Flash flood emergencies cover Kerr, Kendall, and Uvalde counties as the Guadalupe River surges and Governor Abbott expands the Texas disaster declaration to 59 counties with more than 1,300 personnel deployed. The Boundary Waters stays fully closed as 17 fires burn across the Superior National Forest, and hazardous smoke pushes air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York City. NIFC holds at Preparedness Level 4 with 48 uncontained large fires, CISA adds two exploited vulnerabilities to its KEV catalog, and WAPA works through outages and fuel constraints in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 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: Flash flood emergencies hit Kerr and Kendall counties, the Guadalupe River rises more than 10 feet in an hour at Hunt, and the 59-county state disaster response includes more than 1,300 personnel, 800 vehicles, 75 boats, and 20 aircraft.

• National wildfire: NIFC remains at Preparedness Level 4 with 48 uncontained large fires and more than 16,800 personnel assigned; large fires are burning in all 10 geographic areas.

• Minnesota and smoke: The full Boundary Waters closure holds through at least Friday, Governor Walz extends the peacetime emergency 30 days, and hazardous air quality stretches from the Twin Cities across the Great Lakes to New York City.

• Extreme heat: Extreme heat warnings and advisories run from the Northern Plains into New England and the mid-Atlantic, with record highs possible in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington.

• Cyber: CISA adds a KNX protocol flaw and an Oracle E-Business Suite vulnerability to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; both are under active exploitation.

• Lifelines: Boil water notices are active in Greenbrier and Waldenburg (Arkansas), Bangor (Maine), and Westmoreland (Tennessee); DTE works an extended outage in northwest Detroit; WAPA manages outages and fuel supply constraints on St. Thomas and St. John.

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Sources

NIFC and Wildfire

• NIFC National Fire News: Preparedness Level 4, uncontained large fires, national statistics

CISA

• CISA: Adds two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to catalog (July 15, 2026)

Tropics

• National Hurricane Center: Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook

Heat and National Weather

• Weather.com: Northeast, Midwest to sizzle under record-smashing heat dome

• U.S. News: States issue air quality warnings as wildfire smoke from Canada, Minnesota spreads

FEMA Declarations

• Federal Register: Kentucky major disaster amendment (FEMA-4913-DR)

• Federal Register via Justia: Mississippi major disaster declaration (FEMA-4922-DR)

Texas

• CBS Austin: Flash flood emergency declared for Kerrville area as catastrophic flooding prompts rescues

• Fox Weather: Flash flood emergencies issued for Kerr, Uvalde counties

• Fox San Antonio: Highway 39 closed in Kerr County, I-10 shut down after major crash

• CNN: Flash flood emergencies, dozens of rescues in southern Texas

• Office of the Texas Governor: Disaster declaration for Texas severe weather

• KKSA: Gov. Abbott expands disaster declaration to 59 counties

• KWTX: Abbott says flooding likely to break records as state deploys more than 1,300 personnel

• KFDM: Storms knock out power to thousands in Southeast Texas

• KENS 5: Thousands remain without power as storms continue across South Texas

Alaska

• Alaska Wildland Fire Information: Daily updates on fire status and evacuations

Arizona

• Yahoo News/AccuWeather: Flash flood warning issued for southern Arizona, including Biosphere 2

• Arizona’s Family: First Alert Day declared for monsoon storms, more rain on the way

Arkansas

• City of Greenbrier: System-wide boil order issued

• KAIT 8: Boil order issued for Waldenburg and surrounding areas after main break

California

• CAL FIRE: Summit Fire incident page

• ABC7: Summit Fire in Antelope Valley, evacuation orders in place

Colorado

• InciWeb: Willow Fire incident information

• 9NEWS: Willow Fire burns more than 6,400 acres near Leadville

Idaho

• KTVB: Claremont Fire reaches 61% containment, officials extend timeline

• Idaho News 6: Claremont Fire grows to 6,805 acres, containment expected Aug. 1

Maine

• Q106.5: Boil water notice in effect for Broadway, Essex, and dozens of Bangor neighborhoods

Michigan

• ClickOnDetroit: DTE underground cable failures cause extended outage in northwest Detroit

Minnesota

• Superior National Forest: Emergency expanded closure for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

• MPR News: Officials see NE Minnesota firefight continuing into the fall

• Minnesota News Network: Walz, Executive Council extend peacetime emergency

• FOX 9: Twin Cities air quality now considered hazardous

New York

• ABC News: Canadian wildfire smoke descends on parts of US, including New York City

Tennessee

• WSMV: Water main break triggers boil water notice, forces business closures in Sumner County city

Utah

• InciWeb: Cottonwood Fire incident information

Wisconsin

• Yahoo News: Air quality alerts issued across the Midwest and Northeast as wildfire smoke blankets the region

U.S. Virgin Islands

• St. Thomas Source: WAPA explains St. Thomas-St. John power outages and fuel supply

Good morning.

The Texas Hill country is in the middle of a dangerous and escalating flood event.

The National Weather Service issues flash flood emergencies for Kerr county, covering more than 45,000 people, and for southwestern Kendall county, including Borney, where 4 to 12 inches of rain have already fallen.

Fox Weather also reports an emergency for Uvalde County.

The Guadalupe river rises more than 10ft in a single hour.

At hunt crews field multiple water rescue calls overnight and Governor Greg Abbott expands the state disaster declaration to 59 counties.

Abbott says the flooding is likely to break records in Texas history and heavy rain threats continue through the end of the week.

The national wildfire picture stays intense.

The National Interagency Fire center holds at preparedness level 4, with 48 uncontained large fires, 108 new fires reported in a single day and more than 16,800 personnel assigned.

Nationwide, large fires are burning in all 10 geographic areas and the year to date total stands near 39,500 fires and more than 3.6 million acres.

Minnesota remains the national focus.

The entire Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is closed for only the third time in 50 years, and smoke from Canadian and Minnesota fires pushes air quality alerts from Minnesota through the Great Lakes to New York City.

At the same time, a record challenging heat dome keeps extreme heat warnings and advisories in place from the Northern Plains into New England and the Mid Atlantic.

On the cyber front, CISA adds two vulnerabilities to the known exploited vulnerabilities, a KNX building automation protocol flaw and an Oracle E business suite privilege management vulnerability, both with evidence of active exploitation in the tropics.

The National Hurricane center issues advisories on Tropical Depression five E well off the southwestern coast of Mexico and monitors a low south southeast of Hawaii for gradual development.

No Atlantic development is expected over the next seven days.

Let's run through the states.

Recent rainfall moderates fire activity across the interior and the last staffed wildfires transition to monitor status, leaving no staffed wildland fire incidents in the state.

After Wednesday, all evacuation statuses are lifted for the Starry and 17 Mile fires, including the city of Anderson and the North 40 zones.

NFC still lists eight large fires totaling about 9,100 acres, all at 0% containment but with minimal behavior.

Arizona A monsoon surge keeps flash flood risk elevated across the southern half of the state.

The National Weather Service in Tucson issues a flash flood warning for southeastern Pinal county, including Oracle, Saddlebrook and Biosphere 2 after storms drop up to 1.5 inches of rain.

Forecasters declare additional alert days as more storm rounds arrive.

The city of Greenbrier issues a system wide boil order after a water main break.

Separately, the Arkansas Department of Health issues a precautionary boil order for Waldenburg and areas to the south and west following another main break.

California the Summit Fire near Pynan hills stands at 2,690 acres and 47% containment per NIFC.

Evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, with a shelter open at the Antelope Valley Family ymca in Lancaster.

Two MAFS C130 air tankers from the California Air National Guard remain positioned at San Bernardino and Santa Maria to support national aerial firefighting.

Colorado the Willow Fire west of Leadville reaches 6,408 acres at 29% containment.

California Interagency Incident Management Team 8 assumes command Tuesday morning with crews strengthening lines south of Turquoise Lake and near Bald Eagle Mountain.

Evacuation orders and pre evacuation notices remain in place west of Leadville, with more than 1,000 homes at risk and no structure damage reported.

Idaho the Clermont Fire northeast of Boise grows to roughly 6,815 acres and reaches 61% containment after a safety stand down over unexploded ordnance in the fire area.

Estimated containment moves to August 1st.

Enclosures in the military reserve and surrounding foothills trails are extended.

Severe winter storm Public Assistance only publishes in the Federal Register official update published within the last 24 hours.

Main A water main break on Griffin Road in Bangor triggers a boil order covering Broadway, Essex and about 30 additional streets.

Michigan A statewide air quality alert is in effect as wildfire smoke moves through the Great Lakes in northwest Detroit.

Underground cable failures at a DTE Energy substation knock out power to nearly 8,000 residents Tuesday night, with more than 4,500 still without power Wednesday afternoon.

Minnesota the U.S. forest Service reports at least 17 wildfires burning across the Superior National Forest, including three inside the Boundary Waters, with more than 33,000 acres burned.

Governor Tim Walls and the Executive Council vote to extend the peacetime emergency for the northern Minnesota wildfires by 30 days, and St. Louis county remains under a local state of emergency.

Smoke is a second emergency of its own.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency calls Twin Cities air hazardous and urges residents to stay indoors.

Duluth records some of the worst air quality in the country and the statewide alert runs until at least 11am Friday.

Public assistance only publishes in the Federal Register, opening the door for public assistance funding in designated areas.

Official update published within the last 24 hours.

New York Canadian wildfire smoke descends on parts of the state and air quality alerts extend to New York City as the plume spreads east through the Great Lakes and northeast TENNESSEE Westmoreland in Sumner county issues an urgent precautionary boil water notice after a water main break drops chlorine residual levels, forcing some business closures.

Officials report no confirmed contamination.

A flash flood emergency unfolds across Kerr county early this morning as the Guadalupe river surges, prompting evacuations at the Buckhorn Lake Resort and the Ingram RV Park.

At least six major water rescue calls by 2:30am and widespread road closures.

TxDOT closes Highway 39 from Ingram to US 83 and I10 west is closed near SH41 after a major crash.

Up to 20 inches of rain have fallen in parts of south central Texas.

Multiple rivers sit at major flood stage and life threatening flash and urban flooding continues through early Friday.

The state response keeps growing.

Storms also cut power across the region.

More than 5,000 energy customers lose service in Jefferson county, mostly in Nederland and Port Neches, and South Texas utilities report roughly 3,600 customers out as heavy rain moves through Utah.

The Cottonwood Fire east of Beaver reaches 97,455 acres at 77% containment, per NIFC's daily report, and full suppression efforts continue.

A new fire, the Buck Basin Fire, starts about 10 miles east of Heber City on the Uintawassatch Cache National Forest at roughly 200 acres.

Wisconsin A statewide air quality alert remains in place at least through Thursday, with the heaviest smoke expected across northwest Wisconsin near Lake Superior.

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

Lets run through the territories, U.S. virgin Islands WAPA customers on St. Thomas and St. John face a mix of planned and unplanned outages, including an overnight outage for the Feeder 13 bypass project.

One point Wednesday morning, more than a quarter of tracked customers are without power.

WAPA also reports fuel delivery delays from its supplier and secures an earlier maritime diesel delivery from Puerto Rico to stabilize inventories.

All other territories and the District of Columbia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.

That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.

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