NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
INCIDENTS
C&O Canal NHP
Park Recovers From Major Flood
On March 12th, based on projected rain forecasts, snow melt, and Potomac River crest levels, the park implemented its flood emergency plan and brought in a Type 3 incident command team. The IC was Ed Wenschhof from Antietam National Battlefield. The park made preparations for a severe flood, including removal of the contents of two visitor centers and a maintenance facility. After the storm passed, the park suffered flooding along the majority of its 184.5 mile length and damage to its infrastructure:
The towpath suffered complete breeches in two areas.
Numerous areas of the towpath had fallen trees, sink holes, and root ball holes.
Extensive damage was done to many miles of towpath surface due to scouring.
All park boat ramps and parking lots were flooded.
There was a partial failure of the gate at Lock 5, allowing flood waters in the canal prism upstream of Georgetown.
Several lockhouses were flooded.
Most park campgrounds and day use areas were closed for four to five days.
As a result of hard work by park employees and park volunteers, facilities were protected from the flood waters and damaged areas were repaired to allow visitor use. The incident command team was demobilized on March 19th. Information and photographs of the flood can be found at the C&O Canal NHP Sharepoint site at HYPERLINK "http://choh.nps.doi.net/flood2010/default.aspx" http://choh.nps.doi.net/flood2010/default.aspx. [Brad Clawson, Chief Ranger]
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Search For Missing Man Concludes With Discovery Of Body
A multi-day search for a 36-year-old New York man came to a conclusion last Saturday morning when his body was found by searchers near the Conashaugh equestrian trail in the northern section of the park. Rangers came upon the man's vehicle in a small parking area off Route 209 between Dingmans Ferry and Milford around 10 p.m. on Thursday evening. They attempted to contact the registered owner, but were unsuccessful. A call was made to a family member who expressed concern that the man had not returned home. Rangers searched the area on foot throughout the evening with assistance from a New Jersey State Police helicopter. The search continued on Friday and resumed again on Saturday morning, with over 40 searchers on the ground and in the air, including rangers from Delaware Water Gap, Upper Delaware and Morristown and teams of searchers from East Penn Search and Rescue, North Pocono Search Rescue and Recovery, Valley Search and Rescue, New Jersey Search and Rescue and Northeast Search and Rescue, including six search dog teams. New Jersey State Police helicopters provided air support. [Kathleen Sandt, Public Affairs Officer]
San Francisco Maritime NHP
NPS Security Officer Saves Woman's Life
While patrolling the park around 11 p.m. on March 17th, security officer Arman Martin came upon three San Francisco police officers who told him that a person had jumped into San Francisco Bay from the park's recreational pier. Without delay, Martin escorted the officers to a rescue boat. Wearing personal flotation equipment provided by Martin, who piloted the boat, they launched the craft and began searching for the victim. The water rescue operation came to a successful conclusion approximately 15 minutes later when they spotted a woman floating in the water. She was too weak to grab a life ring that had been thrown to her, so Martin maneuvered the boat close enough for the officers to grab her and extricate her from the bay. She was then placed in a waiting ambulance and transported to the hospital. If it hadn't been for Martin's rapid response and excellent boat handling skills, the woman would have lost her life. [Marc Hayman, Security Supervisor]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs - Scientists have reconstructed the 3,000-year history of fire in the region by dating fire scars on ancient giant sequoia trees in the park's Giant Forest. The study revealed that the western Sierra Nevada had more frequent fires between 800 and 1300 than at any time in the past 3,000 years.
Yosemite NP - During the first week of March, Yosemite National Park hosted the H337/I300/I400 courses on command and general staff functions for local incident management teams.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):
NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify
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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. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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