Winter Storm Update

In my last message to you I advised that we had hoped to fly developed areas of the parks this week and learn more about the damage we have suffered. Yesterday we were able to fly but were not able to survey areas we had hoped due to clouds such as Cedar Grove, Generals Highway North (between Grant Grove and Red Fir/Wuksachi), and Crystal Cave Road. We shall try again today. However, the weather did cooperate for Mineral King so I thought I would report out what we found:

• First, I am happy to report that we saw no obvious signs of any collapsed roofs or destroyed structures any where among the cabin communities, though snow up to the eaves was the norm and some cabins were buried entirely.
• Second, fortunately, the three road washout sites in the park from January did not appear to be appreciatively worse. The temporary mitigations seemed to hold.
• Also, more good news—we observed no catastrophic failure of the road, other than the one known site below the park at MM 4.5.
• However, we did observe more than a dozen new sites where the road partially washed out and will require repair, some of it major. The repair price tag is likely in the millions of dollars.

 

As such, once the county is able to repair the washout outside the park, it will take considerable time and effort to restore vehicle access to the Mineral King communities.

 

Within the main frontcountry corridor of the parks, Grant Grove is expected to remain closed to public access through roughly the end of the month due to damage to Highway 180 and other access routes outside the park. Crews are prioritizing emergency and residential access. On the Sequoia side, I expect a prolonged closure, even for the Foothills. Like Mineral King Road, Generals Highway has also taken a beating. We are still assessing the unprecedented level of damage and working feverishly to prevent additional damage from these subsequent atmospheric rivers. We do not have an estimated reopening date, but am tentatively planning a public briefing late next week, on the heels of the next (and let’s hope the season’s last) atmospheric river event, Monday night through Wednesday. At that time we will share more detailed information about the damage received and the storm recovery plans for all areas, including Mineral King.

 

I’m afraid it will be awhile before as a park, as with the community, it will be back to normal business. But the park staff has dug in their heels to stabilizing our situation, then restoring access with a lot of assistance from the Federal Highways Administration and roads contractors. I look forward to discussing all of this with you next week.

 

Respectfully,

 

Clay Jordan

Superintendent

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks