Servicewide
Flags To Remain At Half-Staff To September 20th

Additional guidance has been received from the Federal Protective Service regarding lowering flags to half staff: "The flag of the United States of America is to be flown at half staff until sunset on Tuesday, 13 September 2005, for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and continue to be flown at half staff until sunset on Tuesday, 20 September 2005, for the victims of Hurricane Katrina." [Submitted by Federal Protective Service]

Hurricane Katrina Recovery
Employee Assistance and Park Cleanup Efforts Continue

The reports below provide updates (current as of yesterday evening) on actions underway in the six parks still dealing with significant issues stemming from the hurricane's passage:

• Everglades NP (Eastern IMT, Wissinger)
• Dry Tortugas NP (Eastern IMT, Wissinger)
• Gulf Islands NS (Eastern IMT, Brown)
• Jean Lafitte NHP&P (National IMT, Swed)
• New Orleans Jazz NHP (National IMT, Swed)
• Natchez Trace Parkway

Those of you seeking documents pertaining to the hurricane from the Washington Office or any of the three incident management teams now in the field (incident action plans, ICS-209s, etc.) should go to http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=1&prg=5&id=3742. Files are listed under the appropriate 'folders.' We are just now beginning to receive these, so more will likely be available in the future.

Park and IMT Updates

Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP

An Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is at Everglades NP, assisting the park staff with repairs to damage at Flamingo and Dry Tortugas NP.

Ordering of the supplies and materials needed for projects picked up considerably once businesses resumed after the three-day holiday.

All the damaged decking from the fuel dock at Dry Tortugas was removed.  The antenna contractor and the park's radio technician, along with the radio equipment and supplies, will be transported on Wednesday by the NPS boat Fort Jefferson to begin working on the tower. Once the tower is replaced, Fort Jefferson will reopen to the public.

At Flamingo, the park's fire and the Job Corps Mingo crews continued to clean debris around the visitor center area and campground and hauled debris to the dump site. The tree service contractor continued with removal of hazardous trees and work continued to do the finishing grounds work in the housing area. It is expected that tomorrow will be the last day for the grounds work in the public use areas around the marina. One of the park's objectives is to have a partial opening to the marina so that the boat ramp can again be available for use.

A four-person crew and a barge operator rode into the Whitewater Bay area to begin assessing damage to the backcountry camping chickee structures in the bay. They also  retrieved debris from the Buttonwood canal which leads into the bay. Many of the Whitewater Bay navigational channel day boards were destroyed in the storm. During the trip into the bay, the one day board that the park is responsible for was repaired; the others are the responsibility of the U.S. Coast Guard.

An order for a crane and a diver was placed to remove damaged house boats from the concession marina. A law enforcement ranger will be on hand to make sure that no alligators/crocodiles threaten the diver. This work will begin on Thursday.

The last of the appliances strewn about from the storm have been collected and stockpiled. A hazardous material disposal company will be on site on Wednesday to make an assessment and set a date for removal.

The superintendent has asked the team to assess damages in the Shark Valley area of Everglades and look at some work such as screen replacements, saw work, and minor roof repairs to some of the structures. 

The team began purchasing equipment to repair many of the monitoring stations located throughout the park.

Tammy Keller, CISM counselor, met again with concessioner employees today and will be released tomorrow.

As of Tuesday, 121 people were assigned to the incident.

Gulf Islands NS

A second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC) is at Gulf Islands NS working with that park's staff on recovery operations in the Mississippi District.

With the arrival of additional personnel over the past two days, including the Hopi 7 crew from Arizona and a Virginia state crew, the total number of people assigned to the incident reached 56. 

With the tremendous number of disaster relief agencies and personnel in the Gulf Coast area and the overall magnitude of the cleanup, supplies to support the incident are difficult to obtain. Park campground showers were mostly unaffected by the storm, but water has not been restored to that area. Food service, showers, and restroom facilities are being sought nationwide, but none are currently available. Personnel are managing well under difficult conditions. The park's Florida District is providing daily supplies of ice, and, beginning yesterday, lunches each day. Power was restored to the maintenance area of Davis Bayou on Monday morning, but phone and internet service remain sporadic or non-existent. 

Incident personnel made dramatic progress on Monday clearing roads, the campground, and the area around the visitor center that will serve as a base camp for incoming personnel.  Despite heat and humidity and the continuing concern over hazardous trees and massive debris fields, there were no injuries reported during the incident on Monday.  Local health officials provided free tetanus shots to all who wanted them.

The park's IT specialist will arrive at the incident within the next day or so and provide the expertise needed to network the incident command computer system and establish more phone lines. The park's assistant superintendent will be on hand as well with more details on the addresses of former employees, volunteers, and concessionaires and, along with the incident safety officer, will begin searching for and providing assistance where it is needed.

Incident command staff are working closely with local incident management teams and FEMA representatives and are now able to get the necessary gasoline and diesel fuel for equipment and vehicles. Through FEMA, the incident needs for water, ice, and other necessary supplies will also be provided.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP

The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Houston, Texas. They are charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane.

The team's incident command post is currently located in Houston, Texas, with plans being formulated to relocate to Lafayette, Louisiana, as soon as conditions allow. Basic operational objectives provide for safety of all personnel; accounting for and providing assistance to NPS employees and families; and planning for security and assessment of affected NPS sites. The team continues to assess damages and planning for restoration of affected national parks. A total of 82 people are currently committed to the team from three federal agencies and many different states.

Three operational branches have been established for the recovery effort:

• The employee assistance branch will continue to determine the urgent needs of affected NPS employees and provide the appropriate immediate assistance.  Yesterday, another National Park Service employee and his family were found at the Houston Astrodome evacuation center and were moved to another location. 
• The resources and facilities branch will continue making plans for safe access into areas and assessing damages daily.  Plans for the stabilization of facilities and resources within New Orleans Jazz and Jean Lafitte National Historic Parks will continue.
• The law enforcement branch continues to evaluate requests for assistance and determine the safest routes to sites. Teams will be providing enforcement/security for all personnel throughout the recovery and evacuation processes. Conditions remain rough, with flooding, lack of power, spotty communications and unsafe conditions in many areas.

The National IMT is also coordinating closely with incident commanders Gordon Wissinger at Dry Tortugas/Everglades in Florida and Rick Brown at Gulf Islands in Mississippi.

Immediate employee assistance is gearing up to provide services. The magnitude of Katrina has affected all of the parks' employees, families and residences throughout the entire hurricane operational area. With unreliable phone service, please be patient and persistent.  The National Park Service Employee Assistance Center has been established at Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, 250 West Park Avenue, Eunice, LA (337-457-8499 or 8490).

Natchez Trace Parkway

The entire 444-mile length of the parkway is open from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee. The reopening occurred on Thursday, September 1st, following several days of cleanup. Following the opening of the parkway, the Little Mountain gas station and store at Jeff Busby (Milepost 193) and the Mississippi Craft Center in Ridgeland, Mississippi (Milepost 102) also reopened. 

Even though the main motor road is open, five facilities on the parkway remain closed.  These facilities include:

• Turpin Creek picnic area (Milepost 12.1)
• Mount Locust historical site (Milepost 15.5)
• Coles Creek picnic area and restroom facility (Milepost 17.5)
• Rocky Springs campground and picnic area. (Milepost 54.8)
• Jeff Busby campground and picnic area. (Milepost 193.1)

Needed repairs and cleanup may take some time due to ongoing efforts throughout the entire region. The park does not have an estimated date when the facilities will reopen, but it may take several months to restore the facilities to pre-Katrina condition. 

Employee Relief Fund

A relief fund has been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Many NPS and cooperating association employees in Gulf Islands NS, Jean LaFitte NHP and New Orleans Jazz NHP have had severe damage to their homes and several have lost their homes. Others have lost all of their personal belongings, including automobiles. Many evacuated with limited belongings and are just trying to find temporary housing, food, etc. Out of pocket expenses can be tremendous for families trying to stay together and recover from such a catastrophic disaster.

Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. If additional funds are available, we will provide long-term aid, which will help replace or repair larger items that will not be covered by loans or federal grants. To be eligible, the NPS and cooperating association employees must be currently employed by the NPS or the cooperating association, and must have experienced loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Employees who would like to apply for aid should contact E&AA. E&AA will respond to these requests as they are received. Requests for immediate funds will be processed generally within 24 hours. Those with the greatest need will have priority. An application process has been established for larger long-term requests. Assuming funding is available, an independent committee will review applications and disperse funds.

Your assistance is needed! Please help members of the NPS family by making a donation to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund today! Checks can be made payable to E&AA and sent t E&AA, Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, 470 Maryland Drive, Suite 1, Fort Washington, PA 19034.
Please direct questions on this fund (applications or donations) to Jack Ryan or Chesley Moroz at 215-283-6900. [Submitted by Debbie Santiago, IO, IMT, Houston; Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER; Peter Givens, IO, IMT, GUIS; Jerry Pendleton, PAO, NATR]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Injured Motorcyclist Extricated from Little River

On the afternoon of August 25th, P.S., 55, was traveling eastbound on Little River Road on his 2005 Harley Davidson when he drove off the roadway into the Little River. P.S. was traveling at about 35 mph at the time with a group of three other motorcyclists. While on a sharp, left-hand curve, he glanced back to see how his wife was doing on her motorcycle, missed the curve, then went off the steep embankment. P.S. and his motorcycle flew about 30 feet through the air, dropped 20 vertical feet, and landed in the river about 30 feet from the road's edge. A passing motorist called 911 on a cell phone. Rangers arrived on scene within 15 minutes and found P.S. still in the river, his leg pinned under the bike and his wife and another companion holding his head out of the water. Ranger/park medic Greg Wozniak, bystanders and a Gatlinburg FD medic moved the motorcycle off P.S.'s leg and began stabilization and emergency treatment of a very severe open tibia/fibula fracture and an open fracture of the finger.  P.S. was splinted and immobilized on a long spine board, after which rangers Michael Nash, Scott Kalna, and Rick Brown conducted a vertical litter raise up the 20-foot vertical wall using a "V strap" technique.  P.S. was taken by ambulance to Sugarlands Visitor Center, then transferred to a LifeStar Air Ambulance and flown to UT Medical Center. [Submitted by Rick Brown, Acting Chief Ranger]

Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts (VA)
Nineteen Arrested at Concerts

On Thursday, August 25th, Park Police officers arrested 13 people attending a Cheap Trick/Alice Cooper concert at Wolf Trap. Charges ranged from possession of cocaine and marijuana to purchasing alcohol for minors and underage drinking. Both uniformed and plainclothes officers contributed to the arrests. Fairfax County officers assisted with bike and undercover patrols. Virginia ABC agents also arrested two minors for alcohol possession. Two days later, Park Police arrested another six people during a Steve Miller Band concert — five for marijuana possession and the sixth for ticket scalping. One of the arrestees was found to have a pending felony warrant against him and is awaiting extradition to Arkansas. [Submitted by Lt. Tom Neider, US Park Police]

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (GA)
Suicide At Intersection In Park

A visitor came upon a man slumped over in a parked car near the intersection of Old Highway 41 and Ridenour Road on the morning of Sunday, August 21st. When the visitor checked, he found that there was blood on the man and a handgun on his lap. Cobb County officers were first on scene and determined that the man was dead. He was subsequently identified as an 84-year-old resident of Marietta, Georgia. He had no known illness, but his family reported that he was depressed and tired of living. Rangers and Cobb County officers are investigating. [Submitted by L.R. Morris, Chief Ranger]

NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire/Incident Highlights — Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Preparedness Level 4

Initial attack was moderate on Tuesday. Three of the 240 newly-reported fires became large fires, and another three large fires were contained.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Weather Forecast

High pressure will build over the west for a continued warming trend. However, an upper low will be moving towards the northern California coast. Along the Gulf

Coast, it will be partly cloudy with a slight chance of thundershowers. Highs will be 85 to 90.

Red Flag Warnings

A red flag warning has been posted for low humidity over the Los Angeles County mountains above 4,000 feet.

A red flag warning has been posted for a Haines Index of six over much of western Idaho.

Fire Weather Watches

None today.

NPS Fires

For a brief supplemental narrative on each fire, click on the bar with the arrow. Internal NPS readers can link directly to full reports on each fire by clicking on the notepad icon; public readers of the Morning Report can obtain similar information by going to http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

Park	State	Fire	Type	Acres	Percent Contain	Est. Full Contain
Devils Postpile National Monument	CA	Devils Postpile Mechanical Fuel Reduction	Prescribed Mechanical Treatment	7 acres when complete		September 30, 2005
	Latest Narrative: During the month of September, the National Park Service (NPS) will finish a 7-acre mechanical fuel reduction project in Devils Postpile National Monument. The project is designed to protect people and structures from wildfire by thinning and/or removing excess fuels in the northeast corner of the monument. The project is located south and east of the entrance road and north of the Visitor Center, Ranger Station, and housing area.

National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Changes in the status of a fire (type of team, change from a fire to a complex, etc.) are also noted in boldface. Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

Commitments are now divided into two tables — one for Hurricane Katrina recovery operations and one for fires.

* Planning team
# Logistics management team

National Resource Commitments

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf
National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on NPS Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) and on park fires can be found at:
FAM — http://www.nps.gov/fire
Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

Director/Deputy Directors
Hurricane Katrina Resource Availability Request

Deputy Director Steve Martin issued the following memorandum to all regional directors, entitled "Hurricane Katrina Resource Availability Request," on Wednesday on behalf of Director Mainella. A response is required by 5 p.m. EDT on September 9th. For a copy of the memorandum and the attachment, click on "More Information" at the bottom of this text.

We have been requested by the Department of the Interior to provide an in-depth listing of all National Park Service resources available for deployment to Hurricane Katrina.  In order to meet this request, I am requesting that each park provide a list of personnel and equipment resources available to deploy to the recovery effort.  Additionally, parks should provide a listing of available housing to be utilized for displaced evacuees should that need occur.  Regions wanting to compile information centrally, should communicate directly with their parks, keeping in mind the short timeline for this request. Absent additional direction from the regions, parks should submit their requests individually as outlined below.
  

All information should be placed on the attached spreadsheet (one response per park unit) and emailed directly to the Shenandoah Emergency Incident Coordination Center (SHEN EICC).  Parks that have already submitted information to their regions and/or SHEN EICC, should only submit additional information. 

Parks should assess and list the following available resources:

Housing

Potential facilities for housing displaced storm victims such as employee housing, campgrounds with hook ups, training centers.  Please include the capacity for each unit identified, as well as noting available schooling nearby.

Identification of Critical Resources

o        aircraft (fixed and rotary wing)

o        non-law enforcement personnel with medic, EMT or first responder training and certification

o        certified and experienced scuba divers

o        qualified and experienced search and rescue personnel and equipment

o        boats and boat operators with transportation

o        heavy equipment including lowboys, fuel trucks, loaders, dump trucks, tank trucks, graders, and generators

o        law enforcement vehicles (including 4x4s)

o        law enforcement officers (not already assigned to Special Event Teams and homeland security rotations)

o        portable toilets

o        personnel with special skill sets not listed here

Required Long Term Resources

We expect to have long term resource requirements to support clean-up and reconstruction and are also requesting the availability for the following resources:

• trade skills to include; carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and other construction personnel etc.
• heavy equipment operators
• sawyers
• employees skilled in Facility Management Software System (FMSS) and data entry
• contracting officers

These resources will be collected in a central database and provided to the NPS Type I Incident Management Team and Washington office to ensure they are prioritized to address the most critical needs.  These non-fire resources will be entered in ROSS (Resource Ordering Status System) by SHEN EICC and made available to the incident.

Parks must provide resource (personnel and equipment) as well as housing availability information via e-mail to "SHEN EICC" using the attached excel spreadsheet by 5:00 pm EDT, September 9, 2005, and include the following information: park name and location, resource type (personnel, equipment supplies, covered above), qualification, quantity, (covered above), 24/7 contact information, and any other pertinent information that would be essential to know in advance of a mobilization.  The deadline given above is intended to capture what is readily available at this point in time and parks are asked to constantly assess their resources and can/should provide updates to SHEN EICC at any time until further notice.

Resource Ordering Clarification

In order to provide a measured and centralized response to this incident, we have maintained direct control over the deployment of our law enforcement and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) employees.  Employees fitting into these categories should only be deployed by the NPS Type I Incident Management Team through the SHEN EICC (not through the local geographic coordination centers).  Parks may continue to release all other personnel through normal resource ordering channels, but should communicate this data to the SHEN EICC so we can track all employees, irrespective of assignment. Parks should expect assignments to last 32 days.

Any requests that parks may have for response to non-Katrina related incidents for law enforcement  resources (SETT, CISM, Homeland Security) should be referred to their respective regional chief rangers for discussion, prioritization and coordination with the NPS Type I Incident Management Team and SHEN-EICC.

We are dealing with a dynamic and rapidly evolving situation which will likely result in changes to the information that is being requested of you and your parks.  I want to thank each of you for your patience and understanding as we attempt to respond to the many and diverse needs being placed on our organization in the days, weeks, and months ahead.  For the most up to date information concerning the NPS response to Hurricane Katrina, please visit InsideNPS.
 More Information...

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found by clicking here. 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 Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.