Today’s EM Morning Brief covers a second round of Ohio Valley flooding that forced a mandatory evacuation at Buckeye Lake, closed Interstate 70 in both directions, and triggered water rescues across central Ohio, while Indiana enters day ten of a major outage with its state EOC still activated. In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Saudel is strengthening toward typhoon force with a Typhoon Warning for Pagan and Agrihan, Hurricane Lala holds Category 2 strength near Papahanaumokuakea, and a new depression aims heavy rain at the Big Island. We also cover a confirmed tornado and state of emergency in Dover, Delaware, a Nassau County declaration on Long Island, a new Alaska state disaster declaration for the Mukluk Fire, National Preparedness Level 5 wildfire activity across the West, and two new CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities with a Saturday remediation deadline. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.
Key Takeaways
• Ohio Valley flooding: A mandatory evacuation is in effect for part of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, Interstate 70 is closed both directions in Licking County, and Columbus activated the Franklinton floodwall for the first time in about 16 months. Roughly 30 Flood Warnings remain active across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
• Public health from flooding: Hamilton County, Ohio warns against contact with the Whitewater and Great Miami rivers as raw sewage discharges from a flood damaged plant in Connersville, Indiana.
• Indiana lifelines: Day ten of the northwest Indiana outage, with roughly 68,000 customers out plus about 9,000 more from a pole fire in Schererville. NIPSCO’s estimate for parts of the region is Tuesday, August 25.
• Tropical, Marianas: Typhoon Warning for Pagan and Agrihan, Tropical Storm Watch for Saipan and Tinian. CNMI has set Typhoon Condition Two and Tropical Storm Condition Three. A monsoon surge behind the storm could bring 4 to 8 inches to Guam and Rota.
• Tropical, Hawaii: Hurricane Lala remains Category 2 with a Hurricane Warning for part of Papahanaumokuakea. Tropical Depression Two-C is forecast to bring 5 to 10 inches to the Big Island while about 13,000 customers there remain without power from Lala.
• Tornado impacts: Confirmed tornado in Dover, Delaware prompted a city state of emergency. Nassau County, New York declared a state of emergency and activated its EOC after an apparent tornado at Atlantic Beach.
• Wildfire: National Preparedness Level 5 with 72 uncontained large fires and more than 25,000 personnel committed. Active evacuations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Alaska.
• Declarations and deadlines: Alaska issued a new state disaster declaration for the Mukluk Fire with applications open through October 19. Ohio and Indiana have both requested or completed expedited preliminary damage assessments. SBA physical loan deadlines for Michigan and Wisconsin counties fall August 31. Louisiana FEMA assistance for students and teachers closes October 1.
• Cyber: Two TrueConf Server vulnerabilities added to the CISA KEV catalog, one due for remediation Sunday, August 23. A new ICS advisory covers Johnson Controls Simplex Incident Manager, and a joint federal advisory issued Wednesday warns of active targeting of Siemens S7 programmable logic controllers.
• Heat and drought: 15 Extreme Heat Warnings across eight states. Puerto Rico is rationing water in seven municipalities with the Carraízo reservoir near control phase, and the USVI received a USDA drought disaster designation.
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Sources
CISA
• CISA Adds Two Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog: TrueConf Server CVEs added August 20
• Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog: catalog version 2026.08.20
• ICSA-26-232-01 Johnson Controls Simplex Incident Manager: credential storage advisory
DHS
• National Terrorism Advisory System: no current advisories in effect
FEMA
• OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries: no new declarations posted August 19 to 21
• SBA amendment adding Roscommon County, Michigan, physical loan deadline August 31
• SBA amendment adding Racine County, Wisconsin, physical loan deadline August 31
Wildfire
• NIFC National Incident Management Situation Report: Preparedness Level 5, 72 uncontained large fires
• InciWeb accessible view: incident acreage, containment and evacuation updates
Tropical and weather
• Tropical Depression Two-C Advisory 4: 5 to 10 inches of rain forecast for the Big Island
• NWS active alerts feed: 15 Extreme Heat Warnings, 30 Flood Warnings, 3 Red Flag Warnings
• NWS Wilmington rainfall report: 6.79 inches in Franklin County, Ohio
• NOAA Tsunami Warning Center: no tsunami warnings, advisories or watches in effect
Alabama
• Severe storms knock out power to thousands across North Alabama: Huntsville and Decatur utilities
Alaska
• Governor Dunleavy activates disaster assistance programs for the Mukluk Fire
American Samoa
• NWS Pago Pago High Surf Advisory for Tutuila, Aunu’u and Manu’a
Arizona
• Dust storm brings damaging winds and widespread outages to the Phoenix area
California
• Timber Fire: evacuation orders reduced to warnings, Highway 1 closure modified
Delaware
• State of emergency lifted in Dover following likely tornado
• Cleanup underway after tornado rips through Dover, Delaware
Guam
• Guam Homeland Security advisory: Guam not in path of Tropical Storm Saudel
• NWS Tiyan Hydrologic Outlook: monsoon surge rainfall forecast for the Marianas
Hawaii
• Hawaiian Electric restoration update: partner California utility crews expedite Hawaii Island work
• Hawaii County operational status: boil water notices, shelter and 911 guidance
Idaho
• North Heglar Fire: new large fire with evacuations, Cassia County
Illinois
• Pritzker waives penalties and interest for taxpayers affected by severe weather
• McLean County declares local disaster after mid-August storms
• Downtown Mattoon building collapse, no injuries reported
Indiana
• State of Indiana response to flooding, August 20 situation update from IDHS
• Thousands more lose power in northwest Indiana after pole fire
• State prepares federal ask as preliminary damage assessments complete
• Cambridge City boil water advisory remains in effect
Kansas
• Kansas City, Kansas outages cut by half the morning after severe storms
• Kansas City Kansas Public Schools to resume operations Friday with exceptions
• Volunteers distribute heat relief kits to KCK families still without power
Kentucky
• Severe weather across western Kentucky causes outages, damage and a school closure
Louisiana
• GOHSEP: students and teachers can apply for FEMA assistance, October 1 deadline
Michigan
• Battle Creek precautionary boil water advisory
Minnesota
• Minnesota Department of Health: E. coli and salmonella outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts
Mississippi
• Storm cleanup underway in Mississippi after severe weather knocks out power
Montana
• Windmill and Cherry Peak fires: new large incidents with structures threatened
New Jersey
• Flash flooding traps drivers and prompts water rescues across Newark
• Flash floods trap nearly 70 drivers in Jersey City
New Mexico
• Frijoles Fire: extreme fire behavior, evacuations and closures near Cundiyo
New York
• Nassau County declares state of emergency after Atlantic Beach tornado
• Seneca County confirms additional measles cases
• Onondaga County reports first human West Nile virus case of 2026
Northern Mariana Islands
• CNMI readiness conditions set for Tropical Storm Saudel
• SBA reminds Typhoon Sinlaku survivors of the August 21 loan deadline
Ohio
• NWS alert archive for Ohio, August 20 to 21: 134 Flood Warnings and 23 Flash Flood Warnings
• ODOT on flooding impacts to I-70 near Buckeye Lake, including projected reopening
• Mandatory evacuation ordered for part of Buckeye Lake as floodwaters rise
• Interstate 70 closures due to flooding in Licking County
• Franklinton floodwall activated after recent floods in Columbus
• Homeless camps swept away in Columbus area flooding, all five found alive
• Red Cross opens second shelter in Muskingum County for flood victims
• Hamilton County Public Health advisory on raw sewage in the Whitewater River
• DeWine requests expedited federal storm damage assessments
Oregon
• NIFC situation report: Austin Fire acreage and containment, Mount Hood National Forest
• Paradise Fire: evacuation levels issued and elevated in Walla Walla County
• Hagen Fire: evacuation levels reduced for portions of the fire area
Pennsylvania
• State of emergency declared in Columbia Borough after storm damage and building collapse
• Lancaster County residents told to conserve water after sewer authority power failure
Puerto Rico
• Carraízo reservoir drops to within 52 centimeters of control phase
• Heat advisory issued for 60 municipalities
• Teachers demand schedule adjustments at schools under water rationing
South Carolina
• Walhalla calls special meeting after water system failure and boil water advisory
South Dakota
• Pennington County drivers face August 31 deadline after cybersecurity incident
Texas
• Jourdanton issues boil water notice after system-wide water outage
U.S. Virgin Islands
• USDA approves drought disaster declaration for the USVI, opening emergency farm loans
Washington
• Governor Ferguson requests federal tax extension for wildfire-impacted individuals and businesses
• Little Giant Fire: Level 3 and Level 2 evacuations on the north shore of Lake Chelan
• Three Queens Fire: Kittitas County Level 1, 2 and 3 evacuations
West Virginia
• Charleston area flood victims continue cleanup and damage assessments
• Harrison County flood victims urged to log damage
Wisconsin
• SBA amendment adding Racine County to Wisconsin’s major disaster declaration
