EDM Tuesday Briefing: Rainfall Floods Houston, Ecuador and Japan Recover from Quakes

Emergency and disaster management briefing for April 19, 2016: More than a foot of rain floods parts of Houston, Ecuador attempts to recover from a deadly magnitude-7.8 earthquake, and U.S. Marines assist Japan’s recovery efforts following two quakes.

1. Up to 17 inches of rain fell in the Houston, TX region in less than 24 hours yesterday, causing [link url=”https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/04/18/houston-region-swamped-and-shutdown-by-historic-flood/” title=”historic flooding“] and essentially shutting down large portions of the city. [link url=”http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/unprecedented-2-dead-record-rainfall-floods-houston-n557451″ title=”At least five people died“] in the massive floods, which also caused the cancelation of hundreds of flights, the shut down of mass transit, and the closing of hundreds of schools.

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2. Texas Governor Greg Abbott [link url=”http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/texas-floods-prompt-1000-water-rescues-more-rain-expected” title=”declared a state of emergency in nine counties:“] Austin, Bastrop, Colorado, Fort Bend, Harris, Grimes, Montgomery, Waller and Wharton. More than 1,000 water rescues have already been performed and Governor Abbott said he [link url=”http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/texas-floods-prompt-1000-water-rescues-more-rain-expected” title=”expects that number to grow“] over the next couple of days as water levels continue to rise.
3. The [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-quake-idUSKCN0XE009″ title=”death toll climbed to more than 400“] in Ecuador as post-earthquake rescue efforts moved into a third day. Saturday’s magnitude-7.8 earthquake injured at least 2,600 people, damaged more than 1,500 buildings, and forced more than 18,000 people to sleep in shelters. Most of the deaths [link url=”http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ecuador-earthquake-death-toll-rises-350-one-american-dead-n557436″ title=”occurred in and around Portoviejo,“] a city of approximately 200,000 where rescue crews are still trying to free people trapped in the wreckage of collapsed buildings.

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4. In Japan, [link url=”http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36069405″ title=”nearly 250,000 people have been told to leave their homes“] due to fear of further earthquakes after two earthquakes struck in less than a week — a magnitude-7.3 quake on Saturday and a 6.4-magnitude quake on Thursday. Those two earthquakes last week [link url=”http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36069405″ title=”killed at least 42,“] injured more than 1,000 others, and inflicted widespread damage to buildings, houses, roads and bridges.
5. An undisclosed number of [link url=”http://www.militarytimes.com/story/breaking-news/2016/04/17/japan-earthquakes-us-marines-disaster-relief/83153730/” title=”U.S. Marines are assisting emergency crews in southern Japan“] following the two deadly earthquakes, providing assistance in the Japanese government’s [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-forces-provide-aircraft-assist-japan-earthquake-search/story?id=38460296″ title=”search and recovery efforts.“] The Marines were [link url=”http://www.militarytimes.com/story/breaking-news/2016/04/17/japan-earthquakes-us-marines-disaster-relief/83153730/” title=”sent to Japan from the Philippines,“] where they had been participating in a training exercise.
6. The Klamath River has been in trouble for a long time, and now a new agreement [link url=”https://amuedge.com/klamath-river-dam-removal-agreement-signed/” title=”calls for the removal of all four dams on the Klamath river“] by 2020, helping to restore salmon, steelhead, other fish, and to restore the rivers ecosystem. The new pact is receiving [link url=”https://amuedge.com/klamath-river-dam-removal-agreement-signed/” title=”widespread support“] from the local community.

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7. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) conducted a [link url=”https://amuedge.com/simulated-attack-on-power-grid-reveals-need-for-improvement-in-response/” title=”large-scale power grid security exercise“] in late 2015 that involved 4,400 individuals from 364 organizations across North America. Recently, the NERC published [link url=”https://amuedge.com/simulated-attack-on-power-grid-reveals-need-for-improvement-in-response/” title=”observations and recommendations“] to help the electricity industry enhance the security and reliability of the North American bulk power system.

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8. In a hearing late last week, lawmakers expressed concern of a potential [link url=”http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/276359-lawmakers-push-emergency-planning-for-power-grid-attack” title=”attack on the U.S. electrical grid.“] Lawmakers pressed federal officials about [link url=”http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/276359-lawmakers-push-emergency-planning-for-power-grid-attack” title=”emergency plans in the event of an attack,“] and questioned whether the U.S. is prepared to handle a major attack and its aftermath.
9. An [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/asia/kabul-explosion/” title=”explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan“] this morning left at least 28 people dead and more than 300 people injured. A [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/asia/kabul-explosion/” title=”suicide car bomber“] reportedly caused the explosion, and the Afghan Taliban reportedly [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/19/asia/kabul-explosion/” title=”claimed responsibility for the attack.“] The U.S. embassy reiterated its warning that Americans in the country should “maintain a high level of vigilance.”
10. British Columbia recently [link url=”http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-public-health-emergency-overdose-drugs-1.3535910″ title=”declared a public health emergency“] due to a significant increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths. Overdose deaths have risen sharply in British Columbia since 2010. In 2015, the [link url=”http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-public-health-emergency-overdose-drugs-1.3535910″ title=”474 overdose fatalities“] represented a 30 percent increase over the 365 deaths in 2014. This is the first time that Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall has exercised his emergency powers.