NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, March 24, 2008

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INCIDENTS

Hawaii Volcanoes NP

Update On Volcanic Events

The Western IMT is in the process of preparing short and long term contingency plans for a variety of scenarios, including elevated sulfur dioxide levels, explosive events, and lava eruptions. The main concern at this time is that sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates from the summit of Kilauea volcano continue to be elevated at about 1,200 tons/day, compared to a normal background rate of between 150 and 200 tons/day. Once the gas is released into the air, the danger it poses to human health is directly related to its concentration. Higher concentrations are found downwind of the source, so changes in wind direction and speed can bring gases at hazardous concentrations into different areas. Trade (northeasterly) winds keep gas emissions in the south caldera, an area of the park currently closed to the public. When the winds shift or die down, SO2 concentrations can rise in areas still open to visitation. (See the plume venting from the wall of Halema‘uma‘u crater at HYPERLINK "http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam3/" http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam3/). There have been no new explosive eruptions since the explosion that occurred Wednesday morning, March 19th, in Halema‘uma‘u crater. That explosion scattered rock debris over an area of about 75 acres, covering a portion of Crater Rim Drive and trail and damaging the overlook at Halema'uma'u. No lava was erupted as part of the explosion. Today, the park will team with the Hawai'i National Guard and Hawai'i County Fire Department to carry out a joint helicopter flight operation. Throughout the day, a Hawai'i County helicopter will fly over the volcano to measure sulfur dioxide levels venting from the summit of Kilauea. The data obtained will be used to develop maps that depict various scenarios of sulfur dioxide concentrations relative to wind direction and speed. On Wednesday, the park will host a media briefing to provide an update on the elevated SO2 levels, the park's monitoring and communication efforts, and the impacts of elevated SO2 levels on park operations and staff and visitor health and safety. Those invited to participate in the presentation include USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists, park and IMT staff, the mayor of the county of Hawai‘i, and Department of Health Representatives from the state of Hawai‘i. [Patti Wold, Information Officer]

Ozark NSR

Major Flood Inundates Park

About a foot of rain fell on the region over a two-day period last week, raising almost all of the creeks and rivers within the park to record flood levels. At park headquarters in Van Buren, the Current River crested at 25.7 feet above normal; at the Akers ranger station, the river gauge only goes up to 18 feet and was seen two feet under the river's surface, setting a new record for that location. President Bush has declared 70 Missouri counties as disaster areas, including all the counties encompassing the 134-mile-long park. Rangers responded to four major river rescues on March 18th and saved over 15 visitors or locals from various flooded creeks or roads. One of these operations involved rescuing two local Missouri State Water Patrol officers after their rescue boat flipped over while trying to save some juveniles who'd been caught in the flood. On this rescue, three separate jet boats had their motors clog up due to debris and flipped over in the trees and brush. The NPS was operating the only prop-equipped boat on the river and was being called by both the local county sheriffs' departments and the state to assist them with rescues. Very fortunately, no one drowned in the park, although a number of drownings occurred elsewhere in the state. Due to high water levels, a number of park employees could not make it to work, some employees could not make it back home after work, and other employees had no electricity at their homes for several days. The entire park was without internet or phone service for all of March 19th, which was the day when staff were trying to locate and obtain emergency resources to assist in this incident. At the time of the report (Friday afternoon), the park was estimating that damage to roads, trails, buildings and other facilities would reach well over $1.5 million, but accurate figures will not be possible until waters recede. As the rivers go down, staff are noting that the park lost a large number of buildings, signs, picnic tables, fences, power transformers and items of playground equipment. Many other buildings had flood waters up to three feet deep inside them. Generally speaking, most of the park's campgrounds and the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers remain closed until the extent of the damage can be assessed and the river can be run and found to be safe from floating debris, root wads, and various obstacles like cars, propane tanks, and other items that were lost in this flood. Park clean-up continues and it will take months to get operations back to normal. [Greg Moss, Chief Ranger]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Four Entrapped Men Rescued From Cave

Four young men who were trapped in Rainbow Falls Cave were rescued on the evening of Friday, March 21st. The foursome - D.B. and J.L., both 17, G.B., 24, and C.S., 20 - had set out to go caving around 10 p.m. on Thursday evening, with the intent of returning home by the early morning hours. Their descent into the cave went smoothly, but they realized that they'd become trapped when they attempted to climb back out. One of the ropes lead up an icy cold waterfall and they were so cold and exhausted that they lacked the strength to make the ascent. At that point, they retreated further into the cave until they found a dry spot where they could huddle together for warmth and await rescue. The park was notified of their failure to return from the expedition around 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning and immediately launched a rescue operation. Although there was some uncertainty as to which among several caves they'd entered, rangers found a pack belonging to one of the men at the entrance to Rainbow Falls Cave around 9 a.m. Park staff with caving experience and members of the Knoxville Cave Rescue Team entered the cave and extricated the four men. They were found to be in good condition. Only G.B. had any caving experience, and that was limited to some small caves in Oklahoma where he'd lived before moving to Tennessee. The men had four ropes and a single ascender with them and were clad mostly in cotton, which provides little warmth when wet. (Bob Miller, PAO, plus news reports]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS:

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6319" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6319

Midwest Regional Office - Thomas A. Bradley has been selected as the new superintendent for Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. He will assume his new duties on April 27th.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6318" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6318

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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