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HURRICANE ISABEL the National Park Service Response

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HURRICANE ISABEL the National Park Service Response HURRICANE ISABEL The National Park Service Response Hurricane Isabel Review Group August 4, 2004 Table of Contents Page 3 Introduction Page 4 Executive Summary Page 5 Section I The Hurricane Page 6 Section II Parks and Offices Prepare Page 10 Section III The Hurricane’s Impacts Page 11 Section IV The Parks Take Stock Page 13 Section V The NPS Response Page 17 Section VI Assessment and Recovery Page 25 Section VII The Costs Page 26 Section VIII The Critique Page 34 Section IX Park Comments Page 37 References Page 38 Appendix 1 Select Chronology of Hurricane and Recovery Operations Page 42 Appendix 2 Wind, Rain and Surge for Selected NPS Areas NOAA Map of Hurricane Isabel Wind Velocities NOAA Map of Hurricane Isabel Rainfall Totals Page 45 Appendix 3 Incident Critique Participants Page 46 Appendix 4 Park/Office Commenters 2 Introduction At the outset of the National Park Service response to the damage inflicted on a host of Eastern parks by Hurricane Isabel in September, 2003, a decision was made to prepare a report on that response that would focus on the principal actions taken by the involved incident management teams and provide a useful record for the review and consideration of managers, incident teams and park staffs both now and in the future. Work began on the report in October, 2003, and the narrative segment (Sections I – VII) was completed by winter. Section VIII was completed in May, 2004, following a critique of the incident management teams’ response to the hurricane, conducted in Richmond, Virginia, in February, 2004. Section IX, containing some specific park comments, was added following a review of the report by most of the superintendents of the hardest-hit parks. The report was written and edited by Bill Halainen, who serves as both a management assistant at Delaware Water Gap NRA and as writer, editor and reporter of both the National Park Service’s daily Morning Report and the front page of its internal web newsletter, InsideNPS. He brought to the project his extensive experience as a writer- editor, his years as a staffer in the Ranger Activities Division in Washington, and his long-time association with incident management teams on virtually every significant incident to occur in the National Park Service for the past two decades. We hope that you find this report useful, both as a narrative and as an instructional document. I particularly call your attention to the critique contained in Section VIII, which contains numerous important recommendations on ways in which we can further improve our response to incidents in the parks. Karen Taylor-Goodrich Associate Director, Visitor and Resource Protection Washington Office, National Park Service 3 Executive Summary On Monday, September 1, 2003, a tropical wave formed off the west coast of Africa and began moving west. Five days later it became the ninth named storm of the year – Tropical Storm Isabel. By Thursday, September 11, Isabel had become a Category 5 hurricane, with winds estimated to be as high as 167 mph. The intensity of this storm raised alarms all up and down the East Coast, as only two previous Category 5 storms – the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969 – had struck the United States mainland in the previous century. Both had been catastrophic. Parks along throughout the three eastern NPS regions – Southeast, National Capital and Northeast – began making preparations. Most followed previously developed and frequently utilized park hurricane plans; others instituted flood plans, or began taking the requisite precautionary actions. Fortunately, Hurricane Isabel weakened rapidly just before making landfall, and came ashore as a Category 2 storm near Cape Lookout NS on the afternoon of Thursday, September 18. It then tracked across North Carolina and Virginia, losing its tropical characteristics before continuing due north until it merged with a weather system over Canada. Initial assessments revealed that a total of 31 parks in the three regions had sustained damage sufficient to require the preparation of condition assessments. Hardest hit were the North Carolina seashore areas, several historic parks in eastern Virginia (Colonial NHP, Richmond NB, Petersburg NB, George Washington Birthplace NM, and Federicksburg/Spotsylvania NMP), Shenandoah NP, and parks in and around Washington, DC. The National Park Service’s Type 1 Incident Management Team (IMT) and the Eastern Type 2 IMT were called out to assist. The former dealt with the Virginia historic parks, the latter with the North Carolina seashore areas. These two teams were followed by three more Type 2 IMT’s – the Pacific West IMT at Cape Lookout NS, a second Eastern IMT at Cape Hatteras NS, and the Central IMT at Colonial NHP (also serving the other Virginia historical sites). Over the course of the next month (through October 19), these teams mobilized hundreds of people – hotshot crews to cut trees, FMSS specialists to assess damage, curatorial specialists to triage and salvage artifacts – in a sustained and successful effort to help parks cope with the hurricane’s impacts. Overall, Hurricane Isabel inflicted approximately $137 million in damage to 27 parks reporting damage. This figure did not include the sizable costs of the recovery operations themselves. In February, 2004, members of these teams, regional emergency service coordinators, Washington and regional curators and Washington office staff met in Richmond and conducted a critique of the hurricane response. This report contains a summary of the National Park Service response to Hurricane Isabel, the findings of the critique team, and some observations and comments from the affected parks. 4 I. The Hurricane Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave that moved westward from the coast of Africa on September 1st. Over the next several days, the wave moved slowly westward and gradually became better organized. On Saturday, September 6th, the wave became a tropical depression, then grew to become Tropical Storm Isabel just six hours later. Isabel turned west-northwestward on September 7th and intensified into a hurricane. Strengthening continued for the next two days as the hurricane moved west-northwest and northwest. On September 10th, Hurricane Isabel turned west and maintained this direction for the next three days. On the 11th, the storm strengthened to Category 5 on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Scale, with winds estimated at 145 knots (167 mph). After this peak, winds subsided a bit, but remained in the 130 to 140 knot (150 to 161 mph) range until September 15th. During this time, Isabel had a persistent eye, measuring 35 to 45 nautical miles (40 to 52 miles) across . On September 13th, the hurricane turned to the west-northwest; on the 15th, to the northwest; and on the 16th to the north-northwest. The latter motion would continue for the rest of Isabel's life as a tropical cyclone. Increased vertical wind shear on Monday, September 15th, caused Isabel to gradually weaken. The system dropped to below Category 3 (110 mph) on September 16th and remained a Category 2 storm, with 98 to 104 mph winds, for the next two days. During that time, the overall size of the hurricane increased. 5 Isabel made landfall near Drum Inlet, North Carolina, on Thursday, September 18th, as a Category 2 hurricane, then lost strength as it moved across eastern North Carolina. It weakened to a tropical storm over southern Virginia, then lost tropical characteristics as it moved across western Pennsylvania on September 19th. Extra-tropical Isabel then moved northward into Canada and was absorbed into a larger weather system moving eastward across south central Canada early the next day. See Appendix 1 for a chronology of the hurricane’s development and passage and the subsequent recovery operations. II. Parks and Offices Prepare Hurricane Isabel began attracting close attention from parks on the Eastern Seaboard over the weekend of September 13th and 14th because of its power and its shift in direction toward the U.S. mainland. The prospect appeared high that, depending on track, numerous parks in Southeast, Northeast and/or National Capital Regions could be severely affected by this dangerous hurricane. Only two Category 5 storms – the 1935 Florida Keys Labor Day Hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969, both catastrophic and deadly – had hit the nation in the previous hundred years. Parks along or near the coast with hurricane plans began putting them into effect early in the week, and more inland parks within the hurricane’s predicted track also began gearing up for the storm’s arrival: x Moores Creek NB – The park put its hurricane plan into effect on Monday and began securing non-visitor use facilities. On Tuesday, closure operations continued, and the park closed to visitation at 5 p.m. All employees were released at close of business to secure personal belongings and evacuate if necessary. x Cape Lookout NS – The park implemented its hurricane emergency plan on Monday, September 15th, and closed as of 4 p.m. All concession operations and incidental business permittees began shutting down, and vehicle ferries were only transporting vehicles from the park to the mainland. Staff were dismissed at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16th, to allow time to secure personal property and evacuate. Efforts to evacuate barrier islands with no vehicle access were successful with the exception of Shackleford Banks, where approximately 100 surfers refused to honor the evacuation orders. Park employees were sent home at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. x Cape Hatteras NS – The park also activated its hurricane plan on Monday. Park campgrounds were closed at 9 a.m. and all other public park buildings were closed by 4 p.m. Dare County issued a mandatory evacuation order at noon on Tuesday. Highway 12 was already being overwashed in a couple of places, with conditions expected to worsen at high tides.
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