Emergency and disaster management briefing for July 23, 2021: Torrential rainfall led to flash floods that have inundated Scottsdale and Phoenix; the Henan province braces for a hit by Typhoon IN-FA; the Bootleg Fire is now the third-largest wildfire ever recorded in Oregon; additional evacuation orders were issued in Plumas County for the Dixie Fire; the FDA announced a recall of muffins distributed under seven brand names for potential listeria contamination; the EPA and the USFS have recently updated the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map; Red Flag Warnings are in place for much of Montana and parts of Idaho; and NIST is conducting a full investigation into the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida.
1. Monsoonal rains with an abundance of lightning inundated Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona, leading to flash floods. First responders answered calls for accidents and swift water rescues as water washed away cars on I-17. Thousands were left without power from downed trees and power lines.
#Phoenix ====FLOODING UPDATE, GREENWAY RD REMAINS CLOSED AT I-17. Crews are on scene, with a water pump, see if they can lessen the waters height, enough for traffic to use again this morning. I'll keep an eye on it 😉 pic.twitter.com/kovcsaIjEU
— Gil Estrada (@PhxTrafficAlert) July 23, 2021
2. Typhoon IN-FA is forecast to make landfall in Ningbo, China, someday on Sunday. The typhoon is set to brush Taiwan and is then projected to make landfall near Zhengzhou, located in the central Henan province. Henan was recently inundated by heavy rainfall, which led to torrential flooding that caused 51 deaths, including 12 people who died in a flooded underground subway station.
#TyphoonInfa #TyphoonFabian #JTWC pic.twitter.com/TsY6STDofe
— Extreme Weather Club (@xWxClub) July 23, 2021
3. The Bootleg Fire is now the third-largest fire ever on record in Oregon. Evacuation increases were ordered on Thursday evening for Lake County, due to both the Bootleg and Log Fires. Increasing temperatures — along with gusty winds, low humidity, and extremely dry fuels — are likely to increase fire spread and challenge firefighters on Friday. The blaze has now scorched nearly 400,000 acres, and more than 2,380 personnel are assigned to the wildfire.
Western wildfires: Crews making progress Bootleg Fire in OR as Tamarack Fire in CA spreads https://t.co/sfRKdZpomB pic.twitter.com/uAHIXk5WTd
— WTKR News 3 (@WTKR3) July 23, 2021
4. Fire growth due to adverse weather conditions prompted additional evacuation orders for the Dixie Fire burning in California. A dry air mass, coupled with low relative humidity, hot temperatures, and gusty winds, increased fire growth another 10,000 acres, bringing the total acres burned by Thursday to more than 113,000. Nearly 4,000 personnel are assigned to the blaze, which has destroyed a total of eight structures.
The Dixie Fire burning above the Cresta Dam in the Feather River Canyon has forced evacuations in Butte and Plumas counties. In addition, many people have been evacuated as several major wildfires continue to burn in Northern California.https://t.co/v5LXNQQNY2
— NSPR (@nsprnews) July 23, 2021
5. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a recall of muffins distributed under seven brand names for potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. The Give and Go Prepared Food Corporation recalled a variety of muffins marketed under different brand names, including Great Value, Uncle Wally’s and Marketside. The muffins were distributed to retailers nationwide, including Stop & Shop, Walmart and 7-Eleven.
FDA Announces Recall On Muffins Sold at Walmart, Costco for Possible Listeria Contamination https://t.co/FfZc6mPeHH via @Yahoo
— ResilientSpirit (@eelagr) July 23, 2021
6. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) just released updates to its AirNow Fire and Smoke Map. The updated map provides information regarding the locations of fires, along with air quality levels, throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The map provides current Air Quality Indexes (AQI), smoke plumes, potential impacts, and information about the actions to take based on air quality levels.
Follow this link for an interactive map showing the locations of fires in the northwest U.S. and Canada, and how the smoke plume is spreading across North America – https://t.co/SE2xmQlhde pic.twitter.com/BAKAv3sALG
— NWS Morristown (@NWSMorristown) July 22, 2021
7. Red Flag Warnings are in place for a large swath of Montana, along with a small portion of Idaho, due to high fire danger. The warning is in effect for the majority of Friday due to critical fire weather including dry fuels, low relative humidity, strong winds, and hot temperatures, which lead to fire ignitions and rapid fire spread. The warning expires at 9 p.m. Friday, and officials caution against creating sparks that could start wildfires.
A Red Flag Warning is in effect for all of NE Montana from Noon until 9 PM. Look for NW winds 10-20 mph, gusts to 25 mph, relative humidity as low as 10%, and high temps in the mid 80s to mid 90s in the presence of dry fuels. New fire starts will rapidly spread southeast. #mtwx pic.twitter.com/bkBauXGwor
— NWS Glasgow (@NWSGlasgow) July 23, 2021
8. The collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium Complex in Surfside, Florida, on June 24 is under investigation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The purpose of their investigation is to determine the technical failure that caused the collapse and recommend any changes relevant for building codes, standards, and practices. The tower collapse caused the deaths of at least 97 people, all of whom have now been identified.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology was given the authority to investigate building collapses after the attacks of 9/11. Now, a team of six researchers from NIST are in Surfside gathering information about Thursday's partial condo collapse. https://t.co/Q2BlsMVbNi
— WLRN Public Media (@WLRN) June 26, 2021
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