Hurricanes and their aftermath have shuttered a small handful of units of the National Park System from Hawaii to Texas.
While Hurricane Douglas in the Pacific led to closure of Haleakalā and Hawai'i Volcanoes national parks as well as Pu'uhonau o Honaunau National Historical Park, the remnants of Hurricane Hanna have left Padre Island National Seashore closed until Monday morning.
At Haleakalā, which closed Saturday evening in advance of Hurricane Douglas, all sunrise reservations scheduled for Sunday and Monday were cancelled. Hawai'i Volcanoes also closed Saturday evening, and officials were expecting the hurricane to bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and high surf to parts of the region.
Pu'uhonau o Honaunau also was not to reopen before Monday.
Heavy rains associated with Douglas carried the potential of spawning life-threatening flooding and landslides, the National Hurricane Center said early Sunday.
"Douglas will pass dangerously close to, or over, the islands today, bringing a triple threat of hazards, including but not limited to damaging winds, flooding rainfall, and dangerously high surf, especially along east and north facing shores," the forecasters noted.
In Texas, Padre Island National Seashore marked the landfall of then-Hurricane Hanna on Saturday. By Sunday the storm had been downgraded to a tropical storm. However, as much as 5 inches of additional rain could fall before the storm leaves the region Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.
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