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Nationwide EAS Test on Nov 17 and Federal Cyber Deadlines
Episode 260 • 17th September 2026 • EM Morning Brief • Brian Colburn
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I report that the Southern Area is carrying the country's fire load this morning, with nine new large incidents in that region and 61 uncontained large fires nationwide. We note that three incidents—the Bunker Fire in southern Arkansas and the Hydra and Dry River fires in Texas—are driving evacuations and threatening structures with extreme fire behavior. The nation remains at preparedness level three, with 11 complex incident management teams committed and about 11,500 personnel assigned. I also report widespread flooding concerns from a slow moving storm across the Ohio Valley, with multiple flash flood warnings and watches in affected states. We cover additional hazards including heat advisories, volcanic activity in Alaska and Hawaii, a major boil water advisory in Wichita, and recent federal cybersecurity and Emergency Alert System updates. I note that year to date acreage burned stands at 8.5 million, which is 147 percent of the ten year average.

Takeaways:

  • I report the Southern Area currently carries the majority of the national wildfire load.
  • We observe three active incidents driving evacuations and threatening structures due to extreme fire behavior.
  • I note extensive flash flood watches and warnings across the Ohio Valley and multiple states.
  • We highlight critical lifeline impacts, including a citywide boil water advisory affecting roughly five hundred thousand customers.
  • I emphasize federal actions and preparedness items such as CISA vulnerability additions and the nationwide EAS test scheduled for November.

Sponsors

B. Colburn Coaching - https://calendly.com/briancolburn/virtual-coffee

Wild Tone Labs - https://wildtonelabs.com/

The NIMS Store - https://thenimsstore.com/?utm_source=em-morning-brief

NATURAL DISASTERS EXPO HOUSTON - https://disasterexpotexas.com/registration?utm_source=emmorningpod&discount_code=EM100

Descript, Edit video by editing text - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-Descript

ESET, Cyber Security Progress. Protected. - https://refer.eset.com/hip7r

Sources

NIFC

CISA

FEMA

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Hawaii

Idaho and Oregon

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Missouri

Montana

Nevada

New Mexico

Ohio

Texas

Washington

Wyoming

Transcripts

Cedric:

Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief

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for Thursday, September 17, 2026.

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The Southern Area is carrying the

country's fire load this morning.

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The National Interagency Fire

Center counts nine new large

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incidents in that area alone, 15

uncontained large fires there, and 61

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uncontained large fires nationally.

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The country stays at National

Preparedness Level 3, with 11 complex

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incident management teams committed

and about 11,500 personnel assigned.

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Three incidents are driving evacuations

and structure threat, all three showing

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extreme fire behavior: the Bunker

Fire in southern Arkansas, and the

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Hydra and Dry River fires in Texas.

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Year to date acreage stands at 8.5

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million, which is 147 percent

of the ten year average.

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A slow moving storm system is

producing flash flooding across

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the Ohio Valley this morning.

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Flash Flood Warnings cover west central

Ohio and northeast Indiana, where

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trained spotters report flooding on

already saturated ground, and the

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Wabash River near Linn Grove is forecast

to approach its flood of record.

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Flood watches run from New Mexico

and Arizona through Utah, Colorado,

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the upper Midwest and all of Hawaii.

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Separately, Heat Advisories stretch

from Oklahoma and Arkansas through

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Tennessee and the lower Ohio Valley,

with heat index values reaching 109.

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On the federal side, CISA added three

vulnerabilities to the Known Exploited

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Vulnerabilities catalog on Wednesday,

affecting Google Pixel, Cisco Identity

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Services Engine and Acronis Backup, with a

remediation deadline of Friday, September

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19, for federal civilian agencies.

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FEMA and the FCC have also set the

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Alert System for Tuesday, November

17, at approximately 2:20 p.m.

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Eastern, running 30 minutes across

radio, television, cable, satellite

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and wireline video providers.

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Let's run through the states.

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Alaska.

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The Alaska Volcano Observatory keeps

Great Sitkin at Watch and aviation

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color code Orange, reporting that slow

eruption of lava within the summit crater

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continues alongside weak seismicity.

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Shishaldin remains at Advisory

and color code Yellow.

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NWS Fairbanks has a flood watch for the

Upper Chena River Valley along Chena

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Hot Springs Road west of milepost 40,

running through Saturday afternoon.

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Arizona.

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NWS Phoenix has a flood

warning for Maricopa and

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Pinal counties until 8:30 a.m.

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MST, warning that low water crossings

may become inundated and impassable.

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A flash flood watch covers southeast

Gila County and surrounding

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areas including Globe, Miami, San

Carlos, Superior and Tonto Basin.

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Arkansas.

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The Bunker Fire is at 1,950

acres and 30 percent contained,

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two miles east of East Camden.

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Fire behavior is extreme, with short

crown runs, backing and flanking.

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Numerous structures are threatened,

and evacuations plus area and

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road closures are in effect.

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Estimated containment is September 24.

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Separately, the Shelby County Health

Department has issued a Code Orange ozone

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forecast that includes Crittenden County.

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California.

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The Lucas Fire in the Cal Fire Sonoma,

Lake and Napa Unit is at 4,128 acres and

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40 percent contained, ten miles north

of Upper Lake, with numerous residences

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and critical infrastructure threatened.

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Evacuations and area, road and

trail closures are in effect, and

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nearly 2,000 personnel are assigned.

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On the Los Padres National Forest, the

Timber Fire is at 25,426 acres and 44

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percent contained, threatening structures

and communication infrastructure.

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Hawaii.

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The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory holds

Kilauea at Watch and color code Orange.

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Five new vents have opened on and

near the northwest wall of Halemaumau

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crater and are producing small lava

flows, with spattering from the

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north vent, periodic bursts from the

south and west vents, stalled summit

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inflation and increasing tremor.

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NWS Honolulu has a flash flood watch

for all main Hawaiian Islands through

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late Thursday night as remnant

moisture from former Tropical Storm

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Norbert moves across the state.

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Idaho.

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NWS Boise has issued a Red Flag Warning

for lightning from noon to 9 p.m.

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MDT covering the northern Boise

National Forest and the southern

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Boise and western Sawtooth zones

including the Camas Prairie.

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Scattered thunderstorms are

expected to bring outflow gusts

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to 50 mph with minimal rainfall.

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Illinois.

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The FAA has ground stops in place

at Chicago Midway until 6:45 a.m.

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Central and at Chicago

O'Hare until 7:15 a.m.

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Central, both for thunderstorms.

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A flood watch covers Carroll,

Rock Island and Whiteside

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counties in northwest Illinois.

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Indiana.

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A Flash Flood Warning covers Adams,

Huntington and Wells counties, where

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trained spotters report flash flooding in

and around Bluffton after 2 to 4 inches

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of rain fell on already saturated ground.

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The Wabash River near Linn Grove is

under a flood warning with moderate

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flooding forecast, a level that

approaches the flood of record,

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and the Wabash at Bluffton is in

minor flood into Monday evening.

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A separate flood watch covers

Howard, Madison, Tipton, Delaware

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and Randolph counties until 2 p.m.

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Eastern.

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Iowa.

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NWS Omaha has a flood warning

for southeastern Fremont and west

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central Page counties, with flooding

of the East Nishnabotna River

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at Riverton along 250th Street.

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A flood watch covers ten counties in east

central Iowa, and dense fog advisories

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are posted across much of the state.

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Kansas.

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Wichita is under a citywide boil water

advisory affecting roughly 500,000

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water customers, the largest lifeline

disruption in the country this morning.

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The city reports power was lost at

the main water treatment plant and

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the Hess pump station around 5 a.m.

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Wednesday, an outage of about 45 minutes.

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The advisory extends to wholesale

customers and restaurants.

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Residents are told to boil water

for one minute before drinking

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or food preparation, or use

bottled water, and to discard ice.

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Water testing is underway at 195

stations, and only the Kansas

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Department of Health and Environment

can rescind the advisory after certified

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laboratory results, which take about

24 hours from sample collection.

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Elementary schools in USD 259 with 9 a.m.

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start times closed Wednesday.

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Elsewhere in the state, Stranger Creek

at Easton is under a flood warning for

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minor flooding into late Thursday night.

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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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Missouri.

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Laclede County Central Dispatch lost

all 911 and administrative phone lines

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Wednesday after a telecommunications

provider network failure.

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Officials issued backup emergency

dispatch numbers and directed cell

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phone users to dial star 55 to reach

the Missouri State Highway Patrol,

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which relays emergencies to the county.

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Boone and Cole county 911 service has

been restored after a separate outage.

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On rivers, the Grand River near

Sumner is forecast to reach moderate

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flooding from Thursday morning into

Saturday evening, and the Platte

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River near Agency is forecast for

minor flooding into Friday evening.

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Montana.

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The Davis Coulee Fire on the Crow

Agency is at 15,470 acres with zero

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containment, nine miles southwest

of Crow Agency, after growing 13,470

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acres in a single reporting period.

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Fire behavior is moderate

with creeping and smoldering.

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Residences are threatened and

evacuations are in effect.

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Nevada.

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NWS Elko has a Red Flag Warning for fire

weather zones 426 and 427 today, covering

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northern Nye County and central Nevada.

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Sustained southerly winds of 20 to

25 mph with gusts to 35 are expected

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alongside minimum afternoon humidity

of 10 to 15 percent, and any fires that

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develop will likely spread rapidly.

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New Mexico.

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NWS Albuquerque has a flash

flood watch from 11 a.m.

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MDT through late tonight for northwest

New Mexico and the South Central

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Mountains, explicitly including the

Ruidoso area burn scars, with rainfall

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rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour possible

during afternoon and evening storms.

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A second watch from NWS El Paso

covers south central and southwest New

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Mexico from noon today through 6 a.m.

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Friday, where a 1 to 2 inch swath

of rain over the past 24 hours

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has left high soil moisture.

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Ohio.

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NWS Wilmington has a Flash Flood

Warning for northwestern Auglaize

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County and Mercer County until 9 a.m.

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Eastern, with 1 to 2.5

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inches of rain already fallen and flash

flooding ongoing or beginning shortly.

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A broader flash flood watch covers

central and west central Ohio, including

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Franklin, Licking, Delaware, Madison,

Union, Clark, Champaign, Darke, Hardin,

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Logan, Miami and Shelby counties.

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Oklahoma.

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The Gracemont Fire under the BIA

Anadarko Agency is at 3,000 acres

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with zero containment, six miles east

of Binger, after growing 692 acres.

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Fire behavior is active with wind-driven

runs, short-range spotting and crowning,

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numerous structures are threatened,

and 25 structures have been lost.

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The Calvary Creek Fire is at 815

acres and 5 percent contained near

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Rocky, and the Black Kettle Fire is at

1,526 acres and 50 percent contained.

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On the recovery side, new FEMA flood maps

for Latimer County become effective March

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16, 2027, starting a six month compliance

window for local floodplain ordinances.

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Oregon.

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On the Mt.

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Hood National Forest, the Austin Fire

is at 12,844 acres and 77 percent

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contained with evacuations and area,

road and trail closures in effect,

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and The Narrows is at 98 percent

contained, also with evacuations.

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The NWS Boise Red Flag Warning extends

into eastern Oregon, covering the Burns

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and northwestern Vale BLM districts,

Steens Mountain and Baker Valley.

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Texas.

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The Hydra Fire, under Texas A&M Forest

Service, is at 1,000 acres and 10 percent

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contained, three miles south of Meridian.

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Fire behavior is extreme with long-range

spotting and wind-driven runs,

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numerous structures are threatened,

and evacuations are in effect.

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The Dry River Fire is at 3,500 acres with

zero containment, five miles southeast

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of Sonora, showing extreme fire behavior

with group torching and long-range

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spotting, and residences are threatened.

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The Ross Fire near Palo Pinto is at

90,400 acres and 93 percent contained,

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with 157 structures lost, and

command transfers from the incident

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management team back to the local unit.

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The Texas Commission on Environmental

Quality has declared an Ozone Action

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Day for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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Washington.

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On the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest,

the Three Queens Fire is at 9,555 acres

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and 20 percent contained, six miles

east of Snoqualmie Pass, with numerous

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residences and critical infrastructure

threatened and evacuations plus area,

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road and trail closures in effect.

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The Sisi Fire is at 3,449 acres

and 5 percent contained after

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growing 256 acres, threatening

residences and energy infrastructure.

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Wyoming.

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The Moonshine Fire in the BLM

High Desert District is at 7,304

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acres and 51 percent contained,

17 miles southwest of Wheatland.

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Residences are threatened and two

structures have been lost, though

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precipitation fell over the fire

area in the last reporting period.

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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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Follow on your favorite podcast player.

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EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.

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Stay Safe.

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