New Orleans Jazz |  |
The following Incident Reports were extracted from the NPS Morning Reports/Coalition Reports from 1989-2025. They are not a complete record of all incidents which occurred in this park during this timeframe. INCIDENTS | |
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Wednesday, September 2, 1998 Parks along the Gulf Coast have begun preparing for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Earl: o Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHS (LA) - Both parks have closed in anticipation of the storm's arrival. These actions are in keeping with the park's hurricane action plan, which mandates closure of the two areas when a hurricane warning is issued in order to permit time for staff to take necessary actions to protect themselves and their property. [CRO, GUIS, 9/1; JR Tomasovic, CR, GUIS, 9/2; Jim Carson, JELA, 9/1; Ken Garvin, SERO, 9/2]
Reports have been received from three parks: o Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHS (LA) - Both parks reopened yesterday and resumed normal operations. Two to three inches of rain fell over the New Orleans area and there were wind gusts of minimal tropical storm strength, but no damages or injuries occurred. [CRO, GUIS, 9/2; Jim Carson, JELA, 9/3; Ken Garvin, SERO, 9/3]
Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Frances caused serious street flooding in the greater New Orleans area on September 11th and lead to the closure of the headquarters area for the two parks to permit staff to get home safely. Trails and interior roads in the Chalmette and Barataria Preserve units were also flooded and accordingly closed; Acadian sites remained open. The entire area received more than 20 inches of rain between September 11th and 13th. The Chalmette unit may open today, but it's doubtful if the Barataria Preserve will reopen due to strong south winds pushing water into the preserve and keeping flood waters from subsiding. At present, it appears that no park employee suffered any personal property damage and that property damage to the parks has been minimal. It's probable, however, that park staff will soon be engaged in clean up of downed trees, storm debris and possibly sediment. [Jim Carson, JELA/JAZZ, 9/14]
A number of parks in Southeast Region are either recovering from the hurricane's impacts or are still weathering it as it slowly moves inland: o Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP (LA) - The parks closed at noon on Friday and all employees were released to secure private property. Employees will be using Natchez Trace NHP for emergency notification and contact both during and after the hurricane. [Ken Garvin, SERO, 9/25-28; Joe O'Haver, BICY, 9/25-26; JR Tomasovic, GUIS, 9/25-26; Rob Shanks, BISC, 9/26; Maureen McGee-Ballinger, EVER, 9/26; Roberta D'Amico, EVER, 9/27; Jim Carson, JELA/JAZZ, 9/27; Rick Black, SAJU, 9/27]
Reports have been received from several parks which have been or are being affected by the hurricane: o Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP (LA) - Park staff returned to work yesterday and both areas should reopen today. Employees report only sporadic and minor damage to personal property. A damage assessment of park areas is underway. Tropical force winds of 50 to 65 mph struck the area, but there was very little rain. The NPS is also providing critical incident stress counseling for employees at Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico. The hurricane caused major damage to forest resources and facilities and affected numerous employees. The Forest Service requested a Spanish-speaking CISM team. Four NPS peer supporters, most of whom speak Spanish, are en route; Gus Martinez of Big Bend NP is the team leader. [JR Tomasovic, GUIS, 9/27-28; Brian Loadholtz, DESO, 9/28; Pat Buccello, CISM Coordinator, NPS, 9/28; Ken Garvin, SERO, 9/28; Kris Stoehr, EVER, 9/28; Larry Belles, BICY, 9/27; Jim Carson, JELA, 9/29; Monika Mayr, BISC, 9/30]
Today's report summarizes preparations for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Ivan on the Gulf Coast and for Tropical Storm Jeanne in the Virgin Islands. Along with park preparations, the National Park Service and kindred agencies have been working behind the scenes making preparations to respond quickly where and when needed. The emergency service coordinators from Southeast, National Capital and Northeast Regions and the Eastern IMT incident commanders have been conducting daily conference calls to coordinate a possible NPS response. Rick Brown's team is on standby. Daily conference calls are also being held between and among federal agencies in the Southeast, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, BIA, Forest Service, US Geological Service and representatives from the interagency command team that is assisting FEMA. Here's the latest from the parks: New Orleans Jazz NHP — The park has closed.
Hurricane Katrina caused significant damage in Everglades NP, but so far appears not to have had a major impact on other Florida parks. This morning, the hurricane will again make landfall, probably in Louisiana. It will then move to the north and east, bringing heavy rains along its path. This morning's summary begins with preparations in Louisiana, then reports on the hurricane's impacts in Florida: Jean Lafitte NHP/New Orleans Jazz NHP The parks began releasing employees at noon on Saturday. Employees, whether they evacuate or not, have been directed to check in with dispatch at Natchez Trace Parkway. Storm preparations were begun on Friday and completed early Saturday morning. [Submitted by Ken Garvin, Regional FMO, SERO; Leigh Zahm, Ranger, JELA; Bill Wright, Chief Ranger, EVER; Scott Anderson, Program Assistant, CANA; Brenda Lanzendorf, IC, BISC; Ed Clark, Chief Ranger, BICY]
The National Park Service is in the process of mobilizing people and resources to aid those parks that suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina. The following report is based on two sources of information - a report submitted yesterday evening by Nancy Gray, information officer for the incident management team (IMT) at Everglades, and a Tuesday morning conference call that included representatives from affected parks, members of incident management teams, Southeast Regional Office senior staff, Washington Office staff, and others. This summary is brief and by no means definitive. Additional reports will appear in these pages as they arrive: Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP Outlying areas of Jean Lafitte were largely undamaged by the storm, but there are concerns about the impacts to historic structures and other facilities in downtown New Orleans. As of yesterday morning, no one had been able to get back into the city to assess the hurricane's impacts. As with other parks, the primary effort at present is on contacting employees and assuring that they are okay. Staff in the Southeast Regional Office are currently involved in an intensive effort to complete a comprehensive assessment of damage throughout the region in order to determine which areas need what resources. Three incident management teams - a second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC), the Pacific West IMT (Denny Ziemann, IC), and the national IMT (J.D. Swed, IC) - are all on standby in case one or more teams are needed.
The National Park Service continues to steadily increase its support to parks hit by Hurricane Katrina. Two incident management teams (IMTs) have so far been committed to Hurricane Katrina recovery operations and a third is on standby. As previously noted, one Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is now at Everglades NP, assisting the park staff with damage to Flamingo and to Dry Tortugas NP. A second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC) is currently en route to Gulf Islands NS to work with that park on recovery operations in the Mississippi District. And the national IMT (JD Swed, IC) is on standby for possible deployment to the New Orleans area to assist the staffs at Jean Lafitte NHP&P, New Orleans Jazz NHP and any other areas that might need assistance. One critical incident stress management (CISM) team has been committed to Everglades and another will likely soon be dispatched to Gulf Islands. Other teams of specialists are on standby and will be committed when the necessary ground work has been laid to accommodate them. Numerous NPS employees have also been called out to support FEMA, DOI or other agencies in recovery operations. Here's a wrap-up of what was known about affected parks as of yesterday evening: Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP Not much information is yet available due to the lack of communications and the staff's inability to return to the downtown portions of either site. Almost all employees from both parks have been accounted for; efforts continue to contact those who've not been heard from. [Nancy Gray, IO, EVER; Nina Kelson, GUIS; Keith Whisenant, NATC; Charles Cuvelier, NATR]
The National Park Service, Department of Interior and overall Federal commitment to hurricane relief and recovery operations took another step forward yesterday. Three NPS incident management teams (IMTs) have now been committed to Hurricane Katrina recovery operations: One Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is at Everglades NP, assisting the park staff with repairs to damage at Flamingo and Dry Tortugas NP. 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. The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is en route to assist the staff at Jean Lafitte NHP&P with employee support and park recovery operations when the latter become possible. The team is currently in Houston, Texas, but will be moving closer to New Orleans once support facilities are found. Other teams of specialists are on standby and will be committed when the necessary ground work has been laid to accommodate them. So far, the National Park Service has committed about 110 people to recovery operations. The NPS response is just a small part of a massive federal response that grows day by day. As of yesterday morning, DOI estimated that more than 400 employees had been committed to Hurricane Katrina support operations. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise is preparing for an even more extensive Interior/Agriculture commitment. In a report released yesterday, NIFC calculated what resources it could release for the recovery effort while still maintaining a sufficient reserve to fight wildland fires. Managers of NIFC's participating agencies are prepared to make available two area command teams, eight Type 1 IMTs, 20 Type 2 IMTs, and 155 crews. They are also prepared to dispatch aircraft, materials stored in the eleven geographic area caches, radios, and contracted services. Here's today's summary, based on email reports (including a couple of parks that haven't previously appeared in this summary) and information gleaned from a conference call yesterday morning: Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP Eight employees have still not been contacted and efforts to reach them continue. One employee is stuck in the French Quarter and unavailable to evacuate. Priority efforts will be made to resolve that situation. As noted previously, it's not yet possible for staff to return to sites in New Orleans, so the status of facilities remains unknown. Staff at Jean Lafitte are hoping to arrange an overflight of the Chalmette and Barataria units to assess the condition of those two units. [Nancy Gray, IO, EVER; John Bandurski, GUIS; John Quirk, JAZZ; Leigh Zahm and Karl Hakala, JELA; Rusty Rawson, NATR; Holly Rife, CATO; Stacy Allen, SHIL; Monika Mayr, VICK]
Due to the rapidly evolving National Park Service and federal response to Hurricane Katrina recovery operations and the need to disseminate important information as promptly and broadly as possible, the Morning Report and the front page of InsideNPS were updated and transmitted each day over this past three-day weekend. The following report contains all important information, including the current status of the affected parks, but interested readers should see the Saturday, Sunday and Monday editions for prior updates on park status. The following long report includes, in order:
The NPS has already made a significant personnel commitment to hurricane recovery operations. As of this past Saturday night, the Southern Area Coordination Center, which is coordinating resource orders for affected areas in the South, reported that 339 National Park Service employees had been committed to NPS incidents, FEMA incidents and other related operations. NPS Emergency Response Plan In response to the September 11, 2001 attack on America and the resultant homeland security issues, the National Park Service developed a National Emergency Response Plan (NERP). This plan was developed to make it possible for the NPS to manage any national crisis, large-scale emergency or designated special event to ensure a unified and coordinated response. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, the President has made recovery efforts related to Katrina the highest national priority, exceeding all other Executive Branch responsibilities. The NPS has a long history of responding to emergency needs during times of natural disasters and once again we are being asked to step up. The Secretary of the Interior has asked the NPS and every DOI bureau to do everything that they can to provide assistance and manpower to the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Director Mainella has consulted with her senior staff and program managers in setting the national response level. As a result of the President's declaration and subsequent meetings with Secretary Norton and other bureau directors, the director last Friday decided to raise the NPS national emergency response level from Level III to Level IV. This will enable the NPS to meet the ever increasing demand for our resources. The director has also signed a delegation of authority placing the responsibility to respond to this disaster with the NPS Type I incident management team under IC JD Swed. This authority will allow the NPS to respond in a timely manner. While freeing up more resources to respond to this national disaster, we must also retain the capacity to continue to respond to the full range of emergency situations: fire, search and rescue, law enforcement, emergency medical and natural disaster response that occur within the parks. In determining the minimum level of resources necessary to meet essential mission related expectations in the parks, the superintendent should consider:
To see a copy of the National Emergency Response Plan and its provisions, click on http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/ACF23%2Edoc National Direction The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) will be dealing with both national response issues, as noted above, and issues pertaining directly to Jean Lafitte NHP&P and New Orleans Jazz NHP. The team continues to operate out of its interim ICP in Houston, as they have not yet identified a locale closer to New Orleans to setup their operations. The IMT has setup three operational branches. Actions these past two days included:
Two other important notes from the team:
Immunizations for Responders As the Department of Interior begins to mobilize it's efforts to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, it is essential that individual employees be prepared to encounter the environment that they will be deploying to. Regarding immunizations for individual deploying to the recovery efforts, we provide the following, after consultation with the Public Health Service, CDC and FOH. Tetanus status should be up-to-date within the past five years and is mandatory before deployment (note that some general public health recommendations allow ten years between shots). Hepatitis A vaccination is highly recommended for those who can arrange to have it prior to deployment. This is a two shot series that can be started before deployment and then completed as time allows. This is a conservative preventative measure that is desirable, but is not mandatory, and should not hold up deployment of essential personnel. There is a heightened risk of Hepatitis A exposure wherever individuals come into contact with sewage-contaminated water or with objects that have been flooded with such water. Personal protective measures for prevention of Hepatitis A include personal hygiene practices (frequent washing of hands, use of gloves where practical, consumption of known clean food and water supplies). These protective measures will also minimize risk of contracting other water and food borne ailments (gastroenteritis, etc.) Anyone responding to Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts should be sure that they have these necessary immunizations, primarily Tetanus and Hepatitis A. Comprehensive Health Services, Inc., the contractor that covers the medical examinations for NPS commissioned personnel, can be used for these inoculations. If employees cannot get to a Comprehensive Heath Service facility, they may utilize any medical facility that will take a U.S. government credit card. The account number to use for this will be 7531-0501-MEM. If you have any questions, contact Dan Pontbriand at 202-513-7093. Employee Relief Fund 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. As you have seen or heard from the media, it may be several weeks (or longer) before others can even return to their homes to see what, if anything, is left. At this time, all basic needs such as water, electricity, and phone access have been cut off. According to the NPS Southeast Regional Office, "Employees and their families are in need of whatever assistance others can give." 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. "The Employees and Alumni Association of the National Park Service has been a long term partner of the NPS, and wants to do whatever we can to support the NPS family in their time of need. The board has therefore established The Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund to provide support to NPS family members who have been significantly affected by the storm," stated Eastern National board chair Melody Webb. 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. Waiving Campground Fees for Displaced Persons The following memo was issued by Deputy Director Steve Martin on Friday: It has come to our attention that displaced persons from Hurricane Katrina have begun to arrive at NPS campgrounds looking for a place to stay. At this time, we do not know to what extent NPS campgrounds may be sought as a safe haven for displaced people from the Gulf Coast region. So far, this has been limited to parks in the Midwest and Southeast Regions, but as the devastation from this event becomes more apparent, long-term planning may be necessary both to lend assistance to the displaced and continue to manage park resources. For the sake of consistency, we are asking that all parks wherever possible accommodate these visitors at no fee. With the Labor Day holiday upon us, we ask that parks implement an interim policy of waiving fees for Katrina refugees through Monday, September 12th. Guidance will be issued by Friday, September 9th, concerning next steps and extensions as more information becomes available. For those parks on one of the reservation systems, we suggest that your reservation POC contact the appropriate contractor, Spherix: Data Management Division (301)-784-9001, Reserve America, help desk (877) 345-6777 and discuss your campground situation. The Washington Office has already contacted them and asked to have all unreserved inventory put on hold for the month of September in order to give us more flexibility in our long-term planning efforts. For reporting purposes, we ask that all parks keep stats on the following: # of individuals per site If you have further questions please contact Rick Delappe, NPS Reservation Service Manager at 435-668-7268. [Submitted by Nancy Gray, IO, EVER; Peter Givens, IO, and Rick Brown, IC, GUIS; Chesley Moroz, Eastern National; Dennis Burnett, WASO; David Bleicher, WASO; Rick Delappe, WASO; members of the National IMT. ]
Due to the rapidly evolving National Park Service and federal response to Hurricane Katrina recovery operations and the need to disseminate important information as promptly and broadly as possible, the Morning Report and the front page of InsideNPS were updated and transmitted each day over this past three-day weekend. The following report contains all important information, including the current status of the affected parks, but interested readers should see the Saturday, Sunday and Monday editions for prior updates on park status. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP Members of the National IMT made it into New Orleans on Sunday. They found that the building on Decatur Street that houses the headquarters for both parks was in good shape and lacked only power. The nearby visitor center for New Orleans Jazz had been broken into; although some items were taken, neither the damage nor the losses appeared to be serious. They also checked Jean Lafitte's Barataria unit. Trees are down and there's no power or water, but the area is intact overall and has been deemed a good location for staging IMT operations. As of late Sunday, there were 24 people committed to the incident. [Submitted by Nancy Gray, IO, EVER; Peter Givens, IO, and Rick Brown, IC, GUIS; Chesley Moroz, Eastern National; Dennis Burnett, WASO; David Bleicher, WASO; Rick Delappe, WASO; members of the National IMT. ]
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:
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. 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 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). [Submitted by Debbie Santiago, IO, IMT, Houston; Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER; Peter Givens, IO, IMT, GUIS; Jerry Pendleton, PAO, NATR]
Today's summary follows... Incident Documents A new web site has been established as a repository for documents related to hurricane recovery operations. Here are some of the things you can find there: The newly-released guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO documents) A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO documents) Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (WASO documents) Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under NIFC hurricane response documents). The web page is HYPERLINK http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1 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. Report pending. Employee Relief Fund [Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER]
The East IMT at Everglades has begun finishing up its operations, the second East IMT at Gulf Islands has determined that all facilities on the two offshore islands were wiped out by the storm (with one or two exceptions), and the National IMT, now relocated to Thibodaux in Louisiana, continues assisting employees and working toward restoration of park facilities. Information Directory 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". Now posted there are: NEW: A new subsection entitled "National Response Plan" (left hand column) contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) in the National Response Plan - the document which is guiding the entire federal response The newly-released guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO documents) A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO documents) Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (WASO documents) Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under NIFC hurricane response documents). There are also web pages that are now available that provide a good deal of additional information. We will post some of the more significant of these: Disaster Help - This is a major federal public site on the Katrina recovery which includes a wide variety of important links. HYPERLINK "https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml" https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. The team and its ICP are now located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, Louisiana, part of Jean Lafitte NHP&P. As an area command, the team oversees Hurricane Katrina recovery operations at Everglades National Park and Gulf Islands National Seashore, and manages operations at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. For Jean Lafitte NHP&P and New Orleans JAZZ NHP, three operational branches were established by the management team for efficiency and effectiveness. Employee Assistance Branch - The branch determines the urgent needs of affected NPS employees and provides appropriate immediate assistance. At this time, more than 100 employees have been contacted. The branch enters information received about the status of affected employees into the employee status database. The center also gathers information concerning long term housing needs and availability as well as temporary employment opportunities for affected employees. An NPS Employee Assistance Center is located at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, 250 West Park Avenue, Eunice, Louisiana (337-457-8499, 8490 or 7700) and at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (337-250-2161 or 2184). Resources and Facilities Branch - The branch conducts safe access into New Orleans Jazz NHP and Jean Lafitte NHP&P to assess damages. It consists of three groups - facility assessment, utilities, and cultural resources. If utilities are not restored today, the cultural group will remove the cultural collection from Jean Lafitte's French Quarter Visitor Center at 419 Decatur Street in New Orleans. Law Enforcement Branch - The branch continues to evaluate requests for assistance, determine the safest routes to specific sites, and provide security for all personnel throughout the recovery and evacuation processes. Yesterday, law enforcement personnel escorted NPS employees to their residences in New Orleans and assisted them with the removal of property from residences, with securing damaged houses, and with scouting houses for access. Eagle One, a Park Police helicopter, will provide over-flights for damage assessments and serve as the NPS medivac ship. Currently 130 employees work on the NPS National Incident Management team. For more information, contact team's information office at HYPERLINK Katrina_info_nps@yahoo.com Employee Relief Fund [Debbie Santiago, IO, IMT, Houston; Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Highlights of yesterday's operations at the affected parks: The Eastern IMT (Wissinger) at Everglades/Dry Tortugas will be demobilized by tomorrow afternoon. Demob operations are underway. The second Eastern IMT (Brown) at Gulf Islands hosted a gathering and cookout in Davis Bayou for park staff, volunteers and partners. Crews are making significant progress on cleanup operations. The National IMT (Swed) has compiled stats on the storms terrible impact on employee homes in the parks (details below). The Chalmette VC is a total loss; the Barataria VC will need substantial work. Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: NEW: A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). NEW: A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). NEW: A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). NEW: Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) in the National Response Plan - the document which is guiding the entire federal response (found on the left hand column of the main page). A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). There are also web pages that are now available that provide a good deal of additional information. We will post some of the more significant of these: Disaster Help - This is a major federal public site on the Katrina recovery which includes a wide variety of important links. HYPERLINK "https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml" Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. The operation is divided into three branches: Employee Assistance Branch The branch determines the urgent needs of affected NPS employees and provides appropriate immediate assistance. All 100 NPS employees affected by the hurricane from Jean Lafitte, New Orleans Jazz, Everglades and Gulf Islands have been contacted either in person or by phone. The branch personally contacted 46 employees, in groups or individually (Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz), and approximately 15 employees and 20 partners or VIPs at Gulf Islands. These employees have been dispersed in Louisiana and Mississippi with several in Texas and others in Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, New York and Tennessee. Some employees are located in different states than their immediate family members. Thus far, the branch has reunited members of two families who were in two different states, provided transportation, emergency food and clothing purchases for three park families that were displaced to Houston, provided peer support teams for assistance coping with critical incident stress, and distributed employee packets containing information on money available from FEMA, the Employee & Alumni Association and other support service resources to approximately 85 employees. They've also helped 23 employees who had problems accessing money in their banks. The branch has surveyed housing needs at six affected parks; four parks had losses. Homes of 21 employees are a total loss (Gulf Islands - two private and six government; Jean Lafitte - 12 private; New Orleans Jazz - one private). Private homes of 11 employees have had severe damage (five at Gulf Islands, six at Jean Lafitte). Private homes of 18 employees have some damage but can be reoccupied in a reasonable amount of time (eight at Gulf Islands, 10 at Jean Lafitte). The status of 15 homes is undetermined (ten at Jean Lafitte, five at New Orleans Jazz), as they remain inaccessible in flooded districts. The same applies to the homes of 22 volunteers and partners at Gulf Islands. The branch continues to compile information on local and distant housing opportunities and information on details available to displaced employees. Employee assistance centers are located at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, 250 West Park Avenue, Eunice, LA and at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA. Please call 337-250-2161 or 2184. Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette at 337-232-0789. Resources and Facilities Branch A preliminary assessment has been completed of facilities at Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz. All facilities sustained some damage; however, the most damage occurred at Chalmette and Barataria, two sites that are a part of Jean Lafitte. At Chalmette, the visitor center had 42 inches of water in it and suffered 80% mold damage on walls, furniture and displays. It is a total loss. At Barataria, the visitor center metal roof has extensive damage and requires a total replacement. The boardwalks are also damaged. After the incident management team assessment, the park and regional staff jointly determined that cultural resources needed to be temporarily relocated from Chalmette and Barataria. The team planned and executed removal of the resources. At 419 Decatur Street, Jean Lafitte park headquarters, cultural resources were inventoried and a contract was prepared for their removal. Cultural resources were to be removed from 419 Decatur Street yesterday. Law Enforcement Branch The branch, which provides security for all personnel throughout the recovery and evacuation process, secured the home of an absent park employee with plywood and plastic. They provided security for four loads of port-a-potties, generators, and other equipment for Gulf Islands, provided security escorts for four employees returning home for personal effects and critical documents, and provided a security escort for one additional employee to his home - but were stopped by water. Law enforcement rangers helped employees load their possessions, provided over ten security escorts for damage assessments of park facilities, and assisted with assessments. They conducted over-flights of a dozen inaccessible employee homes to assess status and damage, photographed the homes, and will provide DVDs to affected employees. They provided security during two trips for cultural resource crews and removed and delivered critical records for park staff and finally provided roving security for park properties. Currently 130 employees work on the NPS National Incident Management team. For more information, NPS employees can visit Inside NPS. The public can access information at HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/" www.nps.gov/morningreport. For further information, contact the NPS National Incident Management Team Information Office at Katrina_info_nps@yahoo.com Employee Relief Fund [Debbie Santiago and Morgan Miller, IO's, IMT, Houston; Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Summaries of yesterday's operations follow the information directory that appears below: Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). Response Topics A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) found in that plan (found on the left hand column of the main page). Infectious Disease Control - A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). Health and Safety Issues Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). Other Useful Sites This is a major federal public site on the Katrina recovery which includes a wide variety of important links. HYPERLINK https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. The operation is divided into three branches: Employee Assistance Branch The branch determines the urgent needs of affected NPS employees and provides appropriate immediate assistance. Branch staff have gathered and refined information about housing loss and damage. The most up-to-date information is as follows: Total loss, 29 - Jean Lafitte (17), New Orleans Jazz (2), Gulf Islands (9), Gulf Islands partner/VIP (1) Severe loss, 10 - Jean Lafitte (8), Gulf Islands (2) Moderate damage, 14 - Jean Lafitte (7), Gulf Islands (7) Unknown loss, 51 - Jean Lafitte (10), New Orleans Jazz (4), Gulf Island (1), Gulf Island partner/VIP (36) No damage, 16 - Jean Lafitte (10), New Orleans Jazz (1) and Gulf Islands (5). Branch members made 14 follow-up phone calls to Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz employees and four personal contacts at the Wetlands Arcadian Cultural Center. They continue to help employees replace their losses, establish bank accounts, and stabilize their lives. A total of 59 critical incident stress management (CISM) contacts were made throughout affected parks. Employee assistance centers are located at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, 250 West Park Avenue, Eunice, LA and at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA. Please call 337-250-2161 or 2184. Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette at 337-232-0789. Resources and Facilities Branch The Chalmette Battlefield site of Jean Lafitte NP&P may have been impacted by toxic materials from a nearby superfund site and a municipal sewage treatment plant on site. More detailed hazardous material assessments will need to be conducted. Generators and fans were delivered to New Orleans Jazz. A generator was ordered for 419 Decatur Street, the headquarters building for both parks, to power fans for air circulation. Utilities at Barataria were tested and are in service. Nineteen Chalmette Battlefield artifacts, such as muskets and bayonets, were removed from the visitor center and delivered to Springfield Armory National Historic Site. Upon receiving the artifacts, Springfield Armory took steps to halt further rust and mold and stored them. At 419 Decatur Street, the removal of cultural resources has been completed. Law Enforcement Branch This branch, which provides security for all personnel throughout the recovery and evacuation process, escorted staff and a contractor to Jean Lafitte headquarters and assisted with packing and removing cultural resources. They escorted a New Orleans Jazz employee to the park to complete a damage assessment and assisted with that assessment. They provided a security escort for one employee returning home for personal effects and damage assessment and conducted over-flights of park units for team members needing an overview of the damage. They also provided roving security for park properties. Intra and Interagency Support The team has assigned a number of liaison officers to facilitate coordination and communications within and among the National Park Service, the Department of Interior and with the many agencies on this major incident. Sean McGuinness functions as the liaison officer with the Department of the Interior and the Director's Office. J.T. Reynolds is liaison officer with the Southeast Regional Director and her staff. Charles Cuvelier is the Southeast Regional Director liaison officer with the team. Chip Davis is the liaison officer with the Eastern IMT at Gulf Islands. Mike Hill serves as liaison officer with FEMA, the Louisiana Emergency Operations Coordination Center, the city of New Orleans, the emergency operations centers in affected parishes, and with numerous agencies working in and around New Orleans. Personal contacts have been made with key officials in all of the above-listed agencies and many more. Jim Northup is liaison officer with Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz. The National IMT provides assistance to other agencies as requested. For instance, law enforcement officers have conducted investigations to assist Minerals Management Service in locating missing employees. They assisted the New Orleans Police Department with a felony arrest, and provided assistance to park neighbors by opening roads, removing trees, and securing homes. The employee assistance branch provided critical incident stress management sessions for U.S. Fish and Wildlife employees involved in body recoveries and for Mississippi State University research staff (a park partner). Contacts and arrangements with other agencies have resulted in support for NPS operations. These include fuel for law enforcement officers in New Orleans from FEMA (eliminating hazards of carrying fuel) and boats and support from Federal Protective Services for accessing and assessing employee's homes in flooded portions of New Orleans. There was an offer from Federal Protective Services to reimburse the NPS up to $500,000 for air support provided by the air operations branch and flights and photographs in support of an NPS GIS unit from USGS. A cooperative working agreement was established with the military at Chalmette for security, debris removal and removal of downed trees. The IC, deputy operations section chief, and information officer made an aerial reconnaissance of the New Orleans operational area. The Southeast Regional Director and Acting Associate Director will visit Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jean Lafitte NHP&P and New Orleans Jazz NHP between September 14th and September 16th. Currently, 133 employees work on the National IMT. For more information, NPS employees can visit Inside NPS. The public can access information at HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/" www.nps.gov/morningreport. For further information, contact the NPS National Incident Management Team Information Office at Katrina_info_nps@yahoo.com Employee Relief Fund Another relief fund - the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund - has also been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina. Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. 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 to: 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. [Debbie Santiago and Morgan Miller, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Nancy Gray, IO, IMT, EVER; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Summaries of yesterday's operations follow the information directory that appears below: Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues NEW: A memo with a policy clarification on transportation of DOI employees in military aircraft. A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). Response Topics A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) found in that plan (found on the left hand column of the main page). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). Health and Safety Issues NEW: A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina PPT For Watchstanders" (under WASO Documents). NEW: A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina Safety for Responders" (under WASO Documents). Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). Other Useful Sites A major federal public site on the Katrina recovery which includes a wide variety of important links. HYPERLINK "https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml" https://disasterhelp.gov/portal/jhtml/index.jhtml Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch Twelve follow-up calls and three personal contacts were made to employees at the two parks as staff continued to assist employees replace their losses, establish bank accounts, and stabilize their lives. Four CISM contacts were made throughout affected parks. A database of employees interested in temporary details and a database of housing available to displaced employees at other NPS locations were completed. The branch organized and facilitated an all employee meeting and lunch for Gulf Island Mississippi District employees and partners (there were approximately 60 attendees). During the lunch, superintendent Jerry Eubanks addressed the employees and presented an overview of storm impacts and current status of the recovery effort. The Smoky Mountain bucket truck crew and the Virginia 10 crew continued to work with Gulf Island park personnel to assist park employees with hazard tree damage and debris clean up. Employee Assistance Centers are located at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, 250 West Park Avenue, Eunice, LA and at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA. Please call 337-250-2161 or 2184. Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette at 337-232-0789. Resources and Facilities Branch The New Orleans Jazz visitor center was secured with plywood. An inspection of the interior indicates little damage at this time, contrary to earlier expectations. The removal of cultural resources at Decatur Street was completed yesterday. Law Enforcement Branch Branch personnel escorted staff and a contractor to Jean Lafitte headquarters and assisted with packing and removing cultural resources. They escorted an employee to New Orleans Jazz to secure the building. Two Public Health Service employees were escorted to Chalmette and 419 Decatur Street. Air operations supported the NPS Southeast Regional Director's visit to Gulf Islands, Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz. Community Services National Park Service personnel are providing a variety of services to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina and to neighbors of NPS areas. These services include one-on-one service to 12 visitors to the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center visitor center in Thibodaux who were interested in information on general assistance available to displaced persons. Debris was cleared from neighboring homes (during the past two weeks) in conjunction with clearing NPS employee homes at Gulf Islands. Additional security presence in downtown New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, St Bernards Parish, Lafourch Parish, St. Landry Parish, and Lafayette Parish was provided. Ongoing but limited logistical support was provided for military operations at Chalmette. Personnel provided resources for a church renovation in Lafayette and assisted the Southern Mississippi University research lab in preparing to move a complex herbarium. They also provided CISM services to the staff of Southern Mississippi University (last week) and contacted a Gulf Islands concession ferry operator to discuss contracting boats to ferry work crews to Ship and Horn Islands for clean-up, recovery and assessment operations. Information on FEMA and other available assistance are provided daily via an information table to Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center visitor center visitors and library patrons. NPS sites are positioned to re-open as quickly as possible to provide additional incentive for public to return to hurricane-damaged areas. Interagency Activities Law enforcement located two missing Minerals Management Service staff. All staff from that agency have now been accounted for. A cooperative working agreement was established with the military at Chalmette for security, debris removal and removal of downed trees. Contact with the National Guard operation at the Ocean Springs heliport was established to coordinate scheduled flights operations. In case of bad weather, contact with the Ocean Springs Police Department was established in order to consider contingency housing/feeding needs. Navy contacts were established for pending support of heavy equipment operations and shuttles of materials to the island utilizing Navy Hovercraft and LCU. Contact was made with the Ocean Springs Pier harbor master to secure two slips at Ocean Springs in order to dock large concession ferries because the Davis Bayou area is filled with storm debris and too shallow for large boat operations. The NPS Southeast Regional Director and Acting Associate Director joined the NPS National IMT at the daily morning briefing and participated in a 9:30 a.m. Jean Lafitte all employee meeting at the Wetlands Cultural Center in Thibodaux. Currently 133 employees work on the NPS National Incident Management team. For more information, NPS employees can visit Inside NPS. The public can access information at HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport. For further information, contact the NPS National Incident Management Team Information Office at HYPERLINK Katrina_info_nps@yahoo.com Employee Relief Fund The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is an avenue for federal employees to donate to relief funds for all hurricane victims and is recommended by the Department of the Interior. The CFC in the Department will begin soon. Another relief fund - the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund - has also been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina. Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. 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 to: 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. [Debbie Santiago and Morgan Miller, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Today's summary begins with a correction. The photo that originally appeared on the front page of InsideNPS on Friday as an illustration for that day's hurricane update was not of Hurricane Katrina coming ashore, as was thought, but of a severe storm in the Midwest. It was one of a series of photos that's been making the rounds on the internet as illustrations of the hurricane. As alert readers from all over the NPS have pointed out, you can find out all about these photos on one of the "Urban Legends" web pages, which can be found at HYPERLINK http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/storm.asp . Thanks to the many of you who sent in notes pointing out the error. The mistake was entirely my own. If you look back on the Friday edition, you'll see that the picture was replaced by another illustrating damage caused by the hurricane at Chalmette. Bill Halainen, Editor. Recent developments include the following: Eastern National reports that NPS employees have come through with contributions to their fellow employees. As of Friday, they'd collected $62,077.07 and distributed $34,500 to 41 NPS employees to meet immediate, short-term needs. Denny Ziemann's Pacific West IMT has assumed responsibility for the recovery operations at Gulf Islands NS. Rick Brown's East IMT has demobilized. SER Regional Director Pat Hooks and acting ARD Judy Forte visited Gulf Islands on September 14th and Jean Lafitte on September 15th. During the latter, they attended the National IMT's morning briefing, visited the ICP, and met with employees from New Orleans Jazz and from all six units at Jean Lafitte in two sessions. Director Mainella, Deputy Director Steve Martin, and Associate Director for Visitor and Resource Protection will be traveling to the Gulf Coast and visiting all affected parks later this week. Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues A memo with a policy clarification on transportation of DOI employees in military aircraft. A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). Response Topics A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) found in that plan (found on the left hand column of the main page). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). Health and Safety Issues A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina PPT For Watchstanders" (under WASO Documents). A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina Safety for Responders" (under WASO Documents). Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch The two employee assistance centers in Louisiana have been consolidated. The single center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located both here and at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Actions included the following: Staff continue to work with all employees to resolve assistance issues. A list of employee housing needs is being developed based on the current housing condition assessment. A high priority for the branch is to continue to pursue leads for rental homes and office space for affected employees and possibly for relocated park administrative offices. Critical assistance with hazard trees and debris removal was provided to 34 employees and partner families at Gulf Islands. Staff have established a connection with FEMA in Jacksonville which will help facilitate employee claims at Gulf Islands. Contact was also made with the solicitor's office in Southeast Region to obtain claims advice for employees. Resources and Facilities Branch Actions over the past three days included the following: Cultural resources from Decatur Street have been relocated to Natchez Trace Parkway, where they are being inventoried and inspected. The cultural resources group will assist with unpacking the collection and assessing its condition. Branch members, the SER regional engineer and FMSS staff began collecting damage assessment data at Chalmette on Saturday. The assessment was largely completed by Sunday. Based on their findings, it appears that two out of five buildings have sustained damage severe enough to warrant total reconstruction. Fans have been installed at 419 Decatur for ventilation. Efforts will be made to start the air conditioning system when water service is restored in order to limit moisture damage. A growing concern is the development of mold here and at other buildings. Efforts were undertaken to preserve human remains unearthed by wind-blown trees at Chalmette National Cemetery. Archeological specialists were notified and reburial plans are being developed. A six-person chipper/saw team is removing downed trees along the roads and near the educational center at Barataria. Due to the very hot and humid weather, crew members are consuming up to two gallons of water a day and are taking frequent breaks. A deck, stairs and ADA ramp are under construction for the office trailers at Gulf Islands. Electrical service is being installed. Sites are being prepared for motor homes for displaced Gulf Islands. Contracted debris removal at Gulf Islands is underway. Hazard tree and brush removal operations continue at the Davis Bayou visitor center. Heavy fuels are also being removed from the park's boundary with the neighboring community. Law Enforcement Branch Actions over the past three days included the following: Incident personnel and a contractor were escorted to Jean Lafitte headquarters by rangers, who also assisted with packing and removal of cultural resources. Other escorts were provided to IMT staff and employees throughout the weekend. Patrols were conducted on park properties in all areas. LE staff continue to provide assistance to other agencies. Community Services Actions over the past three days included the following: Assistance was provided to USFWS in finding aircraft for their mission and arranging for a critical incident stress management team to work with their staff. Members of the law enforcement branch are providing security in downtown New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, St. Bernards Parish, Lafourche Parish, St. Landry Parish and Lafayette Parish. The team is providing ongoing but limited logistical support for military operations at Chalmette. Staff at Gulf Islands are assisting the Southern Mississippi University research lab in their preparations to move a complex herbarium. Staff visited more than ten local business in Thibodaux to discuss NPS recovery efforts, hired four local community members as drivers, and put into place agreements with community businesses, with special attention to small businesses - car rentals, fuel and supply providers, hotels, restaurants and pressure washer businesses. Arrangements were made with a University of Louisiana professor to document the preservation of Jean Lafitte's cultural resources for a future presentation. Interagency Activities The Gulf Islands IMT arranged for 20 Coast Guard families to use the park's campground housing in order to facilitate their return to work in Pascagoula. Arrangements were made with the Public Health Service to provide risk analysis and mitigation for NPS employees and coordinate with USGS for mapping data. Staff continue cooperative efforts with the military regarding cleanup work at Chalmette, including security, debris removal and the removal of downed trees. There are currently 145 people assigned to the incident. Employee Relief Fund The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is an avenue for federal employees to donate to relief funds for all hurricane victims and is recommended by the Department of the Interior. The CFC in the Department will begin soon. Another relief fund - the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund - has also been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina. Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. 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 to: 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. [Debbie Santiago and Morgan Miller, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Highlights of yesterday's operations at the affected parks: Several new documents have been posted to the web site archive of hurricane-related documents, including the memorandum on volunteering for the Katrina recovery program The facility assessment at Chalmette and the trail assessment at Barataria have been completed. Crews are now working on debris removal and damage mitigation on Ship and Horn Islands. Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues NEW: A copy of the September 15th memorandum from the directorate entitled "Employee Volunteers for the Katrina Recovery Program." A memo with a policy clarification on transportation of DOI employees in military aircraft. A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). Response Topics NEW: A section entitled "SERO Documents." Within it, you can find a link to a copy of the region's report on its initial response to the hurricane. NEW: A section for the Pacific West Team (Ziemann, IC) for reports from that IMT. A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) found in that plan (found on the left hand column of the main page). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). Health and Safety Issues A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina PPT For Watchstanders" (under WASO Documents). A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina Safety for Responders" (under WASO Documents). Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch The branch updated and distributed information packets on the employee assistance program to affected employees. Staff have continued to help employees resolve their needs, including follow-up calls and personal contacts, checks of or escorts to employee homes, and notifications to some employees of the total loss of their homes. Efforts are being concentrated on housing issues. Efforts were being made yesterday to get CISM staff out to remote areas of Gulf Islands NS. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Resources and Facilities Branch The documentation of cultural resources collected from 419 Decatur Street is being completed as they are being stored at Natchez National Historical Park. Protective measures to preserve the human remains unearthed in the root balls of wind-blown trees at the Chalmette battlefield have been begun and reburial plans are being developed. Crews continued to work cooperatively with the National Guard on cleanup work at Chalmette, including security, debris removal and the removal of downed trees. The saw crew and chipper are working to clear trees at Barataria Preserve. Yesterday, staff assisted with the assessment of Armstrong Park. The removal of hazard trees and debris continues at Gulf Islands. The facility condition assessment at Chalmette is 99.9% complete. A small portable air conditioner and fans have been set up at 419 Decatur Street. The initial trail assessment has been completed at Barataria Preserve. Salvage efforts at the Gulf Island visitor center continue along with work to restore power and electrical systems to park facilities. Law Enforcement Branch LE staff checked on the status and accessibility of employee homes and provided roving security for park properties. They also boarded up a house for an absent employee. Community Services The National Park Service is providing a variety of services to communities affected by Hurricane Katrina and to neighbors of NPS areas. These include: Providing assistance with debris removal to park neighbors at Gulf Islands. A total of 140 families have been assisted during the incident. Assisting in the rescue of stray dogs. Providing written materials and daily information on FEMA and other available assistance via an unstaffed information table for visitors and library patrons at Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center visitor center. Positioning NPS sites to reopen as quickly as possible to provide additional incentive for public to return to hurricane-damaged areas. Providing ongoing but limited logistical support for military operations at Chalmette. Interagency Activities Activities included: Utilizing the Public Health Services to provide risk analysis and mitigation for NPS employees. Coordination with USGS for current mapping data. Ongoing cooperative working agreement with military at Chalmette for security, debris removal and removal of downed trees. Ongoing contact with the National Guard Operation at the Ocean Springs helix-port to coordinate scheduled flights ops. Ongoing contacts with the U.S. Navy for pending support of heavy equipment operations and shuttles of materials to the island utilizing Navy Hovercraft and LCU. There are 145 people currently assigned to the IMT. Employee Relief Fund The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is an avenue for federal employees to donate to relief funds for all hurricane victims and is recommended by the Department of the Interior. The CFC in the Department will begin soon. Another relief fund - the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund - has also been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina. Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. 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 to: 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. [Debbie Santiago and Kris Fister, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
The following reports were submitted on Monday and Tuesday operations. Please note that the information directory has been moved to the bottom of the report. Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Plans are being finalized for upcoming visits this week by NPS and DOI officials. Steve Broun from the Department of the Interior's Office of Law Enforcement and Security will be touring areas of Jean Lafitte and lands of other DOI agencies impacted by Katrina on Wednesday, September 21st. NPS Director Fran Mainella, Deputy Director Steve Martin and Associate Director for Resource and Visitor Protection Karen Taylor-Goodrich are also scheduled to arrive on Wednesday for visits to the affected parks in Louisiana and Mississippi. Incident staff are also closely monitoring the path of Hurricane Rita. Contingency plans are in effect to bring employees in from the field and to potentially evacuate the ICP if the storm's path is forecast to move toward New Orleans. Employee Assistance Branch The branch is entering information received into an employee status database. Staff continued to facilitate the needs of employees and to work on finding housing for Jean Lafitte employees who are displaced. At Gulf Islands, they are helping with the initial clean-up of homes and providing assistance in filing claims. Staff have established contact with FEMA and the Blue Roof project team for Jackson County to provide information on roof tarps and debris removal for employees and families outside of the park. Some park employees who are required occupants are being provided motor homes in the campground that have electrical hookups. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Resources and Facilities Branch The cultural resources collected from 419 Decatur Street are being stored in a dry and secure environment at the Historic Natchez Foundation, a partner of Natchez National Historical Park. The documentation of the relocated artifacts and their condition has been completed. Archeological specialists have been notified about the human remains unearthed in the root balls of downed trees at Chalmette National Cemetery, and plans for reburial are being made. The park staff continued to coordinate work with a unit from the Colorado National Guard on cleanup work at Chalmette. The six-person saw crew and chipper continue to work at clearing trees at Barataria Preserve. A communication tower was put in place to facilitate operations there. The facility condition assessment at Chalmette is 100% complete, and the initial trail assessment has been completed at Barataria Preserve. A small portable air conditioner and fans have been set up at 419 Decatur Street to air out the headquarters building and prevent mold and mildew. Work continues on cleaning up the campground and visitor center at Davis Bayou. Campground cleanup was to be completed by yesterday. Crews are also boating out to Ship Island daily to work on debris removal and damage mitigation. The Pacific West IMT has begun, in cooperation with park staff, long-term planning for a temporary visitor center, comfort facilities and public camping facilities in anticipation of re-opening the park to visitors in the future. Law Enforcement Branch LE staff checked on the status and accessibility of four Jean Lafitte employee homes, and provided roving security for park properties. LE patrol and EMT services are being provided for Gulf Islands. There are currently 124 personnel assigned to work with the NPS National IMT and 239 personnel assigned to the Pacific West IMT at Gulf Islands. Employee Relief Fund The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is an avenue for
federal employees to donate to relief funds for all hurricane victims
and is recommended by the Department of the Interior. The CFC in the
Department will begin soon. Information Directory 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. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues A copy of the September 15th memorandum from the directorate entitled "Employee Volunteers for the Katrina Recovery Program." A memo with a policy clarification on transportation of DOI employees in military aircraft. A copy of the September 2nd Human Resources memo on "absence, leave, overtime pay and hiring flexibilities" (under WASO Documents). A copy of the September 9th memo with "guidance on campground waivers for Hurricane Katrina evacuees" (under WASO Documents). Information from the National Team on employee assistance for NPS employees affected by the hurricane (found under "Employee Information" on the left hand column on the main page). Response Topics A section entitled "SERO Documents." Within it, you can find a link to a copy of the region's report on its initial response to the hurricane. A section for the Pacific West Team (Ziemann, IC) for reports from that IMT. A subsection entitled "National Response Plan" contains the emergency support functions (ESFs) found in that plan (found on the left hand column of the main page). A copy of the NPS National Emergency Response Plan (under WASO Documents). Incident management team delegations of authority, ICS 209s and incident action plans received to date (under respective team document folders) Current reports on total resource commitments made through the National Interagency Fire Center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). A high-quality, reproducible map from NIFC showing the location of all teams dispatched from the center (under Interagency Hurricane Response Documents). Health and Safety Issues A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina PPT For Watchstanders" (under WASO Documents). A Power Point entitled "Hurricane Katrina Safety for Responders" (under WASO Documents). Guidance on vaccinations and environmental health (under WASO Documents). A guide to controlling infectious diseases in responders (under WASO Documents). [Debbie Santiago and Kris Fister, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
The following reports were submitted on Tuesday's and Wednesday's operations. Please note that the information directory has been moved to the bottom of the report. Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Larry Broun from the Department of the Interior's Office of Law Enforcement and Security toured portions of Jean Lafitte and other hurricane-impacted areas administered by other DOI agencies on Wednesday. The planned visit of Director Mainella, Deputy Director Steve Martin and Associate Director for Resource and Visitor Protection Karen Taylor-Goodrich later this week was cancelled yesterday due to preparations being made for possible impacts from Hurricane Rita. Incident managers are closely monitoring forecasts on the status of the storm and are preparing contingency plans to either evacuate or bring incident personnel to safe zones and remain in place if Rita's path brings it toward New Orleans. Employee Assistance Branch Staff continue to make contact with employees and assist them with their needs at all of the units impacted by the hurricane. This includes assessing the immediate needs to provide tools necessary for law enforcement rangers to return to their jobs at Gulf Islands. A realty specialist is now on site to facilitate the location of temporary and long-term lodging for displaced employees at Jean Lafitte. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located at the center. Resources and Facilities Branch Members of the cultural resources branch are in the process of finishing up their reports. Most of the team will be demobilized shortly, but some have been reassigned to assess cultural resources at Gulf Islands. Record heat and humidity are creating challenging operational conditions for crews in the field working on park facilities in all areas. Crews at Gulf Island are proceeding with debris removal and clean-up of the entire park, including the outer islands. A temporary office facility for park staff is being constructed using trailers and should be ready for use in a few days. The air conditioning is now operational at 419 Decatur Street and fans are moving air through New Orleans Jazz offices, limiting further damage. The military assistance at Chalmette National Battlefield and Cemetery has been suspended due to the approaching hurricane. No additional activities took place there yesterday. The saw crew at Barataria is making headway on clearing trees from access points to the park. There are hundreds of downed trees at the site. A temporary headquarters office is being set up at Barataria until conditions allow for the use of 419 Decatur Street. The FMSS crew has completed all the facility condition assessments at Chalmette, Barataria and New Orleans Jazz and has begun data input. Law Enforcement Branch LE staff continue to make contacts with park employees, follow up on requests to provide security for employees retrieving belongings, and provide security for park properties. Law enforcement and emergency medical services at Gulf Islands are being provided by the Southeast Region SET. The park is closed to visitors until further notice due to ongoing cleanup operations and safety concerns. There are currently 124 personnel assigned to work with the NPS National IMT and 224 personnel assigned to the Pacific West IMT at Gulf Islands. Employee Relief Fund The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is an avenue for federal employees to donate to relief funds for all hurricane victims and is recommended by the Department of the Interior. The CFC in the Department will begin soon. Another relief fund - the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund - has also been established to assist National Park Service and cooperating association employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Katrina. Donated funds will be distributed immediately to provide for basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. 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. Information Directory A web site has been established as a repository for official documents related to hurricane recovery operations: http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1. Now posted there are: Personnel Issues
Response Topics
Health and Safety Issues
The following reports were submitted on Wednesday's and Thursday's operations. Please note that the information directory has been moved to the bottom of the report. Park and IMT Updates Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. The team has evacuated from Thibodaux to Tupelo, Mississippi, due to the threats from Hurricane Rita. All NPS employees from Lafayette have also been evacuated. Eagle 1, the US Park Police helicopter, has been flown to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The team's accomplishments over the past two days and prior to the move were as follows: Employee Assistance Branch - A priority yesterday was to contact displaced employees currently in the predicted path of Rita in Texas. All of the seven employees were contacted, and they had all made arrangements to evacuate themselves. The branch is working on a return-to-work schedule for employees and continuing to deal with housing needs. Three additional realty specialists were due to arrive at the ICP yesterday. Resources and Facilities Branch - The cultural resources branch has finished its report and has been demobilized. The FMSS crew has also been demobilized. They will continue with data input and finish their report by the weekend. Park facilities at 419 Decatur and New Orleans Jazz still aren't hooked up to the city electrical grid, so all of the air movement systems to limit further damage from mold and mildew are being powered by generators. These must be turned off each evening when staff are escorted from the area by security personnel. Operations staff will be working to re-wire the systems so that they can be kept running 24 hours per day. This will also require hiring personnel to monitor the equipment, then providing security for those individuals. The work effort to set up a temporary office at Barataria for Jean Lafitte continues, as does the tree clearing operation. Poison ivy is a major problem for the crews, with several cases reported. They will continue with work until rain and winds from Rita force a temporary halt to the activity. The crews will return to Thibodaux. Law Enforcement Branch - Members of the NPS law enforcement group were made U.S. Marshals in an informal ceremony on Wednesday morning. This will give them the authority to operate in non-NPS areas. The Pacific West SET team demobilized yesterday. There are currently 118 personnel assigned to work with the NPS National IMT and 222 personnel assigned to the Pacific West IMT. Information Directory 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. [Debbie Santiago and Kris Fister, IO's, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS; Kirsten Talken-Spaulding and Jamie Mar, NPS CISM Team]
The following reports were submitted on this past weekend's activities. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. The team continued to evaluate and implement hurricane recovery operations at Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz from their temporary ICP at the headquarters of Natchez Trace Parkway in Tupelo, Mississippi. An advance party left Tupelo on Saturday morning to scout out road conditions on the route heading south to Thibodaux. The incident commander was to decide on Sunday as to whether or not the entire team would head back to the ICP on Monday, based on the reported road and weather conditions. Director Fran Mainella and Deputy Director Steve Martin participated in a conference call Saturday morning that included the National IMT incident commander JD Swed and Central IMT incident commander Eddie Lopez. The ICs updated the director and staff on the status of the incident. The director made the decision to maintain the responsibility of managing the hurricane recovery effort at the national level, since the effort now spans two NPS regions. The employee assistance branch contacted almost all of the employees of Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz on Saturday, checking to see how they had weathered the storm. Only a few remained to be contacted by day's end, and those were employees who had previously evacuated to Texas. One Jean Lafitte employee based in Lafayette called from the second story of a home requesting rescue as the ground floor had flooded, cutting off any escape routes. State rescue agencies in Louisiana were contacted and the employee was safely evacuated. The resources and facilities branch managers planned for the return to the ICP and conducting preliminary assessments of facilities at the two parks to determine what had been impacted by Hurricane Rita. Early reports received on Saturday indicated that areas of Chalmette and Barataria had re-flooded. There are currently 108 personnel assigned to the hurricane recovery at Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz, 231 to the recovery effort at Gulf Islands, and 28 to the IMT in Texas. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
The following reports were submitted on Monday's activities. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. On Sunday, incident personnel attempted to return to Thibodaux, Louisiana, from their temporary ICP at Natchez Trace Parkway's headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi, but isolated violent weather cells, with accompanying tornado warnings, caused most team members to find safe places to wait out the system in different areas of Mississippi. A group of 24 overnighted in Winona, the planning section remained in Tupelo, and approximately 30 people spent the night in Starkville, home of Mississippi State University. Some of the latter witnessed the funnel cloud that touched down at MSU, causing minor damage. The weather improved significantly on Monday, and all incident personnel arrived at Thibodaux by early evening to re-establish the ICP. There were intermittent power outages in Thibodaux during the hurricane but otherwise the area experienced no significant impacts. Employee Assistance Branch - Over the weekend the branch contacted all Jean Lafitte and New Orleans Jazz employees to see how they had weathered Hurricane Rita. The Employee Assistance Center and peer support group continues to operate at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and can be contacted at 985-448-1471. Resources and Facilities Branch - The operations section hit the ground running yesterday. The six-person chipper crew went directly to Lafayette, where they cut into sections a 48-inch diameter beech tree that had fallen, blocking access to the Acadian Cultural Center. They then headed to Eunice, where they removed four large trees that had fallen in the vicinity of the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center. The centers are part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. The utilities branch went directly to New Orleans to assess the condition of Jean Lafitte headquarters at 419 Decatur Street and at the New Orleans Jazz Visitor Center. City power has been restored to latter, but not the former. Water has not yet been restored to either facility. Barataria Preserve experienced some minor flooding and the power is out. There was no new damage to structures. The Chalmette Battlefield didn't flood, but there was some additional minor damage to the Malus-Beauregard House. More complete assessments and follow-up work will commence on Tuesday. The incident management team received a request for assistance from the superintendent of Cane River Creole National Historical Park. Twenty of the sixty historical buildings sustained some degree of damage from falling trees caused by Hurricane Rita. Law Enforcement Branch - New rangers arrived to take the place of the Pacific West SET team. They will continue to provide escorts to park and incident employees in New Orleans. Information Directory 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. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
The following reports were submitted on Tuesday's activities. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. All incident activities resumed in full yesterday at the team's Thibodaux ICP and in the field. The team has also been tasked with managing recovery efforts for two units impacted by Hurricane Rita - Cane River Creole National Historical Park and Vicksburg National Military Park. Vicksburg is currently managing its own recovery operation with its own staff, but may require assistance at a later time. Most of the damage at this time appears to be debris on roads and trails and some water leaks into offices and storage spaces. The team is also providing oversight and support to Eddie Lopez's Central IMT at Big Thicket National Preserve. Employee Assistance Branch - An employee assistance letter from the superintendents of New Orleans Jazz and Jean Lafitte went out on Tuesday to park employees, providing information on the current situation at the parks and the direction the parks would be taking in terms of dealing with employee duty stations, details, transfers, etc. There are two CISM staff still based at the Thibodaux ICP in the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. They and other branch staff continue to provide assistance to employees on an as-needed basis and are working to locate a mental health provider for long-term services. The realty specialists were demobilized yesterday, as in three days they have not been able to locate any properties for rent or sale in the vicinity. Resources and Facilities Branch - The chipper crew assessed the damage at Cane River Creole NHP, where they removed some debris and tree limbs that had landed on structures. They attempted to check damage to the roofs of some of the buildings, but the pitch was too steep to be safely ascended. Arrangements will be made to have this done by contractors. The crew will return to Barataria to restore utilities there and try to get the sewage lift stations in operation. Most of the work to set up a temporary headquarters for the two parks at Barataria has taken place, as soon as the lift stations are operational, power has been restored, and the computers have been hooked up to NPS systems. City electricity has now been restored to Jean Lafitte headquarters at 419 Decatur Street and to the New Orleans Jazz Visitor Center. But they are still without water. A hazardous materials group will be added to operations tomorrow. This group consists of a private contractor who will be removing the gasoline, diesel oil, pesticides and other hazardous materials that had been stored in containers in a locker that was turned upside down by flood waters, and a Public Health Service industrial hygienist who will monitor the operation. Law Enforcement Branch - Branch staff have relocated their base from Lafayette to a facility being provided by the sheriff's office in Lockport, Louisiana, which is significantly closer to New Orleans. The LE staff escorted a JELA employee to her residence so that she could retrieve belongings before heading out on an extended detail assignment and provided security for a Red Cross food distribution center in Algiers. Information Directory 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. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Information Directory 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. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Gordon Wissinger's Eastern Area IMT traveled to Thibodaux on Thursday. His team members will be working with their counterparts on JD Swed's team all day Friday to get an overview of the incident operations that they will be responsible for when the teams transition on Saturday morning. Employee Assistance Branch - The branch completed writing the statement of work for the long-term contract for a mental health provider, and a contractor has been identified. They are also working on a "tool kit" for employee assistance that can be used on future incidents. Branch members had six contacts with employees today to follow-up on previous issues. The peer support group will demobilize by the end of the week. Resources and Facilities Branch - The clean-up of tree debris at Cane River Creole NHP was completed yesterday, and the crew is relocating to Barataria Preserve to continue work on clearing trails there. A new work group consisting of FMSS and technical specialists arrived today to begin assessing damage to buildings and determine what needs to be done for the historic trees that were damaged by Hurricane Rita. The push is on to get the temporary park headquarters for Jean Lafitte NHP&P set up in the visitor center at the Barataria Preserve by the beginning of next week. The furniture and office equipment is in place; all that remains is the testing of the phone system and computer hookups. Since the computers are being rented, access to NPS networks will have to be done via the virtual park network (VPN). Upon a recent thorough inspection of the site, it was discovered that some documents at the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery were not removed before Katrina struck. They were completely soaked by the brackish water that flooded the site. The documents were retrieved today and are being stored in a freezer, pending being shipped out to technical specialists for salvage and restoration. The hazardous materials group finished removing the spilled materials at Chalmette. A crew of local hires began venting the New Orleans Jazz Visitor Center and buildings at Chalmette to help dry out the interior of the buildings in order to reduce damage caused by mold and mildew. The utilities group continued to work on the air conditioning at 419 Decatur Street. The latest estimate for having potable water in the area is 50 days. Law Enforcement Branch - The LE staff escorted one employee to a residence and removed personal property from a dorm for another employee. They will continue to patrol the sites downtown and at Chalmette. Information Directory 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. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Shauna Dyas, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Reports on recovery operations from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been consolidated into just one report. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - Branch staff continue to update assistance program information and are preparing a toolkit for the next incident team. A packet has been prepared for the FEMA liaison to facilitate trailer requests. Mary Beth Weston will become the lead for this branch today. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux, LA (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Resources and Facilities Branch - The FMSS assessment team traveled to Chalmette yesterday. All artifacts have been retrieved, with the exception of one cannon which is scheduled to be removed. The visitor center is scheduled for demolition. This demolition will be undertaken by local AD firefighters. At 419 Decatur, staff continued to air out the building and there were no mold issues. An FMSS team has been assigned to assess Cane River Creole NHP. A small crew continues to clear debris at Barataria. Fifteen employees are scheduled to work Monday at this site. Phone lines and computer lines are in place. Law Enforcement Branch - Rangers continued to escort personnel and staff into affected areas. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Reports on recovery operations from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been consolidated into just one report. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - EAP has identified seventeen National Park Service families qualified to apply for mobile homes. Several remain undecided. Two families have indicated their interest in receiving these homes. Mary Beth Wester transitioned in as the new lead for the EA Branch. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Resources and Facilities Branch - Debris removal continues at Barataria and Chalmette. The chipping crew is still working at Barataria. Ventilation crews are continuing the drying operations at Chalmette and 419 Decatur. The FMSS team completed its assessment and has provided the final report to the operations branch. Law Enforcement Branch - LE continued to escort personnel and staff into affected areas. This branch is currently acquiring equipment and parts for airboat operations to travel into the hunting camps. These camps are within the boundaries of Barataria Preserve. Rangers will be checking for any persons who may have been stranded there during or after the storm, and are also making a hazard recon to determine conditions prior to allowing this year's hunting season. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Reports on recovery operations from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been consolidated into just one report. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - EAP continued calling affected DOI employees to assess interest in FEMA trailer housing at Bayou Segnette State Park. MMS has 41 employees who may be interested in FEMA housing. Of 17 NPS employees, 8 are interested in this housing option; there was one refusal, with others pending. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471). Peer support groups are also located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center and at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette (337-232-0789). Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - The saw crew continued clearing trails and debris in Barataria. There are now 15 functional work stations (phone and computer) at the visitor center and office. An unknown number of employees reported for duty. Chalmette - Ventilation of buildings continued. The National Park Service met with a contractor for hazardous tree removal and the job quote is pending. At 419 Decatur, ventilation continues. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs. Graves have been disturbed due to uprooted trees during the hurricane and an additional discovery of human remains occurred on October 2nd. 419 Decatur Street - Ventilation operations continued. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs. Cane River - A helicopter landing zone was established suitable for the pilot. The LZ was developed as a way to quickly fly out anyone injured as a result of clean-up, debris removal or construction projects at the park. Law Enforcement Branch - Incident command personnel ground tours were conducted. A helo overflight of Barataria was conducted by Jean Lafitte LE rangers and resource management staff. Area patrols continue. Rangers continue to interface with community members and offer assistance. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Reports on recovery operations from both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita have been consolidated into just one report. Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - EAP took part in ground and aerial tours of affected areas earlier this week. They will be briefing CISM team members on Sunday. The CISM team will be located at Gulf Islands. Branch members continued contacting affected DOI employees to assess interest in FEMA trailer housing at Bayou Segnette State Park. MMS has 41 employees who are interested in housing. To date, of 17 NPS employees, 9 are interested in the housing option. The Employee Assistance Center is located at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center in Thibodaux (985-448-1471). Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - The saw crew cleared debris at the visitor center boardwalk. State DOT crews are completing debris cleanup along the road. The visitor center/office complex has 15 functional work stations and employees are reporting for duty. Chalmette - Ventilation of buildings continued. This crew plans a trip with park staff and EN staff to remove salvageable property from the superintendent's home and visitor center. 419 Decatur - Ventilation operations continued. An HVAC specialist is working on specifications for boiler and chiller repairs. The branch chief toured New Orleans Jazz with superintendent John Quirk to assess the scope of needed work. Cane River - The safety officer and branch manager visited the park on Wednesday. Bayou Signette State Park - The crew met with the trucking company and oriented them to the park. The trucking company provided quotes which are being considered. Equipment may be mobilized Wednesday to begin work on Thursday for removal of debris. Law Enforcement Branch - Area patrols continued. Rangers continued to interface with community members and offer assistance. They began rehab of long guns and living history weapons. They secured the Joseph property and began shipping documents to Joseph's daughter. The entire operation is going to be reorganized into four branches. Branch 1 will be employee assistance. Branch 2 will include work with resources and facilities in Chalmette (Jean Lafitte) and Louis Armstrong (New Orleans Jazz). Branch 3 will include work with resources and facilities in the Cane River, Barataria, and Bayou Signette. Branch 4 will be the LE branch. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. No report. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS; Al Nash, IO, IMT, BITH]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - EAP staff met with Jean Lafitte superintendent Geraldine Smith to prepare for a visit to Barataria Preserve on Tuesday. EA has submitted and modified the list of employees for the first 50 trailer slots at Bayou Segnette State Park. FEMA trailers have started arriving at the park. Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - Crews continued to prepare for the reopening of Barataria Preserve by removing debris and clearing Old Barataria Trail and Plantation Trail. Chalmette - The group working here is removing carpet, furniture and debris from the superintendent's lodge. The first floor of the carriage house is being cleaned. Chipping of wood debris continues at the cemetery. The division met NPS staff and Lorene Walter, facility manager, concerning cultural landscape issues in the cemetery. New Orleans Jazz - Employees are back at work. Plywood is being moved offsite. At Louis Armstrong Park, crews have boarded the lower first four doors. Cane River - Historic preservation work continues at Cane River. Hazard tree work continues at Magnolia Plantation. Repairs to the flashing and vent stack at Gin Barn were completed. Roof repairs were performed on the Overseers House. Repairs to the Cotton Shed were made and the roof demolition process began. Debris removal work continues to clear a walking trail eight feet wide in Old Barataria Trail and Plantation Trail. Bayou Segnette - Workers at the site continued hazard tree assessment and removal of wood debris from campsites, trails, and roads. Rehab continued at campsites 1 through 20. FEMA trailer deliveries started. The first 40 trailers to be used for temporary housing were arriving in the park yesterday. Law Enforcement Branch - LE rangers were deputized by the U.S. Marshal Service earlier this week. Rangers were demobilized from Lockport and have moved to the ICP in Thibodaux. Incoming LE were immunized. LE provided security at Chalmette. Mr. Joseph's personal possessions were prepared for shipment. Additional Information [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Director Mainella took an aerial tour of the parks with incident commander Gordon Wissinger and Jean Lafitte superintendent Geraldine Smith. The group landed at Bayou Segnette State Park to assess temporary housing for 15 NPS employees and 47 MMS employees. The director also met with New Orleans Jazz superintendent John Quirk and officials from GSA, FEMA, and Louisiana State Parks. Director Mainella also met with employees affected by the hurricanes at the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center. Associate Director for Visitor and Resource Protection Karen Taylor-Goodrich joined the director to visit Big Thicket and view damage and recovery operations there. Today they will travel to Gulf Islands. Employee Assistance Branch - Staff met with the director and briefed her on developments. EA submitted 10 sheriff's office names for placement of trailers at Bayou Segnette per FEMA's request. EA provided requested photographs of trailers to Jean Lafitte employee. Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - Crews continued to prepare for reopening of Barataria Preserve by removing debris and clearing the Old Barataria Trail and Plantation Trail. They began clearing canoe trails with saw crews by airboat. Canoe trails are needed to access scientific research stations. Chalmette - At the Malus-Beauregard house, ventilation and chipping operations continued. Stabilization of the Carriage House began and work was completed on the non-historic addition to the back of the house. Ventilation continued and the damaged carpet was removed at the Superintendent's Lodge. The branch chief met with the Lousiana State Historic Preservation Officer and identified the need to order cultural resource historic architecture expertise for work at Chalmette. New Orleans Jazz - The crew chipped and stacked debris at Louis Armstrong Park. Debris that was not chipped is being left for disposal by the city. Cane River - A four-member saw crew traveled to the park for historic hazard tree trimming work. Work on historic fabric stabilization continued. Bayou Segnette - Site preparations were completed for campsites 1 through 50. The group continued to work on wave pool debris removal and hazard tree removal at the group camp section of the park. Law Enforcement Branch - LE provided security for the helicopter landing zone at the state park for the director's visit. They also provided security for Chalmette and Barataria work crews, mapped and photographed dump sites at Barataria, and operated boats for saw crews to travel through Barataria canoe trails 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. [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Dorene Ruffing, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - EA went to Bayou Segnette State Park for orientation and to photograph the park and the FEMA trailers. They responded to employee requests as needed and continued to provide names as requested for housing requests. Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - Crews continued saw work on the canoe trail system through use of the LE staff for boat transportation. Work on the twin canals canoe trail was completed. Workers continued removing debris and clearing the Old Barataria Trail. Problems with dumping are occurring in the area. LE is working to prevent illegal dumping in the park. Chalmette - At the Malus-Beauregard house, ventilation and chipping operations continued. Stabilization of the Carriage House continued. Ventilation continued at the Superintendent's Lodge. Crew members continued chipping and tree removal throughout the cemetery. Salvageable furniture, interpretive exhibits, and other salvageable items were loaded and prepared for transfer to a storage facility in Raceland. New Orleans Jazz - The crew completed chipping and stacking debris at Louis Armstrong Park. Debris that was not chipped is being left for disposal by the city. The team continued to evaluate the HVAC system at the visitor center in the park. Operations at this site were completed today. Cane River - The NPS saw crew continued with hazard historic tree trimming work to restore the cultural landscape in the west trail area. Work continued on the Cotton Gin roof and the siding and door of the Pigeonaire. Work on historic fabric stabilization continued. An in-depth safety briefing on fall protection, wood chipper use, bobcat operations, and use of the person lift was given. Bayou Segnette - The group finished work on wave pool debris removal and hazard tree removal at the main road near the group camp section of the park. Law Enforcement Branch - LE conducted one employee escort to a residence. They also provided security for Chalmette work crews. They operated boats for saw crews to travel through Barataria canoe trails to clear them so that researchers can return to their stations. LE is working to prevent illegal dumping in Barataria. One airboat needs repairs. 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. [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - Branch members continued compiling transfer packages, including electronic transfers. They are preparing a toolkit for distribution on Monday. Resources and Facilities Branch - Actions by area: Barataria - Crews continued saw work on the canoe trail system through use of the LE staff for boat transportation. Problems with dumping are a concern in the area. LE is working to prevent illegal dumping in the park since there is a one hour wait for citizens to use the authorized dump site. Chalmette - Ventilation continued at the Malus-Beauregard House and the Superintendent's Lodge. Crew members continued repair of panel boxes on all buildings. Work continued on lift stations. The crew will collect and relocate picnic tables and benches for work at a later date by park employees. The crew also worked on dismantling the shed next to the Carriage House and moved a cannon back to the building. Chipping and tree removal continued throughout the grounds with the addition of a bucket truck to improve operations. Cane River - The NPS saw crew continued with hazard historic tree trimming work to restore the cultural landscape in the Oakland Plantation. The historic preservation crew was on lieu days. Bayou Segnette - Work at the park was completed on October 13th. The park remains a base camp for all work crews. Law Enforcement Branch - E operated boats for saw crews to travel through Barataria canoe trails to clear them so that researchers can return to their stations. Rangers increased their presence at Barataria Preserve to counter increased illegal dumping of household debris. They continued to patrol Chalmette for incident personnel security. They continued night shift activities such as maintaining security at the ICP. 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. [Betsy Haynes, Deputy IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ; Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - Branch members continued to work on toolkits for employee assistance and prepared them for mailing. They are working to coordinate a meeting of points of contact of affected parks on the long-term mental health contract and are responding to employee requests for assistance as needed. Resources and Facilities Branch - Developments by area:
Law Enforcement Branch - Two LE operated boats for saw crews will be traveling through Barataria canoe trails to clear them so that researchers can return to their stations. LE continued its presence at Barataria Preserve to counter increased illegal dumping of household debris. They continued to patrol Chalmette for incident personnel security. LE took more after-action photographs. They continued boat patrols to assess hunting camps. They continued night shift activities such as maintaining security at the ICP. Additional Information A web site has been established as a repository for official documents related to hurricane recovery operations: http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1. [Submitted by Randy Sutton, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - Branch members completed preparation of employee assistance toolkits. They also conducted a conference call with points of contact for affected parks concerning the long-term mental health contract. Employees met yesterday evening to get into their trailers. Resources and Facilities Branch - Developments by area: Barataria - The crew checked the wood duck trail to determine if it had dried enough for them to continue debris removal, but found that it was too wet. The group continued using boats to clear trees, brush and household debris from the Lower Kenta, Millaudon, Bayou Coquille, and Horseshoe canal canoe trails and began work on the waterways at the North and South Segnette access points. Saw crews are demobilizing tonight. Chalmette - Ventilation continued at the Malus-Beauregard House and the Superintendent's Lodge. Technical specialists continued evaluations of the Malus-Beauregard House, Carriage House, Superintendent's Lodge, and the brick walls around the cemetery, and continued development of an immediate remedial action plan. They are working to order a historic preservation specialist with expertise in interior wall stabilization and preservation. Cane River - The NPS saw crew continued with hazard historic tree trimming work to restore the cultural landscape in Oakland Plantation. The historic preservation crew began work on the square crib restoration. They continued work on the mule barn and began epoxy repairs to the mule barn posts. Law Enforcement Branch - Two LE-operated boats provided access for saw crews to clear canoe trails in Barataria so that researchers can return to their stations. LE continued its presence in day and night shifts at Barataria Preserve. They continued to patrol Chalmette for incident personnel security. They continued night shift activities such as maintaining security at the ICP. 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. [Randy Sutton, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane. Employee Assistance Branch - Four NPS families received briefings and keys to trailers Tuesday night at Bayou Segnette State Park and the process continued Wednesday. Employees at Gulf Island National Seashore are continuing to move into trailers. One employee in EA was demobilized yesterday. Employee assistance toolkits are ready for mailing. Branch members continued electronic database organization and transfer to CD's. Hard copy files were transferred to Barataria Preserve. EA is responding to employee requests for assistance as needed. Resources and Facilities Branch - Developments by area: Barataria - Work crews have demobilized. Chalmette - Ventilation continued at the Malus-Beauregard House and the Superintendent's Lodge. Work continued on electrical boxes. Technical specialists completed evaluations of the Malus-Beauregard House, Carriage House, and the Superintendent's Lodge and developed an immediate remedial action plan. Diesel fuel from FEMA was retrieved for the bucket truck and dump truck. Cane River - Crews have completed their work at Cane River. Law Enforcement Branch - LE patrolled and cleaned up dump sites at Barataria Preserve. Night shifts ended today. 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. [Randy Sutton, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ]
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. 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.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP A Type 3 team (Greg Stiles, IC) is managing the incident. The stabilization of the historic buildings at Chalmette National Cemetery and Battlefield continued yesterday. Equipment for the demolition of the Chalmette Battlefield visitor center was mobilized and arrived on site. The latter will likely be demolished this coming weekend. [Submitted by Barb Stewart, IO, IMT, GUIS; Greg Stiles, IC, IMT, JELA/JAZZ]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP A Type 3 team (Greg Stiles, IC) is managing the incident. The stabilization work on the three Chalmette National Cemetery and Battlefield historic structures will be completed shortly. Today is the team's final operational period; incident staff will be released for travel on Saturday. Five overhead personnel will remain to rehabilitate incident facilities, complete the documentation package, and prepare for close-out with the park. Close-out is scheduled for Monday, October 31st. Additional Information A web site has been established as a repository for official documents related to hurricane recovery operations: http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1.
Parks along the Gulf Coast are making preparations for Tropical Storm Gustav, which will likely return to hurricane strength when it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, while those in Florida and on the eastern seaboard are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Hanna, which may make landfall somewhere in that region. The three parks most likely to be affected by the former are preparing for closure if necessary: Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP - The parks have activated their hurricane plan and are working together on preparations. The governor of Louisiana has declared a state of emergency, and local officials are discussing the real possibility of evacuating coastal parishes as soon as today or tomorrow. The Louisiana State Police have announced that a "contra-flow" traffic pattern may go into effect as soon as Sunday if needed (this will make all interstate lanes one direction only in southeastern Louisiana, with all lanes being used to handle outbound traffic). The state has put 2,000 National Guard troops on standby. The parks will begin closing on Saturday if conditions warrant and will remain closed until the storm threat passes. Many park employees live in low-lying areas and are likely to be evacuated. The National Park Service is also preparing to support any potential requests for support from FEMA. [Dean Ross, WASO; Mark Ruggiero, SERO; John Hughes, JELA; Clay Jordan, GUIS]
A few reports have been received on the status of parks in the path of and/or affected by Hurricane Gustav and appear below. More will appear in coming days. The Central incident management team was ordered by Big Thicket NP and is being staged in Austin, Texas; it will provide support for Texas parks. The Western incident management team was ordered by Southeast Region and is staging in Jacksonville, Florida; they will support Gulf Coast parks if and when requested. Jean Laftitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP - Both parks are closed. All employees have been released, and some have been evacuated. [Thomas Berryhill, Natchez Trace; Laura Gates, Cane River; Mark Ruggiero, SERO]
Several parks in the region remain closed and are making damage assessments following Hurricane Gustav's passage (below), while others are keeping an eye on the Atlantic. With four named storms going at once - Gustav, Hanna, Ike, and Josephine - the tropics are exceptionally active today. The last time there were four named systems present on the same day was on August 24, 1999. The National Park Service is also supporting FEMA by providing 30 boat crews in conjunction with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The group is staged in Austin, Texas; some of them will be released today, but 14 boats will be held pending a FEMA mission assignment for Hurricane Hanna. The National Park Service has also been tasked with a second FEMA mission assignment for boat crews with the assistance of USFWS and USGS. Many of these crews are in Texarkana. Some will be released today, but three will be held for an assignment to Hanna. Jean Lafitte NHP/New Orleans Jazz NHP - The parks are closed. All utilities are out in Eunice, Louisiana, and it will likely take five to seven days to restore them. Sites in Lafayette have water and electricity. There are several large trees down and debris needs to be cleared. The assessment will continue. [Dean Ross, Emergency Services Coordinator, WASO]
Several more reports have been received on the impacts that Hurricane Gustav had on parks in the south central states: Jean Lafitte NHP/New Orleans Jazz NHP - An initial assessment indicates that most damage to the parks consists of downed trees and relatively light structural damage. Ten employees remain unaccounted for, but three of them live in Baton Rouge, which was hit hard by the storm and subject to significant phone and utility outages. Two rangers have been assigned to visit the residences of these ten employees and check on their welfare. Both parks will remain closed until Monday. [Dean Ross, WASO; Larry Perez, EVER; Russ Wilson, CALO; Clay Jordan, GUIS]
Reports have been received from parks regarding each of the above noted tropical systems: Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP - The two parks continue to recover from the effects of Hurricane Gustav. Two 10-person saw crews and a team leader are currently assisting in removing the numerous downed trees in all of Jean Lafitte's six units. Power and other services have been restored at all but the Thibodaux Unit. Park headquarters, the French Quarter Visitor Center, Lafayette, Eunice and the Barataria Visitor Centers are now open. Most schools are going to open up this week as well. Overnight curfews in most areas have now been lifted. Recovery efforts are still being conducted under the supervision of the park's incident management team. [Stuart West, Acting Chief Ranger; ACAD; Susan Gonshor, Public Affairs, BISC; John Hughes, Chief Ranger, JELA; Larry Perez, IO, EVER]
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - The park has activated its hurricane action plan for the second time this month. The area began feeling the affects of Hurricane Ike on Thursday, with outer bands coming onshore with high winds and heavy rain. Park units in Lafayette and Thibodaux will be closed on Friday and Saturday; the park site in Eunice has been closed since Hurricane Gustav passed and remains closed. Employees in those sites were released from duty at close of business yesterday. The Jefferson Parish emergency operations center yesterday ordered evacuations of lower portions of that parish. This order directly affects the Barataria Unit, so unit will be closed on Friday. It will reopen on Saturday, weather permitting. As of the time of the report (Thursday afternoon), plans were to keep park headquarters, the French Quarter Visitor Center, Chalmette Battlefield, and New Orleans Jazz NHP open. Two teams of sawyers who are in the park cleaning up after Hurricane Gustav have suspended operations until the severe weather passes. They will remain in the area and plan to finish up their 14-day detail to the park. [Dean Ross, WASO; John Hughes, JELA; Larry Perez, EVER/DRTO; Clay Jordan, GUIS]
The Thibodaux Police Department contacted the park just before 10 a.m. on May 26th and reported that they'd received a 911 call with a bomb threat against the park. The woman who called was not specific about the location; she'd notified the Census Bureau in Houma that the park would be cleaning up a big mess from the bomb explosion. Within minutes, protection staff and other park personnel had evacuated the Chalmette Battlefield, the park's headquarters and visitor center in New Orleans, the visitor center and education center in Barataria Preserve, the visitor center and library in Thibodeaux, the visitor center in Lafayette Parish, and the cultural center in St. Landry Parish. As a precaution, the visitor center at New Orleans Jazz in the French Quarter was evacuated as well. Inspections of these park sites were conducted by protection rangers who were joined by city police, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and bomb-sniffing canines. Businesses near park headquarters in the French Quarter were also shut down and evacuated as a precaution. After all areas were cleared and determined to be safe, employees and visitors were allowed to return. Ranger immediately began a criminal investigation, which revealed that the caller had originally left a voice message at the Census Bureau and that a phone number had shown up on caller ID. The phone number was for a cell phone within an area code in Arizona. Phone records were immediately obtained and the phone company was able to assist the park in determining that the caller was actually making the calls from the New Orleans area. A tracer was placed on the cellular phone and the NPS was provided with the caller's exact address. Rangers were also made aware that the caller was continuing to make harassing calls to various government offices in the area, including the local US Attorney and federal political figures. The local office of the FBI was notified and asked to assist in the follow-up investigation. Rangers and FBI agents conducted surveillance on the house and arrested a woman the next morning. She admitted to making hundreds of phone calls to government officials in recent days and showed obvious signs of advanced mental illness. The US Attorney's Office, FBI, and NPS continue to work on the case. [John K. Hughes, Chief Ranger]
Ranger James Pickard was on patrol in the park on February 20th when he came upon a man who was acting suspiciously. He was nervous and was in an area known for illegal drugs and prostitution. Pickard determined his identity as A.A.-E., checked him out via the mobile data terminal in his patrol car, and received a felony hit for child abduction out of Los Angeles. He immediately got warrant confirmation and extradition notification from the sheriff's office there and took the man into custody. While driving him to the Orleans Parish jail for booking, the US Marshal's Office and Center for Missing and Exploited Children were both calling the park for more information, since the victim of the kidnapping had not yet been found. After A.A.-E. was booked, officers from a number of law enforcement agencies began scouring the French Quarter, looking for a second suspect, wife S.S.-E., and the kidnapping victim, their own child, who had been taken from them by the state of California due to neglect. A massive search had been conducted in the Los Angeles area at the time, as the child was in dire need of medical attention. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children published bulletins and posters with the child's picture, but the case went cold until Pickard contacted the man for panhandling. On March 4th, S.S.-E. and the young boy were found and taken into custody. Both husband and wife remain in prison, awaiting extradition back to California. The boy, who weighed only 38 pounds when found, received medical attention and has been reunited with relative in Los Angeles. The US Marshal's Office complimented Pickard on his attention to detail, which led to the arrest. Media interest in the case has been high in Los Angeles. [John Hughes, Chief Ranger]
Tropical Storm Isaac, which was on the verge of becoming a hurricane early this morning, continues on its steady course toward a landfall along the Gulf Coast. It should be near or over the Louisiana coast tonight or early on Wednesday. The following is a summary of reports received from parks that Isaac has already passed by or that are in the storm's probable path: Jean Lafitte NHP/New Orleans Jazz NHP - All units are closed. Park employees were released around noon yesterday. Some employees are planning to evacuate, as a number of parishes around New Orleans have mandatory evacuation orders in effect. The Eastern IMT remains on standby to report to any park or parks needing assistance after the storm's passage. [Compiled from IMT and park reports] | |