You are here

Hurricane Ike Prompts FEMA to Task the National Park Service with a Search and Rescue Mission in Houston

Share

Hurricane Ike, Funktop view, about 8:30 a.m. eastern. Funktop enhanced infrared imagery is especially useful for precipitation analysis and forecasting. NOAA photo.

With the huge and powerful Hurricane Ike bearing down on the Texas Gulf Coast, emergency preparations are in full swing. The Texas-sized storm is deemed very dangerous (a category 2 or 3), and may produce unusually high storm surges. Unfortunately, one of America’s most heavily populated urban areas is in the bullseye.

Low lying areas of Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city (over 2.2 million residents), are expected to experience serious flooding, as is the nearby coastal barrier city of Galveston. Sequenced evacuation of the threatened areas has been ongoing for several days, but many thousands of people remain at risk.

Because the threat to human life is so high in the Houston area, large areas of which lie scarcely above sea level, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has rushed to put search and rescue resources in place. Forecasters have warned there’s a credible risk of a storm surge big enough to overwhelm critical flood control structures, and this has added to the sense of urgency.

As part of its preparations, FEMA asked the National Park Service to contribute boat crews to the urban search and rescue task force being put together for Houston. The Park Service responded by staging a large contingent consisting of 21 two-person boat crews. This is the fourth time this year that FEMA has tasked the Park Service with a search and rescue mission.

Earlier, as Hurricane Ike drew a bead on the Texas coast, Padre Island National Seashore requested the deployment of a Central Incident Management Team. Padre Island is in the path of the storm, and while it won't be hit as hard as Houston-Galveston, it can expect significant beach erosion, flooding, and related impacts.

Traveler is assuming, but has not confirmed, that evacuation and closure of Padre Island National Seashore has minimized the need for search and rescue resources there, freeing them for deployment to the task force in Houston.

The Park Service has updated a law enforcement roster in case additional personnel are needed in the hurricane-impacted area for safety and security missions.

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.