|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, July 3, 2014 INCIDENTS East Coast Areas Outer Banks Parks Prepare For Hurricane Arthur Parks on the Outer Banks are preparing for the arrival of what is expected to be a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph hour winds tomorrow: Cape Lookout NS - The park began putting its hurricane plan into effect yesterday in anticipation of the storm's arrival. Cape Lookout was closed to the public yesterday afternoon at 5 p.m., including the visitor centers in Beaufort and on Harkers Island. Interested parties should call the park at 252-728-2250 or check the park website ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/CALO" www.nps.gov/CALO), Facebook and Twitter sites for updates. Outer Banks Group - The Outer Banks Group parks (Cape Hatteras NS, Wright Brothers NM, Fort Raleigh NHS) have all been closed, including the following: All NPS campgrounds - Ocracoke, Frisco, Cape Point and Oregon Inlet - have been closed and will remain closed until further notice. The Ocracoke campground reservation system has been temporarily suspended. Silver Lake Marina NPS dock. Ocracoke, Hatteras Island and Bodie Island Visitor Centers. Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Previously scheduled evening interpretive programs have been cancelled until further notice. Lifeguard beach operations at Ocracoke, Buxton, and Coquina. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. All park special interpretive programs scheduled have been cancelled until further notice. Bodie Island Lighthouse is closed and the climbing reservation system has been temporarily suspended. All park beaches have been closed to off-road vehicles and will remain closed until further notice. The Buxton and Ocracoke off-road vehicle permit offices. Follow-up reports on the storm's impacts will appear after the holiday weekend. [Pat Kenney, CALO; Paul Stevens, Outer Banks Group] Natchez Trace Parkway Body Of Missing Man Found In Park Creek Rangers and detectives from the Spring Hill Police Department are investigating the death of a 47-year-old Spring Hill resident whose body was found in a park creek on June 28th. A “be on the lookout” message concerning the man was sent out on June 27th, as he hadn't been seen since the previous day. On June 28th, rangers found his vehicle in the Sweetwater Branch parking lot and launched a hasty search. His body was found in the creek. The initial investigation indicates that he died as a result of an accidental slip and fall. Agencies assisting with the recovery included Murray Regional EMS and the Wayne County Sheriff's Office. [Sarah Davis, Chief Ranger] Grand Teton NP Two Backcountry Rescues Conducted On Same Day Two different backcountry users - one a climber with serious injuries and the other a hiker suffering physical exhaustion - required separate late day rescue missions involving multiple rangers and helicopters on Sunday, June 29th. At the time the two mountain rescues got underway, rangers were also summoned by Teton County Search and Rescue to assist with a search for missing boaters from an accident on the Gros Ventre River, just east of the park's boundary. Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received the first emergency call at 5:55 p.m. from two hiking partners of X.A., 39, of Spain. X.A.'s companions reported that their friend was exhausted and physically unable to either continue walking out of Granite Canyon (a distance of 12 miles) or hike back upslope to the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort tram from where their backcountry trip began. In the first couple of miles, the hiking party missed the snow-covered trail and instead, dropped down a steep intermittent snow and loose rock slope into a rugged area of large boulders and talus. X.A.'s partners retraced their route over hard and crusty snow to reach the top of Rendezvous Mountain and make their call for help. They also provided GPS coordinates for X.A.'s location, which greatly facilitated the rescue operation. A Teton Interagency contract helicopter was dispatched to an area just below Cardiac Ridge in upper Granite Canyon with two park rangers on board. Despite erratic winds, the ship was able to land on a patch of snow near X.A.. He was assisted across the snowfield to the waiting helicopter for an evacuation to Lupine Meadows Rescue Cache, where rangers assessed his overall health and released him. X.A. was not adequately prepared for the snowy conditions that persist in this area of Granite Canyon. He wore just light hiking shoes and carried only hiking poles, where conditions demanded sturdy hiking boots and ice axes for safer travel. Shortly after the first alert, Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a second emergency call at 6:30 p.m., reporting an injured climber on the east flank of the 11,618-foot Disappointment Peak. A.L., 27, of Jackson, Wyoming and her partner were climbing in the Lake Ledges area above Amphitheater Lake when she slipped and tumbled over snow and rock before coming to rest in a snow moat near the base of the cliff. A second Teton Interagency contract helicopter flew six park rangers to provide emergency medical care and make preparations for a short-haul evacuation. To assist with the rescue, four additional rangers hiked to Amphitheater Lake (9,750 feet) from the Lupine Meadows Rescue Cache. High winds ultimately prevented the helicopter from completing a short-haul evacuation. Instead, rangers resorted to placing A.L. into a rescue litter and lowering her over steep, snow-covered slopes until they could carry her via wheeled litter—a distance of five miles—over an intermittent snow-covered and rocky trail to the Lupine Meadows trailhead. The rescue operation took over 10 hours to conduct; it did not conclude until 5 a.m. Monday, June 30th. A park ambulance met the rescuers and transported A.L. to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for further care. A.L. was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, which may have prevented a head injury. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] 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): Climate Change Response Program - A new report authored by the National Park Service confirms that climate change is happening in America's national parks and in some cases in rapid and concerning ways. Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division - Almost 80,000 air tours were conducted in 2013 over 48 parks, not including air tours over Alaska parks or flights over the Grand Canyon, according to reports submitted to the NPS by air tour operators. Valley Forge NHP - The Voices of Valley Forge workshop series, launched on June 26th with a sketching and writing workshop, will continue in the park through early August. Southeast Region - Lt. Jessica Sharpe, a Public Health Service consultant in Southeast Region, has received the U.S. Public Health Service Achievement Medal for her work in 2013. 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). --- ### --- |