AMU Editor's Pick Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Monday Briefing: Cracks in Hull May Cause Oil Tanker that Ran Aground Near Mauritius to Break Apart

Emergency and disaster management briefing for August 10, 2020: A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Sparta, NC on Sunday; a Red Flag Warning is in effect for wildfire areas involved in the Red Salmon Complex; the number of involved products has expanded in the recall of potentially tainted onions from Thomson International; the final nuclear waste container has been placed in dry storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station; one person is dead and nearly 2 dozen injured after a dispute erupted in gunfire in Washington, DC; a public health alert has been issued by the FDA for ready-to-eat sausages due to potential listeria monocytogenes contamination; evacuations were ordered for the Pine Gulch Fire as a Type 2 Incident Management Black Team assumed command; and large cracks have appeared in the hull of an oil tanker that ran aground in a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.

  1. [link url=”https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000bbei/executive” title=”A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Sparta, North Carolina Sunday morning”], at a shallow depth of about 2.2 miles, and caused damage to homes and structures throughout the city. No injuries were reported, but shaking was felt in neighboring states including Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, and into Kentucky and Georgia. The mayor of [link url=”https://myfox8.com/news/sparta-mayor-issues-state-of-emergency-after-5-1-earthquake-felt-across-north-carolina/” title=”Sparta issued a state of emergency following the earthquake”], and at least 11 aftershocks were felt throughout the day.   https://twitter.com/wnct9/status/1292819247383674881
  2. The National Weather Service (NWS) has a [link url=”http://kymkemp.com/2020/08/09/red-flag-warning-issued-for-the-red-salmon-fire-area/” title=”Red Flag Warning in place for areas in and near the Red Salmon Complex wildfires”] due to low humidity levels and increased temperatures. The two wildfires, the Salmon and the Red fires are burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and the Six Rivers National Forest. Lightning ignited both wildfires on June 26, which have scorched nearly 6,000 acres and are [link url=”https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6891/” title=”being managed by California Interagency Incident Management Team 14 (CIIMT 14)”]. https://twitter.com/ShastaTrinityNF/status/1292668482060861442
  3. Nearly 650 people across 43 states, including 59 who have been hospitalized, have been infected with Salmonella Newport likely due to tainted onions. The [link url=”https://www.wral.com/recall-update-onions-recalled-for-possible-salmonella-include-walmart-publix-food-lion/19218969/” title=”potentially tainted onions, which included all varieties of red, yellow, white, and sweet”], were produced by Thomson International, Inc., and were shipped to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. As of Saturday, additional brand names were added to the products recalled, including [link url=”https://corporate.publix.com/about-publix/newsroom/recalls/publix-red-onions” title=”Del Monte Fresh Produce red onions distributed and sold at Publix stores in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia”]. https://twitter.com/B105Duluth/status/1291740968912408582
  4. The final nuclear waste container at the [link url=”https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-08-08/final-canister-of-nuclear-waste-transferred-to-storage-facility-at-san-onofre” title=”San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station near San Diego, California, was lowered into a dry storage compartment on Friday”]. There were a total of 73 spent nuclear fuel canisters that were removed from metal racks in cooling pools and placed in long-term dry storage at the facility. The plant ceased operations in 2012 and is in the process of being decommissioned. https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1292236903589318657
  5. [link url=”https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/10/washington-dc-shooting-17-year-old-dead-20-injured-party/3333222001/” title=”A dispute that erupted into gunfire”] at a large outdoor gathering in Washington, DC, killed one person and injured approximately 20 others early on Sunday. [link url=”https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/dc-shooting-leaves-dead-20-injured-72269085″ title=”Among those wounded was an off-duty police officer”] who suffered a life-threatening injury and was listed in critical condition. Police officials noted that they believed at least three shooters were involved in the incident, although no arrests have been made. https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1292496677270695936
  6. The [link url=”https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/current-recalls-and-alerts” title=”U.S. Food And Drug Administration has issued a public health alert for several varieties of ready-to-eat sausage products”] due to possible listeria contamination. Due to the products being past their use or freeze by dates of July 23, 2020, and that they are no longer in commerce, a recall was not issued. Several brands are listed in the alert, and the products were shipped to distributors and retail locations in Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia. https://twitter.com/foodsafetynews/status/1292126114320715778
  7. The [link url=”https://kdvr.com/news/pine-gulch-fire-grows-to-23k-acres-air-quality-warnings-in-place/” title=”lightning-ignited Pine Gulch Fire near Grand Junction, Colorado, has scorched more than 29,000 acres”] as it continued to burn through critically dry fuels pushed by winds from the southwest on Sunday. [link url=”https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6906/53066/” title=”Fire officials ordered evacuations for residents in areas nearby the wildfire”], with emergency management operations personnel evacuating residents door to door in some locations. A [link url=”https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6906/” title=”Type 2 Incident Management Team Black has now assumed command of the wildfire”], due to the need for a larger management structure, with ground crews being supported by helicopters and air tankers. An [link url=”https://kdvr.com/weather/weather-alerts/” title=”air quality alert”] is also in place for Garfield and Mesa counties due to heavy smoke from the wildfire. https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1292819482168066048
  8. An oil tanker that ran aground on a coral reef in the Indian Ocean near the island of Mauritius on July 25, is in danger of breaking apart. [link url=”https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53722701″ title=”Large cracks have now appeared in the hull of the MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned oil tanker”], which was carrying 4,000 tons of crude oil when it ran aground and began leaking oil. It is believed that at least 1,000 tons of the oil has already leaked into the ocean, and emergency crews continue their work to transfer oil from the ship onto shore. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1291857688972992513

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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