NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

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INCIDENTS

South Florida Areas

Parks Take Stock as Wilma Head Out to Sea

The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) continues to gather information and prepare to assist south Florida NPS units now that Hurricane Wilma has passed out of the state and into the Atlantic. Operations and logistics have been coordinating with parks and local entities to prepare to address employee and park needs. Preliminary damage assessments have been received by the team, regional director and WASO. Some employees at Everglades and Biscayne have still not been accounted for. Since cellular communications and land phone lines have been damaged, it's likely that employees are fine but having trouble connecting with their park. While some areas still have not been inspected, indications are that Everglades and Big Cypress have sustained significant damage to visitor centers, housing, and other infrastructure. Biscayne is scheduled to give the team an accurate damage assessment today after park staff gain access to headquarters, docks and islands. Park staff on the mainland hope to inspect Dry Tortugas by helicopter today to assess damage there. Generally, power, water and communications are non-existent or spotty in all areas. Wind damage to roofs, structures, docks, power lines and downed trees are widespread throughout south Florida. A small number of incident management team members will travel to the Everglades/Big Cypress/Biscayne area today and the rest of the team will follow as soon as they can be supported logistically.

Big Cypress NP

Park housing, private homes and park headquarters are damaged. Not all park employees living in the park are accounted for. There are access problems, especially in the remote areas of the park. There is no power, potable water or communications anywhere. At Oasis VC, a fence was blown down, the roof sustained damage on the restroom and the electricity is out. Seventeen of 27 cell towers are down. The park estimates that it needs significant help with carpentry, roofing, electrical repair and security. There is a natural resource concern about the red cockaded woodpecker and nest damage.

Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP

All Key Largo employees have been accounted for, but some employees from other park areas are still to be contacted. Communications issues are suspected to be the cause of at least some employees not calling in yet. All employees at Dry Tortugas have been accounted for. Damage includes downed trees and the predictable results of a ten-foot storm surge. There is no obvious damage at headquarters. Getting to Flamingo to assess damage is difficult at this point due to downed trees. No damage assessment has yet been conducted at Dry Tortugas, but an overflight of the park will take place today. There was not as much damage in Everglade City as expected.

Biscayne NP

As of 5 p.m. on Monday, nine employees were still not accounted for. Again, communications issues could be the primary cause. There is minor roof damage to headquarters and roof damage to private homes. The islands have not been checked yet. High winds resulted in downed trees, downed power lines and damaged docks. So far, only a trail to headquarters has been cleared. Park staff plan to travel to headquarters and the islands today to assess damage.

De Soto NM

There was no structural damage to headquarters. A mile and a half of power lines are down on SR 9336.

Canaveral NS

The bridges at Canaveral are still closed, so no damage assessment has been made. It's expected that Hurricane Wilma caused significant erosion of the beaches and damage to boardwalks. Details will be reported after Tuesday's assessment.

[Shauna Dyas, IO, National IMT]

Gulf Coast Areas

Update on Hurricane Katrina Recovery Operations

Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP

A Type 3 team (Greg Stiles, IC) is managing the incident.

Facilities and Resource Group - Stabilization work continues on the Superintendent's House and the Carriage House at Chalmette National Cemetery and the Malus-Beauregard House at Chalmette Battlefield. Group members will also be working with the contractor on the demolition of the Chalmette Battlefield visitor center.

Law Enforcement Group - Rangers continue to patrol Barataria Preserve and Chalmette Battlefield to provide security for incident and park staff, prevent illegal dumping, and enforce other laws.

Nineteen people are now committed to the incident.

Gulf Islands NS

A Type 3 team (Rich Degnan, IC) is managing the incident.

No report.

Additional Information

A web site has been established as a repository for official documents related to hurricane recovery operations: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1.

Golden Gate NRA

Homicide Investigation

On Sunday, October 23rd, a ranger was patrolling Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands when he came upon a young man with his car door open, vomiting onto the pavement. The ranger, suspecting that the man might be intoxicated, stopped and investigated. He asked the driver to get out of his vehicle and provide him with his driver's license. A Park Police officer, a field training officer, and a field training ranger soon arrived on scene to provide assistance and backup. The ranger ran a computer check on the driver, which yielded several restraining orders and a warrantless search as a condition of probation. The ranger began administering field sobriety tests while the Park Police officer searched the interior of the vehicle, finding nothing. The field training officer and field training ranger remained and continued the search of the vehicle. Upon opening the trunk, the latter discovered the body of a woman. At the same time, the driver jumped over a guardrail and began running down the cliff side with the ranger who made the stop in pursuit. When he caught up to the driver and placed him under arrest, he noticed several cuts on the driver's wrists. Presidio firefighters and paramedics responded and took the driver to Marin General Hospital, accompanied by rangers and a Park Police officer. The woman was pronounced dead by paramedics. Park Police criminal investigators and an identification technician were summoned to the scene. The driver was cleared and later taken to Park Police headquarters, where he was interviewed by investigators. He was to appear in federal court yesterday. The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending. [Kim Coast, Operations Supervisor]

Sleeping Bear Dunes NL

Fatal Motorcycle Accident

A 26-year-old woman from Kalamazoo was killed on the afternoon of Saturday, October 15th, when she lost control of her motorcycle, failed to negotiate a curve on a state highway that passes through the park, ran off the road, and hit a tree. She was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The weather was clear and the road surface was dry at the time of the accident. The woman was part of a group of 20 motorcyclists riding through the park. A member of the group told the responding ranger that the woman was an inexperienced motorcycle operator, having just earned her motorcycle endorsement last spring. [Larry Johnson, Chief Ranger]

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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