Tropical Storm Isaac Situation Report #2 Monday, August 27, :30 PM (EDT)

Transcription

1 Tropical Storm Isaac Situation Report #2 Monday, August 27, :30 PM (EDT) CURRENT SITUATION: RAINFALL BEGINS TO IMPACT THE FLORIDA GULF COAST... FLORIDA, MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA, AND ALABAMA HAVE DECLARED LOCAL STATES OF EMERGENCY GOVERNORS CONTINUE TO URGE GULF RESIDENTS FROM THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE WEST TO LOUISIANA TO FINISH PREPARATIONS TODAY FOR ISAAC S LANDFALL...ISAAC POSES SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE THREAT TO THE NORTHERN GULF COAST... WEATHER CONDITIONS TO DETERIORATE OVERNIGHT ALONG THE COASTS OF LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, AND THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AS ISAAC APPROACHES States that have declared a Locate State of Emergency: Florida - Mississippi - Louisiana - Alabama 1:00 PM CDT Mon Aug 27 Location: About 255 Mi S of Apalachicola, FL or 280 Mi SE of the mouth of the Mississippi River Max sustained: 65 mph Moving: NW at 14 mph Min pressure: 984 mb ISAAC IS A STRONG TROPICAL STORM AND IS EXPECTED TO BECOME A HURRICANE PRIOR TO REACHING THE NORTHERN GULF COAST ON TUESDAY. WATCHES AND WARNINGS: A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...EAST OF MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO DESTIN FLORIDA...INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS, LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN, AND LAKE MAUREPAS A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR EAST OF DESTIN FLORIDA TO THE AUCILLA RIVER, INTRACOASTAL CITY TO MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY TO MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT EAST OF SABINE PASS TO WEST OF INTRACOASTAL CITY LOUISIANA Page 1 of 8

2 GENERALIZED FORECAST & IMPACTS Sustained tropical storm-force winds are expected along the Gulf coasts of LA, AL, MS, and the western FL panhandle by late tonight to early tomorrow. Sustained hurricane-force winds are expected in the coastal locations of those previously mentioned states by late tomorrow evening. Cities likely to be impacted include: Pensacola, FL; Mobile, AL; Hattiesburg, MS; New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafeyette, LA; In addition to winds, heavy rains are expected, with storm totals approaching a foot or more in an area from southeastern LA eastward through southern AL and MS into the far western FL panhandle. A broad area of 3-5 of rainfall extends from SC throughout the southeast and northward into the southern Mid-MS Valley. A storm surge as high as 13 feet is possible along the Gulf coasts of MS and LA. A storm surge of 3-7 is most likely from AL to the FL panhandle, decreasing from west to east. (See page 6 for graphics) Page 2 of 8

3 STATE/COUNTY PROTECTIVE ACTIONS: Note: All information related to specific protective recommendations is ongoing and subject to moment by moment changes or adjustments by individual State and Local authorities. LOUISIANA: Local Parish States of Emergency o Plaquemines, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Charles Parishes Evacuations: o Mandatory evacuations: flood prone areas of St. Charles (53,000 people), Jefferson, Plaquemines parishes and Grand Isle Island. o Governor suggests people leave low-lying parts of the 15 parishes under a hurricane watch Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. Charles, Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption, St. James, St. John, Ascension, Livingston, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany and Washington. o State Police Monday continued to patrol metro New Orleans evacuation routes, but said a decision on activating contraflow would be based largely on whether south shore parishes call for mandatory evacuations inside the levees. New Orleans Mayor Landrieu said he expects New Orleans residents to shelter in place. But people need to be ready to leave, because if New Orleans is evacuated, there won t be anywhere in the city to stay, he said. o Neither the airport nor the Superdome nor the Convention Center is going to be a shelter of last resort, he said. In the event that an evacuation is called, everybody needs to make preparations because we will not be sheltering there. Governor has said to expect tropical storm winds (39-74 mph) to last up to 36 hours with up to 8 hours of hurricane force winds (+75 mph) Governor authorized 4,000 national guard to help support the effort State offices in all 15 will be closed Monday, officials said. DOTD has also stopped collecting tolls on LA-1. The state is activating contracts to provide buses to help with evacuations. By tomorrow, 200 buses will be available. o The Department of Education has also identified 50 buses, and if schools close, there will be approximately 150 buses from schools. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans has implemented new pumps and floodgates and is comfortable that these new measures will prevent significant flooding, though there are deeper areas below sea level that will likely take longer to remove the water from heavy rainfall. In Plaquemines Parish, crews were lining newly raised levees on the east bank of the Mississippi River with heavy plastic on Sunday to protect exposed dirt, and adding Hesco Page 3 of 8

4 baskets to close gaps in low areas along Louisiana Highway 23, a news release said. Other crews were adding sandbags to levees in Pointe-a-la-Hache. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West will begin closing non-essential flood gates on the West Bank in anticipation of strong southerly winds and high ties. 50 percent of offshore oil production and 40 percent of natural gas production has been shut in. As the storm continues to move west, 90 percent of oil production and 75 percent of natural gas production is expected to be shut in. MISSISSIPPI: Evacuations: o Mandatory evacuations have not been ordered, but are under consideration by emergency management officials. o Voluntary evacuations began in the low-lying coastal areas of Hancock County with shelters opening at 2pm today In Gulfport, officials have ordered the port clear of all cargo vessels Cat Island and East and West Ship islands in Harrison County are closed due to the storm. Hancock County Schools will be closed on Tuesday after a half day today Sandbags have been made available to coastal residents for preparation ALABAMA: Local County States of Emergency o Baldwin and Mobile counties Evacuations: o Governor Bentley is also ordering a mandatory evacuation beginning at 8:00 Monday morning for Zones 1 and 2 in both Mobile and Baldwin Counties. In Baldwin County: Zones 1 and 2 include all areas south of U.S. Highway 98 and areas on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay that are South of Interstate 10 and west of U.S. Highway 98. Additionally, all people living in proximity to the Fish, Styx, Blackwater, and Perdido Rivers should evacuate. Also, all people living in manufactured homes, and those living in low-lying, flood-prone areas should evacuate. In Mobile County: Zones 1 and 2 include areas south of Interstate 10 and those areas that are north of I-10 and east of I-65 and east of U.S. 43. Also, all people living in manufactured homes, and those living in low-lying, floodprone areas should evacuate. Public schools in Mobile and Baldwin counties are closed today, Tuesday and Wednesday. Page 4 of 8

5 FLORIDA: Pensacola is suspending non-essential operations on Tuesday Evacuations: o Escambia County Emergency Management has ordered evacuations for zones A, B, and C. This includes the barriers islands of Perdido Key and Pensacola Beach/Santa Rosa Island, as well as inland areas along Perdido Bay, Escambia Bay, Santa Rosa Sound and portions of downtown Pensacola o Walton County has ordered mandatory evacuations ordered as of 6am this morning for residents south of HWY 20 that are located in low lying areas and in flood zones A and B. o The Pensacola Naval Air Station may evacuate about 4,500 students, and are moving aircraft out of the area ahead of the storm o No mandatory evacuation orders have yet been given in Bay County Escambia County shelters opened at 9am and schools are closed today and Tuesday Walton County has closed schools today and Tuesday Freeport High School is the only shelter open as of 9am and is a special needs shelter. This is a shelter of last resort for pre-registered residents. In Bay County Dean Bozeman High School will serve as a special needs shelter in the northern portion of the county Reported impacts to the Florida Peninsula as of 1pm EDT: Very heavy rainfall has fallen over central portions of the east Florida from just south of Orlando to north of Fort Lauderdale with areas receiving 3-8 locally heavier over the last 24 hours. o Urban street flooding is being reported significantly impacting travel between I-95 and Lake Okeechobee. Past Rainfall Amounts for Tropical Storm Isaac o Western Boynton Beach: (24 hour total ending midnight 8/27) o Okeechobee Airport: 9.72 (24 hour total ending 8:35 am 8/27) o Fort Lauderdale: 6.98 (24 hour total ending midnight 8/27) o West Boca Raton: 5.98 (11:00 pm 8/26) o West Palm Beach: 5.52 (4:30 am 8/27) o Coconut Creek: 3.00 (11:00 pm 8/26) o Naples: 1.72 (4:30 am 8/27) Flooding and Wind Damage Reports o Western Boynton Beach: Page 5 of 8

6 Severe flooding reported on Boynton Beach Blvd as streets were reported to be under 1 to 2 feet of water o Fort Meyers 8 inches of standing water on 3 rd street o Okeechobee 3 inches of standing water in a home on 9 th street o Indian River County Power Outages 2 dozen homes reported damaged due to a tornado, with no reports yet of injuries o 65,000 outages have been reported in Palm Beach County, Broward, and Miami- Date Counties combined as of 11 am Monday morning o 17,000 outages in Palm Beach County alone down from 54,000 reported earlier today o Isolated outages reported elsewhere throughout the state of FL. STORM SURGE: Storm surge the combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normaly dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters. The water could reach the following depths above ground if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tides Peak surge occurs at the time of high tide o SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA...MISSISSIPPI...AND ALABAMA...6 TO 12 FT o o SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA...3 TO 6 FT FLORIDA PANHANDLE...3 TO 6 FT o FLORIDA WEST COAST INCLUDING APALACHEE BAY...1 TO 3 FT The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast in areas of onshore flow. Surge related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. Storm surge graphics continue on next page Page 6 of 8

7 Tropical Cyclone Storm Surge Probabilities Chance of Storm Surge >= 4 feet at individual locations Tropical Storm Isaac (2012) Advisory 25 For the 77 hours from 05 AM EDT Mon Aug 27 to 10 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 Tropical Cyclone Storm Surge Heights That Have a 1 in 10 Chance of Being Exceeded Tropical Storm Isaac (2012) Advisory 25 For the 77 hours from 05 AM EDT Mon Aug 27 to 10 AM EDT Thu Aug 30 Page 7 of 8

8 Additional Storm Surge Inundation Maps Updates will be as conditions warrant. End of Report A service of: Early Alert, Inc Real Time Emergency Management 877-WE ALERT ( ) Page 8 of 8