NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, October 29, 2012

INCIDENTS

East Coast Areas

Powerful Hurricane Sandy Nears Northeast Coast

Hurricane Sandy, a HYPERLINK "http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php" Category 1 storm with current maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph, was east of the Outer Banks early this morning and moving to the north at about 15 mph. It is expected to turn to the northwest today, with the center coming ashore along the New Jersey coastline this evening or tonight.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 175 miles, mainly to the southwest of the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 520 miles. The following hazards are expected:

Winds - Gale force winds are being reported from coastal North Carolina to New Jersey and are expected to arrive along other portions of the coastline from Long Island to southern New England later this morning. Winds of hurricane force are expected later today.

Surge - A combination of tides and “extremely dangerous” storm surge will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters. The water could reach the following depths above ground if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide - 4 to 6 feet in North Carolina; 2 to 4 feet in southern Virginia and Delmarva, including the lower Chesapeake Bay; 1 to 3 feet in the upper and middle Chesapeake Bay; 6 to 11 feet in Long Island Sound, Raritan Bay and New York Harbor; 4 to 8 feet elsewhere from Ocean City, Maryland, to the Connecticut-Rhode Island border; 3 to 6 feet from there to Cape Cod; 2 to 4 feet from Cape Cod to the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border; and 1 to 3 feet from there to Canada.

Rain - Rainfall totals of from 4 to 8 inches are expected over portions of the Mid-Atlantic states, including the Delmarva peninsula, with isolated amounts of up to 12 inches. Rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are forecast from New York to New England, with isolated amounts of 5 inches.

Snow - Snow accumulations of from 2 to 3 feet are expected in the mountains of West Virginia, from 1 to 2 feet in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, and 12 to 18 inches in the mountains near the North Carolina/Tennessee border and in the mountains of western Maryland.

The following park status reports are based on regional phone calls conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and on email updates. Every park in the hurricane's very broad path has made preparations for downed trees, flooding, power outages and related problems; just about every park and office in the hurricane's broad path is closed today.

Rather than list all of them, the summary below focuses on parks and offices that have been or are being impacted by the storm or that have substantial closures or other issues:

Cape Lookout - All visitors were evacuated from the park's offshore islands by Saturday afternoon, with the exception of 32 people in nine parties who opted not to leave. All are secure. The park is keeping tabs on them.

Cape Hatteras/Outer Banks Group - Ocracoke Village has flooded, but all staff are fine and sheltered at their residences. They have lost power, but are operating on generators with rolling blackouts throughout the village. Overwash was reported yesterday on NC-12 on Ocracoke, north of Hatteras Village, Frisco, Buxton and Rodanthe. Moderate to major sound side flooding is expected when the winds come around to the northwest.

Shenandoah - In preparation for Hurricane Sandy, the park's north and south districts, including concessions facilities, campgrounds, picnic areas, and visitor center, were closed at dusk on Sunday. Skyline Drive gates into both districts have also been closed. The Central District, including all concessions facilities (Skyland Resort, Big Meadows Lodge and Wayside, and Lewis Mountain Cabins), park facilities, and the Skyline Drive, will close today at noon. All visitors and park and concessions employees will be required to leave the mountain by noon. On Sunday, park staff swept trailhead parking lots and the backcountry to warn hikers and backpackers about the approaching storm and park closures. The entire park will remain closed until Hurricane Sandy has moved away from the northern Virginia area.

Washington Office - All federal offices in the Washington, DC, area are closed today.

National Capital Region - All parks in National Capital Region are closed as well.

Assateague Island - Winds from the hurricane arrived early on Sunday, a bit sooner than expected. As of midday yesterday, winds were already gusting to 60 mph and overwash was occurring from both the bay side and the ocean side.

Gateway NRA (Sandy Hook Unit) - The entire park has been closed and evacuated - the Sandy Hook unit following the evacuation order issued by the governor of New Jersey and the New York City areas following the mayor's issue of a HYPERLINK "http://project.wnyc.org/news-maps/hurricane-zones/hurricane-zones.html" Zone A evacuation order yesterday.

Statue of Liberty - The park hosted a large media event on Saturday prior to an event on Sunday celebrating the reopening of the statue. It closed down shortly after the latter.

Fire Island NS - A mandatory evacuation of Fire Island was ordered and implemented on Sunday afternoon.

Three NPS Type II incident management teams - East, Intermountain and Midwest - are fully staffed and on standby for use as needed. Two of the teams are currently being staged, the Eastern IMT in Hagerstown, Maryland, and the Midwest IMT in Columbus, Ohio. Other NPS offices and specialized teams are also on standby.

Glen Canyon NRA

Firefighters Suppress Houseboat Blaze At Wahweap Marina

Park dispatch received a call from a park maintenance employee early on the morning of October 25th reporting a fire in the Wahweap Marina. The park's dive team was first on scene and was able to remove adjacent boats from the dock, thus limiting the fire's spread. When NPS and Page FD firefighters arrived on the scene, though, they found that the houseboat Take A Message, moored on “N” dock, was engulfed in flames. Once the fire was suppressed, the boat, three-quarters of which had been destroyed, was moved to the Wahweap ramp to prevent it from sinking. A second vessel, Worth The Wake, having received partial damage to one side, was moved to the breakwater. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. [Denise Shultz, Public Affairs Officer]

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/):

Workplace Enrichment - The Student Employee Network has announced the appointment of seven new regional representatives. They will work with a core leadership team to inspire student employees Servicewide to further their careers and will act as an informational resource for student employees.

Intermountain Region - Fossil Butte National Monument, established by an act of Congress on October 23, 1972, observed its anniversary on Saturday with open house activities ranging from music and hands-on fossil preparation to a behind-the-scenes tour of the park's museum collections.

NPS Alumni - Retired career NPS employee Jim Randall died at his home in Estes on October 21st. He was 84 years old.

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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 ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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