News Release

NPS Incident Management Team Hurricane Update for the Caribbean Parks, Monday, October 2, 2017 -- 5pm

Date: October 2, 2017
Contact: Rob Parrish, 917-509-4426

Incident information

Photos of Hurricanes Irma and Maria damage and response

San Juan, PR. – The National Park Service Eastern Incident Management Team (EIMT) for the Caribbean Parks continued the process of supporting local park employees in achieving daily incident objectives which included clean-up of popular park areas and conducting condition assessments of park natural and cultural resources.  All park units are still subject to a 100% power outage and emergency electrical needs are being met by short-term use of generators. All park units remain closed.

The Employee Assistance Group continues to meet with individual employees to help them and their families through the process of recovering from the hurricanes and coping with the aftermath. A fifth Critical Incident Stress Management EIMT team member arrived on site today and assisted in ramping up the peer support focusing on temporary and long term recovery for local park employees.

The Incident Command and local grounds work crew performed the first of many clean up tasks starting today at Las Palmas de San Jose. A concentrated effort to start and complete a recovery task in one day was a goal for this objective. Many of the San Juan National Historic Site’s grounds are a normal and integrated part of the community’s pedestrian and recreational thoroughfares and are used by residents and visitors alike. As such these areas are usually open and accessible at all hours. Storm damage and debris either make areas like Las Palmas critical to restoring normalcy to both the park and the community.     

Approximately 66 National Park Service employees from national parks and offices inside and outside the affected areas are now on station in the Caribbean to respond to support emergency stabilization efforts. Employees from parks outside the affected area continue to arrive at the Incident Command Post to staff the EIMT during this initial recovery and stabilization operations. As assessments are being completed new requests for resources are being made by the Incident Command to meet the needs of the Incident Action Plan.

News from the field

Virgin Islands National Park, St. John – CLOSED

Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, St. John – CLOSED

Christiansted National Historic Site, St. Croix – CLOSED

Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix – CLOSED

Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, St. Croix – CLOSED

San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico – CLOSED

~NPS