NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
BLACKBERRY EDITION
Thursday, October 6, 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 took part in ground and aerial tours of affected areas earlier this week. They will be briefing CISM team members on Sunday. The CISM team will be located at Gulf Islands. Branch members continued contacting affected DOI employees to assess interest in FEMA trailer housing at Bayou Segnette State Park. MMS has 41 employees who are interested in housing. To date, of 17 NPS employees, 9 are interested in the housing option. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471).
Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area:
Barataria - The saw crew cleared debris at the visitor center boardwalk. State DOT crews are completing debris cleanup along the road. The visitor center/office complex has 15 functional work stations and employees are reporting for duty.
Chalmette - Ventilation of buildings continued. This crew plans a trip with park staff and EN staff to remove salvageable property from the superintendent's home and visitor center.
419 Decatur - Ventilation operations continued. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs. The branch chief toured New Orleans Jazz with superintendent John Quirk to assess the scope of needed work.
Cane River - The safety officer and branch manager visited the park on Wednesday.
Bayou Signette State Park - The crew met with the trucking company and oriented them to the park. The trucking company provided quotes which are being considered. Equipment may be mobilized Wednesday to begin work on Thursday for removal of debris.
Law Enforcement Branch - Area patrols continued. Rangers continued to interface with community members and offer assistance. They began rehab of long guns and living history weapons. They secured the Joseph property and began shipping documents to Joseph's daughter.
The entire operation is going to be reorganized into four branches. Branch 1 will be employee assistance. Branch 2 will include work with resources and facilities in Chalmette (Jean Lafitte) and Louis Armstrong (New Orleans Jazz). Branch 3 will include work with resources and facilities in the Cane River, Barataria, and Bayou Signette. Branch 4 will be the LE branch.
Gulf Islands NS
A second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC) is overseeing recovery operations at Gulf Islands NS.
Significant progress continues to be made in hurricane recovery work throughout the Mississippi District.
Work crews made major progress in clean-up and recovery work on West Ship Island on Wednesday. Construction materials and tools were transported to the island by boat. Most of the debris washed on to the island during the hurricane was gathered and stockpiled, and one small barge load of debris material was shipped off the island. Carpenters built a wooden ramp enabling access into Fort Massachusetts for the removal of additional debris from inside the fort.
Carpenter crews continued clean-up and stabilization work at the visitor center. Rehab work continued on park residences and also on the park boat ramp.
Electrical teams continued with rewiring work in the campground, with 49 of the 54 campground electrical hookup boxes now functional. FEMA trailers will be placed on 41 of the sites to provide temporary housing for families from the community displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Bucket truck crews have finished removing overhead tree hazards along park roads and in the campground. They will continue working in other sections of the park such as the picnic areas to remove any remaining overhead hazards.
Two critical incident stress management counselors are in the park and are contacting employees, assessing needs and performing follow-up work.
Law enforcement personnel are providing protection operations on the mainland and boat operations to the islands (for protection and operational support).
A total of 169 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.
The team turned complete responsibility for law enforcement back to Big Thicket staff yesterday. All SET team members are now on their way home.
Many challenges remain at Big Thicket, but the staff is beginning to look ahead. Although the park officially remains closed, roads and some trails have been cleared ahead of schedule. Large generators are powering the visitor center and the maintenance complex in Village Mills.
All employees are now reporting to their regular supervisors and not to the IMT. An all employee meeting and barbeque is scheduled for tonight. The IMT will leave Big Thicket on Friday after a final meeting with the acting superintendent and the division chiefs. A plan of action for returning to business as usual will be left with park management. Saw crews and maintenance specialists will remain in place until Saturday. All administrative leave for Big Thicket employees ends on Tuesday.
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]
Cape Hatteras NS
Man Caught in Rip Current Drowns in Heavy Surf
Two brothers from Washington, D.C., were swimming in heavy surf near the village of Rodanthe on the morning of September 25th. One of them, age 38, swam out to a sandbar about 30 yards offshore and encouraged his brother to join him, but the latter declined and stayed close to shore. A short time later, the brother on the sandbar evidently became caught in a rip current and began to struggle, waving his arms and calling for help. Within minutes, he was about 200 yards offshore and in heavy surf. Family members dialed 911 and requested assistance. Ranger Doug Murphy responded along with Dare County EMS and the Chicamacomico Banks Fire and Rescue Squad. Upon arrival, the victim was no longer visible, so the rescue squad launched its inflatable rescue boat and began a search. Approximately 30 minutes after last being seen, he was spotted floating face down about 50 yards offshore and was pulled to shore by a surfer. He was not breathing and had no pulse. Dare County Paramedics began providing advanced life support, but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at the scene. [Jon Anglin, Bodie Island District 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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