NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, August 28, 1998

                               *** NOTICE ***

All flags are to be flown at half-staff during the day on Monday, August
31st, in tribute to retired Supreme Court justice Lewis Powell, who died on
August 25th.  Twenty-four hour flags are to be lowered to half-staff from
midnight to sunset.

INCIDENTS

98-526 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Bonnie

Further updates on the impacts of the hurricane on North Carolina parks - and
preparations for its passage along the New York coast - have been received:

o     Cape Hatteras NS - The SERO Type 2 incident team met with park staff
      last night and will be traveling to the park today to begin damage
      assessments.

o     Cape Lookout NS - Members of the park's staff conducted a preliminary
      survey last night.  At the time of the report, winds were still blowing
      between 40 and 50 mph; trees were down, water covered many areas, and
      power was out.  Minor water damage was reported at headquarters, but no
      structural damage was evident.  Some staff will return to the park at
      10 a.m. this morning to fully survey the area.  The park will remain
      closed until further notice.

o     Moores Creek NB - The park regained power at 7 a.m. this morning. 
      About a dozen trees are down, some fairly large.  No park structures
      were hit, but some minor damage occurred in the maintenance area.  Most
      of the park is flooded, with waters continuing to rise.  No buildings
      are yet threatened.  Fort Sumter's saw and power crew arrived yesterday
      and is providing needed assistance.  All park staff are fine; the
      hurricane did no major damage to residences.  All have either regular
      electrical or generator power.  The park will remain closed until
      access is safe for visitors.

o     Fire Island NS - Although the storm will pass to the south of the park,
      it was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane this morning and
      will likely affect the island.  The park's incident management team
      continues to develop emergency response plans.  The beach was closed
      yesterday due to swells approaching eight to ten feet in height.  Some
      minor sand movement was reported.  All boats and park equipment have
      been secured, and plans are in place to protect and evacuate staff
      living on the island.

Parks in the track of Hurricane Bonnie are urged to transmit reports on storm
impacts to this cc:Mail address at their earliest convenience.  [Ken Garvin,
SERO, 8/28; Ann Childress, Superintendent, FOSU, 8/28; Barry Sullivan,
Assistant Superintendent, FIIS, 8/27]

98-534 - Amistad NRA (TX) - Follow-up on Flooding

The park and town of Del Rio continue to recover from the severe impacts of
Tropical Depression Charley, which dumped about 25 inches of rain on the
area.  The town and environs have been declared a federal disaster area. 
Seven bodies have been recovered in Del Rio, and more are likely to be found
in the large debris piles that have yet to be searched.  Rangers yesterday
attended the funeral of a Border Patrol agent who was killed while trying to
rescue a family member.  One park employee was left homeless, and several
employee homes were damaged by the flood.  Three employees are assigned to
the city's incident command post, and the park has played a vital role in
supplying the city with water from its wells (the city water and sewer
systems are still down).  The park received only minor damage, but numerous
cultural resource sites have been exposed in river canyons.  One positive
effect has been the influx of water into Amistad Reservoir, which had been at
a record low of 59 feet below normal.  The water level at the dam has risen
14 feet, which equates to 345,000 acre feet of new water in the reservoir. 
[Todd Brindle, AMIS, 8/27]

[Beaucoup reports pending...hurricanes and local projects have taken
precedence...most will appear on Monday and Tuesday...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Wed      Thu    %  Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    8/26     8/27  Con Con

WA   Yakima Agency        * Jo Jo #3          --        -    9,000  UNK NEC

MT   Bitterroot NF          West Fork Fires   FUT   1,485    1,530    0 NEC
                            Pack Trail        T2       95       95  100 CND 

ID   Nez Perce NF           Moose Cx          FUT     190      292    0 NEC
     Salmon-Challis NF      Laid Low          T2    1,400    1,570   33 8/30
                            Main Salmon Cx    FUT  11,161   11,199    0 10/15
                            North Fork Cx     T1    7,220    7,220  100 CND 
      
HI   State                * Molokai           --        -   11,000   NR 8/28
                  
                                  Heading Notes

Unit        Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
            or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
            district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire        * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex
IMT         T1 = Type I; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team; FUT = Interagency
            Fire Use Management Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Monday, 8/24         2      4         7       0       92     72       177
Tuesday, 8/25        0      1        15       0      122     67       205
Wednesday, 8/26      5      9        12       0       61     36       123
Thursday, 8/27       2     10         8       3       89     45       157

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Monday, 8/24       110        290          95             4           636
Tuesday, 8/25       89        228          77             5           721
Wednesday, 8/26     80        212          76             2           728
Thursday, 8/27      72        145          74            10           817

CURRENT SITUATION

Only minor initial attack activity was reported yesterday, but new large
fires were reported in Washington and Hawaii.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported yesterday in Texas, Arizona,
Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming and South
Dakota.

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for a high Haines index and low relative
humidity for eastern Washington.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/28]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests
pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your servicing hub
coordinator.

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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