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Everglades, Biscayne National Parks Close In Advance Of Hurricane Dorian

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Hurricane Dorian on August 29, 2019/NOAA

Hurricane Dorian on August 29, 2019/NOAA

Everglades National Park, which continues to clean up following a 2017 hurricane, and Biscayne National Park were closed and buttoned down Friday in advance of Hurricane Dorian, a particularly potent storm that was expected to reach Florida by late Monday.

Those parks joined Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, including Fort Caroline National Memorial, Kingsley Plantation, Cedar Point and Theodore Roosevelt Area, and Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas national monuments in opting to batten down as much as possible before the storm's arrival.

In Everglades, airboat concessioners Coopertown and Everglades Safari Park planned to remain open until 3 p.m. local time on Saturday. Gator Park closed at the end of the day on Friday.

Marine waters will remain open for boating, but emergency services will be extremely limited after Friday.

No backcountry passes will be issued until further notice.

Vessels may seek safe harbor in the area of Ponce De Leon Bay, the Little Shark River between marker 1 and marker 69, and the main tributary of the Shark River. The Flamingo Marina will be closed. Chickees are also closed and vessels are not permitted to tie off to chickees.

Biscayne closed its gates and facilities at 3 p.m. local time Friday.

Park waters remain open. Any vessels in the park should use extreme caution. Severe thunderstorms, rainfall and hurricane force winds are likely even if Dorian stays off shore.

Park employees are shuttering buildings, securing property including boats and vehicles and making other preparations for strong winds, storms and heavy rainfall. The park will continue to monitor the hurricane and adapt plans as needed. Updates will be available on the park website and social media channels.

Dorian was a Category 3 storm Friday, but was expected to strengthen before reaching Florida's eastern coast.

"Dorian is anticipated to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula into early next week," the National Hurricane Center warned.

In September 2017 Hurricane Irma did significant damage to Everglades, Biscayne, and Virgin Islands national parks, along with many other units of the National Park System in the Southeast. Everglades continues to clean up from that storm, noting on its website that crews were still working to remove submerged debris and "uncharted wrecks."

Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, left heavy erosion, roofs peeled back, trees downed, docks destroyed, and boats tossed about in her wake.

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