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EDM Monday Briefing: Search for Tornado Victims Continues

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for December 13, 2021: Severe weather spawned multiple deadly tornadoes across several Midwest and Southern states and rescuers are still searching for victims; the Log4Shell vulnerability hack may be the worst ever in history; strong winds may have caused the power outage that shut down the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels on I-70 in Colorado; the NWS confirmed at least seven tornadoes touched down in middle Tennessee on Friday night; Coca-Cola recalled three of its Minute Maid beverages for possible foreign matter contamination; the earthquake swarm continues off the coast of Oregon; according to IAFC, suicide is the number one cause of death among firefighters; and a new disaster medicine online training module is now available that addresses the identification and treatment of sepsis in patients.

1. Severe weather spawned deadly tornadoes across multiple Midwest and Southern states late Friday night. One tornado traveled more than 230 miles, passed through four states, and caused widespread damage in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Kentucky is still searching for tornado victims who may have survived. As many as 100 people may have perished, with at least 14 deaths in four other states from the deadly tornadoes.

2. Hackers have exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Log4Shell in the Apache Log4j Java-based logging platform. The vulnerability exploits servers because hackers are able to execute a command that changes a user agent to a special string. IT departments are also seeing the installation or attempted installation of malware, the downloads and installations of cryptominers, the use of botnets, and other malicious attacks to scan and exfiltrate information from servers.

3. The Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels on I-70 in Colorado lost power on Sunday afternoon. Officials believe strong winds may have played a part in the power outage, which closed both east and westbound lanes. The outage occurred just before 1 p.m., and power was restored around 3 p.m.

4. The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that at least seven tornadoes touched down in middle Tennessee on Friday night. The tornadoes were spawned by severe weather moving through the region and were rated anywhere from an EF-0 to EF-2 with wind speeds of up to 135 mph. Surveys of the damage will continue on Monday by the NWS in both Tennessee and Kentucky.

5. The Coca-Cola Company issued a voluntary recall of several of its Minute Maid drinks due to alleged foreign matter contamination. The company issued the recall for Berry Punch, Fruit Punch, and Strawberry Lemonade, which were sold in eight states: Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. An estimated 7,000 cases of the drinks may have been sold and may be contaminated with metal pieces according to the recall notice.

6. The earthquake swarm off the coast of Oregon continues with a magnitude 4.4 quake that occurred on Sunday. The quake was centered about 260 miles from Newport at a shallow depth of about 6.2 miles, although there was no danger of a tsunami. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake took place along the Blanco Fracture Zone, where the current earthquake swarm has been ongoing.

7. According to a report by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), more firefighters die from suicide each year than in the line of duty. The report, “The 2021 Yellow Ribbon Report Update: Best Practices in Behavioral Wellness for Emergency Responders,” was originally published in 2017, but its need prompted the comprehensive update. Behavioral wellness is reportedly an overwhelming concern for most fire departments, and the report offers recommendations and solutions that can help first responders and firefighters.

8. An agency partnership created a new virtual training that addresses the identification and treatment of sepsis. Meant for disaster situations, the new virtual training, “Disaster Medicine: Sepsis,” is a 70-minute module that addresses a gap in training that exists in traditional disaster medicine, including recognition and management of patients who are at risk of sepsis, screening, stabilization, and the evacuation of those developing or who already have sepsis. The course is free; however, registration is required through the Sepsis Alliance Institute, where additional information can be found on sepsis.

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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