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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, August 25, 2011 INCIDENTS East Coast Areas Parks From Florida To Maine Prepare For Irene Parks from Big Cypress to Acadia are in the midst of completing preparations for Hurricane Irene. All three East Coast regions - Southeast, National Capital and Northeast - held regionwide telephone conferences yesterday that collectively included representatives from the scores of potentially affected areas. Without exception, they reported that they were putting hurricane or emergency plans into effect, mobilizing local incident management teams, making or planning closures as needed, and otherwise taking all necessary steps to protect facilities and assure public and staff safety. The following reports are from areas where there have been closures and/or are from locations potentially most exposed to the storm, particularly parks bordering the ocean. They are listed from south to north: Biscayne NP - Due to expected severe marine weather associated with the outer bands of Hurricane Irene, all park islands (including Boca Chita Key, Elliott Key, and Adams Key) have been closed to the public. Park waters remain open, but mariners are strongly encouraged to monitor NOAA weather reports and err on the side of caution. The park's Dante Fascell Visitor Center and park headquarters (on the mainland, nine miles East of Homestead) will remain open. The island closure will remain in effect until further notice. Cape Lookout NS - The park has implemented its hurricane evacuation plan. Concession, CUA ferry operators and cooperators, and the media were notified of the action. A mandatory evacuation of all overnight visitors from the islands will begin this morning. Park facilities at Portsmouth Village, the Light Station Visitor Center, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse have been closed. All overnight and day use areas, including cabins, will be closed this evening and will remain closed until further notice. Ranger patrols were dispatched to notify all overnight cabin, tent and vehicle campers of the impending park closure/mandatory evacuation. Volunteer staff were evacuated from the islands yesterday and final evacuation of all park staff from all barrier island locations will be completed by close of business today. All park and volunteer staff will be evacuated from HQ housing at Harkers Island and moved to motels in Bern, North Carolina, by noon on Friday. All staff and volunteers will be released by noon on Friday. Outer Banks Group (Cape Hatteras NS, Wright Brothers NM, Fort Raleigh NM) - All NPS campgrounds - Ocracoke, Frisco, Cape Point and Oregon Inlet - closed at noon yesterday. The Ocracoke Campground reservation system has been temporarily suspended. The Silver Lake Marina NPS docks also have been closed. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Ocracoke Visitor Center, and the Hatteras Island, Bodie Island and Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh Visitor Centers closed at the end of the day and will not reopen until further notice. Lifeguard operations at Ocracoke, Buxton, and Coquina Beach have been suspended, also until further notice. All park special programs scheduled today for Founder's Day have been cancelled; the “Flags Over Hatteras” event has been postponed. Ocracoke beaches were closed to off-road vehicles yesterday, and all other beaches will close to off-road vehicles by 6 p.m. this evening. Colonial NHP - Park management and key partners met yesterday and began implementing the park's hurricane plan. The park will operate under a Type III incident management team beginning tomorrow. Closures may be implemented as soon as Saturday, depending on the storm's track. Assateague Island NS - The park started making preparations in the Virginia district on Tuesday and is continuing them in both Virginia and Maryland today. ICS will probably go into effect today. The park is working with cooperating agencies on the timing of closures. Emergency housing is being arranged for employees should it be needed. Gateway NRA - The park has put its hurricane plan into effect and has an IMT on standby. Arrangements are being made for housing employees, should that prove necessary. Fire Island NS - The hurricane plan is in effect, and park and facility closures will begin on Friday. Hotel rooms have been reserved for employees as needed. Cape Cod NS - The park is in the midst of making all preparations. Staff are working through prepared checklists to make sure that all tasks are completed in priority order. The regions have incident management and damage assessment teams on standby for deployment as needed. The National Interagency Fire Center has prepared a list of available resources, which include an area command team, a NIMO team, five Type 1 and five Type 2 incident management teams. [Regional, WASO and FAM reports] East Coast Areas Earthquake Assessments Reveal Some Additional Damage Additional reports have been received on the impacts of Tuesday's earthquake in the Northeast. Staff at sites as far north as Massachusetts reported feeling the quake, but damage and other impacts were minor to moderate and largely limited to the Washington area. Assessments are underway of damage found to buildings and bridges at Wolf Trap, Prince William, Arlington House, Rock Creek and National Capital Parks East. The Washington Monument remains closed indefinitely due to cracks found in the stones at the top of the monument. [Reports from NCR parks] C&O Canal NHP Electrical Fire Suppressed In Engineers House A smoke alarm went off at the Great Falls Engineers House just before 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning, alerting the local fire department. The Montgomery County Fire Department responded with numerous vehicles. The fire started in an unused electrical outlet and spread to nearby boxes of paper, but was contained to a single wall in a lower room. Park personnel conducted a preliminary assessment of the damage yesterday and secured the building. The Engineers House is located within C&O Canal near Great Falls. The house was built in 1874-1875 to serve as a residence for the gatekeeper in charge of the Washington Aqueduct. In recent years, the Engineers House has been used for administrative purposes. [Annette Martin, Superintendent's Secretary] 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/): Director's Office - Join Director Jarvis and NPS employees from across the country for the Service's first-ever live town hall meeting. It will take place this afternoon at Ford's Theatre from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. National Mall and Memorial Parks - The National Park Service held a "soft opening" of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on Monday. The official ceremony will take place on Sunday. Photo. Denver Service Center - Senior field landscape architect Bob Felker is retiring on September 3rd following a career of more than 40 years. Photo. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced 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). --- ### --- |