Come Home to Norfolk

Team,

The Emergency Operations Center participated in a 2pm conference call with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service.  A brief synopsis is as follows:

National Weather Service
Meteorolgist-In-Charge Jeff Orrock provided the latest brief on Florance.  While        currently a Tropical Storm, it is expected to intensify throughout the weekend and next week likely becoming a major hurricane.  Most models are in agreement for an impact on the East Coast; however, uncertainties still exist this far out.  The earliest tropical storm conditions could be expected is Wednesday night though likely Thursday into Friday.  One concern is the amount of rainfall already received and the level of ground saturation.  Another 6-8” of storm-related precipitation would be problematic.  The forecast will become more refined over the weekend.

Virginia Department of Emergency Management
The Regional Coordination Center will be staffed on Monday during regular work hours and then 24 hours starting Tuesday.  They also request Situation Reports from the localities – two per day – beginning Monday.

Team Norfolk EOC Briefing
Immediately following the State conference call, City and Norfolk Public Schools conducted an EOC briefing to discuss next steps [slides here].  In particular, action items listed in the Battle Rhythm included in the Hurricane Annex.  While the Team Norfolk EOC is currently in Readiness Condition 5, conditions suggest a move to Condition 4 over the weekend and possibly Condition 3 on Monday or Tuesday.  As such, Team Norfolk is ramping up now, preparing for the worst-case scenario.   

Another conference call to discuss sheltering operations will be conducted this afternoon at 4:30pm.

Additional updates will be provided throughout the weekend.  This afternoon's shelter call aside, there are no additional conference calls yet scheduled; however, that is subject to change.  There are no outstanding resource requests.

Thanks!

Jim
Director, EOC