Talk about timely reports! The CRS has two brief ones ready to go!
1) Tropical Storm Barry: FEMA and Additional Storm-Related Resources by Bruce R. Lindsay, Elizabeth M. Webster, Diane P. Horn and Eva Lipiec.
This brief report has numerous resources. If you click on the title above you will get the version of the report with hot links.
Download CRS_Insight_Tropical_Storm_Barry_FEMA_12July2019
Introduction
This Insight provides a brief overview of emergency and major declarations and federal assistance programs potentially available to those affected by Tropical Storm Barry. It also lists resources for forecast information, hurricane and flooding information, and selected Congressional Research Service reports on federal emergency management policy.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued watches and warnings for Tropical Storm Barry, a slow-moving storm in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Current forecasts predict the storm’s landfall to occur along the Louisiana coast on Saturday, July 13, 2019. The storm is expected to result in high winds, heavy rains, and storm surge to the north-central Gulf Coast. According to NOAA, the slow-moving nature of the storm will result in a long-duration heavy rainfall threat along the central Gulf Coast and inland through the lower Mississippi Valley. Tropical Storm Barry is expected to arrive during a period of unusually heavy flooding on the Mississippi River. There are concerns Mississippi River flooding and storm surge may converge to create exceptional flooding conditions.
At the time of this writing, the President has issued an emergency declaration for Louisiana in anticipation for Tropical Storm Barry. Emergency declarations for other states may be forthcoming. As authorized under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.), the President may issue an emergency declaration in anticipation of an incident to support state and local efforts to save lives, protect property, and lessen or avert the incident from becoming a major disaster. If Tropical Storm Barry makes landfall, and the storm warrants further federal assistance, the President may issue a major disaster declaration. This allows for a broad range of federal assistance programs to be made available to state and local governments, private nonprofit organizations, and individuals through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal agencies.
2) Forecasting Hurricanes: Role of the National Hurricane Center by Eva Lipiec and Peter Folger (updated 11 July 2019).
Download CRS_InFocus_Hurricane_Center_11July2019
Here are the first two sections.
Introduction
"The National Hurricane Center (NHC), part of the National Weather Service (NWS) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is responsible for forecasting tropical cyclones, including hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The NHC provides estimates of the path of a tropical cyclone (i.e., hurricane track), the intensity, and the size and structure of the storm, as well as predictions of storm surge, rainfall, and even associated tornadoes. Depending on the status of the tropical cyclone, this information may be used to create a hurricane watch or a hurricane warning and public advisories, which are issued on an increasingly frequent basis if a storm strengthens and approaches the U.S. coastline.
How the Process Works
A hurricane forecast involves many components and uses a broad array of resources and capabilities within NOAA and the NWS, all of which must be coordinated and interpreted by the NHC. The process begins with observations: satellites, aircraft, ships, buoys, radar, and other sources provide data used to create storm-track and intensity predictions. Most Atlantic hurricanes, for example, begin to form just west of the African continent over the ocean. NOAA weather satellites primarily provide the remote- sensing observations during the early stages of tropicalstorm development in the eastern Atlantic. NOAA’sGeostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) are stationed over the same location spanning North America (two satellites make up the active GOES constellation, often referred to as GOES East and GOES West) and provide continuous data as the storms form and intensify during their journey across the Atlantic from Africa to North America.
Very useful material - par for the course for the CRS!
Enjoy!
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want." - Bill Watterson (quoted in @CountryLiving via @TheWeek)
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