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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, November 7, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Mount Rainier NP Flooding, Slides Cause Park Closures According to the Associated Press (Monday evening), heavy rains have virtually closed Mount Rainier National Park. Several roads and campgrounds are threatened by flooding and mudslides. The main park road from the Nisqually entrance to Paradise is closed. Highway 123 is also closed due to rockslides. Park employees at Longmire were told to leave while the road is still passable. The Park Service says the only road into the park that is still open is Highway 410 over Chinook Pass. Olympic NP Park Roads Closed Due To Flooding Like much of the rest of the Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park has received significant rainfall over recent days. Flooding in many areas has led to numerous road closures. Park staff will conduct damage assessments when conditions allow and will work to reopen roads as soon as it is safe to do so. The following roads are currently closed because of storm impacts. Hurricane Ridge Road - Closed due to rocks on the road. Elwha Valley - The Olympic Hot Springs Road is closed at the Elwha entrance station due to flooding. Hoh Road - Closed at milepost 3 (outside the park boundary). Quinault North Shore Road - Finley Creek Bridge has been damaged and is closed. The road is closed east of Finley Creek. Quinault South Shore Road - Closed outside the park boundary. Quinault Graves Creek Road - Closed. Quinault North Fork Road - Closed. Ozette - The Ozette area is inaccessible due to flooding outside the park boundary on the Hoko-Ozette Road. Queets Road - Closed. Mora Campground - Closed due to flooding. Rialto Beach Road - Currently covered with water and closed. Dosewallips Road - Closed due to previous damage and unsafe conditions. Staircase Road - Same. Deer Park Road - Same. The Sol Duc Road, Kalaloch and Lake Crescent areas remain open, but travel is not recommended because of heavy rain, limited visibility and the risk of flooding and rock falls. For current road information, people should call the Olympic National Park recorded road and weather information line at 360-565-3131. [Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Officer] White Sands NM Facilities Closed Due To Extensive Flooding Record-breaking rainfall has flooded much of the white sands dune field. Two miles of the scenic eight-mile Dunes Drive are underwater and closed to vehicular traffic. The park's picnic areas, nature center and backcountry trails are in the flooded area and are also temporarily closed. The flooding began with 9 inches of rain in August, which is more than double the park's previous record for monthly rainfall. More rain in September and October expanded the flooded area, with as much as 16 inches of standing water on roads and parking areas. Because the dune field is at the bottom of a basin, the water cannot drain away. Only evaporation will remove the water, and, with cooler fall and winter temperatures, parts of the dune field will likely remain flooded for many weeks. Assuming no more rain exacerbates the problem, the park will reopen parts of the road and picnic areas as they dry up. [John Mangimeli, Chief of Interpretation] Badlands NP Staff Assist At Fatal Accident On October 30th, rangers received a call from the Pennington County 911 dispatcher, asking that they respond to a motor vehicle accident on Highway 44 between the towns of Interior and Scenic. When they arrived on scene, they found the driver lying across the body of one of the passengers, who'd been thrown from the vehicle. A quick medical assessment was conducted. Two of the three people who'd been in the car were conscious, but disoriented and suffering from head, spine and back injuries. The third was dead. The two survivors were flown by life flight to Rapid City Regional Hospital. The accident investigation was turned over to the South Dakota Highway Patrol. The driver reported that they'd been traveling east on Highway 44 when one of the vehicle's tires blew. The driver lost control of the vehicle, which left the roadway and rolled over several times. One of the occupants was tossed from the vehicle and crushed. None of the three were wearing their seat belts. Narcotics are believed to have been a contributing factor. [Mark Gorman, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: The National Park Service has developed and made available a web site to help plan visits to NPS sites that preserve the military and veteran heritage of our nation. Fees are also being waived on Veteran's Day for vets and current members of the armed forces and their families. Olympic National Park has an opening for a GS-0560-11/12 budget analyst (temporary promotion opportunity). The announcement opened last Friday and closed on November 17th. Registrations are now being accepted for the live broadcast of a PMIS town hall meeting Telnet class. This session will take place on November 14th from noon to 2:30 p.m. EST. 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. --- ### --- |