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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, October 19, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Hawaiian Parks Follow-up on Hawaii Earthquake A 6.6 magnitude earthquake on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawaii rocked the entire island chain on the morning of Sunday, October 15th. Between Sunday morning and late Tuesday, the islands were hit by more than 60 aftershocks, the biggest being near 4.0. The governor has issued a disaster declaration, and the state has been designated a federal disaster area. The following report summarizes the status of affected parks as of Tuesday afternoon: USS Arizona Memorial (Oahu, Hawai‘i) - Power was restored to the park at 10 p.m. on Monday evening, and the site reopened to visitation on Tuesday. This was one of the last areas on Oahu to have power restored, as the quake caused generators to go off-line, resulting in a complete island-wide power outage. Kalaupapa National Historic Site (Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i) - Park staff report numerous rockslides between switchbacks 1 through 6 on the main park road and washouts along a third of the trail at switchback 26. Visitors and staff have been able to negotiate the trail on foot. The concession-run mule ride that utilizes this trail has closed. Haleakalā National Park (Maui, Hawai‘i) - The park experienced severe weather on Monday night, resulting in landslides that closed the summit road on Haleakalā. The debris has since been cleared and the road has reopened. No further impacts from Sunday's earthquake have been reported. The park remains open. Pu'u Koholā Heiau National Historic Site (Kawaihae, Hawai‘i) - At least three of the park's historic sites sustained extensive damage to their rock work. Archeologists are surveying the sites and working with government engineers to stabilize the sites. The park received three-and-a-half inches of rain on Monday night, which washed out much of the trail system and spilled debris onto roadways and the visitor center parking area. The park visitor center remains open, as does one trail to the historic heiau. Park staff report damage to personal belongings and furniture. Structural surveys will be needed to determine the extent of residential damage. Kaloko Honokōhau National Historic Site (Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i) - Historic and modern rock walls collapsed in places. Downed vegetation affected one archeological site. The quake had only minor impacts on park facilities. A few staff members report significant structural damage to their residences. Pu'u Honua o Hōnaunau (Hōnaunau-Kona, Hawai‘i) - The Great Wall area is closed due to the unstable rock wall and the 1871 trail was eroded by the quake and high waves. The park remains open. Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (Volcano-Ka'ū, Hawai‘i) - The park is open and fully operational. The Pacific Area Communications Center continues to monitor all activity related to earthquake response and maintain communications among all NPS areas in Hawaii. The main highway running through the park was shutdown on Monday night due to heavy rains, but reopened on Tuesday morning. [Talmadge Magno, Chief Ranger, Hawaii Volcanoes NP) Great Smoky Mountains NP Park Continues Recovery From Storm Impacts Rain and winds peaking at over 100 miles per hour struck the park on Monday night, particularly on the Tennessee side, bringing down trees and forcing closure of major roads and public use areas. Changes to the park's status, as previously reported in this publication, are as follows: Little River Road - The road has been reopened from its junction with US 441 at Sugarlands Visitor Center to the Townsend entrance. It is therefore now possible to access Elkmont campground and many trailheads and scenic points. There are no restrooms along this stretch of road, though, because the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area remains closed due to downed power lines. Foothills Parkway - The segment of the parkway in Cocke County has reopened. Park crews are working to reopen other roads, with the top priorities being the Newfound Gap Road (US 441) from Cherokee to Gatlinburg, the Laurel Creek Road to Cades Cove, and the Cades Cove loop road. All were expected to reopen by late yesterday. [Bob Gray, Management Assistant] Lake Mead NRA Follow-up On Storm Impacts As was reported this past Monday (click on “More Information” for the original report), the park closed several areas on Saturday, October 14th, due to damage caused by heavy rains and flooding. The Willow Beach access road washed out, stranding a number of employees and visitors; another group of 36 people were stranded in Black Canyon; and the St. Thomas access road washed out. Here's what's happened since then: Saturday - Rangers and Forever Resorts concession employees rescued the people stranded in Black Canyon. The visitors, who had been on canoe and kayaking trips, were rafted back to Willow Beach, then shuttled by rangers up the washed out access road to Highway 93. The visitors stranded at Willow Beach were also shuttled out. Forever Resorts provided shuttle buses from that point back to their office in Boulder City. NPS maintenance crews began work on repairs to the Willow Beach access road. All river trips in Black Canyon were cancelled. St. Thomas access road remained closed. River rafting, canoeing and kayaking trips in Black Canyon were suspended. Sunday - The Willow Beach and St. Thomas access roads remained closed. Concession trips on the river in Black Canyon remained suspended. Monday - Engineers and park staff began evaluating the Willow Beach access road and determined that it will have to remain closed for at least a week. The St. Thomas access road also remained closed. Concession trips on the river in Black Canyon remained suspended. There were no reported injuries, fatalities or missing persons as a result of the storm and subsequent flooding. [Roxanne Dey, Public Affairs Officer] HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewincidentsarticle&type=Incidents&id=2918" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewincidentsarticle&type=Incidents&id=2918 OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: The movie Flags Of Our Fathers opens tomorrow. Part of it was shot at the Iwo Jima Memorial, administered by GWMP. The fall issue of Sustainability News, focusing on climate change, has been posted. A contract has been awarded for the IMARS pilot program. Tom Nichols has been named acting chief of Fire and Aviation Management. Frank Fiala is retiring in January. DSC has an opening for a GS-9/11 natural resource specialist. To link to InsideNPS, click on HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |