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Once in a generation rain floods the Northeast corridor with rescues in Connecticut and North Jersey · EM Morning Brief

• 0:00
  Cedric: Good morning, and apologies for today’s delay.
• 0:02
  Cedric: I'm Cedric and this is your EM Morning Brief for Monday, September 14, 2026.
• 0:08
  Cedric: Flooding in the Northeast is the dominant operational story this morning.
• 0:13
  Cedric: A slow moving rain band parked over the Interstate 95 corridor Sunday and dropped 6 to 7 inches from Norwalk to Westport, Connecticut, with rates reaching 3 to 4 inches an hour.
• 0:25
  Cedric: Crews ran vehicle and boat rescues in coastal Connecticut and across North Jersey, Metro-North and Amtrak took delays and cancellations on lines serving New Haven, and the Federal Aviation Administration held Kennedy bound departures for nearly four hours.
• 0:41
  Cedric: New Jersey's state climatologist calls the rainfall in parts of Bergen and Passaic counties at least a once in a generation event.
• 0:50
  Cedric: A flood warning remains up in Rhode Island this morning.
• 0:53
  Cedric: The national wildfire picture is heavy but steady.
• 0:57
  Cedric: The National Interagency Fire Center holds the country at preparedness level 3, with 58 uncontained large fires, 102 active incidents, roughly 2.57 million cumulative acres and 13,018 personnel committed.
• 1:13
  Cedric: Four new large fires were reported in the last operational period, three of them in Texas.
• 1:18
  Cedric: Evacuations remain in effect on the Moonshine Fire in southeast Wyoming, the Plaskett Fire in California and three fires on Oregon's Mount Hood National Forest.
• 1:28
  Cedric: NIFC predictive services places the highest significant fire potential in the country over parts of Wyoming today, with gusts of 40 to 50 miles per hour and minimum relative humidity as low as 8 percent.
• 1:42
  Cedric: Federal posture is quiet.
• 1:44
  Cedric: The National Terrorism Advisory System carries no current advisories, CISA has added no new known exploited vulnerabilities since Friday, and FEMA has issued no new declaration since September 1.
• 1:57
  Cedric: The Small Business Administration did publish disaster loan deadlines this morning for South Dakota, Texas and Utah.
• 2:04
  Cedric: Heat advisories cover 12 states from South Texas through the lower Ohio Valley, with no extreme heat warnings active anywhere in the country.
• 2:13
  Cedric: The National Hurricane Center has no Atlantic systems and two weakening Eastern Pacific cyclones, neither of which threatens land.
• 2:21
  Cedric: Let's run through the states.
• 2:23
  Cedric: Connecticut: Coastal Connecticut absorbed the heaviest rain of the Northeast event.
• 2:29
  Cedric: The stretch from Norwalk to Westport took 6 to 7 inches Sunday morning at rates of 3 to 4 inches an hour.
• 2:37
  Cedric: The Westport Fire Department conducted 13 rescues of people trapped in vehicles, and the Bridgeport Fire Department put boats in the water to reach residents in flooded areas.
• 2:48
  Cedric: Governor Ned Lamont and other state officials urged drivers to stay out of standing water.
• 2:53
  Cedric: Metro-North and Amtrak reported delays and cancellations on lines serving Norwalk, Bridgeport and New Haven.
• 3:01
  Cedric: New Jersey: North Jersey saw the most extreme rainfall rates of the event.
• 3:06
  Cedric: A Rutgers weather station in North Haledon recorded more than 4 inches between 7 and 10 Sunday morning and nearly 5 inches by 12:30 in the afternoon, with totals near 4.5 inches in Little Falls and Haworth.
• 3:20
  Cedric: State climatologist John Krasting described the totals in those communities as at least a once in a generation event.
• 3:28
  Cedric: Water rescues were reported in Paterson, Westwood, Closter and Fair Lawn, and Paramus reported widespread road closures.
• 3:36
  Cedric: Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh says crews pulled about 20 people from rising water, with no immediate deaths or severe injuries.
• 3:44
  Cedric: New York: New York City health officials ordered 10 Bronx cooling towers drained, cleaned and disinfected by today after preliminary testing detected Legionella, including the tower at Yankee Stadium.
• 3:57
  Cedric: Ten people have tested positive in the Melrose and Morrisania cluster, one has died and three remain hospitalized.
• 4:05
  Cedric: The health department sampled 24 towers after opening the investigation on September 10, and culture confirmation may take up to two weeks.
• 4:13
  Cedric: Separately, Sunday's rain forced road closures and water rescues in White Plains and other Westchester communities, and the city opened dozens of overnight shelters.
• 4:24
  Cedric: The Kennedy Airport ground stop ran from 8:18 in the morning to 12:15 in the afternoon.
• 4:31
  Cedric: California: The Lucas Fire in the Sonoma, Lake and Napa unit grew 533 acres to 4,008 acres at 15 percent containment, and staffing jumped by 513 to 1,804 personnel, the largest single period surge in the country.
• 4:47
  Cedric: Numerous residences and communication infrastructure are threatened.
• 4:50
  Cedric: The Plaskett Fire on the Los Padres National Forest is 29,961 acres at 83 percent with evacuations still in effect, and the Timber Fire is 25,426 acres at 39 percent, with Highway 1 closed from Kirk Creek Campground to just
• 5:07
  Cedric: north of Gorda.
• 5:08
  Cedric: A red flag warning for the Sacramento Valley and northern foothills runs to 5 p.m.
• 5:13
  Cedric: today, and PG&E's public safety power shutoff has affected customers across a dozen counties since Saturday.
• 5:21
  Cedric: Colorado: The Swiss Roll Fire northeast of Pagosa Springs on the San Juan National Forest is listed as a new large incident, at 777 acres with zero containment and 61 personnel as of late Sunday, showing crowning and wind driven
• 5:36
  Cedric: runs.
• 5:37
  Cedric: The Pagosa Ranger District is issuing a closure order for Quartz Meadow Road and two nearby trails.
• 5:43
  Cedric: The Aspen Acres Fire in Custer County stands at 102,004 acres and 82 percent contained, with 915 structures lost.
• 5:52
  Cedric: The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Sunday evening for the Lee burn scar in Rio Blanco County.
• 6:00
  Cedric: Michigan: The evacuation of Tyden Lofts in Hastings entered a third day, with 145 residents still displaced after a suspected ricin incident.
• 6:10
  Cedric: Hazmat crews re-entered the building Sunday, and the Barry-Eaton District Health Department is taking environmental samples to determine what further cleanup is needed.
• 6:20
  Cedric: The health department says no quarantine is needed and there is no suspected exposure elsewhere in Hastings.
• 6:26
  Cedric: A Red Cross shelter is operating at the Commission on Aging, and the FBI and Michigan State Police are involved.
• 6:34
  Cedric: We have more to cover this morning, but first, a quick word from our sponsors.
• 6:39
  Cedric: Thanks for supporting our sponsors who help make EM Morning Brief possible.
• 6:44
  Cedric: Now, back to this morning’s updates.
• 6:47
  Cedric: Oregon: The Sycan Fire in Lake County posted the largest single period growth in the West, expanding 2,100 acres to 2,500 acres at zero containment, with personnel rising to 99.
• 7:00
  Cedric: Structures and energy infrastructure are threatened, and estimated containment is September 18.
• 7:06
  Cedric: Evacuations and area, road and trail closures remain in effect on three Mount Hood National Forest fires: the Austin Fire at 12,881 acres and 56 percent, The Narrows at 304 acres and 89 percent, and the Grasshopper Fire at 94,000
• 7:23
  Cedric: acres and 97 percent with 33 structures lost.
• 7:28
  Cedric: Washington: The Sisi Fire northwest of Stehekin grew 139 acres to 3,193 acres and remains just 5 percent contained, with residences and energy infrastructure threatened, though precipitation fell over the fire area.
• 7:44
  Cedric: Kittitas County reduced evacuation levels in three areas around the Three Queens and Goat fires, moving cabins along Baker Lane to Level 1 and part of the Lake Kachess area from Level 3 to Level 2.
• 7:56
  Cedric: The reductions do not reopen the closed national forest area.
• 7:59
  Cedric: The King Fire is 3,278 acres at zero containment and remains unstaffed because of steep, inaccessible terrain.
• 8:08
  Cedric: Wyoming: The Moonshine Fire 17 miles southwest of Wheatland grew 1,134 acres to 6,790 acres at 35 percent containment, with two structures lost and costs to date of 4.5 million dollars.
• 8:23
  Cedric: Personnel rose to 352, with 8 crews, 21 engines and 4 helicopters assigned.
• 8:29
  Cedric: Fire behavior is active, with backing, torching and short range spotting.
• 8:33
  Cedric: Residences are threatened and evacuations remain in effect.
• 8:36
  Cedric: NIFC predictive services places high significant fire potential over parts of the state today.
• 8:43
  Cedric: Arizona: The National Weather Service in Flagstaff issued a flash flood warning Sunday evening for the Havasu Creek basin on the Havasupai Reservation after a roughly five foot rise on Cataract Creek, warning that foot bridges would wash out at
• 8:58
  Cedric: Supai Campground and campers could be stranded.
• 9:01
  Cedric: The warning ran until 5 a.m.
• 9:02
  Cedric: Mountain.
• 9:04
  Cedric: Hawaii: The FCC's Hurricane Lowell communications status report for Sunday shows five of 704 cell sites out across Kauai and Oahu, all five of them on Kauai, with no public safety answering points affected and 2,191 cable and wireline subscribers
• 9:21
  Cedric: still out of service.
• 9:23
  Cedric: Iowa: The National Weather Service in Des Moines issued a flood watch Sunday evening for roughly 30 counties across southwestern, central and northeastern Iowa, including Polk, Story, Black Hawk and Dallas, for flash flooding possible through Tuesday morning.
• 9:40
  Cedric: Kansas: A flash flood warning for Doniphan County was issued at 4:52 this morning and runs to 10:45 a.m.
• 9:47
  Cedric: Central, part of a cluster of warnings along the Missouri River.
• 9:51
  Cedric: Missouri: Flash flood warnings cover Holt and Andrew counties this morning, issued between 4:52 and 5:16 a.m.
• 9:59
  Cedric: Central and running into mid morning.
• 10:02
  Cedric: North Carolina: The Town of Spring Lake issued a systemwide boil water advisory effective Sunday and continuing until further notice after E.
• 10:10
  Cedric: coli was detected in a repeat sample collected September 11.
• 10:15
  Cedric: Residents are told to boil for at least one minute and to discard ice made with tap water since September 8.
• 10:22
  Cedric: North Dakota: The National Weather Service in Bismarck issued a high wind warning for 18 zones across western and central North Dakota through midnight, plus a wind advisory for 15 more counties with west winds of 25 to 35 miles
• 10:37
  Cedric: per hour and gusts to 50.
• 10:41
  Cedric: Pennsylvania: A flash flood warning covering Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties ran Sunday morning, with emergency management reporting water rescues and road closures in Delaware County and Frankford Creek in Philadelphia County rising rapidly.
• 10:57
  Cedric: Rhode Island: Flash flood warnings Sunday morning gave way to a flood warning for Washington County, issued at 5:18 this morning and running to 2 p.m.
• 11:07
  Cedric: Eastern.
• 11:08
  Cedric: South Carolina: West Columbia issued a boil water advisory Sunday afternoon for a small set of addresses on Lake Shire Drive, Cornish Way and Laurel Road following a water main break, with affected customers told to boil vigorously for one
• 11:22
  Cedric: full minute.
• 11:25
  Cedric: South Dakota: The Small Business Administration published loan deadlines this morning for the public assistance declaration covering eight counties and two reservations.
• 11:35
  Cedric: Private nonprofit physical loan applications are due November 1, and economic injury applications are due June 1, 2027.
• 11:44
  Cedric: Tennessee: The Unicoi County 911 center continues to experience intermittent phone failures.
• 11:50
  Cedric: Callers who get no answer are told to hang up and use the backup line at 423-743-1850 while technicians work to restore the primary system.
• 12:00
  Cedric: (Official update published roughly 48 hours ago.)
• 12:05
  Cedric: Texas: Heat advisories cover 26 north and central Texas counties, including the Dallas and Fort Worth metro, through 8 p.m.
• 12:12
  Cedric: Central.
• 12:13
  Cedric: Three new large fires were reported: the Woodward Fire near Eldorado at 1,700 acres, Double Barrel near Pennington at 1,315 acres, and Star Lake near Stowell at 1,129 acres.
• 12:27
  Cedric: Utah: The Small Business Administration published loan deadlines this morning for the Cottonwood Fire and flooding declaration covering Beaver County and five contiguous counties.
• 12:37
  Cedric: Physical loan applications are due November 9, and economic injury applications are due June 9, 2027.
• 12:45
  Cedric: All other states and territories have no significant updates in the last 24 hours.
• 12:50
  Cedric: That wraps today's EM Morning Brief.
• 12:52
  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.
• 12:59
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• 13:05
  Cedric: EM Morning Brief is an EOC Voices Podcast.
• 13:09
  Cedric: Stay Safe.