NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
BLACKBERRY EDITION
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Areas
Update on Hurricane Recovery Operations
Reports on recovery operations from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been consolidated into just one report.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP
The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane.
Employee Assistance Branch - EAP continued calling affected DOI employees to assess interest in FEMA trailer housing at Bayou Segnette State Park. MMS has 41 employees who may be interested in FEMA housing. Of 17 NPS employees, 8 are interested in this housing option; there was one refusal, with others pending. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789).
Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area:
Barataria - The saw crew continued clearing trails and debris in Barataria. There are now 15 functional work stations (phone and computer) at the visitor center and office. An unknown number of employees reported for duty.
Chalmette - Ventilation of buildings continued. The National Park Service met with a contractor for hazardous tree removal and the job quote is pending. At 419 Decatur, ventilation continues. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs. Graves have been disturbed due to uprooted trees during the hurricane and an additional discovery of human remains occurred on October 2nd.
419 Decatur Street - Ventilation operations continued. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs.
Cane River - A helicopter landing zone was established suitable for the pilot. The LZ was developed as a way to quickly fly out anyone injured as a result of clean-up, debris removal or construction projects at the park.
Law Enforcement Branch - Incident command personnel ground tours were conducted. A helo overflight of Barataria was conducted by Jean Lafitte LE rangers and resource management staff. Area patrols continue. Rangers continue to interface with community members and offer assistance.
Gulf Islands NS
A second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC) is overseeing recovery operations at Gulf Islands NS.
Work crews continue to make significant progress on the mainland (Davis Bayou Unit). No work was done on the islands on Monday due to rough sea conditions (wave heights of seven to nine feet), making travel to the islands unsafe. Crews scheduled to work on the islands were reassigned to other recovery work on the mainland.
Clean-up operations were begun on East Ship Island on Tuesday. The on-ground assessment revealed the presence of much more debris than originally surveyed. Much of the debris is located in environmentally sensitive areas.
Stabilization work on the visitor center is nearing completion. Crews began closing off open areas of the building with plywood, and continued to work on removing remaining debris from the nearby grounds. Work also continued on the dismantling of the damaged boardwalk behind the visitor center.
The IT staff was able to repair the park network lines located in the visitor center. The lines are powered by the generator and will provide park network service for the temporary park office trailers located in the maintenance area. The trailers have been wired for telephone and network service, and are nearly ready for use by park staff. Details were worked out with the power company for installation of a new transformer to power the temporary visitor center.
More hazardous materials (including propane tanks and 55-gallon drums) were found on park property. U.S. Coast Guard personnel will handle the removal process.
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Law enforcement personnel continue to provide protection operations on the mainland and boat operations to the islands (for protection and operational support).
Two critical stress management counselors arrived at the park on Monday for a follow-up visit with employees to assist them with their needs.
A total of 151 personnel are currently assigned to the incident.
Big Thicket NP
The Central IMT (Eddie Lopez, IC) is charged with assisting the parks and employees affected by Hurricane Rita, primarily Big Thicket NP, and with supporting communities around the park.
Hurricane Rita hit Beaumont hard. Big Thicket National Preserve's headquarters building was along the storm's direct path. Now that damage to employee homes has been stabilized, focus has shifted to that one heavily damaged park building. Since the building is in no condition to be used, the staff is preparing for a move to temporary quarters. Bob Reiss of the U.S. Public Health Service will assess the building today. In the meantime, movers have been busy packing up each office. The movers will truck the boxes and furniture to Village Mills.
Three large office trailers are parked near the maintenance complex. The trailers have about a third of the space of the GSA building that the park has been renting. The temporary office location is about 30 miles north of Beaumont.
This is the first major step towards restoring normal park operations. Employees who have remained in the area will return to their regular jobs on Wednesday. All park employees, including those who evacuated the area, will return next Tuesday.
The rest of the Intermountain special events and tactics team will leave Big Thicket on Wednesday. The Central IMT will host an all-employee meeting and barbeque on Thursday. The team plans to leave Big Thicket on Friday afternoon.
Additional Information
A web site has been established as a repository for official documents related to hurricane recovery operations: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1.
[Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Yosemite NP
Missing Son and Mother Found
On Saturday, September 24th, Yosemite rangers and Mariposa County Sheriff's deputies received reports of two missing Chinese citizens. A 60-year-old woman from Beijing was traveling with her 34-year-old son, a resident of Atlanta, Georgia. The pair were traveling in a rented car from Las Vegas, Nevada, to the park. The son had been telephoning his wife daily until the night of September 22nd, when he called from Yosemite Valley. After that, all telephone calls ceased. The next morning the two presumably left Yosemite Valley to drive back toward Las Vegas. Rangers at first searched the park for their vehicle without locating it. When the pair missed their scheduled flight back to Atlanta on the 25th, concern for them intensified. A park criminal investigator focused on the case exclusively. The roadsides in the park were searched by helicopter and from the ground for four days. The park coordinated with surrounding jurisdictions, which also searched their segments of highway. The search efforts did not bear fruit until mid-afternoon on Thursday, September 29th, when an Inyo National Forest LEO spotted the car approximately 250 feet below the road in Lee Vining Canyon outside the park, about six miles east of Tioga Pass. The vehicle had sustained massive damage from vaulting off the edge of the roadway and rolling over several times. It had come to rest on its side against a stand of trees with the undercarriage facing the road. This attitude made it difficult to see from the air and the highway edge. Both mother and son died immediately in the crash. [Steve Yu, Criminal Investigator]
Yellowstone NP
Sentencing in Felony Methamphetamine Case
A 27-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, man was recently sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute approximately one ounce of methamphetamine inside Yellowstone National Park. He was also fined $250 and placed on four years' supervised release. Last February, he was stopped inside the park by a ranger and a special agent after several traffic violations were observed. He was arrested at the time and was remanded to the custody of the US Marshal Service throughout the case. A co-defendant in the case was sentenced to 24 months in prison as well. This case involved over 4,800 miles of repeated travel to and from district court and over 100 hours of case work for the special agent and ranger assigned to the case. (Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge]
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP
Falling Fatality
Rangers recovered a body believed to be that of a 42-year-old man from Michigan at the base of Chasm View overlook on the South Rim of Black Canyon on September 18th. Upon noticing a bicycle locked to a fence at the overlook for most of the day on September 17th, rangers began a hasty search in the vicinity of the overlook later in the afternoon. The following morning, a ranger hiked into the canyon from the North Rim and discovered human remains at the bottom of the canyon below the overlook. Initial investigation and condition of the remains indicates that the victim died in a fall of approximately 2,000 feet. A team of three rangers recovered the remains, extricated the body via helicopter long-line, and relinquished custody to the Montrose County coroner. A forensic autopsy will be completed to determine official cause of death and positive identification. The investigation is continuing. [Linda Alick, Chief Ranger]
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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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