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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, September 9, 2011 INCIDENTS East Coast Areas Substantial Headway Made In Hurricane Recovery Operations The Midwest incident management team at Cape Lookout has completed its work and will be demobilizing this afternoon, but the Eastern team continues to provide support to staff in the Outer Banks Group parks. Here are today's updates. Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. As of yesterday, 19 people were committed to the recovery operation. The team will be turning the incident over to the park this afternoon and heading home. Accomplishments yesterday included the following: Headquarters and Visitor Center - The window and door estimator was contacted and an inspection was scheduled. Great Island - Cabins 2 through 17 are ready for habitation (cleaned and inside components are 100% functional). Six of those cabins have had their septic systems tested with water running through the system. The north back road construction was completed. The septic system components for the dump station were delivered. All equipment was moved off island or to the Coast Guard Station. Portsmouth - All of the needed lumber was delivered. Construction of Haulover Dock continued. Long Point - The point was inspected for storm surge issues. 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 89 people were committed to the recovery operation as of yesterday. On Thursday, rangers conducted beach patrols to inform visitors of rip current advisories. Maintenance teams continued work to restore remaining visitor facilities and other park facilities to operational status. Ocracoke Visitor Center and campgrounds are now open, but all beach access ramps were closed due to high surf conditions and rip tide advisories. The resource advisor team assisted park management staff with sea turtle nest excavation and uncovered 90 live turtles and 9 eggs inside the nest. The team continues to operate with an eye on changing weather conditions and other safety concerns. Accomplishments yesterday included the following: Bodie Island - Rangers continued to staff the checkpoint and conduct beach patrols. They also conducted roving patrols and made numerous public contacts regarding high surf and rip current advisories. Fence repair operations continued at the Bodie Island Lighthouse complex. Bulkhead and riprap work was completed on the Off-Island Road. The roll-off dumpster was filled at the boneyard. Two replacement dumpsters were ordered to complete the cleanup operations. Sawyers mitigated hazards in the Fort Raleigh area. Chipping work continued. Shutter opening and repair were completed at the Bodie Island employee housing area. Hatteras Island - Installation of temporary fencing at the Salvo cemetery was completed. Heavy equipment was used to complete the cleanup operations at the old lighthouse parking area. Debris cleanup operations continued at the Salvo day use area. Ocracoke Island - Gately Communications technicians completed the installation of a radio antenna; one more trip will be required to fine tune the system. Vent stacks at the day use area were repaired. All beach access ramps were closed due to high surf conditions. Rangers continued patrols and conducted public contacts advising of high surf and rip tide advisories. All Ocracoke boat ramps remain closed due to 9- to 13-foot surf at high tide from Hurricane Katia. Air Operations - The team's airplane logged 3.3 hrs of flight time and transported eight passengers. Employee Assistance - The group supervisor finished reports and completed demob. Resource Advisors - Assisted park resource management staff with turtle nest excavation at Coquina Beach. A total of 90 live turtles and 9 eggs were discovered inside the nest. The live turtles will be released after high tide this evening. Assessment Team - One assessment team member continued to work on damage assessment project statements. [Bill Halainen, Editor] Eastern Areas River Parks Deal With Heavy Rains, Rising Waters The very heavy rains from the remains of Tropical Storm Lee that have fallen on many Eastern states this week have brought rivers up to or above flood levels in many areas. Two parks have reported specific issues: C&O Canal NHP - Due to a change in forecast from an original prediction of potentially catastrophic flooding, the park has modified its response plan. Reduced risk of flooding has allowed park staff to hold back on implementing the flood preparation plans that were scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Although recent heavy rainfall has resulted in extremely wet conditions and some minor flooding in parts of the park, most areas have reopened: Visitor centers at Cumberland, Williamsport, Great Falls, and Georgetown are open. Campgrounds and boat ramps throughout the park are also open but will be wet and muddy. The Great Falls Overlook will reopen today. Canal boat operations will resume tomorrow, but the Billy Goat A Trail at Great Falls will remain closed through the weekend. Park users are reminded to be cautious of swift water in the Potomac River, which will be carrying hazardous debris, and to watch for fallen and falling trees that will result from the extremely wet soils and wind. Delaware Water Gap NRA - Several weather-related road closures were put into effect yesterday, as heavy rain, runoff, and flooding had caused hazardous driving conditions on a number of park roads. Pennsylvania - Route 209 was closed from Bushkill Falls Road to Route 739 yesterday evening due to standing water in low-lying sections of the road. Local feeder roads between SR 2001 and Route 209 were also closed. Route 209 will remain closed until the water recedes to a safe level. River Road has been closed from Shawnee-on-Delaware to park headquarters near Fernwood Resort. New Jersey - Old Mine Road is closed from Worthington State Forest to Millbrook Village and from Route 560, north of the Dingmans Ferry Bridge, to U.S. Route 206. NPS Route 615 is closed from Walpack Center to Flatbrookville. Delaware River - The Delaware River and all river access points from Milford to Delaware Water Gap remain closed to all recreational activities until the river recedes to a safe level. Many park roads and areas still remain closed following Hurricane Irene. For updated information on the status of park facilities, roads, and trails, call park headquarters at 570-426-2452 (weekdays). Updated information is also available on the park's website, HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/dewa" www.nps.gov/dewa, on HYPERLINK "http://www.facebook.com/DelWaterGapNPS" www.facebook.com/DelWaterGapNPS, and HYPERLINK "http://www.twitter.com/DelWaterGapNPS" www.twitter.com/DelWaterGapNPS. [Deb Nordeen, DEWA; Peggie Gal, CHOH] San Francisco Maritime NHP Verbal Dispute Ends In Shooting On the evening of Monday, September 5th, two small groups of young men got into a verbal dispute while visiting Aquatic Park. This dispute quickly escalated into a physical confrontation and ended with gunfire. One man was shot in the lower back by a small caliber weapon and was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. This case is under investigation by the Park Police criminal investigators from the San Francisco Field Office. [Lt. Thomas Hart, United States Park Police] Natchez Trace Parkway Body Of Apparent Suicide Victim Discovered Rangers, with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff's Department, are investigating an apparent suicide that took place at the Confederate Gravesites near mile post 269 in Lee County, Mississippi. The body of a 46-year-old Tupelo man was found there on Tuesday. The Lee County Coroner's office is also assisting in the investigation. [Mike Foster] 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/): Mammoth Cave NP - On the last Saturday in August, the park celebrated Bat Night. This year has been designated as the International Year of the Bat, and August 27th was designated as International Bat Night. Chief Information Officer - A new and approved file encryption application named Encryption Wizard for the encryption of files containing sensitive information, including personally identifiable information, is now available for NPS employees. Capulin Volcano NM - Rangers have spotted several new species in the park - a cougar, a black bear, and several bighorn sheep. Although they've long known that big game species existed in the surrounding high plains area, they had little proof that they wandered through or lived on Capulin. Photo. Isle Royale NP - On August 12th, a newly-constructed concession employee recreation hall was dedicated to the memory of Dennis Long, a seasonal NPS maintenance employee who lost his life in 1969 rescuing a concession employee from the waters of Lake Superior. Photo. Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added this week are three new FLETC training courses and ten new offerings from Mather Training Center. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |