NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, September 15, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Intermountain/Southeast Regions
Assessments And Recovery Operations Follow Ike's Passage
Initial reports from parks following Hurricane Ike's passage indicate that it had only moderate impacts on most areas, except for Big Thicket, which is east of Houston and was within the storm's wind field. The Central incident management team is on scene and assisting in recovery operations. The National Park Service is also supporting FEMA with a number of boat crews - a small boat task force with 13 boats, crews and overhead is operating out of Lafayette, Louisiana, and another task force with 21 boats, crews and overhead is operating out of Houston. Teams are conducting search and rescue missions. Here are some reports received over the weekend:
Big Thicket NP - All employees are accounted for and are safe. Following Ike's passage, a team re-entered the park to conduct an initial damage assessment (click on the link below for a PDF file with a map of the park):
The North Woodville fire office suffered shingle and water damage
The North District ranger office suffered water damage
Fallen trees holed the roof of the field research station
Minor damage was reported to metal sheeting in the maintenance facility
Several employee homes are damaged
Other park facilities were unreachable due to road closures from fallen trees and downed power lines. Operations are being relocated from Lufkin to the park's visitor center, which will have working phones but no internet or network capability. The visitor center will be operating under generator power, as electrical service won't be restored for several days. The Central incident management team (Eddie Lopez, IC) is on scene and has been delegated authority to manage the incident. Fuel for vehicles and generators is a major concern, as it's scarce throughout the area and prioritized for use by emergency services. The park has made an agreement with the county to share fuel once the county's gravity feed system is operating.
Padre Island NS - All employees are accounted for and okay. Storm surge left debris and sand on roadways, but few other problems have been found. All employees will return to work today. The park hopes to reopen on Wednesday after cleanup operations conclude.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - Tidal surge was a major problem in southeast Louisiana. Several towns were underwater on Friday. The Jefferson Parish emergency operations center asked for three NPS protection rangers and an airboat to support emergency rescue operations. All park sites were closed and were to remain closed through at least Sunday.
Gulf Islands NS - The following conditions were reported on Friday afternoon:
Florida District
Surge and surf were still high in the morning, but not quite as high as on Thursday. Water continued to overwash some areas in the Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens and, presumably, the Perdido Key units.
The Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens, and much of the Perdido Key (east of Johnson Beach) Units remained closed.
The Okaloosa Unit was scheduled to reopen on Saturday morning and other closed units were to reopen to foot traffic, though all currently closed roads were expected to remain closed through at least the weekend.
New damage was inflicted to boardwalk crossings and sand fencies at Perdido Key. Other damage within the Florida District was expected to be minor, if any, with the exception of roads within the Santa Rosa and Ft. Pickens units. It'll be some time this week before the degree of damage can be determined.
Mississippi District
A good bit of storm surge-related flooding occurred within the Davis Bayou Unit Thursday night, forcing temporary road closures on Friday, but no damage had occurred.
The unit was to reopen on Saturday morning.
District employees returned to work on Friday afternoon.
No information was available concerning the islands. Based on the marine forecast, it will probably be sometime today before staff can gain access to the islands to conduct a damage assessment.
[Billy Shott, IMRO; Dean Ross, WASO; Leta Parker, BITH; John Hughes, JELA; Clay Jordan, GUIS]
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/bith/planyourvisit/upload/BITHmap.pdf.pdf" http://www.nps.gov/bith/planyourvisit/upload/BITHmap.pdf.pdf
Redwood N&SP
Major Interagency Raid Conducted On Marijuana Plantation
On September 10th, Redwood National and State Parks conducted a marijuana eradication raid, utilizing an interagency anti-drug task force. The focus of the effort was a marijuana plantation in Redwood Creek that contained 9,564 plants and covered approximately five acres on steep terrain. This marijuana site is within six miles of the world's tallest tree in a park that is also a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. Rangers detained five Mexican nationals for questioning about a mile from the marijuana growing operation. Three of them had prior deportations and were transferred to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One who is on felony probation for marijuana was held on that violation and will be deported later. The fifth was charged with providing false information to an officer.
A GIS specialist went in with the raid teams for the first time in NPS history to perform an immediate on the ground evaluation of the impacts to the natural resource during the raid. This documentation will be very beneficial for the restoration process. Significant resource damage has resulted from this illegal activity and an initial cleanup operation using California National Guard soldiers and helicopter is planned for October. This raid included almost 60 law enforcement and support staff. The National Park Service wishes to acknowledge and thank the support provided by Humboldt County Sheriff Office, Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), North State Marijuana Investigation Team, California Department of Justice, California Fish and Game, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Green Diamond Resources Company, United States Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshall Service, California State Park Rangers, National Park Service SETT II team and ISB Pacific West special agents. [Rick Nolan, Chief of Interpretation and Education]
Yosemite NP
Motorcyclist Killed In Accident Near Wawona Tunnel
On Wednesday, September 10th, Valley District rangers responded to a report that the body of a motorcyclist had been found over the embankment on the south side of the Wawona tunnel on Highway 41. The operator, a 48-year-old man from Long Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigation revealed that he'd died on the night of September 8th when his motorcycle left the roadway at a high rate of speed and collided with several trees. [Leslie Reynolds, Valley District Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Facility Management Division - Nominations have been received for this year's accessibility achievement awards. A panel will be reviewing them shortly and making selections.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6876" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6876
Mesa Verde NP - Betty Janes, assistant superintendent at Mesa Verde National Park, has retired after over 33 years of commitment to the National Park Service, its mission and the people of the United States.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2064" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2064
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
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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