FEMA Daily Operations Briefing, Oct. 13: Isaias Recovery Continues in Florida and Alabama, No New Disaster Declarations, Hurricane Simon and a New Pacific Depression Watched

Hurricane Isaias: where recovery stands

FEMA says efforts to stabilize "lifelines" continue. Lifelines are the basic services people need, like power, water, food, shelter and medical care. Federal resources "continue to align with state postures" to support recovery (FEMA Region 4 Senior Leader Brief #5, as of 8:11 p.m. ET Oct. 12).

• Power: About 110,000 customers in Florida and about 6,000 in Alabama were still without power, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Eagle-I outage system as of 7 a.m. ET Oct. 13 (4 a.m. PT). That is down about 67,000 in Florida and about 13,000 in Alabama from the prior report. FEMA Region 4 as a whole showed about 120,000 customers out, under 1% of customers region-wide.
• Shelters: Florida had 2 shelters open with 21 people, up 5 overnight. All Alabama shelters have closed (FEMA Emergency Support Function 6, the mass care team, as of 7:27 a.m. ET Oct. 13).
• Hospitals: In Florida, Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital and Baptist Hospital lost water pressure because of a power outage at water systems. FEMA says resources were provided to keep a safe drinking water supply. FEMA reports 3 hospitals in Escambia County, Fla. lost water pressure. State and local sources are providing resources, and restoration is expected in 2 to 5 days. In Alabama, all medical facilities are back on commercial power.
• Water and wastewater: FEMA says all water line breaks have been repaired. Remaining problems are caused by power outages. In Walton County, Fla., one wastewater plant is not working because a generator failed; the power company is on site. In Escambia County, Ala., 3 water systems have lost power and debris is slowing access to them. Three wastewater treatment plants in Alabama are not operating, and one is running on generator power.
• Rescue teams: Florida still has 2 state Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) task forces activated, one fewer than before.
• Ports: All ports in Florida and Alabama are back to normal operations.

Who is running the response

• State emergency operations centers (SEOCs): Alabama and Florida are at Full Activation. Georgia is at Partial Activation. Kentucky and Mississippi are Monitoring. North Carolina has returned to normal operations.
• FEMA Region 4 (Atlanta): its Regional Response Coordination Center is activated with select support functions. One regional Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) is at the Alabama SEOC and another at the Florida SEOC.
• FEMA headquarters: the National Watch Center is at Enhanced Watch. The National Response Coordination Center is Rostered (staff named and ready). National IMAT Blue is deployed to Tallahassee, Fla. A Region 1 IMAT is deployed to Atlanta.
• Federal US&R teams TN-TF1, TX-TF1, VA-TF2 and IN-TF1, plus two incident support teams, were sent home (demobilized) as of Oct. 11.
• Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) assets are in Tallahassee, Fla. and Clanton, Ala. A FEMA logistics team from Atlanta is at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

The briefing says the National Watch Center will keep reporting in the FEMA National Situation Report (3 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET) and the Daily Operations Briefing (8:30 a.m. ET).

The three Isaias emergency declarations

There were no new declarations today. The three Isaias emergency declarations already in place, all approved October 9, 2026, are listed on FEMA.gov and in FEMA's public OpenFEMA data:

• FEMA-3655-EM-FL (Florida): incident period began Oct. 6. It covers 27 counties: Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton and Washington.
• FEMA-3656-EM-AL (Alabama): incident period began Oct. 7. It covers Baldwin, Escambia and Mobile counties and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
• FEMA-3657-EM-GA (Georgia): incident period began Oct. 8. It covers 76 Georgia counties.

FEMA explains that emergency declarations supplement state, local and tribal efforts to provide emergency services, "such as the protection of lives, property, public health, and safety." Under an emergency declaration, Public Assistance is limited to debris removal and emergency protective measures; permanent rebuilding work is not available (FEMA, How a Disaster Gets Declared).

River flooding after Isaias

FEMA cites the National Weather Service (NWS): Flood Warnings and Advisories are in effect for small parts of eastern and central Florida and southern Georgia, for minor flooding on local rivers (as of 6:45 a.m. ET). The NWS active alerts list on the morning of Oct. 13 showed these river Flood Warnings, all for minor flooding:

• St. Johns River near Astor (Lake and Volusia counties, Fla.), NWS Melbourne, until further notice.
• Myakka River at Myakka River State Park (Sarasota County, Fla.), NWS Tampa Bay, until Thursday afternoon.
• Shoal River near Crestview (Okaloosa County, Fla.), NWS Mobile, until Tuesday evening.
• Satilla River at Atkinson (Brantley County, Ga.), NWS Jacksonville, until further notice.

Each one is drawn on the Notice Nearby map. County pages: /fl/okaloosa, /ga/brantley, /fl/escambia, /al/escambia and /fl/walton. Never drive into flooded roads: "Turn Around, Don't Drown."

Storms and flash flooding in the middle of the country

FEMA is watching severe thunderstorms and heavy rain with possible flash flooding from the Southern Plains to the Middle Mississippi Valley.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center's Day 1 outlook (7:52 a.m. CDT Oct. 13) shows a Slight Risk of severe storms from parts of northwest Missouri and Kansas into the Southern High Plains. It expects scattered severe storms with large hail, damaging winds and possibly a tornado this afternoon into tonight. More isolated severe weather may occur from southwest Texas into the mid Mississippi Valley and in parts of New York.

Four NWS offices have Flood Watches for central and eastern Kansas and west-central Missouri from Tuesday afternoon or evening until 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday. Details are in our paper at /papers/nws-flood-watches-kansas-western-missouri-oct-13-14. A watch means flooding is possible. Watch for warnings.

FEMA's state notes also list Illinois and Texas for severe weather and Colorado and Utah for wildfires.

Tropical systems

• Hurricane Simon (Eastern Pacific), Category 1: FEMA's briefing (NHC Advisory 24A) placed Simon 95 miles west of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico. The National Hurricane Center's newer Advisory 25 (8 a.m. PDT) places it about 105 miles west of Cabo Corrientes, moving west near 2 mph with 90 mph winds. Simon is forecast to stay a hurricane through midweek. Hurricane and tropical storm watches are in effect for parts of the coast of Mexico. NHC warns of life-threatening surf and rip currents along southwestern and west-central Mexico.
• Eastern Pacific Disturbance 1 (EP93): FEMA listed a near 100% chance of forming. At 8 a.m. PDT the NHC began advisories on Tropical Depression Twenty-One-E, about 540 miles south-southeast of Acapulco, with 35 mph winds, moving northwest at 10 mph. NHC forecasts it to become a hurricane by Wednesday night and a major hurricane by Friday. NHC says there are no coastal watches or warnings yet.
• Tropical Depression 28W (Western Pacific): 395 miles north of Guam, moving northwest at 14 mph with 30 mph winds. It is forecast to remain a tropical depression through tomorrow (Advisory 6, as of 5 a.m. ET).
• Invest 96W (Western Pacific): 299 miles west of Kosrae, winds of 21 to 26 mph, a medium chance of forming in 24 hours.
• Atlantic Disturbance 1: several hundred miles west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. FEMA says further development is no longer expected (near 0%).

FEMA's notes also list Hawaii for tropical activity and the Northern Mariana Islands for typhoons Bavi and Saudel.

Damage checks and requests waiting on a decision

Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments are under way or planned. These are joint federal, state and local surveys of damage, used to decide whether to ask for a disaster declaration:

• Connecticut: severe storm and flooding (Sept. 13); Public Assistance, 1 county, started Sept. 30.
• New York: nor'easter (Sept. 26 to 27); Public Assistance, 2 counties, dates to be set.
• New Mexico: severe flooding (Sept. 28 and continuing); Public Assistance, 15 counties, starting Oct. 13.
• Kansas: severe storms (Sept. 30 to Oct. 2); Public Assistance, 12 counties, dates to be set.
• Nebraska: heavy rainfall (Sept. 30 to Oct. 1); Individual Assistance, 2 counties, and Public Assistance, 11 counties, started Oct. 7.
• Navajo Nation: flooding (Sept. 15 to 18); Individual and Public Assistance, 1 county each, started Oct. 6.

Six declaration requests are waiting on a decision:

• Indiana: severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding; major disaster request dated Aug. 6.
• Nebraska: appeal for severe storm, straight-line winds and flooding; Aug. 31.
• Kansas: severe storm and straight-line winds; Sept. 15.
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe: severe storms and straight-line winds; Sept. 29.
• Washington: wildfires; Oct. 2.
• Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation: wildfires; Oct. 1.

FEMA workforce

FEMA reports 18,811 staff assigned to disasters. 6,224 (33%) are deployed and 6,032 (32%) are available to deploy for 30 days. FEMA's Surge Capacity Force shows 7,694 rostered, 0 deployed and about 769 available.

What this means for you

• If you live in Escambia County, Fla., follow your county and water utility for water notices. FEMA reports hospital water pressure restoration is expected in 2 to 5 days.
• If you are in the Kansas and Missouri watch area, have a way to get warnings overnight. Never drive through water on a road.
• If you need help after Isaias, county emergency contacts and shelter information are on the Notice Nearby county pages. Live alerts are on the Notice Nearby map.

Times are as issued by each agency, with Pacific times added where noted.

Source

• FEMA National Watch Center, Daily Operations Briefing, Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 8:30 a.m. ET (cites FEMA Region 4 Senior Leader Brief #5, 8:11 p.m. ET Oct. 12; FEMA ESF-6, 7:27 a.m. ET Oct. 13; U.S. Department of Energy Eagle-I, 7:00 a.m. ET Oct. 13; NWS, 6:45 a.m. ET Oct. 13). Public copy hosted by Disaster Center.
• FEMA.gov disaster pages EM-3655-FL, EM-3656-AL and EM-3657-GA, and OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (designated areas), retrieved Oct. 13, 2026.
• FEMA.gov, How a Disaster Gets Declared (Emergency Declarations section), retrieved Oct. 13, 2026.
• National Weather Service active alerts (api.weather.gov), Flood Warnings from NWS Melbourne, NWS Tampa Bay Ruskin, NWS Mobile and NWS Jacksonville, and Flood Watches from NWS Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City/Pleasant Hill and Springfield, Oct. 13, 2026.
• NWS Storm Prediction Center, Day 1 Convective Outlook, 7:52 a.m. CDT Oct. 13, 2026.
• National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Simon Public Advisory 25 and Tropical Depression Twenty-One-E Public Advisory 1, both 1500 UTC Oct. 13, 2026.

Notes and sources

1. Image: Utility crews work to restore power and street lights in Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida, after Hurricane Ivan, October 13, 2004 (file photo, illustrative; not Hurricane Isaias). Photo: Bill Koplitz / FEMA via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
2. Source of record: FEMA National Watch Center Daily Operations Briefing, Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 8:30 a.m. ET (public PDF copy hosted by Disaster Center).
3. Author: Ryan Standley / Record of Sale, LLC / Notice Nearby.
4. Discussed on @NoticeNearYou: (pending — fill xPostUrl after live post).
5. Not legal advice. Not a newspaper. Not Legal Publication. Record of Sale, LLC (Oregon).