NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Saturday, October 27, 2012

INCIDENTS

East Coast Areas

Update On Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy, a HYPERLINK "http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php" Category 1 system with current maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph, continues on a north-northeasterly course. As of 11 a.m. this morning, it was projected to be abreast of the Outer Banks in the early hours of Monday morning and come ashore somewhere near southern New Jersey late Monday evening.

According to NPS meteorologist Denver Ingram, the winds will still be in the 65 mph to 75 mph range when the hurricane moves inland. It will bring seas of around 25 feet, rip currents, and coastal flooding of three to five feet on top of an already above average high tide due to Monday's full moon. The storm's tropical storm force wind field, says Ingram, is already of “unprecedented” size, extending about 450 miles from its center.

As of 11 a.m. tropical storm warnings were in effect for an area from South Santee River in South Carolina to Duck in North Carolina, for Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and for Great Abaco and Grand Bahama Islands. Watches were in effect for the coastal area from the Savannah River to the South Santee River and for Bermuda. Since the hurricane is likely to evolve into a “cold core” storm, the National Hurricane Center probably will not be posting watches and warnings along the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast coastline. Instead, the National Weather Service will be posting high wind watches and warnings. Those are likely to cover a very large area - as far west as Greensboro (NC), Roanoke (VA), Charleston (WV), Erie (PA), and Buffalo (NY). They will also encompass most of Vermont and New Hampshire and will extend into southern Maine.

The storm is expected to bring from seven to twelve inches of rain to the coastline when it comes ashore. These amounts could extend into northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York. Areas elsewhere will likely see three to five inches of rain.

Park status reports remain about the same as they were in the Friday afternoon edition, with the following parks providing updated reports:

Cape Lookout - The weather this morning was reported to be deteriorating and strong tides were pushing water into the sound. Two of the three ferries to the offshore islands have shutdown, but the third was continuing to move people off them this morning with a target of completing operations by 1 p.m. Some visitors - estimated to be about 20 at present - have declined to leave. Overwash is already occurring on some of the islands. Access to the headquarters administrative area could be an issue due to flooding. There may also be problems reaching the park due to potential issues with some of the bridges on access roads.

Cape Hatteras/Outer Banks Group - The park's Type III team has been activated. The county's emergency operations center opened morning and the park will be coordinating actions with them. Expectations are that NC 12, the North Carolina highway that runs north-south through the park, will be breached. Ocracoke Campground will close at noon and remain closed for the season (all other NPS campgrounds closed earlier in September and October). All NPS visitor centers, including Ocracoke Visitor Center, Hatteras Island, Bodie Island and Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh Visitor Centers, will remain open until close of business today and will remain closed until further notice. Park beaches will be closed to off-road vehicles by 5 p.m. today and will remain closed until further notice.

Colonial - The Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield units of the park, including all tour roads, will be closed on Sunday and Monday. They will reopen once storm damage assessments and cleanup have been completed. The Historic Triangle shuttle and Jamestown Area shuttle will not operate on either Sunday or Monday. Colonial Parkway will remain open, but downed trees may ultimately make the scenic byway impassable.

Moores Creek - The park will close tomorrow.

Emergency preparedness staff in the three affected regional offices - Southeast, National Capital and Northeast - will be working through the weekend. Three NPS Type II incident management teams - East, Intermountain and Midwest - are fully staffed and on standby for use as needed.

Another Morning Report ‘extra' will be posted tomorrow around noon.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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