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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Friday, July 7, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Northeast Region Some Sites, Facilities Reopen At Delaware River Parks Flood recovery operations continue at the two national parks on the Delaware River - Delaware Water Gap NRA in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Upper Delaware S&RR in Pennsylvania and New York. Recent developments follow: Delaware Water Gap NRA - The flood was the third worst in the century-plus history of readings taken at the park's primary river gauge, cresting at about 27 feet above normal levels for this time of year. Maintenance crews have been working hard to restore facilities and have made considerable progress. The river has also dropped back to seasonal levels, making it possible to reopen sites along the Delaware. Delaware River - The section of the river from Milford to Smithfield Beach will reopen on Saturday morning, but the section from Smithfield Beach to Kittatinny Point will remain closed due to strainers and dangerous hydraulics. Beaches - Milford Beach and Smithfield Beach and their associated grounds will remain closed due to mud, soggy fields, and lack of water and restrooms. Launching Points - Although the two beaches will be closed, the boat ramps at both locations will be open. Also reopening on Saturday will be the boat and canoe launching points at Dingmans, Bushkill and Eshback in Pennsylvania and at Namanock and Cadoo in New Jersey. The launching areas at Kittatinny Point and Poxono in New Jersey will remain closed. Visitor Centers - The visitor center at Dingmans Falls is open, but the visitor center at Kittatinny Point remains closed. The trailer housing the temporary visitor center at that location was moved prior to the flood and will not be returned to the site until next week. Roads - All park roads are open, except for the section of Old Mine Road from Peters Valley to Flatbrookville. The lower section of Old Mine Road through Worthington State Forest may or may not be opened by the weekend, so it is at present uncertain whether there will be access to the New Jersey District coming north from I-80. All other public use areas within the park are open now and will be open through the coming weekend. No fees are being collected at boat ramps and beaches until further notice. Upper Delaware S&RR - The Zane Grey museum will remain closed until further notice. Flood water entered the basement of the building, causing electrical and structural damage. The Zane Grey Festival, scheduled for July 15th, has been cancelled. The Roebling Bridge, which spans the Delaware River, reopened on Wednesday afternoon. Federal Highway Administration engineers spent the day checking the bridge and declared it safe. [Bill Halainen, Incident Information Officer, DEWA; Carla Hauser Hahn, UPDE] Zion NP Park Staff Conduct Four Rescues Within 24 Hours On the morning of June 20th, a visitor reported by cell phone that she had broken her ankle on the way down the chained portion of the Angel's Landing trail. Rangers were dispatched to the scene; upon arrival, they determined that a short haul rescue was the safest option. A helicopter from Grand Canyon NP extracted her and landed her on the canyon floor. Within an hour of the return of the ground crew from Angel's Landing, a report arrived of a visitor complaining of chest pain at a campsite in the Virgin River Narrows. During a reconnaissance performed by rangers with the park's contract helicopter, a suitable landing zone was located on a ridge top approximately 600 feet above the patient. As rescuers were being shuttled to the Narrows, visitors reported three people yelling for help several hundred feet above the Weeping Rock area. At dusk, a ranger was able to make voice contact with the trio and determined that they were uninjured. They were simply stuck at the last rappel in Echo Canyon (350 feet) with not enough rope (280 feet). This section of Echo Canyon is closed due to the presence of popular viewpoint at the base of the rappel and the associated rock fall danger. A rescue team was dispatched to reach the canyoneers and bring them safely to the ground. At about this time, visitors reported a man with an injured knee in the Narrows, last seen a half mile above Riverside Walk in the river, moving slowly downstream and requesting assistance. Two rangers were dispatched and reached the man as he was exiting the river with the assistance of a friend and a stick used as a crutch. The rangers transported him to the trailhead by wheelchair and cleared to assist with other incidents. Meanwhile, in the Narrows, a medic had been lowered to the patient, found that she was stable, and elected to spend the night in the canyon. By this time (2 a.m.), the Echo Canyon rescue team had reached the canyoneers, lowered one to the ground and facilitated the belayed rappel of the other two. An interview with the group leader revealed that he generally knew what canyon they were in but had not conducted enough research to know that the lower section of canyon was closed or how to exit the canyon once he got in there. Early the next morning, the park's contract helicopter was able to land 300 yards south of the Narrows campsite. Due to canyon winds, this landing zone was not accessible the previous day. On the morning of June 21st, the patient was assisted to the helicopter, flown to the waiting park ambulance and transported to an area hospital. In all, over 25 park employees and volunteers were involved in the rescues. [Kevin Killian, Canyon District Ranger] Blue Ridge Parkway Injured Falling Victim Rescued From Cascade Falls On the morning of Sunday, July 2nd, a 16-year-old boy fell about six feet off a log across Cascade Falls, then slid about 40 feet down the cascading falls until he hit a tree. The tree stopped him from sliding any further down the falls, but broke the fibula and tibia in his right leg. Rangers and three local rescue and volunteer fire departments responded. Rescuers were able to safely raise him up to an overlook, then carry him to an ambulance and eventually transfer him to a helicopter that flew him to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. The victim's mother told rangers that the boy had gone under a fence at the overlook, then scrambled down about 50 feet to the log. Both his parents warned him to turn around and come back. He fell as he was turning around. [David Bauer, Supervisory Park Ranger] Great Smoky Mountains NP Drowning At Abrams Falls V.K., 26, of Manchester, Connecticut, drowned in a pool below Abrams Falls late on the afternoon of July 2nd. V.K. and four others Indian nationals, all in the United States on work visas, hiked the two-and-a-half miles to the falls earlier that day. He took off his short and shoes, entered the pool, and was last seen swimming underwater toward the base of the falls. When he failed to resurface, his friends began looking for him around the edge of the pool and in the surrounding area. Meanwhile, other visitors hiked out and contacted a park employee near the trailhead. Rangers arrived on scene around 7 p.m. and began a search for V.K.. On the following morning, scuba tanks and other gear needed for the search were packed in on a string of four NPS mules. A dive team from the Blount County Sheriff's Department assisted in the search. V.K.'s body was found under a ledge at the base of the waterfall in mid-morning. The waterfall creates a strong hydraulic, similar to a low head dam, which tends to hold and re-circulate items. Since the ledge under the falls is undercut, the hydraulic action apparently pushed the body further under the ledge and held it there. The body was carried out by the rescue team, reaching the trailhead at about noon on July 3rd. The medical examiner has ruled the cause of death as accidental drowning. [Rick Brown, Assistant Chief Ranger, Operations] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: NCR - Article on parks supporting the big Fourth of July celebration in DC. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4601" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4601 NPS/FLETC - Death of Carol Pfeifer, retired AO at FLETC. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1280" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1280 WASO - Job announcement for assistant director of the park cultural resources program. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2440" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2440 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |