Latest / EM Morning Brief / Flash flood emergencies return to the Texas Hill Country as the state response tops 1,300 personnel; hazardous smoke blankets the Upper Midwest; NIFC update

Transcript

Flash flood emergencies return to the Texas Hill Country as the state response tops 1,300 personnel; hazardous smoke blankets the Upper Midwest; NIFC update · EM Morning Brief

• 0:30
  Good morning.
• 0:30
  I'm Cedric and This is your EM Morning Brief for Thursday, July 16, 2026 and today's episode is sponsored by the NIMS store.
• 0:39
  The Texas Hill country is in the middle of a dangerous and escalating flood event.
• 0:45
  The National Weather Service issues flash flood emergencies for Kerr county, covering more than 45,000 people, and for southwestern Kendall county, including Borney, where 4 to 12 inches of rain have already fallen.
• 0:59
  Fox Weather also reports an emergency for Uvalde County.
• 1:03
  The Guadalupe river rises more than 10ft in a single hour.
• 1:07
  At hunt crews field multiple water rescue calls overnight and Governor Greg Abbott expands the state disaster declaration to 59 counties.
• 1:18
  The state now has more than 1300 personnel from more than 30 agencies deployed, along with more than 800 vehicles, more than 75 boats and 20 aircraft.
• 1:29
  Abbott says the flooding is likely to break records in Texas history and heavy rain threats continue through the end of the week.
• 1:37
  The national wildfire picture stays intense.
• 1:40
  The National Interagency Fire center holds at preparedness level 4, with 48 uncontained large fires, 108 new fires reported in a single day and more than 16,800 personnel assigned.
• 1:53
  Nationwide, large fires are burning in all 10 geographic areas and the year to date total stands near 39,500 fires and more than 3.6 million acres.
• 2:04
  Minnesota remains the national focus.
• 2:06
  The entire Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is closed for only the third time in 50 years, and smoke from Canadian and Minnesota fires pushes air quality alerts from Minnesota through the Great Lakes to New York City.
• 2:21
  At the same time, a record challenging heat dome keeps extreme heat warnings and advisories in place from the Northern Plains into New England and the Mid Atlantic.
• 2:32
  On the cyber front, CISA adds two vulnerabilities to the known exploited vulnerabilities, a KNX building automation protocol flaw and an Oracle E business suite privilege management vulnerability, both with evidence of active exploitation in the tropics.
• 2:49
  The National Hurricane center issues advisories on Tropical Depression five E well off the southwestern coast of Mexico and monitors a low south southeast of Hawaii for gradual development.
• 3:00
  No Atlantic development is expected over the next seven days.
• 3:04
  Let's run through the states.
• 3:08
  Recent rainfall moderates fire activity across the interior and the last staffed wildfires transition to monitor status, leaving no staffed wildland fire incidents in the state.
• 3:18
  After Wednesday, all evacuation statuses are lifted for the Starry and 17 Mile fires, including the city of Anderson and the North 40 zones.
• 3:27
  NFC still lists eight large fires totaling about 9,100 acres, all at 0% containment but with minimal behavior.
• 3:37
  Arizona A monsoon surge keeps flash flood risk elevated across the southern half of the state.
• 3:43
  The National Weather Service in Tucson issues a flash flood warning for southeastern Pinal county, including Oracle, Saddlebrook and Biosphere 2 after storms drop up to 1.5 inches of rain.
• 3:55
  Forecasters declare additional alert days as more storm rounds arrive.
• 4:00
  The city of Greenbrier issues a system wide boil order after a water main break.
• 4:06
  Separately, the Arkansas Department of Health issues a precautionary boil order for Waldenburg and areas to the south and west following another main break.
• 4:15
  California the Summit Fire near Pynan hills stands at 2,690 acres and 47% containment per NIFC.
• 4:23
  Evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, with a shelter open at the Antelope Valley Family ymca in Lancaster.
• 4:33
  Two MAFS C130 air tankers from the California Air National Guard remain positioned at San Bernardino and Santa Maria to support national aerial firefighting.
• 4:44
  Colorado the Willow Fire west of Leadville reaches 6,408 acres at 29% containment.
• 4:52
  California Interagency Incident Management Team 8 assumes command Tuesday morning with crews strengthening lines south of Turquoise Lake and near Bald Eagle Mountain.
• 5:02
  Evacuation orders and pre evacuation notices remain in place west of Leadville, with more than 1,000 homes at risk and no structure damage reported.
• 5:12
  Idaho the Clermont Fire northeast of Boise grows to roughly 6,815 acres and reaches 61% containment after a safety stand down over unexploded ordnance in the fire area.
• 5:25
  The U.S.
• 5:25
  army Corps of Engineers and the Incident Command team set an 1800 foot buffer around the identified ordnance area.
• 5:32
  Estimated containment moves to August 1st.
• 5:35
  Enclosures in the military reserve and surrounding foothills trails are extended.
• 5:41
  Kentucky an amendment to the Major Disaster Declaration for the Commonwealth FEMA 4913 Dr.
• 5:47
  Severe winter storm Public Assistance only publishes in the Federal Register official update published within the last 24 hours.
• 5:56
  Main A water main break on Griffin Road in Bangor triggers a boil order covering Broadway, Essex and about 30 additional streets.
• 6:05
  Michigan A statewide air quality alert is in effect as wildfire smoke moves through the Great Lakes in northwest Detroit.
• 6:13
  Underground cable failures at a DTE Energy substation knock out power to nearly 8,000 residents Tuesday night, with more than 4,500 still without power Wednesday afternoon.
• 6:26
  Minnesota the U.S.
• 6:27
  forest Service reports at least 17 wildfires burning across the Superior National Forest, including three inside the Boundary Waters, with more than 33,000 acres burned.
• 6:39
  The full Boundary Waters closure that began at 12:01am July 14 remains in effect through at least Friday, and officials say the firefight is expected to continue into the fall.
• 6:51
  Governor Tim Walls and the Executive Council vote to extend the peacetime emergency for the northern Minnesota wildfires by 30 days, and St.
• 7:00
  Louis county remains under a local state of emergency.
• 7:04
  Smoke is a second emergency of its own.
• 7:07
  The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency calls Twin Cities air hazardous and urges residents to stay indoors.
• 7:13
  Duluth records some of the worst air quality in the country and the statewide alert runs until at least 11am Friday.
• 7:22
  Mississippi A presidential major disaster declaration for the state FEMA 4922 doctor severe storms, straight line winds, tornadoes and flooding.
• 7:32
  Public assistance only publishes in the Federal Register, opening the door for public assistance funding in designated areas.
• 7:39
  Official update published within the last 24 hours.
• 7:43
  New York Canadian wildfire smoke descends on parts of the state and air quality alerts extend to New York City as the plume spreads east through the Great Lakes and northeast TENNESSEE Westmoreland in Sumner county issues an urgent precautionary
• 7:59
  boil water notice after a water main break drops chlorine residual levels, forcing some business closures.
• 8:06
  Officials report no confirmed contamination.
• 8:10
  A flash flood emergency unfolds across Kerr county early this morning as the Guadalupe river surges, prompting evacuations at the Buckhorn Lake Resort and the Ingram RV Park.
• 8:19
  At least six major water rescue calls by 2:30am and widespread road closures.
• 8:25
  TxDOT closes Highway 39 from Ingram to US 83 and I10 west is closed near SH41 after a major crash.
• 8:34
  Up to 20 inches of rain have fallen in parts of south central Texas.
• 8:38
  Multiple rivers sit at major flood stage and life threatening flash and urban flooding continues through early Friday.
• 8:46
  The state response keeps growing.
• 8:48
  Governor Abbott directs the state Operations center to remain activated around the clock under a 59 county disaster declaration with more than 1300 personnel deployed.
• 9:00
  Storms also cut power across the region.
• 9:03
  More than 5,000 energy customers lose service in Jefferson county, mostly in Nederland and Port Neches, and South Texas utilities report roughly 3,600 customers out as heavy rain moves through Utah.
• 9:17
  The Cottonwood Fire east of Beaver reaches 97,455 acres at 77% containment, per NIFC's daily report, and full suppression efforts continue.
• 9:27
  A new fire, the Buck Basin Fire, starts about 10 miles east of Heber City on the Uintawassatch Cache National Forest at roughly 200 acres.
• 9:37
  Wisconsin A statewide air quality alert remains in place at least through Thursday, with the heaviest smoke expected across northwest Wisconsin near Lake Superior.
• 9:48
  All other states have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 9:52
  Lets run through the territories, U.S.
• 9:55
  virgin Islands WAPA customers on St.
• 9:57
  Thomas and St.
• 9:58
  John face a mix of planned and unplanned outages, including an overnight outage for the Feeder 13 bypass project.
• 10:06
  One point Wednesday morning, more than a quarter of tracked customers are without power.
• 10:11
  WAPA also reports fuel delivery delays from its supplier and secures an earlier maritime diesel delivery from Puerto Rico to stabilize inventories.
• 10:21
  All other territories and the District of Columbia have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 10:28
  That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 10:30
  New episodes drop Monday through Friday in the 5am hour PT, so the day starts with clarity.
• 10:36
  Instead of catch up, subscribe on the Emergency Management Network on Substack or follow on your favorite podcast player.
• 10:43
  EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices podcast.
• 10:46
  Stay safe.