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Hurricane Michael Damage To Keep Parts Of Gulf Islands National Seashore Closed Into January

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By NPT Staff - October 18th, 2018
Hurricane Michael caused road damage to Highway 399 through Gulf Islands National Seashore/NPS

It will take until mid-January to repair road damage that Hurricane Michael inflicted to Highway 399 through Gulf Islands National Seashore/NPS

Damage from Hurricane Michael will keep Highway 399 through Gulf Islands National Seashore closed until mid-January while repairs are made, according to park staff.

Highway 399 is the main route along Santa Rosa Island in the Florida portion of the national seashore. Not as severely damaged was the Fort Pickens Road on the far western end of the island. The Fort Pickens Area, including the campground, is scheduled to reopen Friday at 9 a.m.  The Fort Pickens Campground will welcome overnight guests on a first-come, first served and reservation basis. Reservations can be made on www.recreation.gov.

The National Park Service and the Federal Highways Administration are working closely to complete the repair work to Highway 399 as quickly as safely possible. 

“These roadways are vital links for our community,” said Gulf Islands Superintendent Dan Brown. “We are thankful that repairs will be able to be completed sooner than initially thought so visitors can return to these wonderful areas.”

In addition to repairing road damage, the park service will work with FHWA to pursue options for lowering the elevation of a road section of Highway 399, similar to the method used for Fort Pickens Road after Hurricane Ivan. These methods may help avoid future road damage caused by over-wash during hurricanes and tropical storm events.

The National Park Service closed all Florida areas of the national seashore prior to Hurricane Michael making landfall along the Gulf Coast on October 10.  The category four storm pushed significant winds and waves onto Santa Rosa Island. 

Comments

Submitted by Kellie E on October 26, 2018 - 12:51pm.

Thank you all for your hard work!  Those of us who love our national parks and are from Florida had a rather endless wait while waiting for all of the sand to be removed from the Ft. Pickens road after the last panhandle hurricane.  The roads are vital and it was good to see that the damage could be repaired in a relatively short time frame.  Good luck and I cannot wait until my next visit!


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