East Coast Areas
Hurricane Isabel Recovery Costs Estimated at $137 Million
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:
- Cape Hatteras National Seashore — $28 million
- Cape Lookout National Seashore — $17 million
- C & O Canal National Historical Park — $17 million
- Colonial National Historical Park — $20 million
- Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania Battlefields — $10 million
- George Washington Memorial Parkway — $8 million
- Richmond National Battlefield — $4 million
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
- NPS Interactive Map Center — Select maps of parks affected by the hurricane: http://maps2.itc.nps.gov/nps/parkatlas/jsp/atlas.jsp
- Hurricane Photo Gallery — Photos showing impacts of hurricane on parks and recovery efforts: http://www.nps.gov/hurricane
- NPS IMT Web Page — Home page for NPS incident management teams: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/
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.
Katmai National Park & Preserve (AK)
Follow-up on Bear Mauling Deaths
Rangers and officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska
State Troopers and Alaska Department of Fish and Game returned to the
park's coast last Wednesday afternoon to perform a field necropsy on the
two bears that were killed in self defense while rangers and state
troopers were recovering the remains of T.T. and A.H.
on Monday. T.T. and A.H. were mauled and killed
sometime between Sunday, October 5th, and the afternoon of Monday,
October 6th. The necropsy of the larger bear revealed that its stomach
contained human remains and clothing. Rangers believe the bear was
feeding on human remains when an air taxi pilot arrived at the campsite
on Monday afternoon. The bear was estimated to be about 28 years old and
slightly underweight for this time of year, although it's estimated that
he weighed more than 1,000 pounds. The bear had been captured in May,
1990, as part of a large bear study following the Exxon Valdez oil
spill. That spring, the bear weighed about 850 pounds and was in average
condition. The bear was shot Monday as it came within about ten feet of
rangers and troopers. Although this bear had human remains in its
stomach, it can not be proved conclusively that this was the bear that
killed the campers. The second, smaller bear was found partially buried
in a mound and consumed by another bear. While the remains were
inconclusive, biologists said its size and behavior lead them to believe
the bear was a young male. There was not enough physical evidence to
complete a full necropsy, although human remains were not found in its
stomach. This bear was shot after it ignored warning yells and a warning
shot and continued to approach rangers and troopers who were loading a
plane on Monday afternoon. A closure to visitation remains in effect in
the area surrounding the campsite. The closure will be lifted in early
December when most bears in the area begin to hibernate. Photos of
Kaflia Bay and the campsite area can be seen at http://www.nps.gov/akso/
Press/press.htm .
[Submitted by Jane Tranel, Public Affairs,
Alaska Regional Office]
Navajo National Monument (AZ)
Structural Fire in Employee Residence
Smoke was seen coming from the roof vents of a government house
occupied by park admin officer Rose James around 5 p.m. on Friday,
October 3rd. A family member saw the smoke and evacuated the two
nine-year-old boys who were inside, one of whom is a paraplegic. The
Kayenta Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department, 30 miles distant, was
notified and responded. They found the fire burning in the ceiling of
the modular house and extinguished it, thereby saving the structure. The
fire apparently started in electrical wiring above the ceiling, but the
cause remains under investigation. There were no injuries. The house and
personal property were damaged by both fire and smoke.
[Submitted by
Roger Moder, Superintendent]
Coronado National Memorial (AZ)
Drug Smuggling Seizure and Arrests
Ranger Clarence Larson responded to sensor activations on the Joe
Canyon trail early on the afternoon of September 24th. Larson headed
south on the trail and came upon two burlap bags filled with canned food
of Mexican origin; further along, he made contact with two undocumented
aliens and took them into custody, then asked Border Patrol agents to
help him search for their compatriots. Two agents joined him, and they
soon came upon two more illegal aliens. Their clothing contained burlap
fibers and had the odor of marijuana. A small bag of same was found on
one of the men. Continuing down the trail, they came upon several men
with 20 bundles of marijuana weighing about 380 pounds. They immediately
headed for the border, but Larson was able to catch and arrest one of
them. Two Cobra micro two-way radios and two Nokia cell phones were also
seized. A later search of the area led to the discovery and seizure of a
loaded Glock 26 Austria 9mm semi-automatic pistol concealed under brush
about a foot from the point where one of the smugglers was arrested.
[Submitted by Thane Weigand, Chief Ranger]
Natchez Trace Parkway (AL,MS,TN)
Fatal Accident with Vehicle Fire
On the afternoon of September 23rd, dispatch was notified of the discovery of a burned-out vehicle near MM 397 in the Leipers Fork District in Tennessee. The vehicle, which was in a ravine out of sight of the road, was severely burned, and the sole male occupant's body was burned beyond recognition. It appears that the driver fell asleep or drifted off the road during the early morning hours of September 18th. A Tennessee State Patrol accident reconstruction specialist assisted at the scene. Ranger Daniel Kimes is the case agent.
[Submitted by Jackie Henman, Assistant Chief Ranger]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Wright Brothers National Memorial (NC)
Assistance Solicited for Centennial of Flight Detail
In December, the world will be celebrating the centennial of the first powered flight achieved by Wilbur and Orville Wright, made on December 17, 1903. A pivotal location for the celebration will be the Wright Brothers National Memorial. The magnitude of the event at that site will be considerable, with international attendance and media coverage. The Service's Eastern IMT is looking for employees who are interested in working the centennial event at the park during the period from December 12th to the 17th. They are looking for people for high public contact assignments — non-law enforcement uniformed employees, enforcement rangers, supervisory LE rangers, and other ICS qualified personnel. Details will last nine or ten days, including travel. Backfill will be provided when needed. This is a great opportunity for any NPS uniformed employee to be involved in a large event and be a part of history. If you have your supervisor's approval, contact Yolanda Gibson for a submission form or questions. Priority consideration will be given to those employees working within the Southeast, Northeast and National Capitol Regions due to travel costs. E-mail yolanda_gibson@nps.gov or call 828-271-4779 ext. 246 (fax: 828-271-4118). The deadline for submissions is November 3rd.
[Submitted by Gordon Wissinger, IC, East Incident Management Team]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
GS-025-2/3/4/5 SCEP Protection Ranger Position
The park has an opening for a college student as a GS-025-2/3/4/5 protection park ranger in the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP). This is an excellent opportunity for a college student to gain valuable work experience. The park may convert the selectee to a permanent career conditional position as a GS-0025-5/7/9 ranger. The selectee will work in the Canyon District. The announcement number is GRCA S2004-02 and closes on November 6th. If you have any questions, call 928-638-7721 or send an email to Thomas_Barth@nps.gov.
[Submitted by Tom Barth, HR Specialist]
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.