Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys has been forced to shut down to the public for “several days” after nearly 300 migrants arrived at the island. At the same time, an additional 160 migrants landed landed by boat elsewhere in the Florida Keys, officials said.

The New York Post reports the roughly 500 people are “believed to be from Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean” and came ashore in what local officials described as a major “crisis.”

Officials with Dry Tortugas National Park said the park would be closed to the public for “several days” while efforts are made to assist and process the migrants.

The closure, expected to last several days, is “necessary for the safety of visitors and staff because of the resources and space needed to attend to the migrants,” park officials said in a statement.

“Like elsewhere in the Florida Keys, the park has recently seen an increase in people arriving by boat from Cuba and landing on the islands of Dry Tortugas National Park. Park first responders provide food, water and basic medical attention until the Department of Homeland Security arrives and takes the lead.”

On Monday two new groups of migrants of about 30 people were found in the Middle Keys. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday statement it was assisting federal authorities with a sharp increase in Cuban refugees since Saturday going into Monday.

The crisis also faces failure of the federal government’s policies and assistance to border communities. The Keys office said it was told by US Border Patrol that some migrant landings might have to wait for federal help until the next day, causing the situation to get worse.

The office called it a “federal failure” that is leading to a “humanitarian crisis.”

“This shows a lack of a working plan by the federal government to deal with a mass migration issue that was foreseeable,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

He also noted in a statement, “Refugee arrivals require a lot of resources from the Sheriff’s Office as we help our federal law enforcement partners ensure the migrants are in good health and safe.”

The New York Post adds: “Border Patrol and the Coast Guard have been dealing with the largest spike in migration by boat in South Florida and the Keys in almost a decade, with hundreds of interceptions in recent months. Most of the people have been from Cuba and Haiti.”