Glacier Park staffer sees Sandy damage up close

Glacier National Park employee Richard Menicke got an up close and personal look at the devastation caused by hurricane Sandy.

Menicke is a geographer and GIS coordinator for the Park. He was part of a team of Park employees that went to the east coast to help National Park Service sites damaged by the storm.

Menicke arrived in New York three days after the storm. He assisted with helping map damage and assisted in other aspects of the cleanup and recovery.

Mark Foust, Glacier Park’s chief ranger, was an incident commander on the detail, and Menicke said several other Glacier Park employees were on teams as well, including several seasonal staff.

The devastation was widespread. New York has several NPS units in Manhattan and the surrounding area.

“It was very humbling,” Menicke said.

He described football fields of garbage and debris from the storm. He saw homes uprooted, and neighborhoods that burned down.

Particularly hard-hit was Gateway National Recreation Area, which has units across New York and New Jersey right on the coast. Sandy pounded many of Gateway’s units.

Menicke said Gateway was just working on its general management plan, but now it’s eyeing months and months of clean-up. The homes of employees who lived in the recreation area were damaged or destroyed. Helping out for a few weeks was the least he could do.

“It will be a highlight of my Park Service career,” he said. “I helped Gateway take care of their park. That part was the most satisfying.”