large fires
NWS and Weather
• NWS Active Alerts: flash flood warnings, red flag warnings, heat products
NHC and Tropics
• NHC Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook: 20 percent seven-day Gulf development chance
• NHC Tropical Storm Elida Advisory 11: no threat to land
FEMA
• FEMA Disaster Declarations: FM-5645 Lower Dry Creek Fire, Oregon, declared July 16
CISA
• CISA Adds Three Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog: July 16, 2026
Texas
• KXAN: Flash Flood Emergency in Texas, Thursday July 16
• CNN: Texas flooding risks continue into Friday
• News 4 San Antonio: Comal County orders mandatory evacuations along the Guadalupe
• News 4 San Antonio: Texas Water Company boil water notice for dozens of communities
• Texas Water Company service alerts
• KWTX: Abbott says flood likely to break records, state deploys 1,300 personnel
Arizona
• NWS Active Alerts: Flagstaff flash flood warnings including Pocket Fire burn scar
California
• Cal Fire: Thorn Fire incident page
• Times of San Diego: Thorn Fire evacuations and I-8 reopening
• Cal Fire: Elephant Fire incident page
• IQAir: Elephant Fire evacuation downgrades as of July 16
Colorado
• Colorado Sun: Aspen Acres Fire Thursday update
• KKTV: Aspen Acres Fire holds near 99,800 acres, 36 percent contained
Delaware
• 6abc live blog: air quality alerts for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware
Idaho
• KHQ: Turner Hill Fire north of Bonners Ferry prompts evacuations
Maine
• Bangor Daily News: thousands without power after storm sweeps Maine
• Bangor Daily News: person dies in Corinth after tree falls on car
• WGME: severe storms bring down trees, knock out power across Maine
Maryland
• WMAR: Code Red air quality alert issued for Maryland
Minnesota
• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: Superior National Forest fires
• CBS Minnesota: hazardous air quality and heat, July 16
New Jersey
• Fox 29: Code Red air quality alerts in effect across the region
New York
• NYSDEC: statewide air quality health advisory updated
• Governor Hochul: statewide air quality condition updates
Oregon
• KPTV: City of Antelope ordered to evacuate immediately
• OPB: wildfire forces Antelope evacuations in Wasco County
• KDRV: East Evans Creek Fire evacuations and emergency declarations
• OPB: Lower Dry Creek Fire Level 3 evacuations in Umatilla County
Pennsylvania
• PA DEP: statewide Code Purple air quality alert for Friday July 17
• City of Philadelphia: Code Purple air quality alert and service changes
Utah
• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: Babylon and Cottonwood fires
Virginia
• FFXnow: unhealthy air expected in the DC region Friday
Washington
• KHQ: Kaiser Canyon Fire prompts evacuation orders and road closures
• NBC Right Now: Neff Jones Fire prompts Level 2 evacuations in Franklin County
District of Columbia
• WJLA: Code Red air quality for DC, Maryland, Virginia
Guam
• Federal Register notice: SBA disaster loans for Guam Typhoon Bavi declaration
Northern Mariana Islands
• Commonwealth Utilities Corporation: boil water notice canceled for Rota
Puerto Rico
• Primera Hora: governor declares drought emergency for Canóvanas and Río Grande
• El Nuevo Día: water authority announces rationing plan starting July 17
• Primera Hora: more than 100,000 customers without power in load shedding
Transcripts
Good morning.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:Catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill country leads the national picture this morning.
Speaker A:Between 19 and 26 inches of rain fell on Kerr and Uvalde counties Thursday, triggering flash flood emergencies, killing two people and driving more than 230 water rescues.
Speaker A:Flash flood warnings remain active early Friday for Uvalde, Edwards and Rio counties, and the Kerr county flood warning holds until 6pm tonight as flood waves move down the Frio, Nueces and Guadalupe rivers.
Speaker A:Forecasters expect the heaviest rain threat to end Friday afternoon.
Speaker A:The nation remains at preparedness level four, with 49 uncontained large fires and nearly 688,000 acres in the active incident footprint per the National Interagency Fire Center Situation Report.
Speaker A:Official Update published about 24 hours ago.
Speaker A:A central Oregon lightning bust has driven full town evacuations and FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant Thursday for Oregon's Lower Dry Creek Fire.
Speaker A:Red flag warnings cover 16 zones across the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin this afternoon.
Speaker A:In the tropics, the National Hurricane center gives an area of low pressure over the northeastern Gulf a 20% chance of development over the next seven days.
Speaker A:Tropical Storm Elida in the East Pacific poses no threat to land.
Speaker A:Canadian wildfire smoke is blanketing the Northeast and Mid Atlantic and Friday is forecast to be the worst day of the event.
Speaker A:Pennsylvania is under a statewide Code Purple air quality alert with Code Red alerts across New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Speaker A:On the cyber front, CISA added three vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog Thursday, covering Fortnet 40 Sandbox and Microsoft SharePoint flaws under Active exploitation patching.
Speaker A:Both should move to the front of the line.
Speaker A:Let's run through the states.
Speaker A:Arizona the National Weather Service and Flagstaff issued flash flood warnings overnight for parts of Coconino and Yavapai county counties, including one specifically for the pocket fire burn scar issued at 2:36am Friday.
Speaker A:Monsoon moisture keeps the burn scar flash flood threat elevated across northern Arizona today.
Speaker A:California the Thorn Fire in southeastern San Diego county reaches 1,234 acres and 45% containment.
Speaker A:Interstate 8 reopened to one lane in each direction Thursday night.
Speaker A:Some evacuation orders and warnings were lifted and the temporary evacuation point at Golden Acorn Casino closed.
Speaker A:Other evacuation orders remain in effect around the fire.
Speaker A:In the north state, the Elephant Fire near Loyalton stands at about 13,016 acres and 31% containment with several evacuation zones in Lassen and Plumas counties downgraded or returned to normal status.
Speaker A:Colorado the Aspen Acres fire southwest of Pueblo holds at roughly 99,800 acres and 36% containment after crews caught a spot fire that jumped a defensive line on the southwest side Wednesday.
Speaker A:Officials now report at least 850 structures destroyed and mandatory evacuations still cover about 11,000 people in the Beulah, Colorado City and Wetmore areas, though some Custer county zones moved down to pre evacuation status Thursday.
Speaker A:A community meeting is set for tonight at 7pm at the Raymond Aguirre Community center in Gardiner.
Speaker A:Delaware A code red air quality alert is in effect for unhealthy fine particulate levels as the Canadian wildfire smoke plume moves through, with conditions expected to persist through Friday.
Speaker A:Idaho the Turner Hill fire north of Bonners Ferry prompts expanded GEO evacuation orders covering Kings Row, Fleming Creek and Fawn Lane in Boundary County.
Speaker A:The fire is at least 75 acres with no containment and a type 3 incident management team has joined the response.
Speaker A:Maine A brief but violent storm swept the state Thursday afternoon, killing one person in Corinth when a tree limb struck a vehicle and knocking out power to about 60,000 customers at the peak.
Speaker A:Central Maine Power restored more than 31,000 customers by Thursday evening in Rockland.
Speaker A:A sudden squall tore the 90 passenger coastal cruise ship American Independence from its mooring, damaging the ship and the Safe harbor pier.
Speaker A:Maryland Code Red air quality alerts cover the state for Friday with Code Purple conditions forecast for western areas including Hagerstown.
Speaker A:Residents are advised to limit outdoor activity and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
Speaker A:Minnesota Four fires on the Superior National Forest continue to burn with extreme fire behavior and zero containment.
Speaker A:The thumb Fire at 14,500 acres, Bear Trap at 13,500, Sioux at 7,368 after gaining more than 3,700 acres in a single day and Camp at 2,000.
Speaker A:50.
Speaker A:Evacuations are in effect on the Sioux, Bear Trap and Thumb fires.
Speaker A:The Twin Cities metro also spent Thursday under extreme heat warnings with heat index values near 100 compounded.
Speaker A:New Jersey A Code red air quality alert is in effect statewide for unhealthy fine particulates from Canadian wildfire smoke, with Friday expected to be the worst day.
Speaker A:The FIFA World cup final at MetLife Stadium on Sunday is adding operational attention to air quality in North Jersey.
Speaker A:New York Air quality reached very unhealthy levels in New York City Thursday under a statewide air quality health advisory.
Speaker A:State environmental and health officials issued a fresh advisory for Friday focused on western New York and the governor's office continues statewide condition updates, urging precautions.
Speaker A:Oregon the Wasco County Sheriff's Office ordered the entire city of Antelope and surrounding areas to evacuate Thursday afternoon under a Level three Go now order as a new fire spread following a lightning bust that ignited more than 50 fires across Central Oregon.
Speaker A:In southern Oregon, the East Evans Creek fire grows to 11,551 acres at 5% containment.
Speaker A:The city of Shady Cove and Jackson county declared local states of emergency and zone JASS C017 upgraded to level three near Milton Freewater.
Speaker A: r Dry Creek fire burned about: Speaker A:FEMA approved a Fire Management Assistance grant for the fire Thursday.
Speaker A:Pennsylvania the Department of Environmental Protection declared a statewide Code Purple air quality alert for Friday, escalating from Thursday's statewide Code Red.
Speaker A:Everyone is advised to avoid prolonged outdoor exertion and sensitive groups should avoid outdoor activity entirely.
Speaker A:Philadelphia is suspending trash and recycling collection Friday and closing city pools and spray grounds.
Speaker A:Texas Two people are confirmed dead in the Hill country flooding and more than 230 rescues have been completed with roughly 2,350 responders deployed.
Speaker A:Kerrville was placed under shelter in place and Uvalde under mandatory evacuations, with shelters open in Kerrville and Ingram downstream.
Speaker A:Comal county ordered mandatory evacuations along the Guadalupe river from the county line to FM311 and Bandera county issued an urgent evacuation advisory for Riverside RV Park.
Speaker A:Texas Water company Issued a boil water notice for dozens of communities served by its Canyon Lake Shores treatment plant, including Bolvird, Blanco Water Customers River Crossing and Mystic Shores after flood debris drove up turbidity at the Canyon Lake intake.
Speaker A: state has deployed more than: Speaker A:Utah the Babylon Fire on the Mantee La Salle National Forest, the largest fire in the Nation, holds at 107,104 acres and 57% containment.
Speaker A:The Cottonwood Fire near Beaver stands at 97,458 acres and 80% containment, with evacuations still in effect and 185 structures lost.
Speaker A:Official update published about 24 hours ago.
Speaker A:Virginia A Code Red air quality alert covers northern Virginia for Friday with Code Purple conditions forecast for the Winchester area.
Speaker A:Forecasters call this potentially the region's worst air quality in years.
Speaker A: rvation was mapped at roughly: Speaker A:Evacuations covering Belvedere, Buffalo Lake Road and the Coulee corridor.
Speaker A: nes Fire grew to an estimated: Speaker A:All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
Speaker A:Let's run through the territories.
Speaker A:District of Columbia A code red air quality alert is in effect for Friday as Canadian wildfire smoke settles over the region, with forecasters calling it potentially the district's worst air quality in years.
Speaker A:Guam the Small Business Administration published its Federal Register notice for the Typhoon Bavi major disaster declaration Thursday, opening disaster loan application windows for eligible entities.
Speaker A:Northern Mariana Islands the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation cancelled the boil water notice for the island of Rota Thursday, a recovery milestone after Super Typhoon Baby's direct hit earlier this month.
Speaker A:Power restoration on Rota remains a months long effort.
Speaker A: vernor signed Executive Order: Speaker A:Separately, more than 100,000 Luma customers lost service Thursday after a Costa Sur generating unit failed, forcing rotating load shedding and officials warned of continued blackout risk overnight.
Speaker A:US Virgin Islands live outage tracking shows roughly 16,000 customers, about 29% of the territory, without power as WAPA operates with limited reserve capacity, the highest outage rate in the country.
Speaker A:All other territories have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
Speaker A:That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
Speaker A:New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5am hour PT, so the day starts with clarity instead of catch up.
Speaker A:Subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack or follow on your favorite podcast player.
Speaker A:EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices podcast.
Speaker A:Stay safe.
