Texas Hill Country flooding kills two with 230 rescues; Oregon lightning bust forces full-town evacuation at Preparedness Level 4; Code Purple smoke blankets the Northeast

Catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country leaves two dead and drives more than 230 rescues as flood waves move down the Frio, Nueces, and Guadalupe rivers, with a boil water notice now covering dozens of Comal County area communities. The nation holds at Preparedness Level 4 with 49 uncontained large fires: a Central Oregon lightning bust forces the full evacuation of Antelope, FEMA approves a Fire Management Assistance Grant for the Lower Dry Creek Fire, and Colorado’s Aspen Acres Fire structure losses rise to 850. Canadian wildfire smoke pushes Pennsylvania to a statewide Code Purple alert with Code Red conditions across the Mid-Atlantic, CISA adds three actively exploited vulnerabilities to its KEV catalog, and Puerto Rico begins 48-hour water rationing under an expanded drought emergency. EM Morning Brief is your concise daily update on national and state-by-state emergency management news. Produced by Sitch Radio, an EOC Voices podcast.Key Takeaways• Texas flooding: Two confirmed deaths and more than 230 rescues in Kerr and Uvalde counties after up to 26 inches of rain; downstream mandatory evacuations in Comal and Bandera counties, and a boil water notice for dozens of Canyon Lake area communities. Flood warnings continue into Friday evening.• National fire picture: Preparedness Level 4 with 49 uncontained large fires and roughly 688,000 acres active; Red Flag Warnings return to the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin this afternoon.• Oregon evacuations: The entire city of Antelope is under a Level 3 Go Now order after a Central Oregon lightning bust; about 1,700 people are evacuated near Milton-Freewater for the Lower Dry Creek Fire, now backed by a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant; Jackson County and Shady Cove declared local emergencies for the East Evans Creek Fire.• Colorado structure losses: Aspen Acres Fire losses rise to at least 850 structures with about 11,000 people still evacuated; crews held a spot fire that jumped a defensive line.• Smoke event: Friday is forecast as the worst day of the Canadian wildfire smoke event; Pennsylvania is at statewide Code Purple, Philadelphia has suspended trash collection and closed pools, and Code Red alerts span the Mid-Atlantic.• Cyber: CISA added three actively exploited Fortinet FortiSandbox and Microsoft SharePoint vulnerabilities to the KEV catalog; federal remediation deadlines for the July 14 SonicWall and SharePoint additions land today.• Puerto Rico lifelines: 48-hour water rationing begins today in Río Grande and Canóvanas under an expanded drought emergency, and more than 100,000 customers saw rotating outages Thursday after a Costa Sur unit failure.SponsorsThe NIMS Store - https://thenimsstore.com/Descript, Edit video by editing text - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-DescriptESET, Cyber Security Progress. Protected. - https://refer.eset.com/hip7rSourcesNIFC and National Fire Situation• NIFC Incident Management Situation Report: July 16, 2026, PL 4, 49 uncontained large firesNWS and Weather• NWS Active Alerts: flash flood warnings, red flag warnings, heat productsNHC and Tropics• NHC Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook: 20 percent seven-day Gulf development chance• NHC Tropical Storm Elida Advisory 11: no threat to landFEMA• FEMA Disaster Declarations: FM-5645 Lower Dry Creek Fire, Oregon, declared July 16CISA• CISA Adds Three Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog: July 16, 2026• CISA Adds Four Known Exploited Vulnerabilities to Catalog: July 14, 2026, remediation deadlines July 17Texas• KXAN: Flash Flood Emergency in Texas, Thursday July 16• CNN: Texas flooding risks continue into Friday• News 4 San Antonio: Comal County orders mandatory evacuations along the Guadalupe• News 4 San Antonio: Texas Water Company boil water notice for dozens of communities• Texas Water Company service alerts• KWTX: Abbott says flood likely to break records, state deploys 1,300 personnelArizona• NWS Active Alerts: Flagstaff flash flood warnings including Pocket Fire burn scarCalifornia• Cal Fire: Thorn Fire incident page• Times of San Diego: Thorn Fire evacuations and I-8 reopening• Cal Fire: Elephant Fire incident page• IQAir: Elephant Fire evacuation downgrades as of July 16Colorado• Colorado Sun: Aspen Acres Fire Thursday update• KKTV: Aspen Acres Fire holds near 99,800 acres, 36 percent containedDelaware• 6abc live blog: air quality alerts for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, DelawareIdaho• KHQ: Turner Hill Fire north of Bonners Ferry prompts evacuationsMaine• Bangor Daily News: thousands without power after storm sweeps Maine• Bangor Daily News: person dies in Corinth after tree falls on car• WGME: severe storms bring down trees, knock out power across MaineMaryland• WMAR: Code Red air quality alert issued for MarylandMinnesota• <a...