The board this morning

20 million under a flood threat, high-water rescues already running, as flood warnings stack up across three states

By The FirstResponders Desk

Good morning. Lead with the water. The flooding State of Emergency is not confirmed by any agency, but NBC News reports more than 20 million Americans faced a flood threat, with high-water rescues already under way and a tornado watch issued for parts of Kansas.

What is confirmed is the warning picture. NWS Des Moines issued Flood Warnings for Dallas, Polk and Warren counties in Iowa. NWS Albuquerque issued a Flood Warning covering Sandoval and Santa Fe counties in New Mexico. NWS Topeka issued a Flood Warning for Marshall County, Kansas. Those are agency products; the headline emergency declaration is not.

More weather is loaded in behind it. The Houston Chronicle reports up to 10 inches of rain forecast for parts of Texas, with flash flooding possible in West Texas and the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. If you work either area, that flood-alert posture is the reason to check your run assignments and your high-water assets before the next cell arrives.

Fire. Wildfire Today reports the Yosemite Dome Fire in Yosemite National Park has burned over 5,000 acres and was fatal, with fire crews attributing the cause to an abandoned campfire and investigators listing that cause on Inciweb. Those who died are not named. The operational takeaway holds regardless of the final cause finding: an abandoned campfire moved to a fatal, multi-thousand-acre incident.

EMS and law enforcement. Fox News reports a South Carolina mother is accused of a knife attack on her two young children, with a 6-year-old who may lose an arm, according to the sheriff's office. Cleveland.com reports Akron's mayor and city council condemned the assault of an officer responding to a burglary call, with Akron police saying such attacks are rising — a direct officer-safety note for anyone running property calls.

Elsewhere in the LE column: the Los Angeles Times reports investigators recovered two bodies from shallow graves at an Antelope Valley property and are now running a homicide probe and searching for more victims. SFGATE reports Oakland police have exited 23 years of federal oversight. NJ.com reports a juvenile charged over an earlier Garden State Parkway shooting, and the Tampa Bay Times reports two Pinellas deputies used databases to track people, per the sheriff.

What to watch: the flood warnings and the Texas rainfall forecast. Expect water-rescue demand to stay elevated where those NWS warnings overlap the next rounds of rain.