May 1-4, 2010  -  Major Disaster Declaration for Tennessee (#1909) declared on May 04, 2010.

After flooding Tennessee over the weekend with over a foot of rain in some areas, the heavy rain and severe weather will shift out of the Tennessee River Valley and into the Southeast. Downpours and some severe thunderstorms will impact the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, southeast Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle, according to the FEMA National Situation Report, May 3, 5:30 a.m. EDT.  According to this report, rainfall accumulations will range from 1-5 inches, with 8 inches possible across the western side of the Florida Panhandle. Severe weather will continue across Ohio, southeast Indiana and Kentucky, with very heavy rainfall expected. The weather system bringing heavy rain to the region over the weekend will continue moving east today, though river flooding will be ongoing, especially in Kentucky. Hail, high winds and tornados are also expected.

• This event was added to the Response Notes system.
• Flood Help Conference Calls resumed Monday, May 10.

On June 22, National Weather Service was showing thirteen stream gauges at major flood stage in South Dakota and Iowa and twenty-seven over a broader area that extended southeastward toward Indiana. 

Flooding in March and April was significant. Central South Dakota farmers suffered from floods along the James and Big Sioux rivers, as well as rising lakes.  Ice jams along the White River in south central South Dakota forced evacuation of farms and homes. The northeast corner of the state also was heavily impacted, and anticipates a Federal declaration.

In North Dakota, the Red River crested lower than had been predicted and flood-fight efforts were largely successful. South Dakota is preparing for increases in West Nile Virus as a result of the floods. South Dakota Extension facilities were not impacted.

Kim Cassel (SD) used EDEN and eXtension flood resources to enhance a local preparedness web site that is an off-shoot of the state Extension preparedness site. The hit-rate doubled during the flood emergencey. The Brookings County Emergency Manager shared the EDEN/eXtension flood resources with state emergency management officials and the information went directly to their IT folks for use in the local and state EOCs. 

The EDEN publication First Steps to Flood Recovery had been distributed previously in South Dakota to county Extension and Emergency Management offices. The publication was re-ordered in 2010 and more copies distributed to flood prone areas of the state. The audio files of this publication were posted to the web page and shared with emergency management.

April brought rain, also, to some Northeast states in amounts that have not been seen in 200 years. Flooding was widespread and Presidential declarations for those floods were announced. "Northeast Floods April 2010" was added to the Response Notes system

 

EDEN has created a "Response Notes" form and is encouraging delegates to use it as a means of capturing response activities and letting EDEN and our federal partners know if we can help Extension respond. The system was launched for the April 24 tornados. May flooding is the first activation for floods.  The Response Notes form is posted in the Disaster Watch section.

EDEN began assistance efforts early, based on flood forecasts for the season, beginning with the Dakotas (Red River of the North) and continuing along the Mississippi and tributaries as the heavy snows of winter melted into already-swollen rivers. Working within EDEN and through its eXtension flood team, EDEN announced weekly Flood Conference Calls. Extension educators who felt they were facing spring floods, whether forecasted or based on history, were invited to join an EDEN conference call on March 15. Ken Hellevang, NDSU Extension Engineer, lead a discussion on:

• How to prepare for the floods
• Available EDEN and eXtension resources
• What's being developed 
• Proactive steps extension educators can take to help local citizens

The calls were repeated twice at weekly intervals until the imminent threat subsided and restarted May 10, following the Tennessee Area Early May floods . 

Point of contact for the EDEN Flood Call support system is Virginia Morgan (AL).