Copy
View this email in your browser

TLP:GREEN

Healthcare Ready is ALERT for Tropical Storm Fred and Western Wildfires
This situational report includes an assessment of the potential impacts to healthcare and public health due to Tropical Storm Fred in the Atlantic and wildfires in the West.
 

Wildfires and Extreme Heat in the Western US
High-Level Situation Summary
As of 8/13, there are 100 large fires that remain uncontained in the Western portion of the US. The majority of fires located in northern California, western Oregon, eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and south and western Montana. Below is a summary of current and potential impacts due to fires impacting or likely to impact populated areas.
 
California
The Dixie Fire is the second largest wildfire in California history, and the largest of this season with over 500,000 acres burned. The Dixie fire, located above the Cresta Dam in Feather River Canyon, is 31% contained as of 20:32 yesterday, 8/12. There have been more than 40 total evacuation orders/warnings that include closures in Plumas, Butte, Lassen, Tehama, and Shasta Counties. There are multiple Level 3 evacuation orders in Plumas county and multiple Level 2 evacuation orders in Butte and Tehama county. This fire perimeter is expected to grow over the course of the week, as a culmination of hot, dry weather invades the area, followed by thunderstorms later this week; which bring about the high chance of a lightning strike and potentially re-igniting or expanding the fire perimeter.
 
Washington
The Cedar Creek and Cub Creek 2 Fires are both in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Over the past week their growth has slowed down, and it does not seem that they will continue to grow rapidly. Evacuation orders and warnings for the Okanogan county area in WA are not intense and are also being lifted/lightened. While these two fires are cutting off part of State Highway 20, this is not a major supply line or roadway to Seattle. The fires can be avoided through surrounding roads but it is still disruptive for local travel.
 
The large fires affecting the Colville reservation in northeast Washington state, the Chuweah Creek, Whitmore, and Summit Trail Fires, are currently well-contained and are unlikely to show significant growth through the remainder of the week.
 
Oregon
The Bootleg Fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest started on 7/12, later merging with the Log Fire on 7/20 and currently has minimal fire activity and is 98% contained as of 12:12 today, 8/13. The Yainax and Walrus Fires started on 8/5 within the initial attack jurisdiction area of the Bootleg Fire, and crews continue to patrol and monitor all three fires. The Oregon Department of Forestry will assume management of the Yainax and Walrus Fires effective Saturday, 8/14 at 6:00 a.m. All evacuation orders for Klamath and Lake Counties were lifted on 8/9, but residents are asked to use caution when traveling near the fire areas where forest closures remain in effect. No healthcare impacts are expected at this time.
 
Emergency Declarations
  • California: Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency on July 23 for Plumas County due to the Dixie Fire and Fly Fire, Butte and Lassen counties due to the Dixie Fire, and Alpine County due to the Tamarack Fire.
  • Colorado: Governor Jared Polis issued two disaster declarations on 8/6 in response to the devastating damage from mudslides that have forced the I-70 corridor through Glenwood Canyon to close and impacted other parts of the state.
Healthcare Response Updates and Needs
  • Healthcare Facilities
    • There have been no reports of hospital evacuations or closures due to wildfires in the West.
  • Pharmacy Operations
    • Rx Open is currently activated for Wildfires, TS Fred and COVID-19. The map was last updated at 2:00 pm ET on August 11, 2021. It will be updated every other weekday. There is only one pharmacy closure in Colorado.
  • Other critical infrastructure impacts
    • Edward Hyatt Hydro Power Plant in Northern California shut down on 8/5 due to record-low water levels at Lake Oroville falling near the minimum necessary to generate power. The plant can produce enough power for 80,000 homes and businesses. However, since the plant’s shutdown had been expected, the California Department of Water Resources  has planned for the loss in both water and (electrical) grid management. As a result, no impacts to healthcare due to this shutdown are expected at this time.
    • The Colorado Governor confirmed a 46-mile stretch of I-70 will remain closed indefinitely following mudslides that came down Glenwood Canyon and heavily damaged the interstate on 7/29. A partial reopening is planned for 8/14. The interstate plays a large part in product movement, however, no major supply chain disruptions have been reported due to the closure at this time.
  • COVID-19 Status
    • In California, there is a daily average of 12,074 cases of COVID-19, which is a 54% increase in 14-day change. There are also 6.163 daily average hospitalization on August 11, which was an 84% increase in 14-day change. With only 54% of California residents fully vaccinated, evacuation may cause case counts to increase and further strain the hospital system.
    • Due to excessive heat across the Western US, COVID-19 testing sites in those areas may close early or have modified hours. Longer than usual wait times for testing in Washington have been reported. Testing disruption may decrease ability to accurately track spread of COVID-19 in impacted areas.  
Tropical Storm Fred
High-Level Situation Summary
As of 11:00 ET today, 8/13, Tropical Storm Fred is located near the north-northwest of Camaguey, Cuba.
Past impacts: Tropical Storm Fred caused damages to 55 electric circuits in Dominican Republic with over 430,000 users affected by power outage. More than half a million people were affected by flooding that forced parts of the aqueduct system to shut down. Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi closed government agencies on Tuesday at noon and officials noted that some gas stations had shut down after running out of fuel.
Future impacts: Heavy rain is expected in southern and central Florida between Friday 8/13 and Monday 8/16, and will impact the rest of Florida and parts of the Southeast this weekend and into next week. Similarly, tropical storm conditions are expected to begin tonight, 8/13 in southern Florida and move up to the rest of Florida through Monday, 8/16.
Despite the recent downgrade to a Tropical Depression on 8/11, by Sunday 8/15, Fred is predicted to intensify into a Tropical Storm as it moves to an improved environment for gradual strengthening and organization in southern Florida. The current models on intensity of TS Fred are mixed, but heavy rain remains the main hazard of concern.

Emergency Declarations
  • There is currently no state of emergency declaration in Florida for TS Fred, but Governor Ron DeSantis urged Floridians on Wednesday to watch for updates on Fred's track but said it remained too early to determine the threat to the state.
Healthcare Response Updates and Needs
  • Healthcare Facilities
    • There have been no reports of hospital evacuations or closures due to Tropical Storm Fred.
  • Pharmacy Operations
    • Rx Open is currently activated for Wildfires, TS Fred and COVID-19. The map was last updated at 2:00 pm ET on August 11, 2021. It will be updated every other weekday. There is only one pharmacy closure in Colorado.
  • COVID-19 Status
    • Florida is facing the country’s worst hospitalization rates, with at a 14,260 daily average hospitalized COVID-19 patients as of August 11, which was an 89% increase in 14-day change. The impacts of loss of power or infrastructural impacts could have a cascading impact on patient surge in hospitals already filled to capacity due to COVID-19.
    • The daily average number of cases is 21,169 which also saw a 57% increase in 14-day change.
    • Only 50% of the population in Florida is fully vaccinated. FEMA is working with partner organizations to enable COVID-safe sheltering.
Other Actions
If you become aware of situation(s) that may adversely affect healthcare supply or care in the affected area, or if you would like to request the assistance of Healthcare Ready, please contact us at Alerts@HealthcareReady.org or call 1.866.247.2694.

We are standing by, ready to assist those in the impacted areas. For those of you in the affected areas, our thoughts are with you.

Thank you,
Healthcare Ready Support Team
EVENT RESOURCES

Public Health Resources Partner Resources Federal Resources Maps
Follow
Healthcare Ready
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Wildfire Feeds: #Wildfire #WildfirePrevention #WildfirePreparedness #DixieFire #CA #California #Oregon #Washington

Tropical Storm Fred Feeds: #Fred #Florida #FL #FLPrepares #FLwx #Hurricane #TropicalStorm 

Rx on the Run, a downloadable medication card for citizens to keep track of their medications.
 
Message sent to Healthcare Ready national partners and those registered for alerts in: CA, WA, OR, CO, FL, MT, ID
 
Healthcare Ready leverages unique relationships with government, nonprofit and medical supply chains to build and enhance the resiliency of communities before, during and after disasters.
 
Information is public and may be shared freely, subject to copyright controls.
Copyright © 2021 Healthcare Ready, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list