NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

INCIDENTS

Pea Ridge NMP

Several People Rescued During Flash Flood

The park and surrounding areas received eight to ten inches of rain last week, causing severe flooding and prompting the National Weather Service to issue flash flood warnings. On the morning of April 25th, another two inches or so of rain fell within an hour, causing flash flooding and associated dangers within the park. Early that afternoon, park employees Nolan Moore and Curtis Tilghman were assessing flood damage at the Union trenches along Little Sugar Creek when they came in contact with several people trying to evacuate because of flooding. Seeing the potential for events to worsen rapidly, they contacted ranger Matt Fry and maintenance worker Dean Pippin for additional assistance. While assisting residents in crossing the swollen creek by bridge, park employees noted that the water was rising rapidly. During the process of getting the last woman and her dog to safety, a vehicle traveling parallel to the creek attempted to pass through the flood water, but soon stalled. Moore waded to the vehicle and brought the driver to safety. After the water receded the stalled vehicle was found 100 hundred yards downstream. Flooding damaged the county road and left debris that blocked access to the area. A damage assessment is currently underway. There were two deaths in Benton County related to flash flooding, over 100 weather related calls, and several swift water rescues. [Matt Fry, Park Ranger]

Canyon de Chelly NM

Missing Person Found, Suicide Prevented

Late on the afternoon of April 27th, NPS biologists called in a report that they'd encountered a young man hiking in Monument Canyon upstream of Spider Rock without a Navajo guide. They escorted the man to the point where ranger Fernando Jones could drive a vehicle to pick him up. During the long drive out of the canyon, Jones questioned the man, but he was very evasive in his answers. He eventually divulged his name, though, and Jones called it into Glen Canyon dispatch, which came back with a missing person report. The man was under a psychiatric watch for possible suicide and had gone AWOL from his military schooling in the Denver area. A manhunt had been going on in western Colorado and eastern Utah, areas that the man frequently visited. He told Jones that he'd decided to go to Canyon de Chelly to kill himself by disappearing into the desert without any provisions. He drove his conspicuous vehicle, a converted ambulance, off road into the trees and walked around until he found a way down into the canyon, where he met the NPS biologists. The man was turned over to the Apache County Sheriff's Office, where he was charged with trespass on an Indian reservation and held until he could be returned to military authorities and his family in Denver. [Tom Clark, Superintendent]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Dry Tortugas NP - One of the walls of historic Fort Jefferson is in imminent danger of collapse. Employees are being moved from their residences and facilities are being relocated while crews work to fix the wall.

Office of Communications - Engaging the private sector in the care of the world's 120,000 national parks and protected areas was the focus of a recent international meeting held at Golden Gate and Yosemite.

Intermountain Region - Peter Armato has been named superintendent of Capulin Volcano National Monument in northeastern New Mexico. Photo.

Southeast Region - John Slaughter has been selected as the new superintendent for Cowpens National Battlefield and Ninety Six National Historic Site, both in South Carolina. He will assume his new position on June 19th. Photo.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and 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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