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National Park Service Working To Reopen Parks Closed By Hurricane Florence

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Published Date

September 19, 2018
Harkers Island entrance sign in the day Hurricane Florence made landfall/NPS

Cape Lookout National Seashore's Harkers Island entrance sign the day Hurricane Florence made landfall/NPS

Two units of the National Park System that were battered by Hurricane Florence remained closed Wednesday, while a third had partially reopened, according to the National Park Service. Working to get them fully open was an incident management team manned by 28 Park Service employees from 14 parks.

Until the units are reopened, they are closed to all use, including motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, due to safety concerns during stabilization operations, the Park Service said.

As of Wednesday morning, the following parks were either fully or partially closed:

Cape Lookout National Seashore – CLOSED

  • Park staff are conducting initial assessments throughout the park.

  • There is significant dock damage and trees down on Harkers Island.

  • Some roof damage has been identified on park buildings and shelters.

  • Long Point and Great Island Cabin camps were impacted, but a full assessment has not been completed yet.

  • The historic structures in Cape and Portsmouth villages have not been assessed.

  • A reopening schedule is not available at this time.

Moores Creek National Battlefield – CLOSED

  • The national battlefield is inaccessible due to continued flooding.

  • Flooding has occurred within Patriots Hall, however the park visitor center and administrative buildings remain above flood waters.

  • More information will not be available until water recedes.

  • A reopening schedule is not available at this time.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore – PARTIALLY OPEN

  • All national seashore areas are open with the exception of Ocracoke Island which is expected to be reopened to visitors on Friday, September 21.

  • The Hatteras to Ocracoke ferry is not running at this time.

  • N.C. 12 north of the Pony Pens

Comments

Please thank all Park Rangers and volunteers for all of their hard work putting these parks back together!  We appreciate your efforts to take care of and maintain the parks for all of us.


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