East Coast Areas
Preparations for Isabel's Arrival Near Completion
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):
- Moores Creek NB — The park put its hurricane plan into effect on Monday and began securing non-visitor use facilities. On Tuesday, closure operations continued, and the park closed to visitation at 5 p.m. All employees were released at close of business to secure personal belongings and evacuate if necessary. At a minimum, tropical storm force winds and rain are expected. Media interest is focused on the nearby coastal areas of Topsail Island and Wrightsville Beach.
- Cape Lookout NS — The park has completed emergency preparations in anticipation of the arrival Hurricane Isabel. Efforts to evacuate barrier islands with no vehicle access have been successful with the exception of Shackleford Banks, where approximately 100 surfers have refused to honor the evacuation orders. Park employees were sent home at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. A hurricane watch is in effect from Little River, South Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia. Current projections place the center of the storm directly over Cape Lookout.
- Cape Hatteras NS — Dare County issued a mandatory evacuation order as of noon yesterday. Highway 12 was already being overwashed in a couple of places, with conditions expected to worsen at high tides. The park closed yesterday morning, with IC staff completing the final boarding of facilities and housing. All visitor facilities and campgrounds are closed. Ocracoke Campground was closed on Tuesday after Hyde County issued an emergency evacuation order for Ocracoke Island. Al special events, including three surfing tournaments and seven weddings, have been cancelled, and the National Air Tour scheduled for Wright Brothers for this weekend has been postponed. Severe beach erosion and flooding and five to eight inches of rain are expected. The IMT and park management will weather the storm at the Dare County Detention Center.
- Colonial NHP —Maintenance personnel have been busy boarding up park structures and historic buildings. Park staff are taking steps to protect equipment and documents. Cultural resource personnel are following the hurricane plan for protecting cultural resources/collections. Consideration is being given to closing on Thursday and Friday; that decision will be made this morning. Protection staff and dispatchers will remain on duty during the storm and will be located in secure areas.
- George Washington Birthplace NM/Thomas Stone NHS — The monument, which is adjacent to the tidal portion of the Potomac River, has begun implementing its emergency response action plan.
- Assateague Island NS — Due to the slowing of Isabel's forward movement, the timetable for the shutdown of the park was pushed back 12 hours. Campers will be evacuated from the island no later than noon today. The island will be closed to all visitors no later than 6 p.m. As of yesterday morning, about a third of the island (seven miles) was already being overwashed at each high tide. The island itself is completely saturated with water.
- Wolf Trap Farm Park — In preparation for the hurricane, park staff are lowering and bagging the rain/wind shields in the Filene Center. All of the tents in the park should be down by close of business today. Picnic tables by Wolf Trap Run are being relocated to higher ground. The drive through and the stage door areas in the rear of the Filene center are being sandbagged. Anything which may blow over is being secured if it can be.
- Rock Creek Park — Park staff are pulling all the picnic tables out of the groves along Rock Creek, checking our sandbags around the 1823 Peirce Mill building, checking catch basins and drains, making roof patches/repairs at the Center for Urban Ecology (NCR science office located in Rock Creek Park), and pre-positioning barricades for possible road closures.
- National Capital Parks East — Activities included the following: acquisition and placement of sandbags, securing of the park/USPP Anacostia compound entrance with fill, placement of tarps over the Bethune archive collections, securing of Fort Washington VC shutters, preparations for closing "low" roads in Piscataway Park, corralling and moving Oxon Cove Park livestock to safer compounds with shelter, and checking parkways for possible tree hazards.
- Fort McHenry NM&HS/Hampton NHS — Fort McHenry lies on the Patapsco River and may be affected by high storm surges. Park staff have moved everything subject to high wind indoors, tied picnic tables together, etc., and have evacuated items in basements subject to flooding. They will be allowing neighboring agencies (The Naval Reserve Center, Corps of Engineers, and Baltimore FD) to park vehicles in the park, as Fort McHenry has some of the highest ground on the point. Flooding may occur in the park's main lot in the case of a high storm surge. Hampton NHS has a number of old specimen trees surrounding the mansion and may have problems with tree damage. The park has also taken the necessary precautions in advance of the storms' arrival.
- Delaware Water Gap NRA — Public use areas will be closed, effective at noon on Thursday. The incident management team will enter its first operational period at 6 a.m. that day. Ed Whitaker is IC.
- Statue of Liberty NM — Park staff have determined that it will take eight hours to knock down and move site security screening equipment, valued in excess of $2 million. If implemented, this would require a three-day closure of the site to the public. A decision on closing screening sites will be made this morning. Other preparations continue, including identification of evacuation locations for the nine human and five animal residents of Liberty Island.
- Fire Island NS — The park is in full ICS mode and awaiting the hurricane. The first operational period began yesterday morning. The park has been divided into geographic branches and assignments are being carried out under the direction of ops chief Jay Lippert. Structures and loose items are being secured, boats pulled from the water, and other preparations undertaken. Wayne Valentine is IC.
- Cape Cod NS — The park has put its hurricane response plan into effect. The park remains open, but beaches and other potentially hazardous areas have been closed. Staff are working with local emergency response personnel.
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.
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Preparedness Level 3
The preparedness level has done down one step. Preparedness Level 4 drops to Preparedness Level 3 when significant demobilization is occurring. Fifty plus crews are being released daily and sent to home units. One hundred rested crews are available for new fires. All military resources have been released. No red flag conditions are forecast for the next 24 hours and higher humidity or lower temperatures are forecast for the major fire areas.
Nationally, only 80 new fires were reported. Initial attack was moderate in southern California and light everywhere else.
Fire Danger
|
Day |
9/9 |
9/10 |
9/11 |
9/12 |
9/15 |
9/16 |
|
Arizona |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
|
California |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
|
Hawaii |
-- |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
|
Idaho |
VX |
VX |
-- |
VX |
-- |
-- |
|
Montana |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
|
Nevada |
VX |
VX |
-- |
-- |
VX |
VX |
|
New Mexico |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
|
North Dakota |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
-- |
|
Oklahoma |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
|
Oregon |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
|
South Dakota |
VX |
VX |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Texas |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
|
Utah |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
VX |
VX |
|
Washington |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
-- |
|
Wyoming |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX = Very high to extreme danger
National Resource Commitments
|
Day |
9/8 |
9/9 |
9/10 |
9/11 |
9/12 |
9/15 |
9/16 |
|
Crews |
568 |
535 |
480 |
439 |
362 |
241 |
244 |
|
Engines |
1,153 |
990 |
781 |
745 |
594 |
315 |
380 |
|
Helicopters |
221 |
205 |
167 |
163 |
153 |
96 |
96 |
|
Air Tankers |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Overhead |
4,663 |
4,334 |
4,039 |
3,521 |
3,502 |
2,740 |
2,728 |
National Team Commitments
Teams are listed alphabetically by type. New team commitments or changes in teams (as of this report) are indicated in bold face.
|
State |
Type Team |
Team IC |
Fire/Location |
Acres |
Percent Contain |
Est Full Contain |
|
MT |
ACT |
Williams-Rhodes |
Flathead NF/Glacier NP Fires |
--- |
--- |
--- |
|
MT |
T1 |
Bennett |
Blackfoot Lake Complex Flathead NF |
29,836 |
49 |
9/30 |
|
WA |
T1 |
Hart |
Needle Complex Okanogan/Wenatchee NF |
17,190 |
65 |
UNK |
|
OR |
T1 T2 |
Martin Gardner |
B&B Complex Deschutes NF |
90,769 |
87 |
9/19 |
|
CA |
T1 |
Vail |
Grindstone Complex Mendocino NF |
7,722 |
35 |
UNK |
|
MT |
T2 |
Larsen |
Mineral/Primm Fire State Lands |
25,202 |
78 |
9/20 |
|
MT |
T2 |
Larsen |
Fish Creek Complex Lolo NF |
39,956 |
75 |
9/28 |
|
CA |
T2 |
Rios |
Michaels Fire Bakersfield District, BLM |
750 |
NR |
UNK |
|
MT |
T2 |
Sandman |
Robert Fire Flathead NF |
57,570 |
65 |
10/1 |
|
MT |
T2 |
Sandman |
Trapper Creek Complex Glacier NP |
70,406 |
30 |
10/1 |
|
CA |
T2 |
Szepanik |
Loma Fire Shasta-Trinity NF |
500 |
10 |
UNK |
|
WA |
ST |
Jennings |
Isabel Fire Okanogan/Wenatchee NF |
480 |
NR |
UNK |
PARK FIRE SITUATION
The daily summaries of park fires that have been prepared through the summer by the Service's Fire Management Program Center have been terminated.
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.