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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, May 1, 2014 INCIDENTS Southeast Region Strong Eastern Storm Impacts Parks The storm that has been hammering the Southeast for the last several days and is now moving up the East Coast has had impacts on two parks, with other areas yet to be heard from: Gulf Island NS - Davis Bayou in Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle received over 20 inches of rain on Wednesday and Wednesday night and it was still raining at the time of the report yesterday. Park employees were unable to report to work, but no communications had been received of any health or safety issues. Park facilities inspected yesterday morning appeared to be in good shape, but problems were reported with sewer lift stations from the Fort Pickens area to Pensacola Beach. Roads in Florida were flooded and impassable at some points. The Fort Pickens Road remains closed at the entrance station; the Fort Pickens campground was approximately 50% occupied (75 to 100 visitors), but onsite campground hosts reported no issues other than moving some units to higher ground in the area. All facilities remain closed to the public. Natchez Trace Parkway - An EF2 tornado struck Tupelo, Mississippi, on Monday, with an impact zone approximately five miles south of park headquarters. As of yesterday morning, park headquarters was still without power, telephones, computers, and internet. All staff members were reported to be fine, but one staff member had damage to his house. The park's facility manager spent Wednesday helping him out. As far as could be told, no park facilities had been damaged. The parkway remained clear and open, as was the visitor center in order to answer questions from the public. Additional reports will be posted as received. [Mary Risser, Superintendent, Natchez Trace; Steve McCoy, Deputy Superintendent, Gulf Islands] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Centennial Office - The Centennial Office is seeking employee stories on their National Park Service perceptions and experiences for a compilation that is being put together for the upcoming centennial of the agency in 2016. Interpretation and Education Division - The Director's Award for Excellence in Interpretive Media and the James V. Murfin Award were conferred at the Association for Public Lands convention in February. Northeast Region - More than 1200 people participated in the ninth annual Valley Forge Revolutionary Five Mile Run on Sunday, April 27th. The event also included a three mile walk and a young persons' fun run. Steamtown NHS - Debbie Conway, currently the superintendent at Fort Stanwix National Monument, has been selected as the new superintendent of Steamtown National Historic Site. Rocky Mountain NP - The 2013 Enos Mills Lifetime Achievement Award has been awarded to Mark De Gregorio, Rocky Mountain National Park's education program manager. Southeast Region - Dr. Louise Hose is retiring from the NPS after more than five years coordinating the efforts of the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, based at Texas A&M. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is 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@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |