NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, November 1, 2012

INCIDENTS

East Coast Areas

Hurricane Recovery Operations Underway

As the remnants of Hurricane Sandy move north and east into Canada, parks that it traversed are undergoing damage assessments, completing status checks on their employees, and, in many cases, beginning the arduous process of recovering from the serious to severe damage inflicted by the storm.

The main remaining threat related to Hurricane Sandy is the rise of small streams that could lead to flooding on main stem rivers. Moderate tidal flooding is expected to elevate water levels two to three feet along the Potomac through Friday afternoon.

The National Park Service is mobilizing people and resources and getting them to places where they're most needed. The Midwest and Eastern incident management teams are moving from Maryland to a location in or near New York City and mobilizing a number of specialized teams to aid in recovery and support operations. The Intermountain IMT is also being mobilized.

Preparations are being made for long term recovery operations. The highest immediate priorities are employee assistance and visitor and employee safety.

Reports on the status of parks affected by the hurricane will appear as soon as damage assessments have been completed and submitted.

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP

Search Continues For Missing Hiker

Search efforts continue for hiker L.C., who's been missing since October 19th. A total of 35 staff from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the Kern County Sheriff's Office, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue, and Yosemite National Park were part of the operation. Six ground search teams and two contract helicopters focused on specific high-probability areas on Tuesday, including likely travel corridors/camp locations around Pinchot Pass, Taboose Pass, and Split Mountain. Search conditions remained challenging, with significant areas covered by a blanket of snow, masking the ground and potential clues. Temperatures have ranged from the mid-40s in the daytime to the low-20s at night. Ground crews have been effective in searching for clues within the established search area. Despite aggressive searching, no clues have been located that have been tied to L.C. since he was seen by another hiker near his vehicle on October 19th. Ground search assignments have been completed and ground teams have been removed from the search area. [Dana Dierkes, Public Affairs Officer]

Great Basin NP

Driver Rescued From Crashed Tractor Trailer

While driving back to the park from Ely, Nevada, on the afternoon of October 22nd, off-duty chief ranger and EMT Tammie Henderson came upon an overturned tractor trailer on Highway 50 north of the park's boundary. The wreck had not been reported due to lack of cell phone service in the area. The truck compartment had been crushed, and the interior had completely enveloped and pinned the driver to the point where he was not visible or accessible. The truck's fuel lines had ruptured and the crash scene was soaked in fuel, which was still draining from the truck's tanks. Henderson dispatched a bystander to drive to an area with cell service and summon assistance. She was able to make voice contact with the driver, gained entry through the rear window of the sleeping compartment, squirmed into the wreckage, and gained access to the driver's head and one arm. She was able to apply oxygen to the driver, direct pressure to a bleeding head wound, and begin a limited patient assessment. Bystanders were enlisted to plug the ruptured fuel line and shovel dirt onto the pools of fuel under the wreckage. Emergency response in the area was delayed due to remoteness. The Snake Valley Volunteer Fire Department, whose responding members included several NPS employees, arrived with the Baker ambulance approximately an hour later. Park maintenance mechanic Brian Morrison directed the complicated extrication using Jaws of Life and impact tools. The Ely Fire Department also responded and assisted. The extrication took almost two hours. Due to high winds, the medical transport helicopter could not land in the area; the driver was therefore transported by ambulance to the Ely hospital. His condition at the time of the report is unknown. [Tammie Henderson, 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/):

Intermountain Region - Fort Laramie National Historic Site hosted 140 members of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation at at ceremony on October 16th to commemorate the signing of the historic Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851,

Pecos NHP - Edwin Lovato, 56, a seasonal maintenance worker at Pecos, passed away on October 22nd.

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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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