NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
INCIDENTS
Big South Fork NR&RA
Significant Ice Storm Hits Park And Region
A large ice storm last Saturday crippled a large portion of the Upper Cumberland Plateau, including Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
The storm came on the heels of a week of snow and subfreezing temperatures that left area residents struggling to drive and local schools and businesses closed due to unsafe road conditions. Snow-covered roads became ice sheets and trees, branches and power lines were broken by the weight of the ice and wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph.
Some area residents are still without power and phone service. Currently, the HYPERLINK "http://www.tnema.org/" Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has Tennessee at a Level II state of emergency.
The area hardest hit in the park appears to be south of the Kentucky state line, but the full impact to park roads and facilities has not yet been determined due to icy road conditions and the large number of downed trees. Park staff are currently focused on clearing main access roads. There are no reports of stranded visitors at this point.
[Niki Stephanie Nicholas, Superintendent]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):
Jewel Cave NP - Volunteer cavers discovered and explored new passages within Jewel Cave over the Valentine's Day weekend. Their survey increased the size of the cave, already considered the third longest in the world.
Office of Communications - Several changes have been made to park websites in order to improve the visitor experience, assist in making NPS.gov mobile friendly, and prepare NPS.gov for centennial designs that will launch next January.
Big Thicket NP - Earlier this month, the fire management team at Big Thicket National Preserve was recognized with an award for its hard work and ability to maintain a high standard of excellence.
Northeast Region - Maryanne Gerbauckas, the associate regional director for resource stewardship in Northeast Regional Office, is retiring on Friday, February 27th.
Yosemite NP - Myron “Griss” Grissom recently arrived in the park to become its new safety and occupational health manager. He has worked in safety and occupational health for over 30 years.
To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:
NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/
The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
--- ### ---