NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
INCIDENTS
East Coast Parks
Hurricane Earl Leaves Carolina Parks Unscathed
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.
Outer Banks Group (Cape Hatteras, Fort Raleigh, Wright Brothers) - Damage assessments of all areas in the three parks were completed by Saturday morning, and all were found to have weathered the hurricane with little harm. Here's an itemization of the status of facilities as of Saturday morning:
Ocracoke - The visitor center and campground reopened at noon on Saturday, with the reservation system for the latter back on line. The Silver Lake boat docks also reopened, but the sound-side boat ramp remained closed. The airstrip at Ocracoke reopened on Saturday. Several ramps reopened for ORV and pedestrian access, but the South Point Road ramp was closed due to flooding.
Hatteras - The visitor center and lighthouse reopened on Sunday, as did Frisco campground. Cape Point campground closed for the season due to flooding. Billy Mitchell Airstrip reopened. Ramps 23, 34, 38, 43, 49, and 55 are open for ORV and pedestrian access.
Bodie Island - The visitor center and Oregon Inlet campground reopened on Saturday. Ramp 4 reopened for ORV and pedestrian access.
Wright Brothers - The visitor center reopened on Saturday.
Fort Raleigh - The visitor center remains closed.
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]
Katmai NP
Search For Missing Floatplane Scaled Back
The search for the missing floatplane with four people aboard - pilot Marco Aletto and park employees Mason McLeod and brothers Neal and Seth Spradlin - was significantly scaled back on Saturday. The floatplane disappeared on August 21st after taking off from Swikshak Bay. No sign has since been found of either the plane or the four men. “We have logged almost 60,000 flight miles over the past two weeks,” said Regional Director Sue Masica. “Despite an exhaustive effort on the part of the park, the incident management team, and others, we have found no leads. We are scaling back our efforts in part to reduce risk to those participating in this complex operation.” Said Superintendent Ralph Moore: “All of us here at Katmai National Park, and in the communities of Naknek and King Salmon, are devastated by this tragic incident. To lose such fine people hurts deeply. Our hearts go out to the families of Neal, Seth, and Mason and to our friends at Branch River Air.” The National Park Service is grateful for the invaluable support of volunteer aircraft, agency aircraft, and pilot time that assisted with the search. The multi-agency effort included the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Fire Service, U.S. Coast Guard, the Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Department of the Interior Aviation Management Directorate, Federal Aviation Administration, and National Transportation Safety Board, as well as local air taxi operators and others. The National Park Service will continue limited searching with regular park patrols and other resources. All pilots flying over the park are encouraged to observe and report any leads as well. [Adrienne Freeman, Kathleen Kavalok]
North Cascades NP
Body Of Missing Climber Found
The body of missing climber J.A. was found by rangers on the north slope of Storm King Mountain on Friday while they were conducting an aerial search along the “fall line” below the location where his waist pack was found on Thursday. While previous flights had been made in this area, recent snow melt made it possible to find his body. This location was approximately 300 feet below where the waist pack was found. At the time of the report, rescue personnel were in the process of evaluating recovery options, which were complicated by the steep, technical and unstable terrain. The 49-year-old mountaineer had planned to solo climb Storm King Mountain on Saturday, August 28th, and was reported missing two days later. Fifty people from the National Park Service, Chelan Mountain Rescue, the community of Stehekin, and the King County Sheriff's Office subsequently conducted ground and aerial searches over steep and difficult terrain, covering a 1500-acre search area. A backpack belonging to J.A. was found last Wednesday by a ground search team at the 7400-foot elevation directly below Storm King Mountain's 8500-foot summit. The waist pack was found at the 8000-foot elevation. [Kerry Olson, Stehekin District Interpreter]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):
Lyndon B. Johnson NHP - LBJ's Presidential Lockheed Jet Star, restored to its 1960's glory, was dedicated as a new permanent exhibit at the park on President Johnson's birthday on August 27th.
Blue Ridge Parkway - The Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th anniversary inspired a Virginia couple to create an educational corn maze that celebrates their historic neighbor. Photo.
Grand Teton NP - The park, in partnership with Trout Unlimited, will begin a project to remove the Spread Creek Dam—a dilapidated water diversion structure located on a tributary of the Upper Snake River. The project will reconnect approximately 50 miles of critical trout habitat along Spread Creek. Photo.
NPS Alumni - Harry Myers, a career NPS employee who retired in 2007, died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 31st after a massive heart attack. He was 60 years old. Photo.
NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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