Hurricane Nolo passed farther south than forecast and spared Hawaii Island the worst case, but flooded roads on the Big Island, prompted five high-water rescues Sunday and knocked out power on Oahu and Maui. A pre-landfall Presidential Emergency Declaration approved Friday covers four counties at a 75 percent federal cost share. On the East Coast, the nor’easter killed a New York City Housing Authority worker struck by a falling tree Saturday in Brooklyn, drove outages past 100,000 customers at their peak, and produced the worst coastal flooding since Sandy at two Jersey Shore tide gauges. New Jersey and New York both declared states of emergency before landfall. The national preparedness level holds at 2 with 69 incidents and 6,003 personnel, down 305, and three new large fires, including one near Benton City, Washington, that destroyed seven structures. The EMN NEWS Daily Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Hawaii outcome: Nolo tracked south of the main islands, with rainfall above 14 inches at the Big Island's highest elevations. Crews worked through Sunday on flooding, debris, high surf and wind. Highway 11 in Kau closed in multiple locations between Pahala and Waiohinu. Hawaii County Civil Defense is asking residents and businesses to report storm damage so agencies and nonprofit partners can assess unmet needs.
Hawaii infrastructure: The Hawaii County Department of Water Supply asked customers in affected service areas to limit water to essential health and safety needs, citing power outages and possible damage to water system infrastructure. County solid waste transfer stations in Kauai stayed closed, and the Hele-On Route 90 run to Kona was canceled.
Federal declaration: The pre-landfall declaration approved September 25 provides federal assistance for emergency protective measures in the City and County of Honolulu and Hawaii, Maui and Kauai counties, including direct federal assistance, at a 75 percent federal cost share. The State Emergency Operations Center remains at Level 1 full activation with 24-hour staffing, coordinating with FEMA Region IX, the counties and utilities.
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Nor’easter toll: Outages ran past 100,000 customers across the Northeast at times Sunday, concentrated from New Jersey through Long Island and coastal Connecticut, and were down to roughly 40,000 by this morning. Major coastal flooding was reported at tide gauges from Delaware to Long Island, with two Jersey Shore locations reaching their highest levels since Hurricane Sandy.
State declarations: New Jersey Executive Order 25 declared a state of emergency effective 5 p.m. Friday for Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem counties, activating the State Emergency Operations Center. New York declared a state of emergency for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.
Federal posture: FEMA reported that response coordination centers in the affected regions operated at an enhanced posture through the weekend, with teams on standby in New England in case of widespread outages.
Wildfire posture: Preparedness Level 2 with 69 incidents, 16 uncontained large fires, 1,707,048 acres and 6,003 personnel, a drop of 305, per the Sunday situation report. Initial attack was light at 55 fires, with three new large incidents and five complex teams committed. Year to date, the country is at 57,223 fires and 8,562,096 acres, 124 and 142 percent of the ten-year averages.
New large fires: Second Street, one mile southeast of Benton City, Washington, is 1,151 acres and 60 percent contained, with seven structures lost, extreme fire behavior and wind-driven runs, and threatened residences and energy infrastructure. Rafter 4B, southeast of Eldorado, Texas, is 1,250 acres with no containment. Stone Bridge, northeast of Wilburton, Oklahoma, is 130 acres and 60 percent contained with one structure lost.
California: Dome in Yosemite National Park grew 245 acres to 4,606 but nearly doubled containment to 30 percent, with estimated containment pushed to October 17. Timber on the Los Padres National Forest rose to 71 percent contained, with numerous structures still threatened.
Fire weather: Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms develop across the Southwest as moisture from Hurricane Polo moves north from off the Mexican coast. Heavy rain continues today in much of southern and eastern New England with strong northeast winds and coastal flooding. Winds slowly weaken in Hawaii as Nolo moves west away from the islands.
SOURCES
Wildfire, national
NICC Incident Management Situation Report and Predictive Services discussion: Sunday, Sept 27, 2026, 0730 MDT (live PDF, overwritten daily). Source for all fire figures, the new large fires and the California items.
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc-files/sitreprt.pdf
IMSR archive
https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/incident-information/imsr
Hawaii
Office of the Governor: approval of pre-landfall Presidential Declaration for Hurricane Nolo, 75 percent cost share, State EOC at Level 1, Sept 25
https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom/office-of-the-governor-news-release-gov-green-announces-approval-of-pre-landfall-presidential-declaration-for-hurricane-nolo/
Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Nolo spares Big Island, outages on Oahu and Maui, five high-water rescues, damage reporting through Hawaii County Civil Defense, Sept 28
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2026/09/28/hawaii-news/nolo-spares-big-island-but-outages-hit-oahu-and-maui/
Big Island Now: Department of Water Supply essential-use request, Highway 11 closure, transfer stations and Hele-On Route 90, Sept 27
https://bigislandnow.com/2026/09/27/what-big-island-residents-need-to-know-wednesday-about-tropical-storm-nolo/
The Weather Channel: Nolo intensity west of the islands and Big Island rainfall totals, Sept 28
https://weather.com/2026/09/28/storms/hurricane/hawaii-hurricane-nolo-flooding-wind-forecast
Maui News: federal declaration detail and Maui County emergency proclamation, Sept 26
https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2026/09/federal-emergency-declaration-approved-ahead-of-hurricane-nolo/
East Coast
Office of the Governor of New Jersey: Executive Order 25, state of emergency for eight counties effective 5 p.m. Sept 25
https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/2026/20260925a.shtml
New Jersey Executive Order No. 25 (full text)
https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/057sherrill/pdf/EO-25.pdf
Associated Press via NBC News: storm death, outage totals, FEMA enhanced posture and standby teams, updated Sept 28
https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/storms/noreaster-flooding-death-toll-rcna600078
FOX Weather live updates: major coastal flooding gauges from Delaware to Long Island, two Jersey Shore locations at worst since Sandy, current outage count, Sept 28
https://www.foxweather.com/live-news/live-updates-deadly-nor-easter-floods-the-coast-as-dangerous-winds-whip-through-the-northeast
The Hill: New York and New Jersey emergency declarations, Hochul counties, Sept 25
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/6112822-ny-nj-noreaster-declare-emergency/
CISA
CISA Adds One Known Exploited Vulnerability to Catalog: CVE-2026-7273, Sept 21; no later additions located in this sweep
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2026/09/21/cisa-adds-one-known-exploited-vulnerability-catalog
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