|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, September 6, 2011 INCIDENTS East Coast Areas Significant Headway Made In Hurricane Recovery Park staffs and supporting incident management and other teams worked throughout the holiday weekend to repair facilities and restore services at parks hit hard by Hurricane Irene, particularly at Delaware Water Gap, Cape Lookout and the Outer Banks Group. Significant progress has been made, with many reopening announced. Although personnel were busy throughout the Labor Day weekend, today's summary focuses largely on yesterday's operations: Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. As of Monday, 73 people were committed to the recovery operation. Today's update: Headquarters and Visitor Center - Debris was removed from the housing and maintenance areas, electrical work continued around the maintenance area, and rerouting of the Sound Loop Trail was completed. Shackleford Banks - Repairs to the dock were completed late on Sunday and the dock is now open. Les & Sally's - Dock repair is progressing; only attachment of the decking remains to be done. Cape Lookout and Lighthouse Village - The mosquitoes were too voracious to continue debris cleanup on Monday, so staff were reassigned to Harker's Island. The back road grading has been completed between Great Island and Lower Cape. Most of the administrative roads around Lower Cape have been completed. Great Island - Electrical work is 90% finished; generator hookups were rewired and the generator boxes were rehabbed and reset. One septic system has been fixed and connected to a cabin. North Core Banks - Debris cleanup continued at Long Point. Fourteen piles of debris have now been collected. The FMSS group also finished all work orders and cost estimates. They projected costs and split them between FY11 and FY12. Outer Banks Group - The three parks in the group - Cape Hatteras, Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh - are being supported and assisted by the Eastern IMT (Zeph Cunningham, IC), a SETT team, a regional assessment team and sawyer teams. A total of 159 people were committed to the recovery operation as of yesterday. Assessments to facilities continued yesterday and safety concerns were addressed. Hazard tree removal continued near high traffic areas as visitation increased over the holiday weekend. On Ocracoke Island, employee residential area repairs and maintenance operations continued. The IMT continued to work closely with the community and other government agencies. Here are some specifics: Bodie Island - Safety fencing was installed at the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center boat ramp. The lift station at the fishing center was repaired and is now operational. An assessment began of the dump station for the campground. Lighthouse complex power and HVAC are again operational. Assessment of the lift station at the lighthouse is ongoing and the lift station is still on generator power. Damaged fencing was removed from the Bodie Island Lighthouse area, rebar was removed from the lighthouse parking area due to safety concerns, and hazard tree removal was completed around the lighthouse loop area. Bucket truck operations were completed along the boneyard road; chipping operations will begin after the chipper is repaired. Hazard tree removal was completed at Fort Raleigh. Rangers counted 145 ORV's on the beach. During a license and safety check on Ramp 4 on Sunday, rangers checked 254 vehicles. Four DUI arrests and one drug arrest were made; two citations for open containers were issued. Hatteras Island - Saw work and chipping operations continued on the Hatteras Island trails. The lighthouse steps and landing were cleared and swept. Rangers continued patrols and conducted inventories of lost or damaged signs. Ocracoke Island - Repairs were completed on seasonal quarters and boat ramps. Cleanup was completed along the back side of the campground. Rangers continued patrols and posting of beach closure areas and conducted an inventory of missing mile post signs along the beaches. Resource management staff completed turtle patrols. The saw team completed cleanup operations at the employee residential area. Air Operations - Logged 2.8 hrs of fixed wing flight time and 1.2 hours of helicopter flight time and transported 12 passengers and 260 pounds of cargo. Employee Assistance - The team worked on debris cleanup at two employee residences in the Mann's Harbor/Manteo areas. Resource Advisors - Work continued on a final report. Hatteras resource advisors conducted turtle patrols. An evaluation of duck blind removals was completed and submitted for review. Assessment Team - The team continued bundling work orders into projects and inputting data for emergency projects. Two team members demobed. Delaware Water Gap - Due to rapid progress made in completing damage assessments and cleanup operations, the park began opening some park roads and facilities yesterday, including River Road, the lower section of Old Mine Road, Route 602, the Raymondskill Falls and Cliff Park Trails, the McDade Recreational Trail (except for the section between the Pittman and Conashaugh trailheads, the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center and picnic area, Milford and Smithfield Beaches (picnicking only), the Hialeah picnic area, and the Milford, Bushkill, Dingmans, Eshback, and Smithfield Beach canoe and boat accesses. The entire Delaware River corridor was also reopened. Some facilities will remain closed indefinitely until repairs can be made. Popular destinations such as Millbrook Village, Dingmans Falls, and the Kittatinny Point canoe access are among those that will remain closed until conditions are safe for visitor access. Park employees are being assisted by personnel from Acadia, Chattahoochee, Shenandoah, NCRO, NERO and the Olmstead Center for Landscape Preservation Updated information will also be posted the park's website ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/dewa_" www.nps.gov/dewa), Facebook ( HYPERLINK "http://www.facebook.com/DelWaterGapNPS" www.facebook.com/DelWaterGapNPS), and/or Twitter ( HYPERLINK "http://www.twitter.com/DelWaterGapNPS_" www.twitter.com/DelWaterGapNPS). [Bill Halainen, Editor] Glacier NP Body Of Missing Seasonal Employee Found Search personnel found the body of seasonal employee J.“J.”R. last Friday afternoon. It was found on the mountain known as “8888” in the southern end of the park. The initial investigation indicates that J.R. may have fallen approximately 800 feet on the north side of the extremely steep mountain. J.R.'s body was spotted by helicopter personnel during an aerial search of the high-probability area between Ole Creek and Park Creek drainages. The extensive search effort began on Monday, August 29th, after J.R. was reported overdue from a personal day hike in the park the previous day. More than 50 people helped with the search efforts. Personnel from Flathead Valley Search and Rescue and the Flathead National Forest assisted with the search. J.R., 27, had worked for the exotic plant team at the park for the past three summers. He also worked at other National Park Service sites during the winter season. [Denise Germann, Public Affairs Specialist] Cape Cod NS Pilot Killed In Airplane Crash In Park An airplane crashed shortly after takeoff from the Provincetown Municipal Airport in Cape Cod National Seashore last Wednesday. Two people were on board. The pilot, S.J.W., 48, was pronounced dead at the scene; his passenger, T.L., 47, was airlifted to a Boston hospital with serious injuries. Park rangers and fire personnel were able to move the plane from the crash site to an airport hanger on September 2nd. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash. Park district ranger Michael Minnerath is the lead for the NPS. NTSB will be producing a preliminary investigation report within the month. [Craig Thatcher, Acting Chief Ranger] Yellowstone NP Investigation Continues Into Fatal Bear Attack Rangers and wildlife biologists continue their investigation into the fatal bear attack that occurred the Thursday before last. The body of 59-year old J.W. of Chassell, Michigan, was discovered on Friday, August 26th, along the Mary Mountain Trail. The investigation and autopsy results confirm that J.W. had died the previous day of traumatic injuries suffered in a grizzly bear attack. Daily reconnaissance flights over the area have resulted in very few bear sightings. The three bear traps previously set out in the area have been moved to different locations, and five additional traps have been deployed in an attempt to capture grizzlies in the area. Results of DNA tests of hair samples taken from the attack site and from any bears that may be captured in the area will aid the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding this fatal attack. Yellowstone hosts over three million visitors a year, with an average of just one bear caused human injury a year. This is the second fatal bear attack in park this year and only the seventh in the park since it was established in 1872. [Al Nash, Public Affairs Specialist] Cape Hatteras NS Visitor Drowns After Being Caught By Strong Current On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 31st, J.R.N. and C.B. were swimming in the ocean just south of Coquina Beach when they were caught by a strong lateral current. The two men became separated. When last seen, J.R.N. was struggling and yelling for help. C.B. made it to shore and contacted ranger Lynne Belanich and ranger trainee Josh McDonald, who summoned assistance for a search. About 10 minutes after the initial report, J.R.N. was seen floating and rolling in the surf about 150 yards south of the point where he was last seen and was brought to shore. CPR, an AED, and advanced life support measures were employed in an attempt to revive him, but were unsuccessful and terminated after about 30 minutes. [Jon Anglin, Operations Chief, Outer Bank Group] Sleeping Bear Dunes NL Boat Accident Claims Life On the evening of August 31st, W.H., 77, died during a boating accident on Shell Lake. W.H. and his friend, C.H., 71, were fishing in a 12-foot aluminum row boat about 100 yards off shore when it became unstable and capsized. The two men held onto the boat and started swimming back to shore. While doing so, W.H. said he wasn't feeling well, then quickly went unconscious. C.H. held W.H.'s head above the water and swam him and the boat to shore, performed CPR, and then drove to a nearby residence to call for help. The boat was equipped with two lifejackets, but neither was used. Rangers and the Leelanau County Sheriff's Office are investigating. [Phil Akers, Chief Ranger] 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/): Natural Resource Program Center - The NPS Geologic Resources Division and the Ocean and Coastal Resources Branch of the Water Resources Division have completed the first edition of the NPS Ocean and Coastal Jurisdiction Reference Manual 39-1. Learning and Development Division - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. Today's summary includes details on two upcoming House hearings. Yosemite NP - Randy Fong has been selected as the park's new chief of project management. * * * * 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 the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |