May 6, 2026: SPC’s Enhanced Risk drives Wednesday’s tornado, hail, and damaging-wind threat from northeast Texas through Mississippi, Alabama, and southern Tennessee, with flash-flood concerns continuing across south-central Indiana and central Kentucky. The U.S. Geological Survey downgrades Kilauea’s volcano alert level to ADVISORY and aviation color code to YELLOW after Episode 46 of the summit eruption ends. CISA publishes five new ICS advisories. Newark Liberty International continues to grind through ATC staffing and equipment-related disruption. We also cover the Cow Creek Fire in Florida, the Hummingbird Fire in New Mexico, FEMA’s Kona Low recovery operations in Hawaii, an Acworth boil water advisory in Georgia, and a Boron Trifluoride leak in Duson, Louisiana. 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
• Mid-South severe weather: Enhanced Risk Wednesday for tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds across northeast Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and southern Tennessee, with flash-flood concerns in central Kentucky and south-central Indiana.
• Kilauea Episode 46 ended: Lava fountaining ended at 5:22 p.m. HST on May 5. HVO dropped the Volcano Alert Level from WATCH to ADVISORY and aviation color code from ORANGE to YELLOW; lava on the crater floor remains hot.
• NIFC posture: National Preparedness Level remains at 2 with 20 uncontained large fires; Southern Area at Geographic Area Preparedness Level 4 due to drought and active incidents in Florida and Georgia.
• CISA ICS advisories: Five advisories published May 5 covering ABB B and R Automation Runtime and Studio products and Johnson Controls CEM AC2000 (DLL hijacking, CVE-2026-21661); operators should review and prioritize patching.
• Newark Liberty disruption: More than 110 delays and 3 cancellations Tuesday tied to FAA air-traffic-control staffing, equipment work, and Spirit Airlines displacement; ripple effects into LaGuardia and Chicago O’Hare expected to continue.
• Florida Cow Creek Fire: Approximately 1,850 acres at 30 percent containment in Levy County south of Bronson; one outbuilding destroyed, no homes lost; FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant authorized.
• New Mexico Hummingbird Fire: 5,650 acres at 35 percent containment with zero growth for the fourth straight day; Willow Creek subdivision residents have returned home.
• Hawaii Kona Low recovery: FEMA in-person assistance running across Hawaii, Maui, and Honolulu counties; June 14 Individual Assistance deadline; Maui Hookumu Hou Reconstruction and Reimbursement Program deadlines extended through August 2026.
• Georgia Acworth boil water advisory: Cobb County Water System advisory in effect for parts of Acworth after a partially open valve allowed water from an inactive main to migrate into an active main.
• Louisiana Duson hazmat: Boron Trifluoride leak from a valve malfunction May 5 prompted evacuations and ten transports for evaluation; injuries reported as non-life threatening.
• Colorado and Wyoming snow: Late-season storm winding down with 5 to 10 inches in the Cheyenne area, up to 8 inches in Denver, and over a foot in Boulder; travel impacts continue along I-25.
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Sources
Storm Prediction Center and National Weather Service
• SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook, national severe thunderstorm outlook for May 6, 2026
• NWS national flood warning summary, live national flood warning summary
• NWS Birmingham, AL, severe weather messaging for central Alabama
• NWS Memphis, Mid-South severe weather and flood messaging
• NWS Little Rock, Arkansas severe weather messaging
• NWS Fort Worth/Dallas, North Texas severe weather messaging
• NWS Indianapolis, central Indiana severe weather and flooding messaging
• NWS Louisville, Kentucky severe weather and flood watch information
• NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge, southeast Louisiana severe weather messaging
• NWS Nashville, Middle Tennessee severe weather and flood messaging
USGS Kilauea
• USGS Kilauea Volcano Updates, official volcano update feed
• HVO May 5 evening notice, WATCH to ADVISORY downgrade and Episode 46 end notice
• Episode 46 lava fountaining ends after about 9 hours, local reporting on the May 5 fountaining event
NIFC and Wildfires
• NIFC IMSR (PDF), Tuesday May 5, 2026 Incident Management Situation Report
• NIFC National Fire News, national wildland fire activity summary
• InciWeb Incident Information, national active incident portal
CISA
• CISA ICS Advisories landing page, industrial control systems advisories
• CISA Cybersecurity Alerts and Advisories, enterprise cyber alerts and advisories
• CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, authoritative KEV reference
FEMA and Disaster Recovery
• FEMA Press Releases, agency-wide disaster response and assistance announcements
• FEMA Hawaii Kona Low Disaster (DR-4909-HI), Hawaii Kona Low disaster page
• FEMA specialists at local recovery centers (Kona Lows), recovery center hours and locations
FAA and Aviation
• FAA statements on Newark Liberty International Airport, agency advisories on Newark operations
• FAA National Airspace System Status, live ground stop and delay program advisories
Alabama
• University of Alabama severe weather alert (May 6), UA campus communications and Enhanced Risk preparation
California
• Governor Newsom proclaims Wildfire Preparedness Week (May 4), official proclamation and state readiness posture
• CAL FIRE 2026 Fire Season Incident Archive, state incident tracker
Colorado
• Late-season Rocky Mountain snowstorm (Fox Weather), storm impacts and forecast totals
• NWS Boulder/Denver, local NWS office for the Front Range
Florida
• FEMA authorizes federal funds for Cow Creek Fire, Fire Management Assistance Grant authorization
• Cow Creek Fire status update, local reporting on acreage and containment
Georgia
• Cobb County Boil Water Advisory Notice, county notice listing affected streets in Acworth
Hawaii
• FEMA in-person Kona Low assistance now on Hawaii Island, Kealakekua and Keaau Armory recovery hours
• Maui Recovers: FEMA Weekly Fact Sheet (DR-4724-HI WFS-073), Hookumu Hou and Reimbursement Program August 2026 deadline
Indiana
• Flood Watch and severe weather outlook (WRTV), Indianapolis-area flood watch and rainfall potential
Kentucky
• Flash Flood Warnings for Kentucky and Indiana counties (WHAS), live county-level flood and severe weather alerts
Louisiana
• Louisiana State Police: chemical leak in Duson (May 5), official release on Boron Trifluoride leak and response
Mississippi
• Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Alerts, state alerts page
New Jersey
• CBS News: Newark Airport delays and ground stops, context on equipment and staffing issues
New Mexico
• Gila National Forest Hummingbird Fire update for May 5, official fire update on acreage, containment, and personnel
South Dakota
• SD DPS Wildland Fire, state wildland fire response and Red Flag information
Texas
• Central Texas severe weather impact alert (KCEN), I-35 corridor severe storm forecast for Wednesday
Wyoming
• Cowboy State Daily: late-season Wyoming snowstorm, local reporting on snow totals and travel impacts
