Merry Christmas From CSW

New Video of The 2009 Christmas Blizzard in Kansas City

This video was shot about 11:35 pm in front of the house- looking south toward 87th Street between I-435 and Blue Ridge in KC-MO..
Best measure of snowfall on the ground was 2-4 inches so far with a few drifts of 6-8 inches on the brief trek to the street.

Snowfall was increasing and is expected to be moderate to heavy through early Christmas morning. Winds are gusting into the mid-30 mph range with temperatures in the mid-upper teens.

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Historic Blizzard Warning Continues For Metro and MetroRegion Kansas City

To this date December 24, 2009- Kansas City has never been under a Blizzard Warning.

This is and will be a historic storm for Metro Kansas City and I'd be amiss not posting the weather statement from the NWS office in Pleasant Hill:


URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
955 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009

...SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM WILL CONTINUE THROUGH INTO FRIDAY...

...BLIZZARD CONDITIONS POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS AND FAR WESTERN MISSOURI...

.SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY...AS A POTENT STORM SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEAST ACROSS MISSOURI. A MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT. THIS CHANGE HAS ALREADY OCCURRED GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 35. SLEET ACCUMULATIONS OF 1/4 TO POSSIBLY 3/4 OF AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE PRIOR TO THE SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY THE END OF THE STORM ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES IN CENTRAL MISSOURI... TO 6 TO 10 INCHES IN EASTERN KANSAS AS WELL AS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL... NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL PORTIONS OF MISSOURI. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST KANSAS AND FAR WESTERN AND NORTHWEST MISSOURI...WHERE VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO UNDER 1/4 MILE WITH STRONG GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS. TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED ACROSS THE REGION.

KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001-002-011>013-020-021-028-029-037-043-053-251200-
/O.CON.KEAX.BZ.W.0002.000000T0000Z-091226T0000Z/
ATCHISON KS- MIAMI- LINN KS- DONIPHAN- LEAVENWORTH- WYANDOTTE- JOHNSON KS- ATCHISON MO- NODAWAY- HOLT- ANDREW- DE KALB- BUCHANAN- CLINTON- PLATTE- CLAY- JACKSON- CASS- BATES-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ATCHISON... PAOLA... MOUND CITY... TROY... LEAVENWORTH... OVERLAND PARK... OLATHE... TARKIO... MARYVILLE... OREGON... SAVANNAH... CAMERON... ST. JOSEPH... PLATTSBURG... PARKVILLE... PLATTE CITY... WESTON... LIBERTY... EXCELSIOR SPRINGS... KANSAS CITY... INDEPENDENCE... RAYMORE... HARRISONVILLE... PLEASANT HILL... BUTLER... RICH HILL
955 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009

...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST FRIDAY...

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST FRIDAY.

* PRECIPITATION HAS TRANSITIONED TO ALL SNOW ACROSS AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 35...WHILE A SLEET AND SNOW MIX CONTINUES SOUTH AND EAST OF KANSAS CITY. THE TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW WILL OCCUR OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. SLEET ACCUMULATIONS HAVE RANGED FROM 1/4 INCH TO AS MUCH AS 3/4 INCH. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN 2 TO 5 INCHES ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE KANSAS CITY METRO AND POINTS NORTHWARD.

* SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY TONIGHT...AS THE STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY MORNING... WITH TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON RANGING FROM 5 TO 8 INCHES FROM BUTLER MISSOURI AND PLEASANTON KANSAS... NORTHWARD TO THE KANSAS CITY METRO. NORTH OF THIS AREA... SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY BE IN THE 6 TO 10 INCH RANGE.

* STRONG NORTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY... WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH AND HIGHER GUSTS. THIS WILL CREATE EXTENSIVE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.

INTERSTATE 29 IS CLOSED FROM MOUND CITY MISSOURI NORTH TO THE IOWA BORDER... DUE TO DANGEROUS WHITE OUT CONDITIONS AND SIGNIFICANT DRIFTING SNOW. VISIBILITIES ARE OFTEN ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS.

* TRAVEL WILL BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND INTO TOMORROW MORNING. VERY DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH FRIDAY...WITH PERIODS OF BLOWING SNOW SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE AT TIMES.

PERSONS PLANNING ON TRAVELING FOR THE HOLIDAY SHOULD CONSIDER MAKING ALTERNATIVE PLANS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

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CSW VIDEO: Christmas 2009 Snowstorm Road Video

There's now a Blizzard Warning for the entire Metro Kansas City- the first blizzard warning I can recall in my nearly 50 years of Kansas City weather observing- reporting and chasing.



This video was shot along Blue Ridge Boulevard travelling southbound from about James A. Reed Road about 5 pm.

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CSW BREAKING WEATHER: BLIZZARD WARNING - KANSAS MetroRegion

MARSHALL- NEMAHA- BROWN- POTTAWATOMIE- JACKSON- JEFFERSON- WABAUNSEE-
SHAWNEE- DOUGLAS- LYON- OSAGE- FRANKLIN- COFFEY- ANDERSON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MARYSVILLE... HIAWATHA... TOPEKA... LAWRENCE... EMPORIA... OTTAWA
313 PM CST THU DEC 24 2009

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST FRIDAY...
...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST FRIDAY. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED.

* TIMING...HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT.

* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.

* WIND...NORTH WIND WILL INCREASE TO 35 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN REDUCED VISIBILITY UNDER ONE QUARTER MILE TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES..WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.

* WIND CHILL...WIND CHILL READINGS WILL BE FROM FIVE TO FIFTEEN BELOW ZERO ON FRIDAY.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL WILL BECOME EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. DRIFTING OF SNOW ACROSS ROADWAYS IS LIKELY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. ANY TRAVEL IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED.
IF YOU LEAVE THE SAFETY OF BEING INDOORS...YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR LIFE AT RISK!

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CSW BREAKING: ICY ROADS- NUMEROUS WRECKS AROUND METRO KANSAS CITY

Numerous traffic crashes are being reported by all Metro Kansas City emergency agencies.




One of the latest involves reported injuries to a KC-MO traffic unit officer at 22nd Street and Paseo at 3:24 pm..

Multi-vehicle crashes have been reported in around the 'Grandview Triangle' of I-435/470-U.S. 71.


Wrecks are too numerous to note here- so be forewarned if you're going to drive anywhere over all but eastern & southeastern parts of the Metro from now onward....

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CSW BREAKING: METRO ROADS ICING OVER WEST TO NORTH

Reports of traffic crashes due to slick roads are becoming more numerous now in Douglas- Miami- Johnson and Leavenworth counties in Kansas- and in Platte county Missouri.

The images shown here are various traffic and Web cameras around the Metro and MetroRegion- right-click on the image and open 'Properties' for the image location and time.





Temperatures are now at or below most of Metro Kansas City (except here at CSW- 33-degrees) and have fallen into the mid to lower 20's in extreme northern- western and southwestern MetroRegion areas.

Serious to critical injuries were reported in an accident on Leavenworth County Road 1 north of Eudora just after 1:30 pm.

A serious-injury 1-vehicle crash was reported on the Kansas Turnpike (I-70) west of the East Lawrence interchange just before 1 pm.

Several wrecks have been reported in the past 15 minutes both in Johnson county KS and in the KC-MO Northland near K.C.I. airport.

Conditions will continue to worsen through the afternoon and tonight.

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Christmas Storm of 2009 Will Hit Financially-Strapped Governments Hard

I'll bet by this time Saturday- KC-MO officials will wish they had the half-million dollars they approved awhile back to study a convention hotel downtown.

As this possibly historic storm approaches and conditions worsen from west to east- highway and public works crews will put in long hours over the holiday on the roadways.

On Christmas Day- most if not all of those crews will be receiving double-time pay as well- so municipalities will be basically paying double the rate-of-pay that those crew would get on a normal day.

To make matters worse- this storm will spin around in Iowa until Sunday- continuing the snow and winds at least that long- so road crews will be working at least 72 hours on whatever schedules until the storm subsides.

Regardless- the bill to come due for this storm will be substantial even if there's not another storm all winter.

And that's not going to happen....

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Noon Camera Views From Emporia - Lawrence KS

With the temperatures now below freezing- sleet and freezing rain have begun in Emporia and in Lawrence.

As you can see in this image taken in Emporia just before noon- sleet is covering roadways there.

Temperatures are also below freezing in Johnson County KS- but no road problems have been reported yet.

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CSW WEATHER: Dangerous Winter Storm For Entire Kansas City MetroRegion

If your dream was for a white Christmas- your dreams will come true.


Present indications are for 4 to 8-inches of snow in Metro Kansas City by Christmas night- with possibly several more inches of snow by the time it all ends Saturday.


But before the snow begins this evening- we'll have ice to deal with.

The light rain now falling in Metro K.C. will turn to sleet- and falling temperatures (36 degrees as of this post here in southeast KC-MO) will turn wet- untreated roads to ice.

As temperatures continue to plummet and heavier sleet and snow falls- even treated surfaces will develop slick spots.

In addition- blizzard conditions will develop over most of the MetroRegion (Metro too) tonight- and continue into Christmas Day.

East-west roadways will become snow-covered and visibilities will fall to near white-out conditions- making driving dangerous.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS WINTER STORM- PLEASE- USE EXTREME CAUTION WALKING AND/OR DRIVING!

I'll be posting Metro road condition reports of slick roads as received....

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CSW BREAKING: Aircraft Emergency at K.C.I. Airport

At 11:13 am- a plane has reportedly lost their primary electrical system and is requesting an emergency landing at Kansas City International airport.

The fire department response was upgraded to an "Alert-2" at 11:17 am.

There is yet no word on the type of aircraft involved nor number of people on board (other than the pilot).

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UPDATE- 1142 CST: The plane has landed safety at K.C.I..

The aircraft was a Delta Airlines flight from Salt Lake City with 114 passengers and crew on board.

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CSW BREAKING: Tornado Reported In Longview Texas

Television station KETK NBC Channel 56 in Longview is reporting a tornado has touched down in the eastern part of that northeastern Texas city.

The tornado is now northeast of Longview and moving northeast. This is part of the same storm system producing the winter weather in the Kansas City MetroRegion.

Not many details yet- but the National Weather Service is calling this "A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO."

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CSW BREAKING: Male With "Multiple Stab Wounds" Found In KC-MO Northland

There aren't a whole lot of details yet on this incident that was reported at 3:39 pm at a Quik Trip store on 7200 Northeast Parvin Road.

Police found "a 22-year-old Hispanic male" with reported "multiple stab wounds" according to MAST-EMS in a blue Buick Skylark parked in front of that Quik Trip.

Police don't know where the victim was stabbed at yet- nor do they have any suspect information.

The victim was taken emergency to a Northland medical trauma center and he was in critical condition.

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Children Abducted In Zion Illinois

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CSW BREAKING: Lightning Strikes Houses In Douglas County KS

Fire crews from Baldwin City and Lawrence are busy on 2 incidents involving lightning strikes on house in their cities.


The first strike was reported at 11:09 am in Baldwin City- in the 1000 block of (ahem) Fire Tree Avenue.

First-arriving fire crews didn't see any smoke or fire upon arrival and it seems this incident just produced some dame to the house there.

The next incident sounded at 11:11 am in Lawrence: in the 2300 block of Haversham Drive.

There a resident reportedly suffered a minor injury when the lightning struck- as well as damage to that home but no fire.

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CSW WEATHER: Warm Front Nearing Metro Kansas City

Mother Nature is bestowing all kinds of varied 'weather gifts' for us this Christmas season.


To the west and southwest in Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma- we have heavy- sometimes severe- thunderstorms.

To the far northwest through north in Nebraska and Iowa- we have snow- sleet and freezing rain.

Showing here the surface weather map at 10 am. I've marked the low pressure center near Oklahoma City with the red warm from curling around to the north- northeast and eat through Missouri.

Look at the freezing or 32°F line in comparison to the 50°F line. We'll see the latter this afternoon & tonight- then later Thursday that freezing line moves eastward.

Weather radar continues to show thunderstorms in Franklin County KS that will be moving into Johnson and Douglas counties shortly.

No other severe storm reports from that activity so far.

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CSW WEATHER: Severe Thunderstorms South of Ottawa KS

In fact- a Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 10:15 am for Anderson County KS and the City of Garnett.

The storms you see on this weather radar image from NWS-Topeka are moving north-northeast- and will probably affect extreme SW & W Johnson County and most of Douglas County KS- including Lawrence- over the next hour.

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Are Kansas City Corporate Sports Matters More Important?

One can go to The KANSAS CITY STAR's online page and see the most read and most commented-upon stories.

Usually- the most commented-upon stories are sports- particularily our corporately-owned pro sports franchises.

Never mind stuff like KC-MO's water & sewer rates are going up nearly 150% over the next 5 years or civic matters that do- stories like what the Chefs organization will do with their inept coach- players/owner get far more reader interest.

No wonder we and The Nation are in the shape we're in....

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CSW WEATHER: Christmas Storm of 2009 Taking Dead-Aim

Virtually all of Metro and the Kansas City MetroRegion are now under a Winter Storm Watch from early Thursday (Christmas Eve) into late Christmas Day (Friday).


The track of this intensifying storm now appears to stay south to east of K.C.- putting our area under freezing/frozen precip earlier- as soon as midday Thursday.

Before it gets slick- we'll have rain- rainshowers and even some thunderstorms- especially from Metro K.C. south through early Thursday.

Many areas could see 1 to 2-inches of rain- and there could even be a few thunderstorms reaching severe limits in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri.

Rain will then slowly change to freezing rain and/or sleet at first- then change over to all snow by Christmas Eve evening.

Snow is likely- heavy at times- Thursday night into Christmas morning with light to moderate snow continuing possibly into Saturday.

NWS snow accumulations in Metro Kansas City at this time are forecast to be in the 3 to 10-inch range- with the heaviest snowfalls in west and northwest parts of Metro and MetroRegion KC-MO..

This storm appears to have Kansas City's name on it- and could possibly be a historic Christmas Day Storm of 2009.

We'll have it all here in text and images as the situation worsens....

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CSW WEATHER: Latest NWS Watches and Warnings

Thus far- only extreme northwest Kansas areas of the Kansas City MetroRegion are under any storm watches: a Winter Storm Watch includes areas in and around Seneca and Hiawatha.


The latest (1200 GMT) GFS weather model has shown a more eastward path of this forecasted Christmas Eve-Day Storm of 2009- which if this model run verifies- would put Metro Kansas City into frozen precipitation earlier on Christmas Eve afternoon or evening.

Laugh along with me thinking that this storm will get it's act together and do what it's gonna do when it does it.

I'll just pass on the watches and warnings here as they're issued.

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Lee's Summit Joins KC-MO With TIF Woes

Not nearly as reported as it's big brother next door- Lee's Summit also issues corporate welfare (TIFs) that are in shaky shape.

This story concerns the Ritter Plaza development area on M-291 between Tudor and Swann Roads.

The developer's grandiose plans for the center has taken a big hit from the economy- says this story from McClatchy-owned The LEE'S SUMMIT JOURNAL- and immediate plans for the city (taxpayer)-subsidized strip center are on hold.

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Kansas Highway Patrol Gets Free Gas For Christmas

The Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association of Kansas is again donating free gasoline to Kansas State troopers this year.


The SALINA (KS) JOURNAL states "Last year, the PMCA donated 59 tanks of fuel and nine $25 gift cards. During the time period, the patrol assisted 2,662 motorists, removed 103 impaired drivers from roadways and issued 667 citations for occupant protection violations."

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Rayville MO: A Town In Turmoil

Located less than 10 miles northwest of Ray County seat Richmond is the small town of Rayville.

Rayville City Hall and the town $7000 police car- unused and with a flat tire.

(Photo courtesy of The RICHMOND (MO) DAILY NEWS)

The citizens are so fed up with the present elected officials- that a petition has been started to dis-incorporate the 500-or-so person community- reports The RICHMOND (MO) DAILY NEWS.

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Cameron MO Newspaper Publisher: "...Journalism is Dead at KMBC"

In all my years in the news biz- I've never read a publisher of a small town newspaper let a big-town TV station's news department have it with both barrels.


In this piece by The CAMERON (MO) CITIZEN-OBSERVER's publisher Jamey Honeycutt- the publisher takes apart KMBC's continued coverage of brain tumors found in Cameron area residents and trying to tie the tumors to a yet-undisclosed health hazard.

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Washington University Student In Critical Condition After Beating

A female student of Washington University in a St. Louis suburb is in critical condition after being found in a basement laundry room of an off-campus apartment.

The victim was found by a maintenance worker at the building in the 700 block of Syracuse Avenue in University City- says The ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.

There was no suspect information.

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Two Washington State Cops Shot- Seriously Injured

The State of Washington is becoming the Cop Shooting Capitol of America...

The Associated Press reports 2 Eatonville WA officers were shot and seriously injured after responding to a disturbance involving 2 brothers.

One of the brothers was "lying in wait" for the officers and shot them. The cops returned fire and killed the suspect.

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One Dead- Another Injured In Sunday Emporia KS Shooting

This occurred Sunday morning about 2:30 am in southeastern Emporia- reports The EMPORIA (KS) GAZETTE.

(Scene photo courtesy of The EMPORIA (KS) GAZETTE)

The dead is identified as 30-year-old Samuel T. Rosado. The 2nd seriously-injured person is reported to be 28-year-old Juan Jose Rosales.

Police say they "knew who the shooter was" and the public is waiting for more.

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CSW BREAKING: Child Rescued From Icy Lake In Shawnee KS

The call came in just after 3:45 pm- there was a male child who had broken through the ice of a lake at 13101 West 65th Street in Shawnee.

Response of nearby Shawnee police- fire and MEDACT-EMS was quick- the child was said to be "30 yards out" from the lake shore but at 3:53 pm- that child is rescued and taken to a nearby MEDACT-EMS unit.

The victim- "a 13-year-old male" according to MEDACT-EMS- is suffering from hypothermia- but had managed to keep his head above water through the ordeal and is in good condition.

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