NPS Morning Report - Thursday, October 18, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, October 18, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-564 - Lyndon B. Johnson NHP (TX) - Tornadoes

An F3 tornado touched down in Stonewall, Texas, about two miles from 
the park on the night of October 12th. It was the last and strongest 
of four tornadoes spawned by a cold front moving across the state. The 
tornado formed just before 10 p.m. about a half mile west of Stonewall 
and traveled approximately two miles to the northeast along a path a 
quarter-mile wide before dissipating. The roof of a two-story home was 
destroyed and a concrete building lost most of its walls and all of 
its roof. Over fifty homes and businesses sustained damage along the 
path of the tornado, including the home of one NPS employee.  A 
tremendous number of trees were uprooted or stripped of limbs, 
including some of the massive live oak and pecan trees that are the 
signature of the Texas hill country. Phone service, long distance 
service and electrical power in Stonewall and at the LBJ Ranch are out 
and in the process of being restored.  Following the storm, park staff 
assisted the Secret Service at the LBJ Ranch in maintaining radio and 
phone communications using NPS equipment. Heavy rains during the storm 
filled the Pedernales River along the park boundary, flooding one 
entrance to the LBJ Ranch and forcing the NPS bus tour to detour from 
its normal route the following day.  The visitor center at LBJ State 
Historical Park, the departure point for NPS bus tours, was without 
water and power, which also impacted park visitors.  Many park 
employees live in and near the affected areas, or have relatives in 
this area. [Brian Carey, LYGO, 10/17]

01-565 - Roosevelt-Vanderbilt NHS (NY) - Special Event

On October 11th, a ceremony was held at the gravesite of Franklin and 
Eleanor Roosevelt to commemorate Eleanor Roosevelt's 117th birthday, 
but the focus was a memorial service in honor of those who died a 
month previously on September 11th. Allida Black, professor of history 
and author of several books about Mrs. Roosevelt, was the guest 
speaker. Superintendent Sarah Olson presented a memorial wreath in 
honor of those who died. Various organizations presented memorial 
bouquets, including the town of Hyde Park, American Legion Post 1303, 
the Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce, The Eleanor Roosevelt Center at 
Val-Kill, the FDR Library, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt 
Institute, and Save America's Treasures.  Members of the audience were 
asked to participate by placing a flower on the grave. Over 200 people 
attended the event.  [Fran Macsali-Urbin, ROVA, 10/17]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2

Two Type 1 teams are assigned to FEMA to support operations in New 
York City. 

Initial attack was light nationwide on Tuesday. Very high to extreme 
fire indices were reported in Oregon, California, Utah, Arizona and 
Texas.

Park Fire Situation

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Three resource benefit fires continue to burn 
in the park. The fires and acreages are as follows: Vista fire, 3,658 
acres; Tower fire, 3,523 acres; Swamp fire, 3,217 acres.

Redwood NP (CA) - The park began the planned 63-acre Upper Airstrip Rx 
burn yesterday, with support from the Las Vegas 777 crew.

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP's (CA) - The park began segment B of the 
Sherman Creek Rx burn yesterday. Fifty acres were to be ignited. 

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 10/17; NPS Situation 
Summary Report, 10/18]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

National Leadership Council News - The fifth edition of the National 
Leadership Council journal is now available.  It has been sent to all 
employees via e-mail.  Supervisors are asked to ensure that employees 
without access are able to view a hard copy of the report.  This 
edition and the previous four editions can be accessed by scrolling 
down on the web page at www.nps.gov/refdesk/policies.html. The latest 
Acrobat Reader program should be installed to read the pdf version.  
If you receive the journal attachment via e-mail, open it by clicking 
on the "pdf" icon within the message.  [Chick Fagan, WASO]

                            *  *  *  *  *

The Morning Report solicits entries from the field and central offices 
for its daily and weekly sections (below). The general rule is that 
submissions, whatever the category, should pertain to operations, be 
useful to the field, and have broad significance across the agency. 
Additional details on submission criteria are available from the 
editor at any time (Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA, or 
Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). Ask for either incident reporting criteria 
(issued by WASO, June 18, 2000) or general criteria. 

Daily and weekly sections are available for news or significant 
developments pertaining to:

Field incidents                 Interpretation and visitor services
Natural resource management     Cultural resource management
Operations (WASO only)          Memoranda (WASO only)
Requests/offers of assistance   Park-related web sites
Parks and employees             Media stories on parks
Training, meetings, and events  Queries on operational matters  
Reports on "lessons learned" 

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please 
address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport

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

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