News Release

NPS Incident Management Team Hurricane Florence October 1 Update

Incident Management Team members stabilize roofs on cabins at Long Point.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: October 1, 2018

Contact: Information Officer

Harkers Island, N.C. – The National Park Service Incident Management Team (IMT) is demobilizing on October 1 and 2. The team began their response to Hurricane Florence on September 12, two days before the Category 1 storm made landfall, and has been planning for and working on stabilization efforts at Cape Lookout National Seashore and Moores Creek National Battlefield since that day. At demobilization, park conditions include:

Cape Lookout National Seashore – OPEN WITH LIMITED SERVICES

• Seven cabins at Great Island will be reopening on October 5.
  • Original reservation holders will be contacted.
  • If the original reservation holders decline, the cabins will be released to the public on a rolling basis.
  • Services available include fuel, ice, bathhouse, and dump station.
  • Cabins will be added to the “open” inventory as they become available.
• Long Point cabins remain closed with reservations canceled for the rest of the season. The area will reopen pending completion of dredging operations.
  • Services available include fuel, ice and dump station.
  • No bathhouse or running water available.
• Beach Camping will resume on Thursday on South Core Banks when ferry operations resume.
  • Use caution as the beach has changed. Please note new signs indicating areas off limits to driving and camping. These areas will reopen as the beach stabilizes.
• Portsmouth Village has reopened and is accessible by private boat or ferry out of Ocracoke.
• No camping on North Core Banks until ferry operations resume.
• No trash service anywhere on beaches at this time. Everything must be packed out.
• The Harkers Island Visitor Center is reopening on Tuesday, October 2.
  • Hours of operation are daily from 9:00 am to 5 pm.
• The Beaufort Visitor Information Center is open.
  • Hours of operation are daily from 8:30 am to 5 pm.
• Reservations for Long Point Cabins have been canceled for the remainder of the season.  

Moores Creek National Battlefield – CLOSED

• Flood waters continue to recede, but park roads remain flooded.
• Crews continued to remove hazard trees and limbs from near the visitor center.
• Formal assessments and stabilization cannot begin until water recedes.
• A reopening schedule is not available at this time.

-NPS-