Latest / EM Morning Brief / Gulf system nears Texas landfall as watches loom; Grand Canyon flash flood kills one and cuts park water

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Gulf system nears Texas landfall as watches loom; Grand Canyon flash flood kills one and cuts park water · EM Morning Brief

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  Cedric: Good morning, I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Monday, August 31, 2026.
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  Cedric: The Gulf of America is the operational priority.
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  Cedric: The National Hurricane Center's 2:00 a.m.
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  Cedric: Eastern outlook puts a low pressure area more than 100 miles south of the southern Louisiana coast, producing winds of 30 to 35 miles an hour, with a 70 percent chance of formation through 48 hours.
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  Cedric: Forecasters expect a short lived tropical depression or tropical storm to form before the system reaches the Upper Texas or southwestern Louisiana coasts tonight or Tuesday morning, and they state that tropical storm watches or warnings could be required for
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  Cedric: portions of that area later today.
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  Cedric: An Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to investigate this morning.
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  Cedric: The Weather Prediction Center carries a Marginal Risk of excessive rainfall along the upper Texas coast today and a Slight Risk there and across far southwestern Louisiana on Tuesday.
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  Cedric: The Southwest is the day's flash flood story.
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  Cedric: The Weather Prediction Center has a Moderate Risk of excessive rainfall for portions of Utah, with a 20 to 30 percent chance of hourly rainfall above one inch and specific concern for dry washes, slot canyons, and burn scars.
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  Cedric: That threat lands on ground already hit: Grand Canyon National Park is in recovery from Saturday's flash flood in Bright Angel Canyon, which killed one visitor, forced 62 evacuations from the inner canyon, destroyed nearly all footbridges over Bright Angel
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  Cedric: Creek, and knocked the park's Transcanyon Waterline out of service.
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  Cedric: Flood watches now cover most of northern, central, and south central Arizona, and a flash flood warning was issued for central Pima County early this morning.
• 2:04
  Cedric: The wildfire system remains at full stretch.
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  Cedric: The national situation report dated Sunday morning holds the National Preparedness Level at 5, with 98 uncontained large fires, 22,168 personnel committed, 15 complex incident management teams assigned, and 8.2 million acres burned year to date, which is 163 percent
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  Cedric: of the ten year average.
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  Cedric: Heat is the other broad driver: 16 heat advisories run from Kansas and Iowa south through Mississippi and Louisiana, with heat index values from 100 to as high as 110, and several of those advisories now extend through Friday evening
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  Cedric: rather than a single afternoon.
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  Cedric: On the federal side the picture is quiet.
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  Cedric: There is no active National Terrorism Advisory System advisory, no new addition to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog since August 27, no new CDC Health Alert Network notice, and no new FEMA disaster declaration in the last 24 hours.
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  Cedric: Let’s run through the states.
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  Cedric: Arizona is running two problems at once.
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  Cedric: At Grand Canyon National Park, the National Park Service reports 62 people evacuated from Phantom Ranch and the lower North Kaibab Trail, with transport coordinated through the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the American Red Cross assisting evacuees at
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  Cedric: the Maswik Lodge cafeteria on the South Rim.
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  Cedric: Recovery operations were completed Sunday evening for a 46 year old man near Crystal Rapids, and the Coconino County Medical Examiner is on scene.
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  Cedric: The Park Service is asking the public for help accounting for roughly 15 people who may be unaccounted for.
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  Cedric: The Colorado River is closed to river traffic because of metal structures and debris, and Phantom Ranch, the entire North Kaibab Trail, and both Colorado River footbridges are closed until further notice.
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  Cedric: With the Transcanyon Waterline down, Stage 4 water restrictions on the South Rim begin at noon today, all park concessions stop overnight accommodations, campground spigots go off, and wood and charcoal fires are prohibited.
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  Cedric: The park stays open for day use and the clinic remains open.
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  Cedric: Statewide, the Flagstaff flood watch warns of raging currents in side canyons and slot canyons on already saturated soils.
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  Cedric: Texas is the landfall state.
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  Cedric: Beyond the National Hurricane Center guidance, no state level preparedness action was posted in the last 24 hours: the most recent Texas Division of Emergency Management release predates the window and the state's active disaster declarations are unchanged.
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  Cedric: An ozone air quality alert runs until 4:45 this afternoon for inland Brazoria, Galveston, and Harris counties and Galveston Island.
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  Cedric: On the wildfire side, Texas requested structural fire support through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact for the Ross Fire in Palo Pinto and Jack counties, and 29 Tennessee firefighters deployed Sunday morning for roughly 14 days.
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  Cedric: Utah carries the strongest inland flood signal in the country today.
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  Cedric: The Salt Lake City flood watch runs through this evening and names the Widemouth 2, Cottonwood, Monroe Canyon, and Forsyth burn scars along with Zion and Capitol Reef.
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  Cedric: Emery County has a Red Cross shelter open at the Orangeville meetinghouse for residents displaced by weekend flooding, and the sheriff's office is distributing sandbags.
• 5:35
  Cedric: Sheriff Tyson Huntington said Monday's storms have "the potential to be a once-in-a-lifetime event in magnitude."
• 5:42
  Cedric: The Weather Service is surveying damage from a possible tornado near Lynndyl in Millard County that knocked over 34 rail cars, and a mudslide has closed part of State Route 66 near East Canyon.
• 5:55
  Cedric: California has two Los Padres National Forest incidents driving operations.
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  Cedric: The Timber Fire near Big Sur is at 24,727 acres and 21 percent containment with 2,192 personnel assigned, and portions of Big Sur remain under evacuation orders, warnings, and shelter in place orders, with one structure lost.
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  Cedric: The Plaskett Fire is at 15,478 acres with zero containment and communication infrastructure threatened.
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  Cedric: A red flag warning covers central and eastern Siskiyou County and the Klamath Basin from noon to 8:00 tonight, with gusts to 35 miles an hour and minimum humidity of 9 to 15 percent.
• 6:37
  Cedric: Washington has three fires with active evacuations.
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  Cedric: Little Giant, northwest of Leavenworth, is at 163,089 acres and 49 percent contained, with 26 structures lost and 240 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis McChord assigned.
• 6:53
  Cedric: Sinlahekin, west of Tonasket, is at 166,413 acres and 40 percent contained with 30 structures lost.
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  Cedric: Three Queens, east of Snoqualmie Pass, is at 8,742 acres and 5 percent contained, with Kittitas County running level 1, 2, and 3 evacuations.
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  Cedric: The Department of Ecology has an air quality alert for Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties, the same counties under the two large fires.
• 7:20
  Cedric: Oregon has the McCully Fire as its priority incident: 9,934 acres, 2 percent contained, 814 personnel, with evacuations and road and trail closures in effect and residences and communication infrastructure threatened.
• 7:35
  Cedric: The Austin Fire southeast of Estacada is at 10,708 acres with zero containment, 635 personnel, and critical infrastructure threatened.
• 7:46
  Cedric: The Department of Environmental Quality has a smoke advisory for Crook, Jefferson, and Wasco counties.
• 7:52
  Cedric: Louisiana sits on the eastern edge of the Gulf system.
• 7:56
  Cedric: The Weather Service expects the heaviest rain to stay west, with roughly one to two inches along the Cameron coastline and little to no storm surge flooding, though the track has shifted toward the Sabine River late Tuesday into Wednesday.
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  Cedric: Heat indices reach 105 to 107 today.
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  Cedric: No state preparedness action was posted in the window: the GOHSEP newsroom has nothing since August 20.
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  Cedric: Eastbound Interstate 10 in Acadia Parish near Crowley was blocked Sunday afternoon by a tractor trailer fire.
• 8:28
  Cedric: Indiana has a recovery deadline set today.
• 8:32
  Cedric: The Small Business Administration declaration tied to the August 25 major disaster declaration published in the Federal Register this morning: physical damage loan applications are due October 25, economic injury applications are due May 25, 2027, and 21 primary counties
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  Cedric: are covered, with contiguous eligibility extending into Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky.
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  Cedric: Lake County's rapid intake center operates in Crown Point today from 8:30 to 4:30, then moves to Gary September 1 through 3.
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  Cedric: The SNAP food replacement deadline is today.
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  Cedric: Kentucky has an active measles investigation.
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  Cedric: The state health department identified exposure sites in Madison County tied to an unvaccinated out of state traveler who visited Richmond and Olive Hill in late August, naming a Richmond retail store and an urgent care clinic.
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  Cedric: The department reports 29 confirmed cases statewide, 20 of them under 18, all unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status.
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  Cedric: Western Kentucky is under a heat advisory through Friday evening.
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  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning but first, a quick word from our sponsors.
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  Cedric: Thanks for supporting our sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
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  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
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  Cedric: Colorado issues a water contact advisory today at John Martin Reservoir State Park after roughly 4.25 million gallons of untreated sewage released from a Pueblo treatment plant into the Arkansas River.
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  Cedric: State health officials say downstream drinking water systems shut intakes in time and were not compromised.
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  Cedric: Flash flood watches cover Lake and Chaffee counties and western Colorado basins.
• 10:18
  Cedric: Hawaii continues Hurricane Lala recovery, with reporting putting damage to Hawaii County water systems at about 13 million dollars in Kau and service losses tied directly to grid outages and a shortage of emergency generators.
• 10:33
  Cedric: Idaho has the Crooked Fire northeast of Idaho City at 8,433 acres and 12 percent contained with structures threatened, and a Great Basin complex incident management team mobilizing.
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  Cedric: Illinois has cooling centers open across several southern counties, and the Weather Service cancelled an extreme heat watch in favor of a heat advisory running through Friday evening.
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  Cedric: Montana has the Sand Creek Fire southeast of Wisdom at 34,083 acres and 13 percent contained with evacuations and closures in effect, while Granite County lifted the red evacuation warning on the Moose Fire and downgraded it to a yellow
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  Cedric: advisory.
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  Cedric: New Mexico has the Frijoles Fire on the Santa Fe National Forest at 15,367 acres and 59 percent contained with residences and communication infrastructure threatened, and the city of Aztec remains under a Stage 3 water shortage emergency.
• 11:32
  Cedric: Oklahoma Forestry Services logged three new large fires in the latest national situation report, including one near Quinton where a structure was lost.
• 11:42
  Cedric: Tennessee reissued a Code Orange ozone alert this morning for the Memphis metro through 5:30 this evening, and Ripley Power and Light is reporting roughly 3,100 customers out in Lauderdale County.
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  Cedric: Wisconsin reaches its FEMA individual assistance and SBA loan application deadline today for the April severe storms and flooding, covering 19 counties and the Oneida Nation.
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  Cedric: All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
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  Cedric: Let’s run through the territories.
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  Cedric: Puerto Rico had a grid event and continues drought rationing.
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  Cedric: Two Costa Sur generating units tripped offline Sunday, forcing load shedding that peaked above 180,000 customers before falling to just under 20,000 by late afternoon, concentrated in Arecibo, Bayamón, Mayagüez, Caguas, and Carolina.
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  Cedric: Genera PR attributes the trip to a failure in a LUMA switchyard.
• 12:41
  Cedric: The remnants of Dolly are delivering rain, but the Weather Service says two to four inches will not close basin deficits of eight to ten inches, so rationing in place since August 7 continues and the Drought Committee meets today.
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  Cedric: A rip current statement for life threatening currents runs through 6:00 this evening.
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  Cedric: U.S.
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  Cedric: Virgin Islands has a compound water failure on St.
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  Cedric: Croix.
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  Cedric: The Water and Power Authority suspended production at the Richmond facility after a wastewater incident near the seawater intake and is warning customers islandwide to expect low to no pressure.
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  Cedric: The standpipe is closed, leaving haulers without a source, and the government is evaluating water distribution points.
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  Cedric: A boil water advisory remains in effect for Frederiksted after E.
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  Cedric: coli was detected in repeat samples, and the Housing Authority has activated outreach teams for seniors, families with infants, and medically vulnerable residents.
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  Cedric: Northern Mariana Islands Governor Apatang signed Executive Order 2026-017 on Sunday extending the territory wide state of significant emergency for 30 days, tied to continuing power and water restoration from Super Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi, with Rota the hardest hit.
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  Cedric: All other territories and the District of Columbia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
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  Cedric: That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 14:08
  Cedric: New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5:00 AM hour P.T., so the day starts with clarity instead of catch-up.
• 14:15
  Cedric: Subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack, or follow on your favorite podcast player.
• 14:21
  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
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  Cedric: Stay Safe.