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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, August 26, 2011 INCIDENTS East Coast Areas Irene Bears Down On Carolina Coast Hurricane Irene is poised to strike the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of up to 100 mph or more tomorrow, then move northeastward along the coast and over the metropolitan New York City area and into New England later in the weekend. Forecasters expect it to be a “major event” from North Carolina to Massachusetts and possibly further north. Parks have completed preparations for the storm. Incident management and damage assessment teams have been called out and will be in place and on standby by midday today. The Eastern IMT (Zeph Cunningham, IC) and Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) will be staged in Greensboro, North Carolina, with the former prepared to assist the Outer Banks Group and the latter set to support Cape Lookout NS and Moores Creek NB. Two Southeast Region assessment teams will also be staged in Greensboro and will be available to assist these parks as needed. Since all potentially affected parks are prepared and ready for the storm, only those with new closures or developments are listed below, south to north: Cape Lookout NS - The park accelerated its preparations yesterday in order to release staff by the close of business on Thursday. Cape Hatteras NS - Hurricane Irene presents a serious threat for all of Dare County. When the storm arrives on Saturday, hurricane force winds are expected with the potential for flooding and overwash on highways and roads throughout Dare County. A mandatory evacuation was accordingly ordered yesterday for all visitors and residents. The visitor evacuation started at 8 a.m. Thursday morning; the resident evacuation order begins at 8 a.m. today. Colonial NHP - Both Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield will be closed over the weekend. After impacts of the storms are assessed, the park will announce a schedule for reopening. The incident command post for the Type III team will be activated today. Petersburg NB - The park will go into ICS tomorrow. It will be closed on Sunday and possibly on Saturday. Assateague Island NS - Park campgrounds will be closed and evacuated by noon today. Employees will be released by Saturday morning. Fire Island NS - The park will move into ICS today and likely begin closing down. Roger Williams NM - The park will be closed on Sunday. New Bedford Whaling NHP - The park will close when Massachusetts issues a state of emergency. Boston Harbor Islands NRA - Campgrounds will be closed on those islands that permit camping. The entire park may close on Sunday. A report on the storm and its impacts on park will appear in Monday's edition. Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs Disoriented Hiker Rescued On August 2nd, dispatch received a report of a hiker who was three days overdue from a 17-day wilderness trip in Kings Canyon National Park. The 60-year-old man left Cedar Grove on July 13th and was expected to return on July 29th. The hiker, who was reported to be a very experienced backpacker, was familiar with the area. Investigators found that the man had three potential itineraries for his trip and was known to be very flexible in his plans. Interviews with wilderness permit holders yielded a point last seen in the Kid Lake area on July 21st. On August 3rd, a helicopter searching east of Kid Lakes spotted a signal fire started by the hiker. When found, he was in fair condition but disoriented and was evacuated and transported to a local hospital. The man had lost all of his all his equipment three days before being found and had not eaten anything since losing his equipment. He is expected to make a full recovery. [Ned Kelleher, Kings District Ranger, and Malinee Crapsey, Acting Public Affairs Specialist] Yosemite NP Man Dies In Fall From Half Dome Park dispatch received a report of a person falling off the face of Half Dome around 6:30 p.m. on August 2nd. Due to the late hour, rangers were unable to begin a search until morning, when his body was spotted from a helicopter. Rangers extricated the body from the base of Half Dome. The man has been identified as R.L., 23, of Los Gatos, California. His death appears to have been, but an investigation is being conducted. [Kari Cobb, Public Affairs Specialist] 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/): Workforce Management - Nominations for NPS Service-level and Departmental honor awards are currently being accepted. The nomination period ends on Wednesday, August 31st. Southeast Region - Bill Justice has been selected as the new superintendent of Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park. Justice begins his new duties in mid-August. Photo. Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added this week are three new equipment operator safety classes (Minute Man, Voyageurs and Canyonlands/Arches), two EMT refresher/CPR courses in Ohio, concession management training for superintendents in New Mexico, and a series of green purchasing webinars that will be held throughout the fall. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |