Shownotes
Today’s EM Morning Brief leads with a Flash Flood Emergency in Hardin and Tyler counties, Texas, where the remnants of Tropical Depression Edouard have dropped 10 to 21 inches of rain and the National Weather Service has tagged the damage threat catastrophic. We cover the Texas response posture, power outages and school closures, the Louisiana flood watch, and a prolonged extreme heat event stretching from Iowa through the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic. We also cover the national wildfire picture at Preparedness Level 5, evacuation changes on the McCully and Little Giant fires, rapid growth on the Plaskett fire in Big Sur, an earthquake swarm in the eastern Aleutians, and six new CISA industrial control system advisories affecting Rockwell Automation products. 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
• Flash Flood Emergency, southeast Texas. Kountze, Village Mills and Honey Island are under a Flash Flood Emergency with 10 to 21 inches of rain reported, rates of 1 to 5 inches per hour, and a catastrophic damage threat tag. A second life threatening warning covers Polk and San Jacinto counties.
• Texas response posture. The State Operations Center is activated with more than 1,500 personnel, swift water boats, high water vehicles and rescue aircraft. About 70,000 customers are without power across six counties, and Houston area school districts are closed.
• Edouard handoff. The National Hurricane Center issued its final advisory at 4:00 AM Central. The Weather Prediction Center now carries the flood threat, so watch WPC products rather than NHC for the rest of this event.
• Prolonged extreme heat. Two Extreme Heat Warnings and 54 Heat Advisories are active. Heat index values reach 103 to 109 across southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky and southeast Missouri through Saturday, with limited overnight relief. Plan for cooling centers and EMS surge through the holiday weekend.
• Wildfire at Preparedness Level 5. 87 uncontained large fires, 163 active incidents, about 3.9 million acres and 21,268 personnel assigned, with international teams from Australia and New Zealand and 240 soldiers supporting the Little Giant fire.
• Evacuation changes. Baker County, Oregon raised the North Fork John Day Wilderness area to Level 3 on the McCully fire. Chelan County, Washington reduced evacuation levels on the Little Giant fire. Big Sur zone MRY-F036 remains under evacuation order with Highway 1 closed.
• Cyber, control systems. Six Rockwell Automation ICS advisories published September 1 affect the Logix platform, FactoryTalk Activation Manager, RSLinx Classic, Historian ME and the redundancy module configuration tool. Utilities and water systems running Rockwell gear should review them.
• KEV deadline. Two actively exploited PaperCut NG/MF vulnerabilities were added August 31 with a federal remediation due date of September 14.
• Aleutian seismic swarm. Magnitude 5.3 and 5.2 events plus multiple 4.6 to 4.9 events southwest of Nikolski, Alaska. No tsunami generated. Volcano alert levels unchanged.
• Severe weather today. Slight Risk from the eastern Great Lakes into the Mid-Atlantic, with damaging wind the main threat and a possible evening tornado risk in southern New York and central Pennsylvania. Warnings were already active in western New York, northwest Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio this morning.
Sponsors
B. Colburn Coaching - https://calendly.com/briancolburn/virtual-coffee
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ESET, Cyber Security Progress. Protected. - https://refer.eset.com/hip7r
Sources
National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center
National Hurricane Center
• Eastern Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook, issued 1100 PM PDT September 1
• National Hurricane Center homepage: current storm status for Karina, Marie and Lowell
CISA
Wildfire
• InciWeb: national incident information system
Texas
• KPRC Click2Houston: Houston area school district closures for September 2
Louisiana
• Louisiana GOHSEP: Tropical Storm Edouard event page
• Louisiana GOHSEP: flash flooding advisory for Tropical Storm Edouard, published September 1
Alaska
• USGS magnitude 4.5 and greater earthquakes, past day: Nikolski swarm events and depths
• Alaska Volcano Observatory: current alert levels for Great Sitkin and Shishaldin
California
Oregon
• Baker City Herald: McCully fire growth and Level 3 evacuation expansion, published September 1
Washington
Utah
Territories
• NWS San Juan Heat Advisory for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, issued 201 AM AST September 2
Transcripts
Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief
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:for Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
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:Don’t lose access to EM Morning Brief.
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:The show is leaving the Emergency
Management Network on Substack
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:and will only be distributed
through podcast apps via RSS.
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:The most urgent item this
morning sits in southeast Texas.
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:The National Weather Service in Lake
Charles has a Flash Flood Emergency in
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:effect for Kountze, Village Mills and
Honey Island in Hardin and Tyler counties.
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:Emergency management reports between
10 and 21 inches of rain already down,
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:with rain falling at 1 to 5 inches
an hour and flash flooding underway.
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:The Weather Service calls it a
particularly dangerous situation and
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:tags the damage threat catastrophic.
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:A second life threatening warning
covers southeastern Polk and east
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:central San Jacinto counties,
where 9 to 13 inches have fallen.
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:The rain is the remnant of
Tropical Depression Edouard, which
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:came ashore near the Texas and
Louisiana line Tuesday afternoon.
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:The National Hurricane Center issued
its final advisory at 4:00 AM Central
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:and handed the continuing flood threat
to the Weather Prediction Center.
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:A prolonged and dangerous heat event
covers the middle of the country into
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:the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic.
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:Two Extreme Heat Warnings are active.
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:The Paducah office warns of heat index
values of 103 to 109 across southern
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:Illinois, southwest Indiana, western
Kentucky and southeast Missouri through
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:Saturday evening, with overnight
lows only in the mid 70s and no real
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:break before the holiday weekend.
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:A second Extreme Heat Warning covers
eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
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:Fifty-four Heat Advisories are in
effect nationally, including heat
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:index values up to 110 across east
Arkansas, north Mississippi, southeast
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:Missouri and west Tennessee, and
a Heat Advisory for Puerto Rico.
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:Expect cooling center demand and elevated
EMS call volume through Labor Day weekend.
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:The national wildfire posture
holds at Preparedness Level 5.
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:The interagency situation report counts
87 uncontained large fires and 163
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:active incidents totaling about 3.9
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:million acres, with 21,268 personnel
assigned and 17 complex incident
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:management teams committed.
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:Two management teams and 212 fireline
personnel from Australia and New Zealand
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:are supporting the Northwest and Great
Basin, and 240 soldiers from Joint
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:Base Lewis McChord are assigned to
the Little Giant fire in Washington.
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:On the cyber side, CISA published
six industrial control system
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:advisories Tuesday, all covering
Rockwell Automation products including
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:the Logix platform, FactoryTalk
Activation Manager and RSLinx Classic.
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:In an official update published roughly
36 hours ago, CISA also added two actively
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:exploited PaperCut print management
vulnerabilities to the Known Exploited
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:Vulnerabilities catalog, with a federal
remediation deadline of September 14.
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:Let's run through the states.
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:Alaska: An earthquake swarm
continues in the eastern
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:Aleutians southwest of Nikolski.
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:The US Geological Survey
logged a magnitude 5.3
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:and a magnitude 5.2
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:event along with several in the 4.6
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:to 4.9
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:range over the past day, at depths
between 17 and 38 kilometers.
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:No tsunami was generated and
no tsunami message was issued.
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:The Alaska Volcano Observatory holds
Great Sitkin at Watch with an orange
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:aviation color code and Shishaldin at
Advisory with yellow, both unchanged.
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:California: The Plaskett fire on the
Los Padres National Forest in Big Sur
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:grew about 11,000 acres in a single
operational period and now covers roughly
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:28,000 acres at 1 percent containment.
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:It is the largest single day
growth on the national report.
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:An evacuation order remains in place
for Monterey County zone MRY-F036
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:with warnings in two adjacent
zones, and Highway 1 stays closed
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:to through traffic through Big Sur.
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:Delaware: Severe thunderstorms moved
across New Castle and Kent counties
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:Tuesday evening with measured gusts near
80 mph, and a Flash Flood Warning covered
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:northern New Castle County into early
this morning after 1 to 2 inches of rain.
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:Idaho: A Red Flag Warning is in effect for
the Sawtooth Range and northern Sawtooth
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:National Forest through this afternoon.
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:Louisiana: Edouard made landfall
near Johnson Bayou in Cameron
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:Parish early Tuesday afternoon
with 60 mph sustained winds.
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:The Governor's Office of Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness issued a flash
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:flooding advisory Tuesday, and a Flood
Watch remains up through this evening
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:for the Lake Charles area including
Jasper, Newton, Jefferson and Orange
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:parishes and adjacent Texas counties.
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:We have more to cover this morning, but
first, a quick word from our sponsors.
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:Thanks for supporting our sponsors who
help make EM Morning Brief possible.
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:Now, back to this morning’s updates.
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:Michigan: The Weather Service in Detroit
issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning
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:for northern Genesee County at 6:04 this
morning, with 60 mph gusts and quarter
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:size hail moving through the Flint area.
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:Heat Advisories cover southeast and
southwest Michigan through this evening.
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:Montana: A High Wind Warning is up for
the Madison River Valley through tonight.
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:A Red Flag Warning covers the eastern
Beaverhead National Forest and a Fire
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:Weather Watch covers the Gallatin
and Custer national forests and the
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:Billings area through Thursday evening.
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:The Sand Creek fire near Wisdom holds at
34,083 acres and 13 percent containment
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:with evacuations still in effect.
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:New York: The Weather Service in
Buffalo issued a Severe Thunderstorm
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:Warning at 7:18 this morning for
Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara,
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:Orleans and Wyoming counties.
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:The Storm Prediction Center carries a
Slight Risk across the eastern Great
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:Lakes today, with damaging wind the main
threat and a greater tornado risk possible
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:this evening across southern New York.
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:Ohio: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning
covered Ashtabula County early this
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:morning as storms crossed the lake shore.
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:Heat Advisories run across northern
and central Ohio through this evening.
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:Oregon: The McCully fire in the
Wallowa Whitman National Forest grew
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:roughly 1,300 acres and stands near
12,500 acres at 4 percent containment.
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:Baker County raised the North Fork
John Day Wilderness area west of Baldy
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:Creek to Level 3, go now, added a new
Level 2 area north of the 73 Road,
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:and added a Level 1 area further west.
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:Air quality alerts cover Crook, Deschutes,
Jefferson, Wasco and Marion counties.
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:Pennsylvania: Severe Thunderstorm
Warnings covered Erie and
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:Warren counties this morning.
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:Tornado warned storms crossed north
central Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon
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:and evening, and a multi state severe
thunderstorm watch ran into Wednesday.
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:Heat Advisories cover the southeast,
the Susquehanna Valley and southwest
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:Pennsylvania through Thursday evening.
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:Texas: Beyond the Flash Flood
Emergency, Flood Watches cover
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:more than seven million people from
Houston and Beaumont north into the
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:Piney Woods and southeast toward
Dallas, running through this evening.
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:About 70,000 homes and businesses
are without power across six
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:counties, most of it from Tuesday's
landfall winds, which reached 60
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:to 90 mph in preliminary reports.
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:The Texas Division of Emergency Management
has the State Operations Center activated
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:with more than 1,500 state personnel,
swift water rescue boats, high water
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:vehicles and rescue aircraft staged.
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:Several Houston area school districts
are closed today, and the state damage
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:reporting tool is open to residents.
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:Utah: The Weather Service in Salt Lake
City issued a series of Flash Flood
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:Warnings Tuesday for burn scar areas,
including the Cottonwood and Silver
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:King scars in Piute County, where debris
flow and highway flooding were reported
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:on the City Creek drainage, along with
warnings in Washington and Kane counties.
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:Washington: The Little Giant fire on the
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest grew
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:about 7,700 acres to roughly 171,000
acres at 49 percent containment and is now
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:the largest single wildfire recorded in
Chelan County, with 26 structures lost.
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:The Chelan County Sheriff reduced
evacuation levels across all
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:three affected areas Monday.
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:The Sinlahekin fire holds near 166,000
acres at 39 percent containment with
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:30 structures lost and evacuations in
effect, and the Three Queens fire near
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:Snoqualmie Pass is near 9,000 acres at
5 percent with evacuations in effect.
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:Air quality alerts cover Chelan,
Douglas and Kittitas counties.
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:Wyoming: A Fire Weather Watch covers
much of the state through Thursday
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:evening, including the Bighorn Basin,
the Cody foothills, the Upper Green River
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:Basin, Sweetwater and Natrona counties.
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:All other states have no significant
updates in the last 24 hours.
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:Now to the territories.
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:Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands:
The Weather Service office in Tiyan
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:has a Special Weather Statement out
for a large, disorganized tropical
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:disturbance along the monsoon trough
northeast of Saipan, bringing heavy
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:showers, isolated thunderstorms, gusts
near 30 mph and a localized flooding risk
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:across Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan.
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:The Joint Typhoon Warning Center
is not tracking any system
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:forecast to affect the Marianas.
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:Puerto Rico: The Weather Service
in San Juan issued a Heat Advisory
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:covering San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez,
the interior, Culebra and Vieques,
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:running through this afternoon.
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:The advisory also extends to St.
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:Thomas, St.
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:John and St.
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:Croix.
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:All other territories and the District
of Columbia have no significant
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:updates in the last 24 hours.
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:That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
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:New episodes drop Monday through
Friday in the 5:00 AM hour P.T.,
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:so the day starts with
clarity instead of catch-up.
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:Subscribe on the Emergency Management
Network on Substack, or follow
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:on your favorite podcast player.
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:EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
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:Stay Safe.
