Cape Lookout |  |
The following Incident Reports were extracted from the NPS Morning Reports/Coalition Reports from 1989-2024. They are not a complete record of all incidents which occurred in this park during this timeframe. INCIDENTS | |
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Friday, September 22, 1989 The following update on Hurricane Hugo's impacts on units of the National Park System in the Southeast was prepared by staff in the Service's Southeast Regional Office from phone calls made to each park's superintendent or chief ranger early today. It was forwarded to the Washington Office at 6 a.m. this morning. Because of darkness and winds, it was not always possible to get an accurate assessment of the storm's effects to this point. Reports on the Virgin Islands were received yesterday afternoon. Further updates will be provided as soon as parks are able to evaluate the hurricane's impact and report to the regional office. Cape Lookout National Seashore Cape Lookout lies along a series of barrier islands from Ocracoke Inlet at the south end of Cape Hatteras to a point near Morehead City 55 miles to the south. The park was closed yesterday and the island was evacuated. No evaluation of property losses has yet been made. The park will remain closed until the 24th.
The following is a brief summary of the impacts of Hurricane Hugo on several eastern parks as of Friday afternoon: - Cape Lookout - The park was closed Thursday and the island was evacuated. Little damage was inflicted by the hurricane. The park reopened Friday morning.
Between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. on the 15th, a tornado struck Barkers Island and caused approximately $250,000 in damage to several park structures, including a picnic shelter, the concessioner's office and a hotel which was being renovated and converted into a visitor center and administrative building. A visitor's car was also damaged. No one was killed or injured. Further information will be provided in future morning reports. (Feliz Revello, CALO, via telephone report from Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 9/17).
A fire destroyed the concessioner's cabin and workshop at South Core Bank on the 25th. The fire, which may have been started by a generator or the power cord leading from it, began around noon and was out by 2:30 p.m. A nearby 400-gallon gasoline tank blew-up during the fire. The park successfully employed a Mark III pump to keep the fire from spreading to another cabin and to nearby vegetation. Damage has been estimated at from $10,000 to $15,000; there were no injuries. The county fire marshall was to have begun an investigation into the fire yesterday. (Felix Revello, CALO, via telefax from Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 9/26).
NPS-administered seashores along the East coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts have prepared or are preparing for potential impacts from Hurricane Bob. The following reports summarize the scope and nature of activities as of yesterday evening: * Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - All visitors were evacuated from the island on Saturday, park boats were taken out of the water and park facilities were secured. Seasonal and temporary employees were moved inland, but permanent staff remained on island and were prepared to respond to any emergencies. Reports were received from two parks at 7:30 a.m. EDT this morning. Cape Hatteras reports minor damage. Some poles may be down along the seashore, but no other damage has yet been discovered. The park's pilot will fly over Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout today to make a full assessment of the hurricane's impacts. Cape Lookout reports no damage at headquarters. Although they haven't gotten out to the outer banks yet this morning, damage is expected to be light because winds in the area did not exceed 50 mph. Further updates on Hurricane Bob's impacts will appear in Tuesday's morning report. [Telephone conversations on 8/18 with Bill Harris, CALO; Alan Whalon, ASIS; Bob Woody, CAHA; Frank Mills, Sandy Hook, GATE; Don Weir, FIIS; Andy Ringgold, CACO telephone reports on 8/19 from Mary Moran, CAHA, and Bill Munsey, CALO, via Bill Sturgeon, RAD/SERO]
The following updates have been received from East Coast parks within the last hour regarding the impacts of the offshore storm. Reports have also been received from Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Parks not included in this summary had no significant updates to information presented this morning. A storm surge and waves higher than those previously predicted were occurring along the New Jersey and New York shorelines, and significant damage is therefore expected at parks in those areas. An updated report will be prepared this evening and tomorrow morning and distributed before 8:00 a.m. through the Morning Report. Cape Lookout NS Wind and tides have done some damage to dunes and overwash has occurred, but there have been no other impacts to park resources or facilities. The park remains open. Visitors are being urged to stay vigilant and careful of high waves and overwash areas.
Virtually all park staffs report that they are still fully involved in making assessments of the scope and nature of damages incurred as a result of the storm and that these will not be completed until early next week. The following information is supplemental to that which appeared in yesterday's briefings and today's morning report. It is worth noting, however, that we have received no reports of employee or visitor injuries from any area. Cape Lookout NS Much of the park was overwashed by the ocean during the storm and remains flooded today. Initial surveys of the park indicate that no facilities were damaged by the storm. Access to some areas has been restricted because of high water, but the park otherwise remains open. This is peak fishing season on Cape Lookout and the coming weekend may be the peak weekend of that season.
The severe storm off the North Atlantic coast has had a major impact on NPS areas all along the Eastern seaboard. The following information was compiled from preliminary reports received yesterday and early today; fuller reports will appear as soon as park staffs are able to complete assessments of damages inflicted on their areas. * Cape Lookout (South Carolina) - Wind and tides have done some damage to dunes and overwash has occurred, but there have been no other impacts to park resources or facilities. The park remains open. Visitors are being urged to stay vigilant and careful of high waves and overwash areas.
Virtually all park staffs report that they are still fully involved in making assessments of the scope and nature of damages incurred as a result of the storm and that these will not be completed until later this week. The following reports provide updates on the situation in affected parks as of early Friday afternoon. Although serious damage has occurred in several areas, it is worth nothing that no reports of employee or visitor injuries have been received from any areas. * Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - Much of the park was overwashed by the ocean during the storm and remained flooded on Friday. Initial surveys of the park indicate that no facilities were damaged by the storm. Access to some areas has been restricted because of high water, but the park otherwise remains open. This is peak fishing season on Cape Lookout. (Note: Despite the intense effects of the storm, it is not true that Cape Lookout is now in South Carolina, as was reported in Friday's morning report. The park remains in North Carolina). [Summaries to date compiled from telephone and telefaxed reports from John Lynch, RAD/NARO; Dennis Burnett and Bill Hooper, CACO; Don Weir and Jack Hauptman, FIIS; Kevin McMurry and Jim Reinhart, GATE; Brion Fitzgerald and Alan Whalon, ASIS; Larry Roush, CAHA; Chuck Harris, CALO; Bill Springer, RAD/SERO]
Preliminary contacts have been made with park staff at Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras this morning regarding the effects of Tropical Storm Danielle, which was about 185 miles southeast of the Outer Banks at 5 a.m. Cape Lookout reports winds out of the north of from 20 to 30 knots and a high tide surge between two and three feet above normal. Cape Hatteras has not yet made an assessment of storm impacts, but will do so later this morning. Both parks have their hurricane plans in effect, but remain open. Danielle's winds are averaging about 45 mph and the storm is relatively stationary; it is not expected to move or change in strength today. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 9/24]
As of 6 a.m. this morning, Danielle was about 80 miles southeast of Virginia Beach and moving northwest with sustained winds of about 50 mph. It was causing some damage to structures and the coastline along the Outer Banks, and was expected to next strike the Delmarva Peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Four to six inch rains, tides up to four feet above normal and coastal erosion are predicted. Cape Lookout this morning reports tides of three to four feet above normal and some beach erosion. Minor flooding has occurred in one picnic area. The park has expressed some concern regarding turtle nesting areas, but has not yet been able to assess damage to them. [Brion Fitzgerald and Bob Thomas, ASIS; Steve Smith and Bill Sturgeon, RAD/SERO; 9/24-25]
Park volunteers discovered a burglary in an NPS-owned house in Portsmouth Village, a National Register historic district, on December 7th. Several items of furniture had been taken. Rangers Jennifer Anderson and Felix Revello began the initial investigation with the collection of evidence for latent fingerprint analysis and the casting of tire tracks at the crime scene. Subsequent investigation of the tire tracks, coupled with information gained from the concession ferry operator, led to the identification of two suspects. Interviews with the suspects - one conducted by Colonial investigator Clyde Yee because of one of the suspect's resided near the park in Virginia - led to confessions and recovery of most of the missing furniture. Cape Hatteras rangers also assisted in the investigation. The suspects probably had at least one accomplice who helped take some of the furniture off the barrier island by boat. The investigation continues; charges are pending. [Chuck Harris, CPO (Chief of Park Operations), CALO, 1/13]
On July 27th, J.V. II plead guilty in federal court to possessing a controlled substance (marijuana) and illegally entering a closed bird nesting area. He was fined a total of $1,200. As part of the plea agreement, charges of interfering with an agency function which arose from J.V.'s attempt to destroy evidence were dropped. A noteworthy aspect of the incident was the successful prosecution of the case by special Marine Corps assistant U.S. attorneys from nearby Camp Lejeune, who continue to provide assistance to the park. [Felix Revello, CALO, 8/19]
Preparations are underway for the arrival of Hurricane Emily, which will likely strike North Carolina's Outer Banks some time tomorrow. A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for Outer Bank islands; although contact has not yet been made with Cape Hatteras, the chief ranger at Cape Lookout reports that all visitors and staff will be off that park's islands by noon today. Moore's Creek, which is inland and to the south of the capes, has begun preparing for the storm, but will wait until noon today before deciding on whether or not to take any substantive actions. One of Southeast Region's Type II all risk teams has been alerted. There will be a meeting in the regional office this morning to discuss potential response actions. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 8/30]
Preparations continue for the arrival of Hurricane Emily, now a Category II storm with sustained winds around 100 mph. Forecasters believe that wind speeds will increase before the hurricane comes ashore tomorrow. At 5 a.m. EDT, the hurricane was 155 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras and moving northwest around 9 mph; a gradual turn to the north is expected later today. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 40 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 mph. The hurricane warning has been extended northward to Cape Henlopen, Delaware, just north of Assateague Island. Storm tides of five to eight feet are possible on both eastern and western shores of the Outer Banks. Rainfall totals of four to eight inches are possible along Emily's path. * Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - The park is now fully closed. Winds up to 40 mph were reported early this morning. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO; Mary Collier, Management Assistant, CAHA; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; Bob Thomas, Acting CR, ASIS; Dick Young, COLO; NWS Office of Meteorology hurricane advisory; 8/31]
Reports were received early this morning from parks along the North Carolina-Virginia coastline regarding the impacts of Hurricane Emily: * Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - The hurricane passed to the east of the cape. There was very little rain or wind at headquarters on Harkers Island at the south end of the park. Although an assessment has not yet been made of Core Banks Island, the park's principal island, washovers are deemed likely. There is some concern regarding damage to Portsmouth Village at the northern tip of the island; it will be checked later today. The park has been reopened. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; Mary Collier, Management Assistant, CAHA; Brion FitzGerald, CR, ASIS]
Assessments of the damages inflicted on Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout are still underway. A summary will appear in tomorrow's morning report. The Southeast Area Coordination Center is rapidly scaling back operations, as are other emergency response organizations. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 9/2]
Updates on the impacts of Hurricane Emily have been received from the two parks most affected by the storm: * Cape Lookout - No apparent damage was inflicted on the historic buildings at Portsmouth Village, but there was some minor damage to Haulover Dock at that location. No new channels were cut through the Core Banks. Beach erosion was limited. [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; Mary Collier, Management Assistant, CAHA; 9/2]
About 300 gallons of jet fuel was accidently discharged overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp late on the afternoon on July 17th. The oil slick is being monitored by the Coast Guard, North Carolina's Division of Coastal Management, and the National Park Service. Fortunately, the JP-5 jet fuel is a light distillate that readily dissipates when exposed to the elements. Monitoring continues, but there had been no impacts to park wildlife nor any accumulation on park beaches at the time of the report. (Chuck Harris, Chief of Ops, CALO, 7/20]
Debris which accumulated on the park's beaches in late August was subsequently traced to at least three Navy ships - the Inchon, Gunston Hall, and Trenton. The commanding officers of Norfolk Naval Station and Amphibious Squadron Two out of Little Creek were contacted on August 30th, and they sent an assessment team and 30 crew members from the three vessels to the park the following day. They collected 70 bags of trash, loaded it aboard a landing craft from Little Creek, and took the refuse back to Norfolk. Although most of the trash collected was not of Navy origin, they took it anyway. There was no medical waste in the debris, which consisted mostly of MRE packages, plastic bottles, light bulbs and metal food cans. [Chief of Park Operations, CALO, 9/6]
Hurricane Gordon inflicted serious damage to park resources and facilities. Flood tides extensively eroded or flattened the primary dune line, particularly on North and South Core Banks north of the Cape Lookout light station. In some locations, the shoreline receded over 200 feet. While storm tides overtopped the seashore, no new inlets were formed. The storm tides spread sand deposits over many low areas inland from the shoreline and in effect raised the overall profile of the banks. Of particular concern was the damage to park facilities at the Long Point cabin area, a concession complex operated by the Don Morris family. Two structures, representing three rental units, were demolished or damaged beyond repair. Six other older structures, including the caretaker's quarters and support buildings, were flooded and had sand deposited around the structures to their floor levels. Most of the buildings had from a few inches to a foot of sand deposited in them. Water utility lines serving the older structures were damaged as were some, if not all, sewer systems. While water surrounded the relative new octa-structures, there was no apparent damage to the structures or their utility systems. Park cabins and support structures were also largely undamaged. Because of the loss of the dune system in the area, the older cabin rental structures are vulnerable to further damage from even minor storm and overwash events. [Chuck Harris, Chief, Park Operations, CALO, 11/23]
On the afternoon of August 5th, K.D., 32, set out to swim across Barden Inlet from Shackleford Banks to the spit of South Core Banks, a distance of about one mile. K.D.'s friends soon lost sight of her and set out by boat in an attempt to locate her. When these efforts proved fruitless, they contacted the Coast Guard. A search involving a park and two Coast Guard vessels and a Coast Guard helicopter was initiated. Park VIPs contacted visitors on the beach, and two more helicopters eventually joined the search. Around 8:30 p.m., K.D. called the Coast Guard from the mainland. She said that she'd been caught up by the current and drifted to Core Sound, where a local fisherman picked her up and took her to Harkers Island. K.D. was in the water for about 40 minutes. Alcohol is believed to have been a contributing factor. [Jim Zahradka, Protection Branch Chief, CALO]
* Cape Lookout - Evacuation of the park began at 8 a.m. yesterday morning, and all visitors and park and concessions employees were off the islands by 3 p.m. [Robert Woody, PIO, IMT, CAHA; Superintendent, CALO; Bob Thomas, ASIS; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO]
The following reports were received yesterday from parks being most directly affected by Hurricane Felix, which remains stationary off the North Carolina coast: * Cape Lookout - The park is closed. Essential employees completed final closing procedures at noon yesterday then left the area. Storm surges have affected the park, but winds were minimal at the time of the report yesterday morning. [Robert Woody, PIO, IMT, CAHA; Superintendent, CALO; Bob Thomas, Acting CR, ASIS; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO; USA Today]
The sudden change in direction and departure of Hurricane Felix spared East coast parks from significant damage. The following reports were received on Friday: * Cape Lookout - The park returned to normal operations at 3 p.m. on August 17th. The park sustained no property damage and only minimal resource damage.
Rangers Jim Zahradka and Greg Griffis responded to a shooting incident on North Core Banks on the afternoon of October 8th. E.G., 43, had shot the knob off the bathroom door of his camper while his cousin, Russell Morgan, was sitting on the toilet. E.G. was arrested at the camper with the assistance of two state fisheries officers who were working in the park. E.G. was incarcerated until October 10th, when he was released from jail on a $10,000 bond. He's been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. Morgan was not injured. [Chuck Harris, Chief of Park Operations, CALO]
The body of a 30 to 40-year-old man washed ashore on North Core Banks near Drum Inlet on April 29th. The unidentified man, who apparently was not in the water for more than a few days, was fully dressed. Both legs were broken below the knees and a rope was tied around his right ankle. Two loops were tied in the rope, indicating that the body may have been weighted down when thrown into the water. Although no identification was found, rangers discovered a laminated newspaper article in his rear pocket which described the 1991 death of a Maryland woman and listed the names of her three sons. An investigation is underway. [CALO]
The identity of the man whose body washed ashore on North Core Banks on April 29th has been established. He was M.T., 39, of Savage, Maryland. It's been determined that the death was a suicide, and that the cause of death was drowning. M.T. left an extensive paper trail detailing his method of suicide, handling of the notification of his death, and distribution of personal property. He apparently tied himself into his recently purchased 16-foot boat, then sank it. The apparent broken legs were actually caused by postmortem trauma. [Chuck Harris, CR, CALO]
Parks from Florida to North Carolina accelerated preparations for Hurricane Bertha yesterday, with the anticipation of at least tropical storm level winds along the Florida coast and hurricane winds at more northerly locations. A follow-up report has also been received from the Virgin Islands. Please note that reports were received at different times. The balance were submitted late yesterday before the hurricane's shift to a more northerly course: o Cape Lookout - The park closed yesterday, and will be completely shut down today. Concessions operators transported guests out of the park, and park employees were evacuated. [Kent Cave, CR, FOPU; Bob Panko, IC, EVER; Bill DeHart, IC/CR, CANA; Wendell Simpson, Superintendent, CANA; Ray Morris, CI&RM, FOFR; Gary Bremen, PIO, BISC; John Tucker, FOSU; Mark Woods, VIIS; Bob Woody, CI&VS, CAHA; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; C. Dale, CR/IC, CASA/FOMA; Suzanne Lewis, FOCA/TIMU; CRO, CUIS; Steve Smith, SEFDO]
Additional reports have been received on the impacts of the hurricane: o Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - Although the park received much of the brunt of the hurricane, preliminary assessments via aircraft and ground teams indicate that overwash was unexpectedly light, but that the roofs of many park buildings had been damaged. All personnel had returned to work by Sunday, and concessions reopened for business. Some areas are still without power, but park operations are on a normal routine. [Bob Woody, CI&VS, CAHA; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO]
Hurricane Edouard has now lost all tropical characteristics and moved out into the Atlantic Ocean. It caused only minor disruptions and damage during its long journey north along the East Coast: o Cape Lookout - The park was closed and evacuated on Saturday, but headquarters and the visitor center remained open. The entire park reopened on Sunday. The hurricane caused major overwash in several areas as it passed by. Air and ground surveillance reveal no significant damage. The IC was superintendent Bill Harris. [John Lynch, NESO; Chuck Harris, CALO; Bob Woody, CI/VS, CAHA]
Preparations continue in the Southeastern parks for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Fran: o Cape Lookout - The park has been closed and evacuated. Headquarters will close at 10 a.m. [Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; C.L. Dale, CR, CASA; Newt Sikes, CR, CUIS; John Breen, FOPU; John Tucker, FOSU/CHPI/MOCA; Darlene Koontz, NPS/FLETC; Bob Woody, CI&VS, CAHA]
Reports on the impacts of Hurricane Fran have been received from a number of Eastern parks. Of particular note is the fact that the flooding along the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers has in most cases been as or more severe than that which occurred during January, making this the first year since the National Weather Service began keeping track early this century that areas along those rivers have been hit by two major floods. As of Sunday night, the Potomac was flowing past Little Falls in Maryland at more than 300,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) - 130 times the normal volume. When the Shenandoah River crested on Saturday, it had a flow rate of 153,000 cfs, or more than 200 times its typical rate. o Cape Lookout - The park suffered no significant damage. Headquarters was closed on Friday due to a power outage and the inability of some employees to get to the office. [Greg Styles, IC, SHEN; Kevin Fitzgerald, CHOH; Gary Pollock, GWMP; Sandy Ailey, PIO, NCFA; Jim Fox, BLRI; Bob Woody, CI&VS, CAHA; Newt Sikes, CUIS; John Breen, FOPU; Andrew Loveless, Superintendent, KIMO; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU; Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; Mike Johnson, CR, FRSP; Washington Post]
An unoccupied park boat tied up at a dock exploded on September 20th. The 22-foot Hancock Skimmer had just returned from an operational assignment. Preliminary investigation indicates that the explosion may have stemmed from problems with the bilge pump and internal fuel tanks. A joint state and Coast Guard investigation is pending. A similar park boat has been taken out of service until the investigation is completed. The boat is manufactured in Sea Level, North Carolina, and is not believed to be in service at any other NPS areas. Similarly configured boats may be employed at some parks, however. [Chuck Harris, CR, CALO]
A local fishing company has asked the park to check out Cape Lookout Bight for debris or victims from a wrecked trawler. The 68-foot trawler "Josephine" was reported heading to port at 4 a.m. yesterday, but has not been heard from since. Other boats reported heavy seas in the area, and an inflated six-man lifeboat and orange life ring with the trawler's name on it were found near Cape Lookout Point yesterday evening. A search of the beach for debris or bodies will continue today. [Laurie Heupel, Education Specialist, CALO, 2/18]
A visitor reported the discovery of a body a mile and a half north of Alger Willis Fishing Camps on the morning of March 21st. Supervisory park ranger Jim Zahradka responded and found the body in the surf line. The victim was clothed in a gray and burgundy sweatshirt, dark jeans and socks. There was no wallet in his pants. Concession employees helped load the body into the park boat. Efforts to identify the victim are underway. It's likely that he is one of the three crew members still missing from the commercial fishing vessel "Josephine," which sank south of Cape Lookout on February 17th. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 3/22]
A severe storm with wind gusts up to 70 mph struck the park on the afternoon of May 23rd. There were about 250 vessels in the park at that time. The winds kicked up high seas in the sound and Cape Lookout bight, causing six recreational boats to swamp or sink. Many of the remainder sought shelter in the bight and the park's boat basin. A one-and-a-half year old child suffered respiratory distress when the boat she was on sank and family members were unable to keep the child's head above the waves. The family of eight was rescued by a passing boat and the child was airlifted to a local hospital, where she was treated and released. A visitor was brought to the park visitor center with a dislocated shoulder. Both he and his friend were orthopedic surgeons; the doctor, with assistance from a ranger, set the shoulder in the park's conference room. Rangers spent the rest of the day looking for and assisting distressed vessels. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 5/24]
Reports have been received from a number of areas, all in various stages of preparation for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Bonnie. Those appear below. Several incident management teams have also either staged or been placed on standby. Southeast's interagency "Blue Team", comprised of representatives from the NPS, Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, has staged at Fort Bragg and will be supporting FEMA operations. A second interagency incident management team will also be dispatched to that location to support FEMA. Southeast Region's lead Type 2 team (Bob Panko, IC) is on immediate standby for response to NPS areas and is ready to go. The NPS national Type 1 team, SERO's two remaining Type 2 teams, and a CISD team are on standby and available for callout to parks. An innovative maintenance response vehicle, based out of Great Smoky Mountains NP, has been prepared and is ready to go. The truck and gooseneck trailer, which was developed following responses to several of the recent big hurricanes to strike Southeast Region, contains a complete maintenance shop (generators, compressors, saws, drill press, etc.), sleeping quarters for four people, a restroom and a kitchenette. As for the parks themselves: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park has also been closed and evacuated; employees have joined Cape Hatteras staff in Raleigh. Parks in the track of Hurricane Bonnie are urged to transmit reports on storm preparations or impacts to this cc:Mail address at their earliest convenience. [Ken Garvin, SERO, 8/26; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR, 8/25; Bob Woody, CAHA, 8/25; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO, 8/25; John Burns, CR, ASIS, 8/25-26; Barry Sullivan, Assistant Superintendent, FIIS, 8/25]
As Hurricane Bonnie makes slow progress to the north, North Carolina areas are preparing for recovery operations. Southeast Region's lead Type 2 team (Bob Panko, IC) is currently en route to Raleigh to meet with the staffs of Cape Lookout NS and Cape Hatteras NS; the Fort Sumter Group has dispatched maintenance workers and equipment to help out at Moores Creek NB. Additional reports have also been received from the affected parks: o Cape Lookout NS - An employee who remained on the barrier island checked the headquarters area last night and found no damage, but this was before high tide, which was scheduled to occur around midnight. Parks in the track of Hurricane Bonnie are urged to transmit reports on storm preparations or impacts to this cc:Mail address at their earliest convenience. [Ken Garvin, SERO, 8/27; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR, 8/26; Bob Woody, CAHA, 8/26]
Further updates on the impacts of the hurricane on North Carolina parks - and preparations for its passage along the New York coast - have been received: o Cape Lookout NS - Members of the park's staff conducted a preliminary survey last night. At the time of the report, winds were still blowing between 40 and 50 mph; trees were down, water covered many areas, and power was out. Minor water damage was reported at headquarters, but no structural damage was evident. Some staff will return to the park at 10 a.m. this morning to fully survey the area. The park will remain closed until further notice. Parks in the track of Hurricane Bonnie are urged to transmit reports on storm impacts to this cc:Mail address at their earliest convenience. [Ken Garvin, SERO, 8/28; Ann Childress, Superintendent, FOSU, 8/28; Barry Sullivan, Assistant Superintendent, FIIS, 8/27]
Hurricane Bonnie's impacts on East Coast parks were minimal. Additional reports were received late on Friday and over the weekend: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The headquarters building received considerable water damage due to winds blowing water under doors, around windows, and under the eaves of roofs. Almost all structures in the park suffered at least roof damage. Power was restored to headquarters on Friday afternoon. Overwash rutted large sections of back roads and caused extensive erosion of the dune line. It's not yet known what impact the storm had on turtle nests. Both the park and the park's two concession operations reopened on Saturday. Passenger ferries are also operational. A detailed assessment is underway. No reports have been received from Cape Hatteras NS since the hurricane passed. [John Burns, CR, ASIS, 8/28; Ken Garvin, SERO, 8/29; Mike Rikard, Acting Superintendent, and Jim Zahradka, CALO, 8/28 and 29; James Burnett, CR, COLO, 8/28]
On the morning of January 30th, the Coast Guard received a report of an overturned vessel just outside of Beauford Inlet, which is on the park's southwest boundary at Shackleford Banks. Small craft warnings were in place at the time. Coast Guard crews responded and found an overturned 14-foot, fiberglass, flat-bottom skiff; there was nobody on board or nearby, but a life jacket was found in the water. A search was begun for the three people on board. Ranger Christopher Stechmann searched Back Sound and the park's inland waterways by boat and the nine miles of beach, dunes and woods on Shackleford Banks by ATV. He found no signs of the three men in the 84- square-mile search area. Rangers are continuing the land search of the beach as part of their routine patrols. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 2/2]
On the morning of January 30th, the Coast Guard received a report of an overturned vessel just outside of Beauford Inlet, which is on the park's southwest boundary at Shackleford Banks. Small craft warnings were in place at the time. Coast Guard crews responded and found an overturned 14-foot, fiberglass, flat-bottom skiff; there was nobody in the area, but a life jacket was found in the water. Rangers and others began a search for the three people who were on board. On March 17th, resource management specialist Jeff Cordes came upon a body in the surf on the spit at Cape Lookout. Rangers picked it up and transported it by boat to park headquarters. The county medical examiner has confirmed that the victim was B.J.G., one of the fisherman lost in the January accident. His remains were found ten miles from where the boat sank. Another of the victims was found outside the park a couple of weeks after the accident. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 3/22]
Parks along the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to North Carolina have been preparing for Hurricane Dennis since it neared the coastline late last week: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park put its hurricane plan into effect yesterday morning. The park was closed to visitors and all services were shut down. All passenger ferry services to the island were terminated, and overnight guests were evacuated. The park was completely shut down by 4:30 p.m. [Denis Davis, CUIS, 8/28; Gary Bremen, IO, BISC, 8/26-27; Chuck Dale, CASA/FOMA, 8/27; Karren Brown and Jim Zahradka, CALO, 8/27 and 8/29; Chris Bernthal and Bob Woody, CAHA/FORA/WRBR, 8/27 and 8/29; Helga Fraze, CANA, 8/27-29; Bill Martin, PIO, FOSU/CHPI, 8/29; Ann Childress, MOCR, 8/29]
Hurricane Dennis continues its slow movement toward the east-northeast this morning, with highest sustained winds of 85 mph. It is not expected to move much over the next 24 hours, and will likely be downgraded to a strong tropical storm within the next 72 hours. It may "wander" back to the west toward the coast during that period. A tropical storm warning remains in effect from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia; gale warnings extend from Chincoteague to Great Egg Inlet, New Jersey. The following reports have been received from parks over the past 24 hours: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - Employees returned to the park this morning, and a damage assessment is now underway. The mainland and park headquarters suffered minor damage. The assessment of the North Core, South Core and Shackelford Banks will be completed by this evening. The park will remain closed until facilities are checked and determined to be safe. [Rick Black, Emergency Support Team, FEMA, 8/31; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 8/31; Bob Woody, IC, CAHA, 8/30; Chuck Dale, FOMA/CASA, 8/30; John Tucker, FOSU/CHPI/MOCR; Denis Davis, CUIS, 8/31]
The following reports have been received from parks over the past 24 hours: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - A comprehensive damage assessment has been delayed by continuing high winds and seas. The preliminary review so far indicates extensive damage to docks, structures, resources and roads on the banks due to high winds and overwash. Concessioners on North Core and South Core Banks report extensive damage to their facilities, which will remain closed until repairs are completed. Services provided by incidental business permittees have been suspended to assure visitor safety. The Harkers Island visitor center is open, but the outer banks are still closed to the public and lessees. Yesterday afternoon's high winds and tides have caused damage to the boat basin at the Harkers Island administrative site. Gale force winds persist. Employees are on alert status due to the possibility of Hurricane Dennis returning to the coast. [Bob Woody, IC, CAHA, 8/31; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO, 8/31; Kevin Fitzgerald, CR, CACO, 8/31; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 8/31; Dave Griese, CR, FIIS, 8/31; John Burns, CR, ASIS, 8/31]
North Carolina coastal parks again bore the brunt of Tropical Storm Dennis as it turned inland early on the Labor Day weekend: o Cape Lookout NS - The park was again shut down and the headquarters area was evacuated on the morning of September 4th. The hurricane struck the park on South Core Banks and hit the mainland at about 4:30 p.m. that day. Winds reached about 55 mph. More shallow inlets opened on North Core Banks, and Portsmouth Village is still underwater. The park has a vehicle ban in place. Dock repairs are underway. Additional reports on damage will appear in future editions of the Morning Report. [Jeff Cobb, IC, CAHA, 9/6; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 9/6]
Two follow-up reports have been received on Hurricane Dennis: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - Dock repairs at both concessions were completed ahead of schedule, enabling concessioners to resume operations on September 9th. The vehicle ban has been lifted. Temporary roof repairs continue. Portsmouth Village remains closed due to flooding and major damage to docks there. Old Drum Inlet, opened by Hurricane Dennis, has been receiving boat traffic and shows little indication of closing up. [Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 9/14; Bob Woody, IO, IMT, CAHA, 9/14]
As Hurricane Floyd wends its way north, parks and regional office staff in SER are making necessary preparations. Bob Panko's Type II team will arrive in Atlanta tomorrow to begin planning for post-hurricane natural and cultural resource damage assessments in conjunction with regional staff. All National Park Service Type I and Type II teams have been contacted by SERO and are prepared to respond as needed to recovery operations. SER staff will be contacting DOI emergency operations personnel this afternoon to work out procedures for mutual aid to other Interior agencies in the storm's path. Regional staff are also directly contacting refuges and other DOI offices in the Southeast and maintaining communications links with them. Meanwhile, in the parks: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park is shifting its focus from recovery from Hurricane Dennis to preparations for Hurricane Floyd. The park was already experiencing overwash and strong rip currents yesterday afternoon, and will be closed by early afternoon today. [Ken Garvin and Darryl Rhodes, SERO, 9/15; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU/CHPI, 9/14; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 9/14; Roy Wood, IO, EVER, 9/15; Stephanie Bagozzi, IMT, BICY, 9/15; Bob Woody, IO, IMT, CAHA, 9/15; Barbara Goodman, TIMU/FOCA, 9/14-15]
The following updates have been received from parks being affected by Hurricane Floyd: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park was evacuated yesterday morning. All concession employees and visitors were off the islands by noon. Electricity and phones were turned off at 10:30 a.m. [Ken Garvin and Daryl Rhodes, SERO, 9/15-16; Barbara Goodman, Superintendent, TIMU/FOCA, 9/15; Linda Brown, CR, MOCR, 9/15; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 9/15; Gary Bremen, IO, BISC, 9/15; Mike Johnson, CR, FRSP, 9/15; Doyle Nelson, CR, DEWA, 9/15; Rick Nolan, CR, FOMC, 9/15; Dave Griese, CR, FIIS, 9/15; Mike Litterst, PAO, COLO, 9/15; Denise Pearce, CAHA, 9/15; LES, CAHA, 9/16; Nora Martinez, CR, CANA, 9/16; Hattie Squires, MOCR, 9/16; Martha Bogle, COSW, 9/16; Dave Parker, FOMA, 9/16; Wally Mattis, CM, FOFR, 9/16; Gordie Wilson, FOMA/CASA, 9/16; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU/CHPI, 9/16; John Burn, CR, ASIS, 9/16]
The following updates have been received from parks affected by Hurricane Floyd (from north to south, more or less): o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - Numerous trees are down, and heavy damage to the park is anticipated due to wind and storm surge. An assessment is underway. [Ken Garvin and Daryl Rhodes, SERO, 9/16; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO, 9/16; Earle Kittleman, PAO, NCRO, 9/16; Robert Hickman, Superintendent, PRWI, 9/16; Norm Williams, CM, TIMU/FOCA, 9/16; Brian Peters, CR, CUIS, 9/16; Jim Zahradka, DR, CALO, 9/16; LES, CAHA, 9/16; Chris Revels, KIMO, 9/16; John Breen, Superintendent, FOPU, 9/16; Dispatch, DEWA, 9/17; Greg Stiles, Ken Johnson, SHEN, 9/16; Kevin FitzGerald, CR, CACO, 9/16; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU/CHPI, 9/16; Jose Rosario, CR, GATE, 9/16; Rosemary Williams, CANA, 9/16; Rick Nolan, CR, FOMC, 9/17; Tim Mauch, SPR, RICH, 9/17]
The following updates have been received from parks affected by Hurricane Floyd: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park experienced a storm surge of from four to seven feet; four inches of rain fell, and peak winds reached 91 mph. Overwash damaged dunes, added at least a foot of sand on the roads in the concession area, and dug out and flooded sections of the back road that runs the length of North Core and South Core Banks. Old Drum inlet, opened by Hurricane Dennis, has become wider. The park reopened last Friday, allowing concessions to operate and to rent cabins not affected by the storm. The repaired concessioner docks, damaged by Dennis, were unaffected. Portsmouth Village remains closed due to flooding and downed trees. Cape Point also remains closed, as the two roads that detour around a turtle closure area are under three to four feet of water. Damage to the water system at the lighthouse will cost about $5,000 to repair. Headquarters structures survived with minimal damage, but the boat basin received severe damage to docks, ramp and sea walls. The entire basin will have to be dredged to remove debris and silt. Heavy erosion of the administrative site shoreline occurred, with damage to about 1,500 feet of seawall. Electricity to headquarters and the surrounding communities was restored on Saturday. A complete turtle nest damage assessment will be forthcoming. [Ken Garvey and Daryl Rhodes, SERO, 9/20-21; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR, 9/20; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU/CHPI, 9/20; Jose Rosario, CR, GATE, 9/20; Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 9/20; Greg Smith, SPR, MORR, 9/21]
Hurricane Irene had varying effects on parks in the Southeast as it made its way northward: o Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park shut down facilities and evacuated all areas on Sunday. Concession lodgings were booked to capacity at the time due to the fall fishing season. The concessioner ferried 126 vehicles off the islands during the evacuation, finishing at 2 a.m. Monday morning. The change in storm track minimized impacts; no damage has been detected. The park was to reopen on Monday. Little or no damage was reported at the other half dozen or so parks along the Southeast coast. [Ken Garvin, SERO, 10-16-18; Jim Zahradka, IC, CALO, 10/16; Steve Harrison, IC, CAHA, 10/16-18; Larry Belles, BICY, 10/18; Chuck Dale, CR/IC, CASA/FOMA, 10/16; Gary Bremen, IO, BISC, 10/18; Deb Nordeen, IO, EVER, 10/17
Local pilot P.K. walked away from his Piper 180 after landing it on the soft sand beach of Shackelford Banks early on the afternoon of November 17th. P.K. was returning to Beaufort Airport when his plane's engine shut down and he was forced to land. The Piper's engine cowling and prop were damaged and the front landing gear broke. P.K. was airlifted to Carteret General Hospital and treated for a broken nose. Ranger Kevin Wyrick was first on scene at the accident site. Further investigation led to the discovery that both of the plane's gas tanks were empty. The plane was loaded on a barged and towed to Beaufort. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 11/20]
On the morning of June 27th, ranger Richard Larrabee saw a large number of people gathered at Cape Point. Upon arrival, he determined that there was a strong current flowing and that the tide was rising. He accordingly directed the people in the water, who were wading on a sandbar, to return to the beach. He then saw two women - one 37, the other 68 - about 200 yards out, frantically waving their arms as they drifted seaward. Recognizing that the two women were not going to be able to swim back to shore without assistance, Larrabee and a visitor swam out to bring them in. Larrabee employed his past experience as a lifeguard and the assistance of two visitors to get them safely to shore. Larrabee then found a third woman hyperventilating on the beach. She'd also been caught in the current, and had been helped to shore by another visitor. A Marine Corps rescue helicopter arrived on scene and a Marine paramedic assessed the three victims before they were transported by boat to the mainland. Just prior to this incident, a young boy had been pulled from the current while swimming in the same area. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 7/9]
On the evening of July 21st, rangers received a 911 call reporting a shooting on Shackleford Banks. Ranger Richard Larrabee responded, meeting both the victim and suspected shooter at a local Urgent Care Medical Center. Larrabee interviewed the two men, both of whom said that the shooting resulted from an accident. The alleged shooter was reportedly carrying a .22 caliber revolver in his front pocket, which fired accidentally when a beer keg he was helping to carry onto the island bounced off his leg. The round then ricocheted off the keg and grazed the victim's leg, causing a superficial wound. The man said that he then threw the weapon into the ocean and escorted the victim by boat to the medical facility. He told Larrabee and local officers that he didn't have a state driver's license (which proved false) and provided them with a fictitious name and address. Since both parties said that the shooting was an accident, the shooter was released that evening after agreeing to return to the banks the next morning to help search for the discarded weapon. He fled the county before the morning arrived, however, and failed to appear. Through an intensive investigation, Larrabee and supervisory ranger Jim Zahradka were able to track down and interview the shooter. They seized the .22, which he still had in his possession, and the shorts he was wearing when the gun fired in his pocket. A mandatory appearance citation was issued for possession of a weapon, providing false information, and disorderly conduct. Criminal charges will include a plea for restitution on behalf of the victim. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 8/8]
W.O. of Molena, Georgia, and friend D.G. of Wake Forest, North Carolina, were seen operating their ATV's on the ocean beach of South Core Banks just after 8 p.m. on June 22nd. D.G. looked back as he crossed several washes in the beach and saw W.O.'s ATV flip and land on him. D.G. removed the ATV from W.O., began CPR, and had a rider from his ATV summon help from a cabin camp several miles down the beach. W.O. was flown to Carteret County Hospital by a Marine Corps medevac helicopter, where he was pronounced DOA. [Wouter Ketel, CR, CALO, 6/25]
The park has implemented its emergency weather evacuation plan in anticipation of the arrival of Tropical Storm Gustav. All passenger ferry services to the islands have been terminated, and all overnight guests and staff have been evacuated. The park is closed to visitors; all services are shut down until further notice. Emergency preparations were completed by 2 p.m. yesterday, at which time staff were dismissed to attend to personal property. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the coast from Cape Fear to Currituck Beach Light, which includes all of the park. Wouter Ketel, the park's chief ranger, is IC. [Submitted by Bob Vogel, Superintendent, Cape Lookout NS]
The park reopened its administrative offices and visitor center on Harker Island at 10 a.m. yesterday morning. Ferry service to South Core Banks and Shackelford Island have resumed, and both overnight concession facilities have reopened. Little significant damage has been reported at these locations. Park crews are checking the northern portions of the park, which remain closed. This area received winds of more than 70 mph and may have experienced significant flooding. [Submitted by Robert Vogel, Superintendent, Cape Lookout NS]
Preparations continue along the East Coast for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Isabel. Reports received as of this morning follow, from south to north:
Parks to the south of the Carolinas are all keeping a wary eye on the storm, just in case the course changes, but generally remain in a "stand by" mode. Prepared from reports submitted by Bob Vogel, Superintendent, CALO; Dann Trexler, IC, CAHA; Tom Nash, CR, COLO; Vince Santucci, CR, GWMP; Laura Illige, CI, ROCR; Einar Olsen, RCR, NCRO; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS; Bill Halainen, IO, DEWA; Frank Mills, IC, STLI; and Wayne Valentine, IC, FIIS.
Despite its weakening, Hurricane Isabel remains a serious threat to portions of the northeast coastline and to nearby inland areas. Parks in those regions continue to prepare for its arrival. As a precautionary measure, one of the Service's two national Type 1 teams (JD Swed's team) will be staging in Charlotte, North Carolina, in order to be prepared to respond as needed to any park or area. A number of Type 2 teams are also on standby. Here's a rundown on the status of many of the parks in or near the storm's path (south to north):
This summary was compiled from reports submitted by Randy Coffman, DL&ES, WASO; Wouter Ketel, IC, CALO; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; Mark Hardgrover, Deputy Superintendent, CAHA; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS; Duane Erwin, Chief Ranger, and Russ Whitlock, Deputy Director, WOTR; Stephen Syphax, NACE; Laura Illige, CI, ROCR; Doug Wallner, Acting Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Wayne Valentine, IC, FIIS; Tom Nash, Chief Ranger, COLO; Charles Strickfaden, Chief Ranger, FOMC; Frank Mills, Assistant Superintendent, STLI; and Wayne Sanders, Chief of Maintenance, GEWA/THST.
Due to the ongoing passage of Hurricane Isabel through the eastern states, not all parks have been able to report on their status. Here's a rundown of those that had been heard from as of late yesterday evening (south to north):
Meanwhile, the NPS Type 1 IMT (JD Swed, IC) is currently staged in Charlotte, North Carolina, working with the regional emergency response coordinators for the three regions (SER, NCR, NER) on providing assistance to parks currently being affected by Hurricane Isabel. The Type 1 team has compiled contact lists and has provided a team liaison to assist at the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center. Parks should report their current situations to their respective emergency response coordinators and make requests for resources and assistance to them. The Type 1 team will coordinate these requests with the regional emergency coordinator to determine the appropriate response. More information will be available later today, once parks have had an opportunity to complete preliminary assessments on their needs. This summary was compiled from reports submitted by Ken Garvin, SERO; Brenda Ritchie, EICC, SHEN; Cindy MacLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Bob Vogel, Superintendent, CALO; Mark Hardgrove, Assistant Superintendent, CAHA; Barry Munyan, ADR, CAHA; Vince Santucci, Chief Ranger, GWMP; Doug Wallner, Acting Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Laura Joss, General Superintendent, FOMC/HAMP; Bob Martin, Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Carla Hauser Hahn, Executive Assistant, UPDE; Phillip Correl, Director, NEJE; Reed Johnson, Superintendent, APCO; Wayne Valentine, IC, FIIS; Ed Whitaker, IC, DEWA; Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT.
Hurricane Isabel caused moderate to extensive damage in many parks within Southeast, National Capital and Northeast Regions. As of yesterday, 36 parks had reported damage sufficient to require the preparation of conditions assessments. Although most of these parks are not requesting any additional assistance, several have sustained damage sufficient to warrant oversight of recovery efforts by incident management teams:
These teams will be seeking substantial assistance in their efforts to recover from the hurricane. Resource orders are being processed and parks should expect to be asked to commit personnel to these operations. One of the resources being ordered is a team of Facility Management Software System (FMSS) specialists, who will work under the direction of Type 1 team deputy IC Dennis McGinnis to input and compile information on hurricane-related facilities damage. This system, now being used by all parks, should provide the most accurate costs of funding required for hurricane repair. Aerial assessments of the Virginia parks will be completed on Monday. Orders for about 90 resource orders are being lined up for processing as soon as the Type 1 team gets sorted out in its new location. Among the specialists to be ordered are Type 1 saw crews, electricians, carpenters and HVAC mechanics; equipment includes dump trucks and front end loaders. At present, there are 28 people assigned to the incident. Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Ken Garvin, SERO; Don Boucher, NCRO; Doug Wallner, NERO; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; Wouter Ketel, IC, and Bob Vogel, Superintendent, CALO; Paul Stevens, Liaison Officer, IMT, and Barry Munyan, ADR, CAHA; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA; Reed Johnson, Superintendent, APCO; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS; Charlie Strickfaden, Chief Ranger, FOMC; Gregory Smith, Chief Ranger, MORR; Maryanne Gerbauckas, Superintendent, EDIS; Bill Sanders, Superintendent, HOFU; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP.
Hurricane Isabel caused moderate to extensive damage in many parks within Southeast, National Capital and Northeast Regions. As of yesterday, 36 parks had reported damage sufficient to require the preparation of conditions assessments. Although most of these parks are not requesting any additional assistance, several have sustained damage sufficient to warrant oversight of recovery efforts by incident management teams. Here's a rundown on the affected parks (south to north), excluding those that reported negligible impacts:
Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Ken Garvin, SERO; Don Boucher, NCRO; Doug Wallner, NERO; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; Wouter Ketel, IC, and Bob Vogel, Superintendent, CALO; Paul Stevens, Liaison Officer, IMT, and Barry Munyan, ADR, CAHA; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA; Reed Johnson, Superintendent, APCO; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS; Charlie Strickfaden, Chief Ranger, FOMC; Gregory Smith, Chief Ranger, MORR; Maryanne Gerbauckas, Superintendent, EDIS; Bill Sanders, Superintendent, HOFU; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP.
Damage assessments and the organization of repair and rehabilitation operations are underway at parks throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. Assisting with and supporting these efforts are JD Swed's Type 1 team (currently relocating from Charlotte to Williamsburg), Rick Brown's Type 2 team, and Clay Jordan's Type 3 team at Shenandoah. Here's a rundown on the current status of affected parks (south to north): Cape Lookout NS Initial damage assessments were conducted over the weekend. They revealed damage more extensive than was apparent during the overflight made on Friday, particularly in Portsmouth Village. All of the numerous historic structures in the village were seriously damaged. All of the rest of the park's infrastructure - excepting Harkers Island - was also seriously damaged:
Cleanup has begun at the Harkers Island HQ and visitor center and at the Cape Lookout lighthouse and Cape Village areas. On Sunday, Shackleford Banks was reopened to the public; the Cape Lookout area of South Core Banks was reopened yesterday. Ferry services to these areas has resumed, except for the 150-passenger Lookout Express, which relies on the dock at the lighthouse. South Core Banks north of the lighthouse, Middle Core Banks and North Core Banks - together, about 40 miles of the 56-mile-long seashore - remain closed to the public. Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Ken Garvin, SERO; Don Boucher, NCRO; Bob Martin and Doug Wallner, NERO; Mary Doll, PIO, Outer Banks Group; Wouter Ketel, IC/Chief Ranger, and Donna Tipton, PIO, CALO; Laura Joss, Superintendent, FOMC; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA/THST; Cindy MacLeod, Superintendent, RICH/MAWA; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Laurie Coughlan, Superintendent, HAMP; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Tom Nash, Chief Ranger, COLO; Bill Sanders, Superintendent, HOFU; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS.
Yesterday's efforts focused largely on organizing incident management operations, orienting incoming personnel, obtaining equipment, and gathering important damage cost data for the regional and Washington offices. Initial recovery efforts were hampered by heavy rain that fell on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, causing new flood damage in many areas already affected by Isabel. The following reports were received from parks and regions over the past 24 hours. They are listed from south to north. This information either supplements or revises information previously reported; no effort is being made to recap earlier submissions with each new summary. Through the assistance of David Duran in the Service's National Information Systems Center in Denver, URL's are posted below for maps of three of the hardest hit parks - Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras, and Colonial - so that readers can more easily determine referenced locations. Others will be added in the future as needed. You can zoom in or out or pan from one park to another and can also turn additional data layers on or off, e.g. National Geographic TOPO!, Relief Imagery, Flood Hazard Areas, Land Cover Imagery, etc. The sites are, respectively: http://maps2.itc.nps.gov/nps/parkatlas/jsp/atlas.jsp?zoomtopark=Cape%20Lookout%20National%20Seashore For a gallery of photos of the hurricane's effects on several parks, put together by WASO ITC's Ken Handwerger, please go to http://inside.nps.gov/ people/hurricane/. This gallery will be added to on a regular basis. Cape Lookout NS/Cape Hatteras NS Rick Brown, IC for the Type 2 team supporting recovery efforts at these parks, signed a delegation of authority on Wednesday with Larry Belli, superintendent of the Outer Banks Group. Yesterday, Brown and two of his section chiefs flew to Cape Lookout to work on a delegation of authority for that area and discuss other issues. Wright Brothers NM will reopen at noon today after a week-long closure. All facilities will be open, including the visitor center, First Flight Centennial Pavilion, and the airstrip and associated pilot facility. Cape Hatteras NS, Fort Raleigh NHS and Cape Lookout NS will remain closed while recovery efforts continue. Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Don Boucher, NCRO; Dan Davidson, Shenandoah EICC; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Bob Martin, Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH.
Overview Crews and other resources have been arriving at the Williamsburg ICP for JD Swed's Type 1 IMT since Wednesday, bringing the total number of personnel currently assigned to the incident to 131. Early work efforts are focused on orienting personnel to the operations, with a heavy emphasis on safety due to the increased hazards involved in tree removal operations, especially with vehicle traffic. Team members are also holding short training sessions on ICS for newly-arrived personnel, as there are many people coming to this incident with minimal previous exposure to the system. The FMSS team continues to compile and input facilities assessment information received from the 38 park units that sustained hurricane-related damage. The preliminary assessment has been 100% completed by the parks. The FMSS team members are going out to parks beginning today to conduct comprehensive condition assessments. Crews will continue work on clearing the Yorktown Battlefield tour road in Colonial NHP. Additional crews and other resources were dispatched yesterday to Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Richmond NB and Petersburg NB to work on tree clearing and other cleanup operations. Many employees working in the parks being managed in this incident are still without power at home. These same employees have been working for extended hours with little or no time off for over a week. A three-person Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) team was scheduled to arrive in Williamsburg yesterday. They will make arrangements to provide assistance to park employees dealing with incident-related stress Rick Brown's Type 2 team, which is focusing on four sites in what's being called the North Carolina Seashore Area, is divided into two branches. The Outer Banks Group branch has four divisions - one for Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh, one for Bodie Island, one for Hatteras Island, and one for Ocracoke Island; the Cape Lookout branch has two divisions - one for Core Banks and one for Portsmouth Village. Principal problems confronting personnel on this operation have to do with the time and distances between locations and the amount of travel required. Operations are underway in all divisions. Park Updates The following reports were received from parks and regions over the past 24 hours. They are listed from south to north. This information either supplements or revises information previously reported; no effort is being made to recap earlier submissions with each new summary.
Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT; Don Boucher, NCRO; Zeke Seabright, NCR Communications Center; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Bob Martin, Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO.
A single-engine Cessna 150 crashed into a marsh on the sound side of
South Core Banks just after noon on Saturday, September 27th. The downed
aircraft was spotted from another plane and reported to the Coast Guard.
A rescue ship responded, but was unable to reach the scene due to
shallow waters. The Coast Guard according contacted the Marine Corps'
Cherry Point facility, which dispatched a helicopter. The helicopter
rescued the plane's passenger, E.R., who had walked over to
the park. Pilot R.W. was lifted from the crash site by cable.
Both were taken to Carteret General Hospital, where they were treated
for minor injuries. According to R.W., they'd been in the air about 30
minutes and were flying at an altitude of 800 to 1,000 feet when the
engine quit. R.W. guided the Cessna down to the marsh, where it
flipped over. Both R.W. and E.R. were wearing seatbelts.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through early Monday: Type 1 Team (JD Swed) Work continues at a rapid pace. Crews have made additional progress on clearing roads, overlooks, trails and other areas of fallen trees. The roads in Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP have been cleared and are now open. Workers accessed the Glass House restroom in Jamestown on Sunday to determine what repairs are needed and will continue to make repairs on the historic Archer House in Yorktown. Two injuries occurred on Sunday. An FMSS team member stepped on a nail at Jamestown, and a park maintenance worker at Petersburg NB had the pad on a finger tip sheared off while feeding material into a chipper. He was taken to the hospital, where it was stitched on. He was scheduled for surgery on Monday. The cultural resource team, made up of employees of the NPS, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), and a private salvage firm, continued to pack up and move the 600,000 piece Jamestown artifact collection to Fort Lee near Richmond. They expected to finish the relocation of the artifacts yesterday. The collection will be housed in a secure site while curatorial staff continue to triage the damage and provide stabilizing treatment. It is estimated that three-fifths of the collection was underwater for some period of time and suffered damage due to immersion, while a fifth was not immersed but was damaged by high humidity. The remaining fifth of the collection appears to be undamaged. For a related newspaper story, see the "In the Press" section of today's InsideNPS. The FMSS crew continues to compile incident costs on park assets and assist parks with condition assessments. Parks being assisted include Colonial NHP, Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Petersburg, NB, George Washington Birthplace NM, Richmond NB and C&O Canal NHP. The assessment at Colonial, including the Jamestown Visitor Center, was scheduled for completion on Tuesday. All other assessments are scheduled to be done by October 5th. An additional park unit, the Presidential Park near the White House in Washington, DC, has reported some hurricane-related damage. Five additional Type 1 and Type 2 crews arrived yesterday. Some will remain in Virginia; the others will be sent to assist with recovery efforts at Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores. Type 2 Team (Rick Brown) Sections of Cape Hatteras NS opened to the public on Monday after a 12-day closure due to Hurricane Isabel. Two ramps, about 11 miles of beach and the Hatteras Island Visitor Center were included in this first phase. Coquina Beach is now open as well, though minor repairs are still needed at the bathhouse. The Bodie Island Visitor Center opened yesterday morning, as did the NPS campground at Oregon Inlet and the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Much of Cape Lookout NS is open to pedestrians. Exceptions are Portsmouth Village, the area surrounding concession facilities at Long Point, and the Great Island fishing camps. Joining NPS workers are many local hire who were laid off from their regular jobs because of the hurricane. Some tree work remains at Fort Raleigh NHS. Damage assessment continues at the seashores as well as restoration work in all three parks. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Rick Brown, IC, Type 2 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through early Monday: Type 1 Team (JD Swed) Two injuries occurred on Sunday. An FMSS team member stepped on a nail at Jamestown, and a park maintenance worker at Petersburg NB had the pad on a finger tip sheared off while feeding material into a chipper. He was taken to the hospital, where it was stitched on. He was scheduled for surgery on Monday. The cultural resource team, made up of employees of the NPS, Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA), and a private salvage firm, continued to pack up and move the 600,000 piece Jamestown artifact collection to Fort Lee near Richmond. They expected to finish the relocation of the artifacts yesterday. The collection will be housed in a secure site while curatorial staff continue to triage the damage and provide stabilizing treatment. It is estimated that three-fifths of the collection was underwater for some period of time and suffered damage due to immersion, while a fifth was not immersed but was damaged by high humidity. The remaining fifth of the collection appears to be undamaged. For a related newspaper story, see the "In the Press" section of today's InsideNPS. The FMSS crew continues to compile incident costs on park assets and assist parks with condition assessments. Parks being assisted include Colonial NHP, Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Petersburg, NB, George Washington Birthplace NM, Richmond NB and C&O Canal NHP. The assessment at Colonial, including the Jamestown Visitor Center, was scheduled for completion on Tuesday. All other assessments are scheduled to be done by October 5th. An additional park unit, the Presidential Park near the White House in Washington, DC, has reported some hurricane-related damage. Five additional Type 1 and Type 2 crews arrived yesterday. Some will remain in Virginia; the others will be sent to assist with recovery efforts at Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Rick Brown, IC, Type 2 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through early Monday: Type 2 Team (Rick Brown) Much of Cape Lookout NS is open to pedestrians. Exceptions are Portsmouth Village, the area surrounding concession facilities at Long Point, and the Great Island fishing camps. Joining NPS workers are many local hire who were laid off from their regular jobs because of the hurricane. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Rick Brown, IC, Type 2 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through late Tuesday. Please note that a number of new photos of the impacts of Hurricane Isabel have also been added to the photo gallery found at http://inside.nps.gov/ people/hurricane/ Type 1 Team (JD Swed) Crews continue to make good progress in all areas, including Colonial NHP, Petersburg NB, Richmond NB and Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP. The crew clearing the Jamestown tour road discovered that two of the bridges on the loop road have been moved from their original locations and are impassable. One bridge is approximately 200 feet in length and the other about 400 feet long. This damage had not been seen during aerial overflights of the site on Saturday. The relocation of the Jamestown artifact collection to Fort Lee is on schedule, and is expected to be completed by mid-day Tuesday. Triage of the artifacts will be continued there. The materials will be stored there until they are shipped to other facilities for restorative treatment. Assessment field teams continue to assist parks with condition assessments. Parks being assisted include Colonial NHP, Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Petersburg, NB, George Washington Birthplace NM, Richmond NB, and C&O Canal NHP. Six additional crews and other resources arrived on Monday, which significantly increased the people and equipment that will be working in the various divisions. Some of these crews had just been released by FEMA. One hotshot crew will begin cleanup work along the Colonial Parkway in non-traffic areas, clearing away fallen trees and other debris from parking lots, interpretive pullouts, and off-road areas. Cleanup work along the road itself will begin later in the week. Traffic delays of up to 15 minutes may occur, as both lanes may need to be closed during some of the clearing operations. A total of 216 people are currently assigned to this portion of the recovery efforts. The cost to date is $1,606,910. Cape Lookout NS A total of 106 people are currently assigned to the Cape Lookout recovery efforts, including 20 local Down East residents laid off after the storm that the park has temporarily hired to help with recovery efforts. The park is open to pedestrians, with the exception of the immediate areas around Portsmouth Village, Morris Marina Kabin Kamps, and Alger Willis Fishing Camps. Most passenger ferry service to the Cape has been resumed. Owners of vehicles in the parking lot at Great Island may go out to check their vehicles between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.daily. Vehicle owners must show their identification to the ranger on duty. Currently, there is no way to get vehicles on or off the islands. Ramps were destroyed, docks for vehicle ferries were damaged, and roads have been washed away. Crews are working quickly to rebuild docks and open the park to vehicle traffic as soon as is safely and logistically possible. For daily updates, refer to the official park website: http://www.nps.gov/calo. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO; John Storke, GEWA; Michelle Fidler, PIO, CALO.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through late Thursday. Type 1 Team (JD Swed) Additional resources, including crews and heavy equipment such as mechanical chippers and front end loaders, are now in place in all field working groups, and progress is being made toward reopening additional areas of the affected parks. The seven saw crews at Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP have opened up six miles of trails previously closed by fallen trees and cleaned up a large historic tree that fell in the Chatham Manor formal gardens. Crews at Petersburg NBP have finished clearing park tour roads; those in Richmond NBP began work in the Cold Harbor unit on Thursday. Crews have completely cleared the Jamestown Island loop drive and have begun work on clearing up the Glasshouse and the "New Towne" historic site. Assessment field teams continue to assist parks with condition assessments and input assessment data into the FMSS system. The incident-ordered resources for the recovery effort include hotshot crews from Arizona, Utah, Virginia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and Type 2 crews from Idaho and Colorado. National Park Service resources have come from throughout the system. Seven state agencies and four federal agencies are amongst those contributing resources to the incident. The FMSS team expects to have a complete package of hurricane damage condition assessments by Monday, October 6th. Incident personnel at the Williamsburg base camp were treated to a performance of the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps during dinner Wednesday night. This elite group of young musicians perform in competitions and concerts all over the world. The competition to be part of the Corps is intense, and those selected begin training for the Corps at a very young age. The National IMT will turn over the management of the recovery efforts to the Central IMT (Sherrie Collins, IC) on Monday, October 6th. The Eastern IMT with Rick Brown as IC will transition with another Eastern IMT (Bob Panko, IC) on Sunday, October 5th. There are 347 people assigned to the recovery efforts being managed by the Type 1 team. The cost to date is $2,242,827. Type 2 Team (Rick Brown) More of Cape Hatteras National Seashore re-opened to the public yesterday, including the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (October 1st) and off-road vehicle Ramps #2 and #4. The beach between the ramps is open to vehicles, but sections north of #2 and south of #4 remain closed. Much of Cape Lookout NS is open to pedestrians. For those looking for details, daily progress reports and photos, check out a new section of the park's website: www.nps.gov/calo/isabel.htm Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through Sunday. Please note below that a second URL has been posted for hurricane recovery photos that are accessible to the general public: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/HurricaneIsabel/ The incident management teams originally assigned to Hurricane Isabel recovery operations are in the process of transitioning. The following three teams will be supporting parks in Virginia and North Carolina over coming weeks:
Type 1 Team (JD Swed) Recovery efforts continue in Colonial NHP, Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Richmond NBP and Petersburg NBP. Crews continue to make headway in the divisions on the different assignments. These include continued clearing and cleanup of downed trees and other debris from roads and trails, repair of damaged buildings and other facilities, and the triage and salvage of the Jamestown cultural artifact collection. A team of FMSS managers is compiling the hurricane damage assessments for the 27 park units that have sustained hurricane-related damage to facilities. On Friday afternoon, Colonial NHP announced that the Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center would not reopen due to the damage sustained from Hurricane Isabel. Plans were unveiled for an interim visitor contact station that will provide a facility to support staff and visitor services until the new permanent visitor center is constructed. The new visitor center is already funded under line item construction, with work slated to begin in July, 2004. See the report from Colonial below for additional information. There are 368 people currently assigned to this incident. These people come from a striking diversity of areas:
The cost to date for this portion of the hurricane recovery now comes to $4,303,413. Type 2 Team (Rick Brown) The team is continuing to:
Temporary repairs should be completed within two weeks if ferry service is restored to the islands. There are 189 people currently assigned to this incident, all but five of them from the National Park Service. The cost to date for this portion of the hurricane recovery now comes to $498,000. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Mark Harvey, Resource Unit Leader, Type 1 IMT; Michelle Fidler, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through Sunday. Please note below that a second URL has been posted for hurricane recovery photos that are accessible to the general public: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/HurricaneIsabel/ Cape Lookout NS At the request of superintendent Bob Vogel, conservators from Harpers Ferry Center's conservation lab spent two days last week helping neighboring residents on Harkers Island who suffered property loss as a result of the hurricane. Wood conservator Alan Levitan and paper conservator Theresa Shockey worked with Connie Mason, a historian and collection manager from North Carolina Maritime Museum and the Core Waterfowl Museum, to evaluate, restore and repair family treasures. Residents brought in water damaged items, including yearbooks, family photographs, and negatives, to the team members for restoration. The conservators also helped residents properly package and freeze waterlogged books to stop the growth of mold and prevent distortion, and helped salvage framed historic posters and clean mold and mildew off of wooden decoys inundated by floodwaters. Grateful residents expressed their appreciation for the help in preserving their irreplaceable treasures. One Down East resident offered thanks to Levitan and Shockey for helping to preserve a special family heirloom. Jennifer Taylor suffered major losses during the storm, including damage to family memorabilia and photographs. A photo of her grandparents, taken at the turn of the century, was spared because it was on temporary display at the Core Sound Museum during the storm. The team of conservators made a surprise discovery when they took a closer look at the photo. When they took the backing paper off the frame, they found an envelope inside that contained Jennifer's grandfather's birth certificate from 1888, marriage certificate, and social security card. Levitan and Shockey were also able to carefully restore the glass and photograph. Ranger Karen Duggan is also helping Taylor by scanning and digitally restoring water damaged family photos. Duggan had this to say about her work: "I can't keep the water out, or rebuild their house, but I'll do everything I can to give back a memory." Levitan and Shockey spent additional time in the park evaluating and restoring furniture and park artifacts from Portsmouth Village. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Mark Harvey, Resource Unit Leader, Type 1 IMT; Michelle Fidler, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through Wednesday. Please note below that there is a new web page with hurricane recovery photos, now available to both NPS employees and the public. It also includes a video taken of tree-cutting operations at Colonial NPS (posted yesterday). It's worth looking at, but you'll probably need to be on a LAN to retrieve it, as it's an 18.5 MB file. Central IMT (Sherrie Collins) While long-term project work remains, recovery work at Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania National Military Park is drawing to a close. Crews that have been on-site are at the end of their 14-day or 21-day tour. Once they're demobilized, they won't be replaced. All roads and trails in three of the five units at Richmond National Battlefield have been cleared and are now passable. Two park units remain closed due to extensive storm damage. Good progress was also made again Tuesday at Petersburg National Battlefield. Crews that have been working in Yorktown have cleared all the tour roads. On Wednesday, they were reassigned to assist with the ongoing massive clean-up effort along the Colonial Parkway. As visitors stroll through historic Yorktown, a mix of old and new surrounds them. Visitors tour buildings and grounds that date back to the 1700's while the sound of chainsaws fills the air. This could be viewed as an intrusion to the peaceful Yorktown setting until one realizes that because of the hard work of many workers, visitors are able to stroll the streets and browse the many establishments within the historic town. As Hurricane Isabel takes a backseat on the regional and national news front, employees (local and from across the country) continue to work through the maze of trees, root balls, vines, and downed limbs that blanket the ground - quite often to a visitor audience. To quote one visitor, "It's interesting to watch...this type of work requires a lot of skill. I'm impressed with the work that's been done and with what still has to be finished. There's a lot (downed trees) out there." As several crews demobilized, others will be arriving to continue the extensive recovery effort. Work may be hampered by rain forecast for Thursday through Saturday - the first significant rainfall since Hurricane Isabel tore through the region. There are 333 personnel currently assigned to the recovery effort. The cost to date is $5,006,252. Daily updates, photos, and the latest Incident Action Plan are available on the Central Team's Hurricane Isabel page on the NPS Incident Management Team web site: www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk. Pacific West IMT (Denny Ziemann) The team is now in place at Cape Lookout NS. The incident command post (ICP) is located in the park headquarters building. As of Tuesday morning, there were two passenger docks up and available for NPS use and public pedestrian traffic. Yesterday, the dock at Cape Lookout also opened for pedestrian use only, enabling visitors to access the lighthouse area. As soon as the road in the lighthouse area is repaired, the permitted (IBP) taxi service from the dock to the lighthouse and it's associated historic buildings will be allowed to resume. Crews are continuing to clean up debris in the lighthouse area and work on the water system for the visitor center there. Composting toilets are being repaired for visitor use at Cape Lookout. In Portsmouth Village, crews are concentrating on repairing the haul-over dock and beginning to work on historic structures. Progress is being made on clearing the back road and a temporary RV dump station is being installed at the Alger Willis Fishing Camp. The entire park is open to pedestrians, with the exception of the immediate areas around Portsmouth Village, Morris Marina Kabin Kamps, and the Alger Willis Fishing Camps. Grading and repairs continue on the back road. At this time, no private vehicles are allowed to access or be driven on the island. Visitor and employee safety and welfare are the primary reasons for the closures. East IMT (Bob Panko) The team is focusing on critical infrastructure repairs and stabilization, while at the same time evaluating and transferring those responsibilities back to the park management that are appropriate at this time. Approximately 20 people were released back to the park yesterday. A resource assessment team arrived yesterday and met with the superintendent. This team, which will operate under the direction of park staff, has been brought in for immediate assessment of damaged areas to allow hurricane recovery efforts to continue. Ongoing work at Ocracoke:
Additional Information
Reports compiled from submission by Al Nash, IO, Central IMT; Shauna Dyas, IO, Pacific West IMT; Michelle Fidler, IO, East IMT/Outer Banks Group.
East Coast Areas Follow-up on Hurricane Isabel The following reports reflect the status of operations through Thursday. Central IMT (Sherrie Collins) Additional crews have been reassigned to clearing trees and debris from the Colonial Parkway that links Yorktown and Jamestown. One crew has already cleared about ten miles of one side of the road from Jamestown heading toward Yorktown; a second crew has begun clearing the roadside from Yorktown toward Jamestown. The parkway is a beautiful road that offers drivers a variety of views - the James and York Rivers, tidal basins, and Virginia hardwoods. It's also the perfect road for a fall color tour and it's just now that trees are beginning to display their autumn splendor. In some ways, Hurricane Isabel has hastened the annual fall show since many of the downed trees and limbs are now turning color. What Hurricane Isabel changed and rearranged in just a few hours, humans are spending days, weeks, and months cleaning up. The work is slow but steady. As crews work through the maze of trees, limbs, and vines, their progression becomes more evident with each passing day. Entire trees have been cut and removed. Roadsides are being cleared of all debris within ten feet of the road. This is painstaking work that requires coordination from law enforcement personnel, dump truck drivers, chainsaw operators, and brush clearing crews. Incident commander Sherrie Collins has met with the superintendents of Richmond NB and Colonial NHP to finalize work commitments to be carried out under the direction of the Central IMT and recovery work that will be carried out by the park after the team departs. Cleanup in the New Town section of Jamestown was to be completed by yesterday evening. Water has been pumped from the archeological site. Removal of debris near Petersburg has been completed. Recovery efforts there are estimated to take another nine days using currently available equipment and personnel. Clean-up efforts throughout Richmond NB continued, with the transition of crews on Wednesday. Significant work remains in the Fort Harrison area. Five new Type 2 twenty-person crews began working on the incident on Wednesday. The Iowa #136 crew and Choctaw #135 are both from Fort Smith, Arkansas. Chickasaw #134 is based in Ada, Oklahoma, Caddo #133 hails from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and a variety of agencies contributed personnel to the Florida Interagency Crew #37. There are 305 personnel currently assigned to the recovery effort. The cost to date is $5,116,045. Pacific West IMT (Denny Ziemann) Operations at Cape Lookout have been hampered by 24 hours of rain, but the wet weather is expected to abate over the next few days. Crews continue to clean up debris and to repair historic buildings and park infrastructure. Four fishing shacks in the area north of Long Point were damaged beyond repair by the hurricane. Planning is now underway for their demolition and removal as soon as compliance and contracting can be arranged. Approximately 200 trees have been removed from the Portsmouth Village area. The water system has been repaired and the building cleaned in the Portsmouth visitor center. Materials have been ordered to repair two bridges in the Portsmouth area, the Wallace Channel dock pilings, and the Les & Sally dock pilings along with other emergency repair projects. The composting toilet at the lighthouse was temporarily repaired yesterday. Plans are ongoing to replace the light posts in the parking lot in front of the Harkers Island park headquarters and visitor center. The lights were destroyed on September 18th. Many abandoned vehicles have been uncovered and, along with the other hazardous debris, will need to be removed. The addition of a contracting officer to the IMT is expected to accelerate operations due to his increased ability to obtain needed supplies, services and equipment for the work crews. LE ranger patrols have been increased in the park to ensure visitor safety and security of historic/hazardous areas and archeological artifacts that were washed up on the island during the storm surge. East IMT (Bob Panko) A natural resource assessment team was in the park yesterday to evaluate conditions and make recommendations. All operations in the park north of Hatteras Inlet transitioned to normal park supervision and chain of command on Thursday. The incident management team will continue to provide parkwide support, but the majority of operational activities managed by the team will be on Ocracoke. Ramp 23 was reopened yesterday. Ramp 49 is still flooded and closed. Debris is being cleared in the vicinity of Ramp 4 with the intention of opening the entire beach from Ramp 4 south to Oregon Inlet in time for a fishing tournament this weekend. The incident management team and park staff are developing a breech access plan, which will allow visitors to safely view the breech just south of Frisco. Numerous new overhead resources are currently arriving on scene. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submission by Al Nash, IO, Central IMT; Shauna Dyas, IO, Pacific West IMT; Michelle Fidler, IO, East IMT/Outer Banks Group.
Utilizing preliminary damage assessments prepared by parks, incident management teams and regional offices, the Washington Office has prepared and released a summary of the cumulative impacts of the hurricane on the 27 parks reporting damage. These are not final cost estimates, which should be out later in the year. The preliminary estimate is that the hurricane inflicted about $137 million in damage. Earlier this year, parks elsewhere in the system reported damage of about $13 million, so the total damage assessment for the year comes to $150 million. It's not yet clear whether there were will be a budget supplemental to cover these and storm-related costs incurred by other agencies. All the projects are therefore being put into the facility assessment program and will be funded in priority order. These projects will be compared with other facility needs across the country to establish priorities. The Service's role is to assess damage, take care of immediate resource protection and safety issues, and notify the management chain - the Department of the Interior and the Congress - of NPS needs. Estimates at specific parks include:
The following reports reflect the status of operations through Monday. Central IMT (Sherrie Collins) Almost as fast as Hurricane Isabel moved through coastal Virginia, museum specialists from the National Park Service swooped in after the storm passed to check on the archeological collection housed in the Visitor Center at Historic Jamestowne. Brackish water from torrential rain and a storm surge had flooded the collection storage area to a depth of nearly five feet. Fast action was needed to protect the 900,000 catalogued items. In a time frame better measured in hours than days, 71 pallets were pulled out of the visitor center and trucked to a temporary home to begin saving the collection. Tucked between a couple of quiet streets on a military base near Petersburg, an unassuming World War II era building with peeling, cream colored paint and an O.D. green hazmat tent in the parking lot hum with activity Think of it as a M*A*S*H unit for the nation's most important archeological collection. The park called Sarah Wolf, director of the Northeast Museum Services Center, the day after the hurricane hit. She arrived on site Monday. Coming in to help direct the recovery effort was Pam West, her counterpart from the National Capital Region. Pam arrived with six van loads of much needed museum supplies she had stockpiled in Andover, Maryland. Employees, volunteers and contractors chipped in to turn the vacant building on the grounds of Fort Lee into an organized, efficient workplace. Artifacts are first removed from their waterlogged storage cases. Then they're inventoried, tagged and temporarily re-bagged. From there it's on to a bath in de-ionized water and drying trays. After they're stabilized in this fashion, they're re-bagged, re-tagged, and put in storage boxes which are shrink wrapped onto pallets. The collection recovery effort is bigger than anything ever undertaken in this country. "We're making sure the things we're learning get shared with other curators," said West. "The collection is pretty sturdy, and it's coming through extremely well," commented Wolf. "Since most of the items are inorganic we expect there will be a very minimal loss of artifacts - less than five percent." A silver lining to this cloud is that in the end there will be a complete, new inventory of the entire collection. "This is one of the premiere collections in the world," said Wolf. "It means a lot to a lot of people. The outpouring of help from the archeological community has been outstanding." By late November, the team expects to have triaged and prepared the entire collection for shipment to a yet-to-be identified site in the Williamsburg area where long-term conservation of the artifacts will be undertaken. Fort Lee is one of 21 different work sites spread across four national park units in eastern and central Virginia struck three weeks ago by Hurricane Isabel. Much less sensitive recovery work using muscle and machines continued Sunday at Petersburg National Battlefield, Richmond National Battlefield Park and throughout Colonial National Historical Park. Another five-and-a-half miles of the Colonial Parkway were cleared of debris. In Historic Jamestowne, hazard tree removal at the Glass House is complete. The modular unit that will serve as the temporary visitor contact station is in place, with an operational quiet technology generator to provide power. In Richmond, all clean-up work at Parker's Battery is completed. Work also was completed Sunday along the road and right of way in Poplar Grove. There are 378 people currently assigned to the recovery effort. The cost to date is $6,218,117. Pacific West IMT (Denny Ziemann) Piles of rusty, derelict vehicles and parts of vehicles are awaiting removal from the shoreline of Alger Willis Fishing Camp and the Morris Marina Kabin Kamp areas of the park. The abandoned cars were uncovered by the storm surge from the hurricane and now pose a safety hazard to those who visit or drive on the shore. Traditionally, people brought vehicles to the Outer Banks by ferry and kept them there so they could get around the islands more easily. Exposure to salt water and sand resulted in non-operational vehicles being abandoned over the years and left on the shore to create artificial dunes as sand collected in and over them. The dunes protected the inland fishing camps from wind and waves, eventually becoming part of the landscape. Removing these vehicles is hazardous, tedious work. Crews are digging them out and piling the junkers with other storm debris near ferry landings for removal. Several buried septic tanks were uncovered and floated by the hurricane at the Morris Marina Kabin Kamp. The tanks have been removed from the beach and marsh areas and prepared for removal from the islands. While the buildings at the camp survived the hurricane in fairly good shape, the septic systems did not. Most of the building were constructed on stilts four or five feet above ground. That space is now filled with sand, and the stairs leading to the porches are partially buried. The area is accordingly closed to the public until emergency operations are completed. Willis Fishing Camp at the Great Islands Ferry landing fared even worse, with several buildings moved from their foundations or completely destroyed. Small docks have been repaired, which has made it possible for owners of cars that were left in the camp parking lot before the hurricane to come out and check on their vehicles. They are the only non-official personnel allowed into the area until hazards are removed and the superintendent reopens the area to public use. The high visitor day-use area of the lighthouse at Cape Lookout has been opened. The boardwalk, visitor center and associated buildings have been cleaned up and the dock has been repaired and reopened to ferry traffic. Crews continue to clean debris from the heavily used area around the lighthouse. The graded road on the islands is being filled and repaired in order to reopen it to public traffic. Storm surge caused many washouts and deep, water-filled potholes. Repairing the road will prevent further impact to the fragile vegetation there. Work continues on the historic structures at Portsmouth Village. The area remains closed to the public until safety hazards are removed or repaired. Over 400 damaged trees have been removed from Portsmouth and the water system to the visitor center is again operational. Safety and logistical concerns must be addressed before the area will be reopened to the public. The remainder of the park is now open to pedestrians and may be reached by ferry . Ranger patrols in the park have been increased to ensure visitor safety, secure historic or hazardous areas, and protect natural resources. East IMT (Bob Panko) Public ferry access to Ocracoke Island resumed on Friday. Ramps 68 and 70 on the island also reopened, although Highway 12 remains closed north of the pony pen at Ramp 68. Facilities on the island also reopened - the visitor center and marina on Friday and Ocracoke campground on Saturday. ORV access to South Beach is now open from Ramp 44 via the road between the dunes south to Ramp 49, but Ramp 49 remains closed. ORV access to Ramp 4, located across from the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center, also reopened, thanks to the assistance of the North Carolina Beach Buggy Association, which helped clear debris from the beach and restore access. The area from Ramp 55 south to Hatteras Inlet has been temporarily closed while a contractor lays pipe to dredge sand for the breech just south of Frisco. This closure will likely continue for about five days, or until the middle of this week. The area will be reopened while the dredging occurs, but a similar closure will be needed upon completion of the dredging project. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submission by Al Nash, IO, Central IMT; Scott Wanek, IO, Pacific West IMT; Michelle Fidler and Peter Givens, IO's, East IMT/Outer Banks Group.
On the morning of Tuesday, October 7th, a citizen told Park Police
officers that there was someone in the Potomac River underneath the 14th
Street Bridge. Officers dropped a life ring to the man and advised Metro
PD's Harbor Patrol. The latter sent a boat and pulled the man from the
water. He was brought to the shore, where Eagle 1 was waiting to fly him
to a trauma unit if necessary. The man was taken to Washington Hospital
Center by ambulance with minor injuries.
The following reports reflect the status of operations through Wednesday. Central IMT (Sherrie Collins) As work crews clear trees, remove debris, and inventory collections, Andrew Veech works alone prioritizing archeological sites. As Colonial National Historical Park's only archeologist, his job is a daunting one. "I've been to some areas in the park that should have taken a half hour to walk through and it now takes four hours," says Veech. "With all of the downed trees, a lot of archeological sites have been exposed - ones that we never knew about. This park has a great wealth of sites from 17th century colonial America and roughly 25 percent of the park has been surveyed." Veech adds that Hurricane Isabel has "significantly reorganized" his priorities. Prior to the storm, Veechs' work focused on two sites: Green Springs and Jamestowne Island. Both of these sites are important because of what they are revealing about the layout and design of an early Colonial plantation and a domestic site dating from the 1680's - 1690's. And while discovering new archeological sites is exciting, it also brings many issues to the surface. Looting is one of those issues. The Yorktown National Cemetery is a place of concern. With numerous downed trees exposing gravesites, Veech's work is outlined before him. Archeological work is a slow process that involves meticulous work. "Having the cemetery leaching skeletal remains in a very public place is of serious concern," says Veech. The work at the cemetery will take weeks to accomplish and that's just one site of hundreds. "While I'm grateful to the team being here and doing the wonderful work they're doing, I'm fearful of what will be left behind. I'm concerned about all the sites that are left to rehab and where they fall on the priority list." Work in the Historic Jamestowne area is nearing an end. Portions of the area and the interim Visitor Contact Station are expected to reopen to the public Wednesday afternoon. Good progress was reported in the clean-up along the Colonial Parkway. The large crew is on track to complete the clean-up by Friday night. In Richmond, clean-up at the Fort Harrison complex was completed Tuesday afternoon. The recovery effort at Cold Harbor will be completed Wednesday night. All work at Petersburg will also wrap up Wednesday night. Demobilization of some resources assigned to Richmond and Petersburg will begin Thursday. There are 353 people currently assigned to the recovery effort. The cost to date is $6,668,194. Pacific West IMT (Scott Wanek) A consequence of Hurricane Isabel at Cape Lookout National Seashore is an increased incidence of cultural artifacts being uncovered or washed up on the beach. There are many shipwrecks off the Outer Banks. Some of these wrecks are many hundreds of years old. Since Isabel, rangers and visitors have routinely found wooden ship parts, pottery shards and other evidence of those wrecks. Park personnel, in addition to emergency cleanup and repair duties, are making plans to process and preserve these artifacts, if necessary. Work continues in all four operational areas. Debris cleanup is the biggest job, along with repairing the back road on all the islands. Crew members are reporting to the incident and demobing daily as their 14-day assignments begin or end. The team's operations section is actively looking for work leaders and laborers to continue operations on a proactive basis both short-term and long-term. The team has prepared a long term operational plan for the park. The plan will be edited and implemented after park staff reviews it and the final plan is prepared. East IMT (Bob Panko) With two days of good weather over the holiday weekend, crews from the Cherokee National Forest and squads comprised of local area residents who are AD hires made significant progress in restoring opportunities for recreational activities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, in protecting park resources and in providing for visitor safety. The Nags Head Fishing Tournament, a major event in October, proceeded as planned because of the diligent work of park staff. The breach in the inlet south of Frisco still has traffic cut off to the south end of Hatteras Island, except for limited ferry service. Pedestrian access to both ends of the new breach is allowed, and there has been much public interest, resulting in the need for traffic and crowd control by protection rangers. The overall status of facilities is as follows:
Dump trucks are in short supply and a critical need on Ocracoke Island. Resource threats include habitat for threatened and endangered species and park structures, some historic. The incident management team is working with park cultural resource personnel for protection of cultural resource sites. The team is also working towards a smooth transition to park management later this week. There are currently 73 personnel committed to the incident. Additional Information
Reports compiled from submission by Al Nash, IO, Central IMT; Shauna Dyas, IO, Pacific West IMT; Peter Givens, IO, East IMT/Outer Banks Group.
D.S. and M.W. were out on the ocean in a 19-foot
boat on the morning of November 29th when the boat capsized in rough
seas. After clinging to the boat for about 45 minutes, they both
attempted to swim to shore. D.S. made it, but M.W. disappeared.
D.S. was treated for hypothermia and airlifted to Cateret County
Memorial Hospital by a Marine Corps rescue helicopter. He was later
released in good condition. M.W. remains missing. Marine Corps and
Coast Guard helicopters searched the area near the capsized boat, but
without luck. The search has been suspended. Ranger Martin Budzynski is
the investigating ranger.
The park has implemented its storm weather evacuation plan in
preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Alex. The park was closed to
visitors and all services were shutdown as of 5 p.m. yesterday
afternoon, and will remain closed until further notice. The coast of
North Carolina from Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet is under a hurricane
warning. High surf, rip currents and locally heavy rains are expected.
Hurricane Alex passed by the Outer Banks yesterday, bringing heavy rain and significant winds. Reports were received from Capes Lookout and Hatteras late yesterday afternoon: Cape Lookout NS — The park had received calls from a park employee and a concession employee living on the Outer Banks who reported sustained winds of around 75 mph and gusts up to 100 mph. All park staff have checked in, and all were okay. With the hurricane's departure, park staff returned to headquarters to open the main offices and begin an impact assessment. The Harkers Island unit reopened in mid-afternoon, but the remainder of the park will remain closed until the assessments are completed. Cape Hatteras NS — As of mid-afternoon, reports indicated that sustained winds were blowing around 45 mph and that gusts were in the 60 — 70 mph range — with one as yet unverified gust of 93 mph. Ocracoke reportedly had three feet of water in the village, and the ocean overwashed the north end of Ocracoke Island. Due to the original forecast that the storm would not be that severe, the park did not implement ICS, nor did they board up buildings. The Cape Point campground was closed at 6 p.m. on Monday, but other campgrounds remained open, albeit with few campers due to awareness of the hurricane's impending arrival. The park's visitor centers were closed yesterday, primarily due to lack of visitors. Liberal leave was in effect. Damage assessments will be undertaken as soon as the hurricane passes. [Submitted by Jon Anglin, Acting Chief Ranger, CAHA; Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger, CALO]
The park has conducted an assessment to determine the impacts of the
hurricane. There was heavy beach erosion above mile marker seven on
North Core Banks. Both docks at Portsmouth village sustained minor
damage, and about 50 trees were uprooted. The latter caused damage to
historic cemeteries. Some of the historic structures still awaiting
repair from Hurricane Isabel received additional structural damage. The
temporary concession ferry landing and cabins at Long Point sustained
minor damage. Shackelford and South Core Banks reopened yesterday
morning, and the Great Island concession vehicle ferry and IBP ferries
resumed operations. North Core Banks below mile marker seven reopened
later in the day and the Morris Marina ferry resumed operation.
Portsmouth Village and the north end of North Core Banks (above mile
seven) remain closed.
Hurricane Charley's passage up the East Coast affected more than a dozen NPS areas. Here are reports from parks that were in or near the storm's path, south to north: Cape Lookout NS — The park put its storm evacuation plan into effect at 1 p.m. on Friday and closed the park to visitors at 5 p.m. The evacuation of the park was completed by that time. Park staff returned to Cape Lookout on Sunday morning to assess storm damage. They found that the hurricane had inflicted little damage, so the park was reopened at noon. The above report was based on submissions from the following people: Ken Garvin, Southeast Regional Office; Bob Panko, IC, EVER; Mark Hardgrove, Deputy Superintendent, Outer Banks Group; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; John Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU; Jon Anglin, Acting Chief Ranger, CAHA; Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger, CALO; Michelle Oehmichen, BISC; Charlie Fenwick, Superintendent, DESO; Gordie Wilson, CASA/FOMA; Barbara Goodman, Superintendent, TIMU/FOCA; Tom Nash, Chief Ranger, COLO; Timothy Morgan, Chief Ranger, CANA; Mary Doll, Management Assistant, Outer Banks Group; Larry Belles, BICY
The park has implemented its emergency weather evacuation plan as a result of the hurricane watch issued for the area. All passenger ferry services to the islands were terminated at 3 p.m. on Saturday and overnight guests were evacuated. The park is closed to all visitors from Beaufort Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet and all services have been shut down. [Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger]
Coastal parks in North Carolina, where Ophelia will most likely make landfall, have begun preparing for the storm: Cape Lookout NS - The park has been closed to visitors and ferry operations have been suspended. The mandatory evacuation of visitors from Core Banks was completed around noon on Sunday. A full, land-based evacuation check of Shackleford Banks could not be conducted due to high seas. Final shutdown procedures were to be completed by Sunday evening.
Coastal parks in North Carolina, where Ophelia will most likely make landfall, have begun preparing for the storm: Cape Lookout NS - The park has been closed to visitors and ferry operations have been suspended. The mandatory evacuation of visitors from Core Banks was completed around noon on Sunday. A full, land-based evacuation check of Shackleford Banks could not be conducted due to high seas. Final shutdown procedures were to be completed by Sunday evening. [Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger, CALO; Pat Reed, Acting Superintendent, Outer Banks Group]
Here are today's updates from North Carolina parks in Ophelia's probable path: Cape Lookout NS - Final preparations for shutdown of park headquarters were completed on Monday. The park is closed and all park operations have been shut down. [Dare County Emergency Management; Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger, CALO; Bruce Rosel, CANA; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR]
Initial reports from parks affected by Hurricane Ophelia have been received: Cape Lookout NS - Although the park did not suffer the level of damage that it did from Hurricane Isabel in 2003, Hurricane Ophelia's slow passage over the length of the seashore exerted tremendous force on the barrier islands. A damage assessment overflight conducted by the park last Friday revealed that Ophelia's fury cut a channel across Cape Lookout Point, created a new inlet a mile-and-a-half south of New Drum Inlet, and significantly widened Old Drum Inlet, which had been almost closed. In addition, there is evidence everywhere that the seashore experienced a significant amount of storm overwash. The passage of Hurricane Ophelia's eye over the cape and the rest of the seashore are dramatically shown by the wind speed and barometer graphs from the weather station located near the Cape Lookout lighthouse. On Wednesday, September 14th, as Ophelia approached, the barometer dropped steadily and the wind speed peaked at 8 p.m. at just over 90 mph. With the approach of the eye, the wind quieted down to 20 mph, while the barometric pressure continued to fall. Early Thursday morning, it was quiet, but the barometer began to rise again as the eye moved on and the winds increased steadily to a second peak of 70 mph at 7 a.m. In all, from one peak to another almost 12 hours had passed, and about 24 hours for the entire storm. [Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger, CALO; Mary Doll, Outer Banks Group; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR]
Damage recovery operations are going well. Effective last Saturday, the park was reopened to private boaters and pedestrians. Most of the small ferries to Shackleford Banks, the Cape and Portsmouth Village also resumed operation. Repairs to the ferry ramp and cabins at Great Island were completed on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday, vehicle ferry and cabin rental services resumed at the Great Island Camp, and vehicle driving was again permitted on South Core Banks from Ramp 35A at the Codds Creek shelter north to the new inlet located at Mile 24 (about 1.5 miles south of New Drum Inlet). Temporary closures are in still in effect for the following facilities and activities: North Core Banks - Long Point vehicle ferry and cabins North Core Banks - Closed to vehicle driving South Core Banks - Closed to vehicle driving from Mile 35 to Mile 47 Shackleford Banks - Dock at the rock jetty The following recovery work still remains: South Core Banks - Re-establishing turtle closures and the vehicle route signs south of Mile 35 to the Cape North Core Banks - Repair work of the Long Point ferry loading ramp, and cabins North Core Banks - Re-establishing turtle closures and the vehicle route signs and vehicle use North Core Banks - Repair work on the end of the Haulover dock Shackleford Banks - Repair work on the Shackleford Banks jetty dock and toilets. [Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger]
On July 24th, K.E., 33, was playing in the surf with three children when the tide pulled them out between 50 and 150 yards into the ocean. Another family member entered the water and rescued two of the children; K.E. retrieved the third and tossed him to other family members who swam the boy safely to shore. Shortly thereafter, the tide took K.E. back out to sea. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful. A park visitor, hearing cries of distress, grabbed his boogie board and went into the ocean to assist K.E.. The visitor was struggling when Student Conservation Association aid Ryan Hamilton jumped into the surf, swam out to his location, and helped swim K.E. to shore. Hamilton, wildlife biologist Jeff Cordes and four visitors performed CPR on K.E. until the arrival of a medical evacuation helicopter from Cherry Point Naval Air Station. K.E. was transported to Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 1 p.m. The accident is still under investigation. [Barry Munyan, Law Enforcement Operations Supervisor]
The following summarizes actions that have been or are being taken in Eastern parks in response to Tropical Storm Ernesto (as of 11 a.m. on Thursday): Cape Lookout NS - The park has implemented its emergency weather evacuation plan. Areas south of mile marker 41 on South Core Banks and all of Shackleford Banks closed at 2 p.m. yesterday and will remain closed until further notice. Employees who have been evacuated have been asked to contact the Emergency Incident Coordination Center (EICC) at Shenandoah NP to report their status and location. The call in number is 888-246-4335. [Jeff Brice, NPS Assistant Coordinator, Southern Area Coordination Center; Cyndy Holda, Outer Banks Group; Bill Halainen, Delaware Water Gap NRA]
Despite concerns about both strong winds and heavy rainfalls, Tropical Storm Ernesto caused few problems in its passage up the East Coast. Follow-up reports have been received from the following parks: Cape Lookout NS - The park closed and put its emergency plan into effect last Thursday. The Coast Guard suspended operation of all ferries to and from the park that afternoon. From about 6 p.m. until midnight, heavy rains fell on the area. Winds increased during the evening and peaked at about 50 mph at 5 a.m. on Friday morning. Beaches were seriously eroded, some roofs sustained minor damage, and several sea turtle nests were lost. The park reopened at 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Strong winds (30 to 40 mph) blew for most of the rest of the day. Ferry service to the park resumed in mid-afternoon. A full assessment of damages is now underway and should be completed by today. [Jeff Brice, SEACC; Wouter Ketel, CALO; Ann Childress, MOCR]
A strong nor'easter moving up the Atlantic coastline last week caused damage, closures and evacuations at several areas: Cape Lookout NS - The storm passed over the park on Tuesday, November 21st, bringing winds of up to nearly 60 mph and tides that were four to six feet above normal. The unusually high tides caused flooding in many areas and closure of some roads in nearby communities. Strong winds continued throughout the day. At the time of the report (midday on Wednesday), park staff were in the process of conducting an assessment to determine if there'd been any damage to structures, docks or other park assets. [Jon Pierce, RLES, SERO; Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger, CALO; Karen Gochenour, SHEN]
During the four-day period from May 5th through May 8th, the park was pounded by a severe nor'easter that caused washover all along its beaches. When the storm abated, park staff conducted condition assessments of beaches and facilities and found possible storm damage in several locations. Large quantities of Styrofoam were found on the beach from Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Inlet. The Coast Guard was contacted and it was determined that a container ship had lost nine containers that had gone overboard during the storm. Reports were also received of Styrofoam on the beaches at Cape Hatteras. A meeting will be held with the Coast Guard this morning to set up ICS and began a possible 46-mile plus cleanup operation. [Wouter Ketel, Public Information Officer]
During the four-day period from May 5th through May 8th, the park was pounded by a severe nor'easter that caused washover all along its beaches. When the storm abated, park staff found large quantities of styrofoam on the beach from Cape Lookout to Ocracoke Inlet. Investigation revealed that it came from 21 containers that had been lost from the Paris Express, a container ship owned by Hapag-Lloyd, one of the largest shipping companies in the world. Twelve of those containers were filled with ceiling fans packed in styrofoam. Moran Environmental, the company contracted to clean up the material, now has about 110 people working in Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras. About 210 cubic yards of foam had been removed from eight to ten miles of beach at Cape Lookout as of late yesterday. [Wouter Ketel, Public Information Officer]
A non-tropical low midway between the Bahamas and Bermuda has the potential to cause some problems for parks in the Carolinas by early next week. A large trough to its west has kept the low from developing, but will likely weaken over the weekend and open a window of opportunity for it to develop and move back toward the coast. Several parks have accordingly begun making preparations: Cape Lookout NS - The park has begun initial preparations, with maintenance personnel engaging in cleanup operations and securing equipment. [Jeff Brice, NPS Assistant Coordinator, Southern Area Coordination Center]
Tropical Storm Gabrielle, which made landfall at Cape Lookout NS, brought some wind and rain but had little impact on the region. Two parks have sent along follow-up reports:
[Submitted by Jeff Brice, NPS Assistant Coordinator, Southern Area Coordination Center; Paul Stevens, LES, Cape Hatteras; Charles Cranfield, Superintendent, Cape Lookout]
On the afternoon of November 1st, an unusually large breaking wave (seven to eight feet high) filled and capsized a 23-foot-long boat, dumping the four fishermen inside into the Atlantic Ocean just offshore of Shackleford Banks. Three of the men swam to shore, but the fourth - R.T., 69, of Clemons, North Carolina - remained with the boat. The men swam back to assist R.T., but he'd lost his grip on the boat and was underwater. They pulled him to shore and began CPR. A passing boater alerted the Coast Guard, which in turn informed the National Park Service. Protection ranger Jay Morgan responded, but first on scene was park biologist Sue Stuska. The three survivors were taken to the NPS dock and assisted to the mainland by Coast Guard personnel and North Carolina Marine Fisheries officers. R.T.'s body was recovered by supervisory protection ranger Shad Dusseau, protection ranger Jay Morgan and a Coast Guard petty officer. The body was taken by boat to the Coast Guard station at Fort Macon and released to local officials. [Shad Dusseau, Supervisory Protection Ranger]
On the afternoon of April 15th, Carteret County dispatch notified the park of a man and woman needing rescue near Morgan Island. A young North Carolina couple on their honeymoon had attempted to get to the park in an overloaded and underpowered 20-foot open boat during a period of high winds and steep, choppy seas. They were unfamiliar with local waters and traveled into an area of shoals and sandbars near the island. Unable to find a passage through them, they went aground, then made a 911 cell phone call for help. Dr. Michael Rickard, the park's chief of resource management, volunteered to pilot a rescue skiff due to his familiarity with the difficult shallow draft access around Morgan Island. Protection ranger and operations supervisor Shad Dusseau and protection ranger Meredith Riester accompanied Rikard in the boat through steep, three- to four-foot waves and winds blowing around 35 mph, with gusts to over 40 mph. Rikard, a veteran of 14 years at Cape Lookout, said that he'd never been out in conditions that severe in a boat designed for shallow waters. When they reached Morgan Island, the woman, who was five-months pregnant, was wet and mildly hypothermic. The couple's boat was in danger of sinking, so Dusseau walked it through the surf to a calmer location in the lee of the island for later recovery. The couple was transported to the park office, where they were treated, then taken to their vehicle. Other Cape Lookout staff were able to follow the entire incident through spotting scopes on the second floor of park headquarters. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
Protection rangers put their recently developed emergency response team training into effect during the pre-dawn hours of July 5th when they dealt with a domestic violence incident that took place near the lighthouse on South Core Banks. Lead by chief ranger Barry Munyan, protection rangers Lance Herman, Meredith Riester, Pete Duncan and Joe Lamm responded from the park's mainland headquarters in a 25-foot open patrol boat during a severe thunderstorm that produced lightning and high winds. The assaulted victim was safely secured at the Lighthouse Keepers Quarters and the rangers took her attacker into custody without incident. The assailant has a long history of domestic violence and resisting arrest. At the time of the incident, he had custody of his four-year-old son, who was with him in their tent. Excessive alcohol consumption was a contributing factor in the incident. A second boat with rangers Shad Dusseau and John Bland was dispatched to move the victim to the mainland, where she received medical treatment and was taken to a hospital. The man remains in custody pending trial. This is his third domestic violence arrest in the park since April. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
Meanwhile, areas on the Atlantic coast are getting ready for Tropical Storm Hanna, forecast to make landfall as a hurricane around the North Carolina-South Carolina border early Saturday morning, and for Hurricane Ike, now a Category Four hurricane that is forecast to reach the Bahamas by Tuesday: Cape Lookout NS - Since current models call for Hanna to pass over the park on late Friday and Saturday as a hurricane, the park has activated its hurricane evacuation plan. Outbound visitor traffic via concessioners has been limited to day use only. Rangers are notifying all overnight cabin, tent and vehicle campers and all concessioners and media of the impending park closure and mandatory evacuation. Park and volunteer staff from the islands will be evacuated to headquarters housing at Shell Point, then, if necessary, to Morehead City, North Carolina. Steps are being taken to protect park buildings, equipment and collections. The IT network will shut down by close of business today, and telephone service will be limited until Sunday or possibly Monday. [Dean Ross, WASO; Larry Perez, EVER; Russ Wilson, CALO; Clay Jordan, GUIS]
Reports have been received from parks along the Eastern seaboard regarding this past weekend's passage of Tropical Storm Hanna, which brought only modest winds but heavy rains: Cape Lookout NS - Hanna brought high winds (30 to 40 mph, with gusts over 50 mph) and intermittent heavy rain to the park, but caused little damage to buildings. It reopened to normal operations at 11 a.m. on Sunday. [Wouter Ketel, CALO; Don Boucher, NRCO; Saudia Muwwakkil, SERO]
Protection rangers responded to a domestic violence incident in the Cape Lookout lighthouse area at 3 a.m. on July 5th and took William Landen of New Bern, North Carolina, into custody (click on the link below for the original report). Landen was subsequently charged on two misdemeanor counts - assault (18 USC 113(a)(4)) and disorderly conduct (36 CFR 2.34 (a)(1)). At his initial appearance, Landen was remanded into custody pending trial, based on his history of domestic violence and other offenses. On August 26th, he pled guilty to both charges and was sentenced to the maximum time (six months) for each count, to be served consecutively. Note that the original incident report stated that this was Landen's "third domestic violence arrest in the park since April." This was, however, the only arrest in the park. The other arrests occurred outside the park and in a different county. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
Numerous sea turtles, stunned by a two-week period of abnormal cold weather along the Mid-Atlantic coastline, were blown onto the park's beaches last week, where they risked death by freezing. Park staff rescued 44 sea turtles over a five-day period. Park biologist Jon Altman and protection ranger Shad Dusseau collected and transported hypothermic turtles from outer banks islands to the mainland, while other park staff and visitors combed the beaches and collected other turtles. The recovered animals were turned over to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and moved to the North Carolina Aquarium and the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital at Topsail Beach for re-warming. Several of the turtles weighed well over 150 pounds. Only three turtles died before being turned over to the state. The remainder will be released into the warm Gulf Stream waters within the near future. [Shad Dusseau, Law Enforcement Operations Supervisor]
On Friday, November 28th, protection ranger Shad Dusseau responded to an assistance call from the US Coast Guard concerning an overturned small boat in the surf at Shackleford Banks Island. At the time of the call, the wind was blowing around 20 mph with a four- to six-foot breaking surf, an air temperature of 54 degrees, and a water temperature of 51 degrees. When Dusseau arrived, he found an overturned boat in the surf, with its three wet, hypothermic former occupants sitting on the beach without protection from the wind. The trio were treated for mild hypothermia and minor injuries and were provided with dry clothing. Park horse biologist Dr. Sue Stuska and park resource volunteer Margaret Wallace, who were working on the island at the time, were contacted for assistance in moving the three survivors. During the course of the rescue, a local boat towing service attempted to remove the stricken craft from the beach. The operator of the tow boat wrapped a line around both the boat's props and drifted into the surf, very nearly becoming another victim. A second towing service pulled him to safety. The original damaged craft was subsequently removed and no significant environmental damage was noted. [Shad Dusseau, LE Operations Supervisor]
On Friday, November 28th, protection ranger Shad Dusseau responded to an assistance call from the US Coast Guard concerning an overturned small boat in the surf at Shackleford Banks Island. At the time of the call, the wind was blowing around 20 mph with a four- to six-foot breaking surf, an air temperature of 54 degrees, and a water temperature of 51 degrees. When Dusseau arrived, he found an overturned boat in the surf, with its three wet, hypothermic former occupants sitting on the beach without protection from the wind. The trio were treated for mild hypothermia and minor injuries and were provided with dry clothing. Park horse biologist Dr. Sue Stuska and park resource volunteer Margaret Wallace, who were working on the island at the time, were contacted for assistance in moving the three survivors. During the course of the rescue, a local boat towing service attempted to remove the stricken craft from the beach. The operator of the tow boat wrapped a line around both the boat's props and drifted into the surf, very nearly becoming another victim. A second towing service pulled him to safety. The original damaged craft was subsequently removed and no significant environmental damage was noted. [Shad Dusseau, LE Operations Supervisor]
The park received a call from the Coast Guard yesterday morning asking for assistance in a search for seven missing teenagers. The teens had boated to the park on Monday to camp overnight, but failed to return as scheduled on Tuesday morning. Protection ranger Shad Dusseau and interpretive ranger Ehren Gross headed out in a 25-foot boat in 30 to 40 knot winds and three to five foot seas to look for the party, but failed to find them in a search of the western third of the park. Meanwhile, chief ranger Barry Munyan, while on another assignment, spotted a boat matching the description of the missing vessel anchored near the lighthouse complex. Members of the missing party were contacted by volunteer lighthouse keeper Mary Crocker, who confirmed that all seven were in good condition and waiting for storm conditions to abate. [Shad Dusseau, LE Operations Supervisor]
Large crowds, windy conditions and rip currents led to high numbers of rescues along North Carolina beaches over the holiday weekend. The park had one probable drowning and two near drownings during the weekend. The first incident occurred on Sunday. J.S., 55, was standing on a sandbar with a female friend about 150 feet off South Core Banks when other visitors noticed that they were having difficulties. One of them, Micah Gunn, got his surfboard, paddled out to the sandbar, got the woman, and brought her to shore. When he returned to get J.S., he was between the sandbar and the beach. He was able to give his name to Gunn, then become unresponsive. Gunn got J.S. onto his surfboard with some difficulty, then headed toward shore. Gunn noted that J.S. quickly turned blue while en route. CPR was begun by park visitors on the beach and continued by responding rangers. An AED was also utilized. Ranger Conan Pelc transported EMS personnel to the island, and ranger Patrick Reidy brought out responding Coast Guard personnel. J.S. was brought to shore, then transferred to an ambulance. He was pronounced dead while en route to the hospital. On Monday, two women, ages 18 and 23, were caught in a rip current in the ocean off South Core Banks. They made it back to shore with difficulty, with visitors helping them get to the beach. Responding rangers found that the women had ingested a lot of water. EMS personnel responded to park headquarters and were transported to South Core Banks in two boats. Both women were taken to the hospital, where the 18-year-old was checked and released and the 23-year-old was held overnight for observation. Both are doing well. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
On Wednesday, September 30th, staff at Harkers Island Visitor Center received a call reporting that a boat that was sinking offshore. No protection division rangers were in the area, so interpretive ranger Cheryl Munyan, who is a certified boat operator, transported local emergency medical technicians in an NPS boat to the location of the incident. Once there, it was determined that the occupants of the sinking boat had abandoned ship, but had since been picked up and were safely aboard a private boat. Although they weren't wearing lifejackets, they did have one on their dog. Munyan transported the EMTs back to the VC boat basin so that they could evaluate the pair. Both occupants and their dog were released in good condition. A local ferry company recovered the submerged vessel. [Russ Wilson, Superintendent]
A two-year-old horse from the Shackleford Banks herd was recently found trapped at a dry waterhole. The hole had been dug by the wild horses to reach drinking water, but was dry at the time. Wildlife biologist and herd manager Dr. Sue Stuska happened to find the filly during a routine census. It was not clear how the horse had gotten into the hole. The filly exhausted herself and damaged her eye while struggling to get out, and, when pulled from the hole, could not stand. The horse was exhausted enough, though, to permit handling. Without sedation, her legs were restrained, her eyes protected, and she was moved to a horse backboard. Resource management specialist Dr. Michael Rikard assisted in restraining and transporting her by ATV cart to the shore. The park landing craft, piloted by small craft operator Glen Lewis, then transported the horse to park headquarters. Assisting were maintenance workers Chris Willis and Bob Tabor, interpretive ranger Cheryl Munyan, and protection operations supervisor Shad Dusseau. Carolyn Temple, a professional photographer shadowing Dr. Stuska, documented the event. The park's horse management partner, the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc., is providing a home and veterinary care for the filly. Horses removed from the seashore are available for adoption though the Foundation. Though this filly has already been spoken for, other horses are currently available at the foundation's HYPERLINK "http://www.shacklefordhorses.org/" web site. [Dr. Sue Stuska, Wildlife Biologist]
On Sunday, July 18th, a visitor advised ranger Devin Seybert that a possible explosive device had washed ashore at the north end of North Core Banks. Seybert tentatively identified the device as an unexploded aerial bomb, marked a wide area as a safety buffer, and informed management of the situation. On July 19th, an explosive ordnance disposal team from the Marine Corp Air Station at Cherry Point was taken to the bomb's location. The Marine Corp team identified the device as a World War II era bomb, possibly containing up to 75 pounds of TNT. The EOD team destroyed the bomb by detonating it in place with C-4 explosives. The coastal areas of North Carolina experienced considerable military activity during World War II, both in training exercises and actual combat involving shipping convoys and German U-Boats. [Shad Dusseau, Protection Operations Supervisor]
On Thursday, July 22nd, protection rangers Erin Lamm and Joe Lamm received a report that five visitors were caught in a rip current off the ocean beach near the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. When the rangers arrived on location, Cape Lookout interpreters were already assisting with the rescue. Park guide Molly Andrews was assisting five visitors - all foreign exchange students - out of the water at the beach's edge. Erin Lamm saw that there was still one visitor - a family host - who was caught in the rip current quite a distance from the beach and having difficulty getting back to shore. She swam to the man using a torpedo buoy and assisted him back to the beach, where he was given emergency medical care. Ranger/EMT Joe Lamm provided emergency medical care to the victims on the beach and communicated with Carteret County dispatch for assistance. Ultimately, all the visitors declined further medical attention. Erin Lamm was well prepared for this incident due to the fact that two weeks earlier Cape Lookout interpretation and protection staff, along with local rescue personnel, attended a surf rescue training class at the park. The training is designed to teach park staff surf rescue techniques and to inform them of what is within and, more importantly, what is beyond their capabilities. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
Hurricane Earl, now a Category 4 storm, continues on its northwestward track toward the Carolinas, and parks in its projected path are in the midst of making all necessary preparations. Reports have also been received from Caribbean parks affected by the hurricane. Here's today's summary: Cape Lookout NS - The park has implemented its hurricane evacuation plan. A hurricane hotline has been established through the NPS EICC at Shenandoah and employees have been advised to utilize it in case of an emergency. Only day use passengers were allowed on ferries to the islands yesterday, and all visitors with vehicles and/or those staying overnight will be evacuated by noon today. Day use visitors will be evacuated by 5:00 p.m. The park will be closing to all visitor use from 5:00 p.m. until further notice. Depending on the timing of the hurricane's arrival, the park plans to do post-hurricane assessment on Friday and will open once it is determined to be safe to do so. The park has been in contact several times with Denver Ingram, Southeast Region meteorologist, and he has been extremely helpful and insightful. [Cyndy Holda and Paul Stevens, CAHA; Barry Munyan, CALO; Elizabeth Centeneo, CHRI; Mark Hardgrove, VIIS; Mark Ruggiero, SERO]
Hurricane Earl will approach the North Carolina coast late today and move near or over the Outer Banks tonight. The center is then expected to pass near or offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula. The hurricane will then track northeast along the coast, probably passing over Cape Cod. Parks along the coast from North Carolina to Maine are watching the storm closely and taking necessary actions. Here's today's summary: Cape Lookout NS - The park is completing final preparations for the passage of Hurricane Earl. All non-essential employees were released at close of business yesterday. Essential employees will provide the final touches to ramp up the preparations tomorrow morning and be release around noon. As for yesterday afternoon, all visitors and vehicles were off of North Core Banks, all visitors with vehicles were off South Core Banks (though there were still some vehicles in the long term permitted parking lots) and all day use visitors had departed, and all visitors had left Shackleford Banks. Some overwash was reported in the New Drum inlet area (formally an inlet, this area filled in with sand last spring) and on the north end of North Core Banks. All personnel are scheduled to report to work at 8 a.m. on Friday to start assessments and get the park ready to reopen on Saturday morning. [Barry Munyan, CALO; Cyndy Holda and Paul Stevens, CAHA; Stuart West, ACAD; Skip Brooks, COLO; Bob Grant, CACO; Peter Totorell, GATE; Carl Zimmermann, ASIS; Jay Lippert, FIIS; Stephen Clark, NERO]
Hurricane Earl brushed the Carolina coast late last week, but caused little damage. Most areas in affected parks have reopened: Cape Lookout NS - Assessment teams began checking the park soon after the storm passed. Little or no damage was found in high visitor use areas, including the light station area, Great Island and the Long Point cabin camps. Beaches were scoured flat, but there were no areas of significant overwash. Portsmouth Village received some high water, with about four inches of water inside the historic post office, but other buildings were unaffected. The park reopened on Saturday. NPS lifeguarded beaches are closed for the season. Due to high surf conditions and rip currents, swimming is not advised. [Barry Munyan, CALO; Cyndy Holda, CAHA]
Rangers and personnel from Harkers Island fire and EMS responded to a 911 call for a water rescue near the visitor center on that island on the evening of June 23rd. Six canoes containing 11 Boy Scouts and an adult were trying to paddle south on Core Sound to camp on South Core Banks when an incoming tide and high winds blew them off course and toward the north. Ranger Lance Herman responded from the visitor center, ranger Joseph Lamm from South Core Banks, and chief ranger Barry Munyan from home. The scouts and their leader were rescued and transported to the visitor center. There were no reported injuries. All twelve were wearing lifejackets. [Joseph Lamm, Park Ranger]
Ranger Lance Herman received an urgent call for help from a Boy Scout group leader early on the afternoon of July 25th. She reported that 10 of the 15 kayakers in the group were having difficulty navigating Core Sound due to that afternoon's high winds, adding that she could only see five of the ten kayakers having problems. Nine Boy Scouts and one adult in kayaks were trying to paddle south on Core Sound to Shackelford Banks into a very strong head wind of more than 25 mph that blew them off course in several different directions. Herman and chief ranger Barry Munyan responded. They retrieved seven of the kayakers, one of whom was standing on the bottom in the middle of the sound without a kayak a mile-and-a-half from shore. Acting chief of maintenance Harvey Nelson and maintenance worker Johnny Dixon assisted by retrieving three of the kayakers from the water. All the scouts and the one adult were rescued and transported to the visitor center area. There were no reported injuries. All ten were wearing lifejackets. [Lance Herman, Park Ranger]
Parks from Big Cypress to Acadia are in the midst of completing preparations for Hurricane Irene. All three East Coast regions - Southeast, National Capital and Northeast - held regionwide telephone conferences yesterday that collectively included representatives from the scores of potentially affected areas. Without exception, they reported that they were putting hurricane or emergency plans into effect, mobilizing local incident management teams, making or planning closures as needed, and otherwise taking all necessary steps to protect facilities and assure public and staff safety. The following reports are from areas where there have been closures and/or are from locations potentially most exposed to the storm, particularly parks bordering the ocean. They are listed from south to north: Cape Lookout NS - The park has implemented its hurricane evacuation plan. Concession, CUA ferry operators and cooperators, and the media were notified of the action. A mandatory evacuation of all overnight visitors from the islands will begin this morning. Park facilities at Portsmouth Village, the Light Station Visitor Center, and the Cape Lookout Lighthouse have been closed. All overnight and day use areas, including cabins, will be closed this evening and will remain closed until further notice. Ranger patrols were dispatched to notify all overnight cabin, tent and vehicle campers of the impending park closure/mandatory evacuation. Volunteer staff were evacuated from the islands yesterday and final evacuation of all park staff from all barrier island locations will be completed by close of business today. All park and volunteer staff will be evacuated from HQ housing at Harkers Island and moved to motels in Bern, North Carolina, by noon on Friday. All staff and volunteers will be released by noon on Friday. The regions have incident management and damage assessment teams on standby for deployment as needed. The National Interagency Fire Center has prepared a list of available resources, which include an area command team, a NIMO team, five Type 1 and five Type 2 incident management teams. [Regional, WASO and FAM reports]
Hurricane Irene is poised to strike the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of up to 100 mph or more tomorrow, then move northeastward along the coast and over the metropolitan New York City area and into New England later in the weekend. Forecasters expect it to be a "major event" from North Carolina to Massachusetts and possibly further north. Parks have completed preparations for the storm. Incident management and damage assessment teams have been called out and will be in place and on standby by midday today. The Eastern IMT (Zeph Cunningham, IC) and Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) will be staged in Greensboro, North Carolina, with the former prepared to assist the Outer Banks Group and the latter set to support Cape Lookout NS and Moores Creek NB. Two Southeast Region assessment teams will also be staged in Greensboro and will be available to assist these parks as needed. Since all potentially affected parks are prepared and ready for the storm, only those with new closures or developments are listed below, south to north: Cape Lookout NS - The park accelerated its preparations yesterday in order to release staff by the close of business on Thursday. A report on the storm and its impacts on park will appear in Monday's edition.
Hurricane Irene this morning is just a memory, but parks from North Carolina to New England are dealing with the damage it left in its wake. Some of the initial reports received from affected areas appear below, based on regional telephone conferences held on Sunday morning (with some later additions). But first here's an overview of support teams dispatched to assist parks: Cape Lookout NS - The Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. Meanwhile, Washington, regional and park staffs will be keeping an eye on the Atlantic, where a new potential hurricane is brewing. According to Denver Ingram, meteorologist at the Southern Area Coordination Center, who provides tropical storm updates to the NPS, there is "a large significant tropical wave" now off the coast of Africa, which forecast models project will be "a significant event for the East Coast in about 10 days..." [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Since many parks that reported closures over the weekend will reopen today and since most have reported minor damage and power outages, only those with significant issues are reported here (south to north): Cape Lookout NS - An initial assessment has been conducted. Docks have sustained varying amounts of damage; sand washes impeding access may also affect ferries. There's been some shingle and siding damage to structures. Septic systems may have been impacted and back roads damaged at Great Island. No assessments have yet been made of Portsmouth Village or Cape Lookout Village. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. Meanwhile, Washington, regional and park staffs will be keeping an eye on the Atlantic, where a new potential hurricane is brewing. According to Denver Ingram, meteorologist at the Southern Area Coordination Center, who provides tropical storm updates to the NPS, there is "a large significant tropical wave" now off the coast of Africa, which forecast models project will be "a significant event for the East Coast in about 10 days..." [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Although many East Coast parks have reopened and resumed normal operations, a number are still completing assessments and a few are dealing with serious problems. Most parks affected by Irene have reported some downed trees, minor structural damage and/or water infiltration, and some flooding. Those with more significant issues appear below, from south to north. Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. Reports pending. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. [Bill Halainen, Editor] HYPERLINK "http://latimesphoto.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/la-na-0829-irene03.jpg?w=165"
Most parks affected by Hurricane Irene have reopened and returned to normal operations, but several continue to deal with serious issues. Today's status reports follow. As of yesterday morning, a total of 173 NPS employees were committed to hurricane recovery operations. Here are updates from parks reporting significant issues, as of yesterday morning (south to north): Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. The full IMT moved from Guilford Courthouse to the park on Monday and met with the superintendent and staff. Sawyers from around the NPS have cleared downed trees at headquarters and on Harkers Island. The SER assessment team is conducting surveys throughout the park and has so far found the following: Overwash has covered most areas with over two feet of sand The park dock was damaged and needs to be rebuilt Damage to headquarters was minimal All cabins on Great Island have been damaged (cabin reservations throughout the park have accordingly been cancelled through September 12th) The dump station at Cape Point is missing Cape Lookout Village has suffered heavy damage. Biologists have also been conducting surveys. They'd determined that there was a significant loss of turtle nests, but that the park's horse herd was in good shape. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Recovery operations continue in parks in Northeast and Southeast Regions. Today's status reports follow. As of yesterday morning, a total of 242 NPS employees were committed to hurricane recovery operations. Here are updates from parks reporting significant issues, as of yesterday morning (south to north): Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. Sufficient repairs have been made to the Cape Lookout lighthouse area to reopen it for day use, effective today. Assessments have been made of park cabins and they have been found to be in better shape than the infrastructure that supports them. They will remain closed until at least September 12th. Not a single septic system survived at Long Point - all have been compromised. Cape Lookout Village will remain closed because of the unsafe conditions of beaches and facilities due to scattered debris. Phone and internet service were restored at park headquarters and the incident ICP yesterday. Hazard tree reduction has been completed at Portsmouth and debris cleanup will begin today. Surveys of turtle nests reveal that only 16 of 65 previously documented nests survived the storm; assessments of viability have not begun. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Hurricane Irene recovery operations continue in parks in Northeast and Southeast Regions. Today's status reports follow. As of yesterday morning, a total of 242 NPS employees were committed to these efforts. Here are updates from parks reporting significant issues, as of yesterday: Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. Eighty-two people are committed to the recovery operation. Today's update: Cape Lookout lighthouse is open on a first-come, first serve basis. All ferry operators were personally visited regarding the opening of Shackelford and the Cape. Community member appreciated the information and were interested in what the NPS is doing to bring the park back to full operations. Emergency repairs to the headquarters roof were completed and 80% of electrical work completed. Almost all of the horses on Shackleford have been spotted and are in good health The reconstruction of the dock at Shackleford is 60% complete. A total of 17 turtle nests have been found and marked to date. Water testing and pressure testing of cabins was undertaken at Great Island. One cabin needs water and septic replacement The most damage in the park was at Long Point. The dock, ranger station, restrooms, water systems, fuel compound all need major reconstruction. Assessment teams continued their assessments at Portsmouth and were joined by a historic architect. Assessments were completed. Additional reports on Hurricane Irene's impacts will be posted as they are received. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Park staffs and supporting incident management and other teams worked throughout the holiday weekend to repair facilities and restore services at parks hit hard by Hurricane Irene, particularly at Delaware Water Gap, Cape Lookout and the Outer Banks Group. Significant progress has been made, with many reopening announced. Although personnel were busy throughout the Labor Day weekend, today's summary focuses largely on yesterday's operations: Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. As of Monday, 73 people were committed to the recovery operation. Today's update: Headquarters and Visitor Center - Debris was removed from the housing and maintenance areas, electrical work continued around the maintenance area, and rerouting of the Sound Loop Trail was completed. Shackleford Banks - Repairs to the dock were completed late on Sunday and the dock is now open. Les & Sally's - Dock repair is progressing; only attachment of the decking remains to be done. Cape Lookout and Lighthouse Village - The mosquitoes were too voracious to continue debris cleanup on Monday, so staff were reassigned to Harker's Island. The back road grading has been completed between Great Island and Lower Cape. Most of the administrative roads around Lower Cape have been completed. Great Island - Electrical work is 90% finished; generator hookups were rewired and the generator boxes were rehabbed and reset. One septic system has been fixed and connected to a cabin. North Core Banks - Debris cleanup continued at Long Point. Fourteen piles of debris have now been collected. The FMSS group also finished all work orders and cost estimates. They projected costs and split them between FY11 and FY12. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Hurricane Irene recovery operations have been completed in most parks, but incident management teams and park staffs continue their ongoing efforts at Cape Lookout and the Outer Banks Group. Here are today's updates. Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. As of yesterday, 54 people were committed to the recovery operation. The team will be turning the incident over to the park late this afternoon and demobilizing. Accomplishments yesterday included the following: Great Island - The reroute of the Back Road south of Great Island has been completed. The Back Road is finished from Great Island to Cape Point. Resource management staff flagged the designated route of the Back Road north of Great Island in the footprint of the old road. Posts and cables were installed to mark the road through Great Island. Rehab work was completed on 18 out of 26 cabins. Portsmouth - Removal of the damaged section of the Haulover Dock is underway. Air Operations - Conducted five hours of helicopter flight time and transported 23 passengers. Employee Assistance - Remaining team members demobilized. Resource Advisors - Work continued on a final report, submitting it to park staff for their comments and edits. Assessment Team - All assessment team members have demobilized except one. The remaining members continued to work on damage assessment project statements. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
The Midwest incident management team at Cape Lookout has completed its work and will be demobilizing this afternoon, but the Eastern team continues to provide support to staff in the Outer Banks Group parks. Here are today's updates. Cape Lookout - The park is being assisted by the Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and a regional assessment team. As of yesterday, 19 people were committed to the recovery operation. The team will be turning the incident over to the park this afternoon and heading home. Accomplishments yesterday included the following: Headquarters and Visitor Center - The window and door estimator was contacted and an inspection was scheduled. Great Island - Cabins 2 through 17 are ready for habitation (cleaned and inside components are 100% functional). Six of those cabins have had their septic systems tested with water running through the system. The north back road construction was completed. The septic system components for the dump station were delivered. All equipment was moved off island or to the Coast Guard Station. Portsmouth - All of the needed lumber was delivered. Construction of Haulover Dock continued. Long Point - The point was inspected for storm surge issues. Air Operations - The team's airplane logged 3.3 hrs of flight time and transported eight passengers. Employee Assistance - The group supervisor finished reports and completed demob. Resource Advisors - Assisted park resource management staff with turtle nest excavation at Coquina Beach. A total of 90 live turtles and 9 eggs were discovered inside the nest. The live turtles will be released after high tide this evening. Assessment Team - One assessment team member continued to work on damage assessment project statements. [Bill Halainen, Editor]
Hurricane Sandy, the third most powerful storm of the 2012 season, continues on its northbound course with an anticipated landfall between Virginia to New England this coming Monday. Its winds are expected to still be near hurricane force when it arrives, partly due to unusually warm water off the East Coast. Due to the approach of a strong cold front, a full moon that will bring high tides on Monday, and already above normal stream flows in much of the Northeast, it could bring heavy rains, flooding, serious shoreline erosion, and considerable wind damage to the region. Sandy will also affect parks along the East Coast before it arrives in the Northeast. Although the center will be well offshore, it will be close enough to bring winds and high seas and rain from the Outer Banks north. Parks and regions have activated their hurricane plans and have begun daily phone conferences to coordinate both preparedness and possible emergency responses, if needed. The NPS Eastern IMT is on standby to assist where needed. Reports from two parks have been received so far: Cape Lookout NS - The park is expecting about 30 hours of tropical storm force winds, with maximum sustained winds of from 50 to 70 mph. Vehicle ferries will stop taking visitors to the islands today and will instead focus on removing visitors who wish to leave. Vehicle and passenger ferries are expected to stop operating on Saturday and may not resume operations until further notice. Visitor centers on the islands will close Saturday and will remain closed until Monday. Visitors are advised against heading out to the islands from Saturday through Monday; visitors already staying in the cabins or on the beaches are being advised leave the islands or to seek areas that are protected from overwash. Updates to this report may be posted over the weekend if warranted by conditions. A full update will appear on Monday.
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. 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.
Hurricane Sandy, a HYPERLINK "http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php" Category 1 storm with current maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph, was southeast of Cape Hatteras this morning and continuing on its northerly course. It is expected to pass the Outer Banks at a distance of about 250 miles, further out than the 175 miles previously forecast. It's still expected to make landfall on the New Jersey coast around daybreak on Tuesday. At 11 a.m. this morning, the National Hurricane Center had tropical storm warnings posted for the area from Cape Fear to Duck in North Carolina and for Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds. The center also issued this statement: "Hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the coast between Chincoteague, Virginia, and Chatham, Massachusetts. This included the middle and upper Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, the coasts of the northern Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, the New York City area, Long Island, Connecticut and Maryland. Tropical storm force winds are expected north of Chatham to the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, in the lower Chesapeake Bay, and south of Chincoteague to Duck, North Carolina. Other coastal and inland watches and warnings are in effect for these areas. Please see statements from local National Weather Service forecast offices." National Park Service meteorologist Denver Ingram is also issuing daily updates with specifics pertinent to the NPS. Here are the key points from his Sunday morning update: Winds - The hurricane's wind field is large and extensive. Tropical storm force winds now extend outward as far as an unprecedented 520 miles from the center and hurricane force winds go out to 105 miles. Early this morning, winds were already gusting to 35 to 45 mph along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and these conditions will likely continue into Tuesday morning. The hurricane is expected to strengthen a bit before making landfall, at which time it should have winds of 80 to 85 mph. There are a number of locations from Maryland and Washington to Connecticut and Massachusetts that could see 40 to 50 hours of tropical storm force winds persisting into Wednesday. While these sustained winds are strong enough, wind gusts will be stronger. The eastern shore of Maryland may see wind gusts (not sustained) of 85 to 90 mph Monday night and Tuesday morning. Seas, Tides and Storm Surge - Due to its strengthening, the hurricane will bring higher tides and greater storm surges to areas along and north of the track. Strong winds will continue to create rough seas and elevated tides. Storm surges will vary by location, but if they coincide with high tide, areas from Maryland to Rhode Island could experience storm surges of four to eight feet. Long Island and Raritan Bay may see those values increase to as much as ten feet. Smaller surges of three to six feet are expected along the North Carolina sounds, and the Chesapeake Bay could see values from one to four feet with higher totals where it meets the sea. Rainfall - Totals of three to six inches will be common across eastern North Carolina today. Over the past 24 hours, Cape Hatteras has seen about two-and-half inches of rain. Most of the rest of the Outer Banks has received one to two inches since daybreak Saturday. The storm was producing a band of heavy rain this morning that extended from southeast Pennsylvania, across Delaware and eastern Maryland, into southeast Virginia, and into the eastern third of North Carolina. Flooding will be an ongoing threat. Rainfall totals of ten inches or more are expected near the area of landfall. New England in general will likely see totals of one to three inches, with some isolated totals close to six inches. Snow - The hurricane will combine with a strong trough of low pressure; when it does, cold air will pour southward, bringing snow to the mountains of Tennessee, the mountains of northwestern North Carolina, southwest Virginia, and eastern West Virginia. Strong upslope flow may produce one to four inches of snow in these areas on Monday and Tuesday, with some totals close to eight inches above 3000 feet. The following new reports have been received from parks in the hurricane's path: Cape Lookout - The park remains closed. A total of 32 visitors in nine parties remain on the park's offshore islands. All are secure. The park is keeping tabs on them. Emergency preparedness staff in the three affected regional offices - Southeast, National Capital and Northeast - are 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. Discussions are underway about prepositioning the teams so that they will be quickly available after the storm passes.
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. 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.
Ranger Jesse Kanuch approached a visitor concerning his unrestrained dog while patrolling the North Core Banks on October 16th. The visitor complied and Kanuch continued his patrol. Later, Kanuch approached this same visitor concerning another matter and again encountered the dog off leash. The dog snarled at and bit Kanuch on the arm, leaving a puncture wound, but Kanuch was able to fend the dog off and get the visitor to again put it on a leash. Rangers Joseph Lamm, Lance Herman, and Daniel Williams responded to assist Kanuch. He was transported to Carteret General Hospital, where he received treatment, and was later released. With help from maintenance worker Ricky Daniel, Carteret County Animal Control was transported to North Core Banks and assisted Williams and Herman. The dog was taken by animal control and quarantined for ten days. The visitor was issued citations for a mandatory court appearance. [Joseph Lamm, Park Ranger]
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. Follow-up reports on the storm's impacts will appear after the holiday weekend. [Pat Kenney, CALO; Paul Stevens, Outer Banks Group]
Hurricane Arthur passed over the Outer Banks late last week, causing some damage but not significantly affecting park operations at either Cape Lookout or the Outer Banks Group. Cape Lookout NS - Effective yesterday, the following areas resumed operations on their normal schedules: Harkers Island, Beaufort, and Light Station Visitor Centers. Passenger ferry service provided by Island Express Ferry Service from Harkers Island and Beaufort to the Cape Lookout Light Station, and Shackleford Banks. Vehicle ferries departing from Davis and Atlantic. Keepers' Quarters Museum. South Core Banks and North Core Banks. Camping permitted under normal regulations. Portsmouth Village. Off-road vehicles were again permitted to operate as normal on North and South Core Banks. These areas were partly opened: Shackleford Banks opened to day use, but no camping was permitted. Long Point Cabins 5 through 20 reopened for occupancy Sunday night. Cabins 1 through 4 remained closed pending repairs. Great Island Cabins 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 26 reopened for occupancy on Sunday night. Cabins 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, and 19 were closed until repairs could be completed. Due to damages, safety concerns or resource protection needs, the following areas remained closed: Cape Village Historic District Old Drum Inlet beach area North Core Banks for a quarter mile south of Ocracoke Inlet due to a deep tidal cut. Outer Banks Group - The Outer Banks Group of national parks - Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site - have resumed normal operations: [Cyndy Holda, Outer Banks Group; Pat Kenney, Cape Lookout]
The National Weather Service is predicting that the North Carolina coast will experience significant impacts from Hurricane Maria for the next few days — heavy rain, flooding and overwash, high waves, rip currents, and high winds. Mandatory non-resident evacuation orders have been issued for Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands by Hyde and Dare Counties. Outer Banks Group — All three parks in the group — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site — have been closed. Visitor services and facilities have been closed at Cape Hatteras NS. ORV beach access ramps have been closed and cabled and beaches are open only for walking. Cape Lookout National Seashore — Due to storm conditions, which are expected to last through the week, the park has issued a mandatory evacuation order. Cabins in the park were closed on Tuesday. Reservations at Great Island and Long Point Cabin Camps have also been canceled until further notice. Sources: Cape Hatteras, Wright Brothers, Fort Raleigh and Cape Lookout.
Cape Lookout NS — Florence is expected to create extremely hazardous conditions in and around the park. It also closed at noon on Monday. Source: NPS Hurricane and Severe Weather Response webpage.
Reports are beginning to come in on Hurricane Florence's impact on parks, most of them pertaining to closures and reopenings. At the time of writing (Tuesday morning), however, the storm's remnants were still moving up through New York toward New England and hadn't yet brought anticipated heavy rains to a number of sites along its projected route. Over the weekend, the NPS mobilized an incident management team to begin coordination of recovery operations for affected parks. Plans called for it to move to a location in North Carolina sometime on Monday. Here are reports from some of the larger areas in or near the storm's path — see the link below for further reports from smaller sites and additional details and updates from all areas: Cape Lookout NS — The park will remain closed for the next two weeks, as flooding and road damage restrict access. Harker's Island Road, which provides the only vehicle access to Harker's Island, is closed due to damage. The park's cabin camps will also remain closed for the next two weeks. Source: NPS Hurricane and Severe Weather Response webpage.
A National Park Service incident management team is assisting staffs in parks impacted by Hurricane Florence. At this time, 69 NPS employees from 29 parks and 18 states and the District of Columbia are assigned to the incident. The team is focusing on the two parks most affected by the hurricane: Cape Lookout NS — All visitor facilities and services are closed; no date for reopening has yet been set. Minor roof damage to the Harker's Island Visitor Center has been repaired, and power has been restored to the building. Harker's Island trails are 80% clear, but the boardwalk remains closed due to damage. Temporary repairs on the Harker's Island Visitor Center Harbor docks are underway. The U.S. Coast Guard is repairing the Cape Lookout Lighthouse, which is currently out of service. The Les and Sally dock has been repaired. Initial assessments at Les and Sally, Cape Lookout Lighthouse, and Historic Cape Village are complete; stabilization, including installation of tarps on roofs, has begun. Natural resources staff have begun sea turtle surveys on Shackleford Banks. A survey of horses there is also underway. Crews have surveyed and flagged three miles of backroad on North Core Banks. Reservations for Long Point Cabins have been cancelled for the remainder of the season; reservations for the Great Island cabins have been canceled through October. Cancellations may be extended depending on the results of full assessments. An update will be provided once assessments are complete. Moore's Creek NB — The Black River appears to have crested, but water levels have just begun to recede; formal assessments and stabilization cannot begin until water recedes. Five of the six battlefield monuments are located within flood waters. Historic cannon were moved to higher ground prior to the storm and are in good condition. A reopening schedule has not yet been developed. Source: IMT Update, September 23, 2018.
The National Park Service incident management team brought in to assist staffs of parks impacted by Hurricane Florence has demobilized, but local recovery efforts continue: Cape Lookout NS — Seven cabins at Great Island will reopen on October 5th. Long Point cabins will remain closed for the rest of the season, but the area will reopen upon completion of dredging operations. The Harkers Island Visitor Center and Beaufort Visitor Information Center have reopened. Beach camping will again be permitted on South Core Banks on October 4th, but North Core Banks will remain closed to camping. Source: IMT Update, October 1, 2018
Below are short follow-ups on incidents previously reported in this newsletter: Cape Lookout NS — The park has posted a series of before and after photos that show the lasting damage Hurricane Florence caused when it sent storm surge flowing across the barrier islands. In one pair of images, the upper part of the South Core Banks is seen covered with water after hurricane overwash created three flowing "cuts" through the island. Source: Durham Herald-Sun. Note: The Eastern IMT Flickr site contains hundreds of photos of both parks that provide a clearer idea of the scope of the damage caused to the two sites.
Forecasters continue to predict that Hurricane Dorian will closely follow the coastline from Florida to North Carolina before it moves out into the open ocean. Watches and warnings have been issued for portions of the Florida coast and evacuation orders are in place for coastal areas in the Southeast. National parks from Big Cypress to Cape Hatteras are preparing for potential impacts and implementing storm plans. The parks below have closed or will soon close in preparation for the storm: North Carolina — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, Moores Creek National Battlefield, Wright Brothers National Memorial Source: National Park Service.
After sweeping along the southeast coast from Florida to South Carolina, Hurricane Dorian made landfall over Cape Hatteras on the morning of September 6th, battering NPS areas in the Outer Banks with damaging winds, heavy rains, and severe flooding. It knocked out power, flooded homes and businesses, and temporarily trapped residents of remote Ocracoke Island, where floodwaters reached up to seven feet. After the storm's passage, helicopters brought in food and supplies and evacuated the island's most vulnerable residents (about 800 people had remained on an island whose permanent population hovers around 950). The Service's Eastern Incident Management Team was mobilized to support parks with recovery operations and is operating out of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, with resources committed to parks as needed. The following updates have been taken from NPS and media sources: Cape Lookout NS — IMT members have been surveying the park and assessing the damage inflicted by Dorian. They've determined that 38 historic structures in Portsmouth Village sustained some kind of flooding or wind-related damages and that Long Point cabin camp south of Portsmouth was also hit with infrastructure and other damage, including a major breach of an ocean inlet cut through to Core Sound. Reservations at Long Point cabins have accordingly been canceled through the remainder of the season, which runs until November 30th. The team also discovered over 50 new inlets cutting through the North Core Banks from the Atlantic Ocean to the Core Sound — not unusual in storms such as this one and likely to fill in on their own over time. Source: Charlotte Observer. Images of the impacts of Dorian on a number of parks can be found on the Eastern IMT's Flickr page; as of yesterday, there were about 75 images posted to the page. Updates can also be found on the National Park Service's hurricane and severe weather response webpage. Sources: National Park Service; New York Times.
Below are short follow-ups on incidents previously reported in this newsletter. Cape Lookout NS — Two months after the passage of Hurricane Dorian, the park has discovered storm survivors alive and well on North Core Island — three local cows from nearby Cedar Island. It's believed that they got there by swimming four to five miles across the Core Sound during the hurricane. All three were living on Cedar Island when the hurricane generated a "mini tsunami" on September 6th, sweeping much of the wildlife off the island, including 28 wild horses that perished. The cattle — affectionately known as "sea cows" along the coast — are part of a wild herd of about 20 cows that roamed private land on Cedar Island. The park is seeking proposals from the public on how to get them back home. Source: Mark Price, Charlotte Observer.
The Coast Guard has rescued four sailors from a fishing trawler that wrecked along a dangerous stretch of water near the Outer Banks last Friday. The crew members were lifted off the 78-foot fishing vessel before dawn as it was being wracked by strong winds and tossed by waves. The trawler Tamara Alane came aground in the sands of Shackleford Banks, the southernmost barrier island in the park. The crew had reported engine trouble and fuel issues in a distress call around 3:30 a.m. after trying unsuccessfully to set their anchor. Eventually the boat began taking on water as it hit the beach. Nobody was hurt in the incident. The Coast Guard and a marine salvage company surveyed the damage and began removing the vessel from the beach over the weekend after the weather calmed, Source: Winston-Salem Journal.
An autopsy has determined that a severed head that washed ashore last May is that of a 21-year-old soldier from Fort Bragg. E.R.-M., a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, was last seen on May 22nd at a campsite on South Core Banks, one of the islands that make up Cape Lookout National Seashore. His friends reported him missing the following evening and found his phone and wallet at the campsite. E.R.-M.'s severed head washed ashore on May 29th in an area where the tides have washed up other remains in years past. He'd also suffered multiple chop injuries to the neck and cervical spine. Because the rest of his body was not recovered, medical examiners could not determine the cause of death, but based on autopsy findings it was determined E.R.-M.'s death was due to homicide. Special agents with US Army CID are working closely with several federal and local agencies on this investigation and increased a reward from $15,000 to $25,000 for any information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the person responsible for the death of E.R.-M. Source: Amir Vera and Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN.
On November 8, the body of a 65-year-old washed up on the north end of South Core Banks. High winds and coastal flooding could have been contributing factors. The victim had been staying at the Great Island Cabin Camp and fishing gear was found among his belongings. The incident is under investigation and foul play is not suspected. Source: Associated Press, Carteret County News-Times
On March 26, a group of visitors encountered a newborn foal in the Wade Shore area. There were no other horses present. The foal followed them for about two hours, and when the group moved their boat to leave, the foal tried to follow them. The group feared the foal might drown, so they lifted it onto their boat and left the island. The foal has been taken to the Foundation for Shackleford Horses and will remain a domesticated animal because it is unlikely the park can reunite it with its mother after being removed from its natural habitat and herd. The group was cited for their action and the park is working with them to assist with educational opportunities and community service projects that will benefit the Shackleford Banks horses. The park reminds visitors to never approach closer than 50 feet to wildlife, even if horses are sleeping motionless on their sides or following them. It is not uncommon for foals to follow other horses or people if it has been separated from its mother. Source: Cape Lookout National Seashore
The Cape Lookout Lighthouse dock was damaged by the freezing winter storm that hit in late December. Currently, the dock is not fit for public safety and is closed until it can be repaired. Island Express Ferry Service will suspend services out of Harkers Island for the month of January or until a solution can be found. Source: WITN
On March 21, the NPS and U.S. Coast Guard removed five 1,300-pound buoys from the beaches of the seashore. One buoy had washed ashore during Hurricane Florence in 2018 and the others had washed up in subsequent storms. A Coast Guard helicopter was able to lift them from the beach. Source: Cape Lookout National Seashore Facebook page
On April 12, a 6-year-old wild stallion was being transferred from the Shackleford Banks herd to the Rachel Carson Reserve in order to increase genetic diversity there. The transfer was supported by a partnership with the Foundation for Shackleford Horses and the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management's Coastal Reserve program. The stallion had been sedated and died suddenly during the transport process. Workers tried to resuscitate the individual but were unsuccessful. The NPS is conducting tests to determine a possible cause of death. Source: The News and Observer
The winter storm damage to the Harkers Island ferry dock (see 1/11/23 Coalition Report) has been repaired enough to allow passengers to disembark onto the dock, rather than the beach. The dock is still under repair and is not yet accessible for those in wheelchairs. There is no estimated date for repairs to be finished. Source: WITN
On April 16, some visitors found a prehistoric spearhead ("a Kirk Corner-Notched Point") on the beach and removed it from the park. The point is likely 8,000 to 10,000 years old. Rangers were able to track down the individuals and recover the object. It is unclear if the individuals will face charges for the theft. Source: Charlotte Observer
On May 28, three people were on a rented boat when a wave threw them into the water. The three passengers were able to get to Shackleford Banks, but one of them, a 42-year-old, collapsed near the wave line. The two other individuals were unable to move the patient, but they called 911 and started CPR. NPS staff arrived within 15 minutes and utilized an AED on the individual. Paramedics with Harkers Island Fire Department and Beaufort Fire Department also responded. CPR was conducted for an hour, but resuscitation efforts were not successful. The U.S. Coast Guard and North Carolina Wildlife are leading the accident investigation. Source: WITN
Due to the filling in of sediments, the gap between Shark Island and Cape Lookout has become connected by a narrow bar of sand during the lowest tides. As a result, two separate incidents in August have had visitors crossing at low tide and becoming trapped as the tides rise behind them. In both instances, complex, multi-agency rescues were needed to extract the visitors. Source: The News and Observer
Many NPS units along the southeastern seaboard closed or advised strong visitor caution ahead of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Idalia, which was expected to bring high winds and many inches of rain to the area. Additionally, Hurricane Franklin has caused elevated tides and "life threatening rip currents."
On September 22, the passengers of a 38-foot catamaran requested emergency assistance while anchored within Lookout Bight due to deteriorating weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Ophelia, including 10-foot swells and winds over 40 miles per hour. There were five passengers, including three children under age 10. A Coast Guard boat was able to navigate through treacherous conditions, utilizing parachute flares to illuminate the way. They transferred the five passengers successfully to the rescue craft. A Coast Guard helicopter crew arrived on scene and provided an overhead light for the transit back to the station. The catamaran was left anchored, to be assessed by local salvage crews after the storm passed. Source: The Virginian-Pilot | |