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Photos: Floods batter, close Yellowstone National Park in US

Flooding caused road and bridge damage in Yellowstone National Park forcing park to close for first time in 34 years.

This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a washed out road at North Entrance Road
This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a washed out road at North Entrance Road of Yellowstone National Park [Doug Kraus/National Park Service via AP]
Published On 15 Jun 2022

The forces of fire and ice shaped Yellowstone National Park over thousands of years. It took decades longer for humans to tame it enough for tourists to visit, often from the comfort of their cars.

In just days, heavy rain and rapid snowmelt caused a dramatic flood that may forever alter the human footprint on the park’s terrain and the communities that have grown around it.

The park is closed to visitors for the first time in 34 years.

The historic floodwaters that raged through Yellowstone this week, tearing out bridges and pouring into nearby homes, pushed a popular fishing river off course — possibly permanently — and may force roadways nearly torn away by torrents of water to be rebuilt in new places.

“The landscape literally and figuratively has changed dramatically in the last 36 hours,” said Bill Berg, a commissioner in nearby Park County. “A little bit ironic that this spectacular landscape was created by violent geologic and hydrologic events, and it’s just not very handy when it happens while we’re all here settled on it.”

The unprecedented flooding drove more than 10,000 visitors out of the nation’s oldest national park and damaged hundreds of homes in nearby communities, though remarkably no was reported hurt or killed. The only visitors left in the huge park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry.

The park could remain closed as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer, Superintendent Cam Sholly said.

“I’ve heard this is a 1,000-year event, whatever that means these days. They seem to be happening more and more frequently,” he said.

Sholly noted some weather forecasts include the possibility of additional flooding this weekend.

The northern part of the park is “likely to remain closed for substantial length of time due to severely damaged, impacted infrastructure”, the park said in a Tweet Tuesday.

The park’s website said visitors planning on traveling to the park in the coming weeks and month should check for updates.

 

Days of rain and rapid snowmelt wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming, where they washed away cabins, swamped small towns and knocked out power. This hit the park as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up during its 150th anniversary year.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone’s gateway communities in southern Montana. National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a mudslide, washed-out bridges, and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

In Red Lodge, a town of 2,100 that is a popular jumping-off point for a scenic route into the Yellowstone high country, a creek running through town jumped its banks and swamped the main thoroughfare, leaving trout swimming in the street a day later under sunny skies.

Residents described a harrowing scene where the water went from a trickle to a torrent in just a few hours.

At least 200 homes were flooded in Red Lodge and the town of Fromberg.

In this image provided by Sam Glotzbach, the flooding Yellowstone River undercuts the river bank
The flooding Yellowstone River undercuts the river bank, threatening a house and a garage in Gardiner, Montana. [Sam Glotzbach via AP]
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Flood damage is seen along a street
Flood damage is seen along a street in Red Lodge, Montana. Residents were cleaning up after record floods in southern Montana this week. [Matthew Brown/AP Photo]
The roaring Yellowstone River is seen from the air sweeping over trees and near homes
The roaring Yellowstone River is seen from the air sweeping over trees and near homes in Billings, Montana. [Brittany Peterson/AP Photo]
Residents of Red Lodge, Mont., inspect damage to a house that was flooded after torrential rains fell across the Yellowstone region
Residents of Red Lodge inspect the damage to a house that was flooded after torrential rains fell across the Yellowstone region. Local officials say more than 100 houses in the small city were flooded. [Matthew Brown/AP Photo]
A road is closed from floodwaters along the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River near Bridger
The flooding across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming forced the indefinite closure of Yellowstone National Park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors annually was ramping up. [Emma H. Tobin/AP Photo]
This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a flooded out North Entrance Road
Gardiner, a town just north of the park, was isolated, with water covering the road north of the town and a mudslide blocking the road to the south. [Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP]
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Residents of Red Lodge, Montana, are seen clearing mud, water and debris from the small city's main street
Residents of Red Lodge, Montana, are seen clearing mud, water and debris from the small city's main street on Tuesday after flood waters coursed through a residential area with hundreds of homes. [Matthew Brown/AP Photo]
Ken Ebel is seen in front of his flood-damaged house and yard, Tuesday
Ken Ebel is seen in front of his flood-damaged house and yard in Red Lodge, Montana. Ebel says sandbags placed by volunteers likely spared his property from further damage. [Matthew Brown/AP Photo]
This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Lower Blacktail Patrol Cabin washed away in Yellowstone National Park
This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Lower Blacktail Patrol Cabin washed away in Yellowstone National Park on Monday, June 13, 2022. [Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP]
Micah Hoffman is seen in his mud-covered yard as a pump removes water from his basement
Micah Hoffman is seen in his mud-covered yard as a pump removes water from his basement. Residents were cleaning up after record floods in southern Montana this week. [Matthew Brown/AP Photo]
The roaring Yellowstone River is seen from the air sweeping over trees and near homes
The roaring Yellowstone River is seen from the air sweeping over trees and near homes in Billings, Montana. [Brittany Peterson/AP Photo]