Yellowstone National Park damaged by record flooding, dangerous rockslides: What we know

GARDINER, Mont. — Yellowstone National Park officials assessed damage Tuesday as the park remained closed through at least Wednesday amid dangerous floods and rockslides that have eroded roads, ripped apart bridges and led to evacuations this week.

With flood levels “beyond record levels” and rainfall expected for the next several days, all five entrances to the park were closed, officials said Monday.

The park has seen multiple road and bridge failures, power outages and mudslides, causing evacuations starting in the northern part of the park. 

“I’ve never seen this, not in my lifetime,” said Austin King, a firefighter and EMT in Gardiner, a town just outside Yellowstone’s busy North Entrance.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, but floodwaters swept away numerous homes, bridges and other structures with the northern part of the park suffering the worst damage.

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Parker Manning, who is visiting from Terre Haute, Indiana, watched the flooding from a cabin in Gardiner. He said he saw trees and mostly intact houses floating in rushing floodwaters. 

The Yellowstone River reached highs of almost 14 feet on Monday, far higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet set over a century ago, according the the National Weather Service.

Surrounding communities left stranded, without power

The flooding left Yellowstone’s small gateway communities in southern Montana isolated and without power, leading to evacuations by boat and helicopter.

Road access was cut off to Gardiner, a town of about 900 people.

“The community of Gardiner is currently isolated, and we are working with the county and state of Montana to provide necessary support to residents, who are currently without water and power in some areas,” Yellowstone officials said Monday.

Floodwaters also isolated Cooke City and led to evacuations in Livingston. As Stillwater River in south-central Montana flooded, 68 people were stranded at a campground as crews rescued campers by raft.

Officials in Park County, which encompasses these cities, issued shelter-in-place orders Monday, warning flooding had made drinking water unsafe in many communities. The county said water and air rescues were underway amid evacuations Monday.

“Extensive flooding throughout Park County has washed out bridges, roads, and left communities and homes isolated,” Park County said in a statement.

In the south-central Montana town of Joliet, Kristan Apodaca cried as she watched floodwaters overtake her grandmother’s log cabin and the park where her husband proposed.

“I am sixth-generation,” she told the Billings Gazette. “This is our home.”

King, the EMT in Gardiner, said the flooding was “damaging for a lot of people.”

“Some have lost their houses; others can’t go to work,” Gardiner said. “People are worried about food shortages already.”

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When will Yellowstone reopen?

Yellowstone officials have prohibited visitors from entering the park at any of its five entrances until at least Wednesday.

Cory Mottice, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Billings, Montana, said reduced rain and cooler temperatures, which could lessen snowmelt, may lessen flooding. 

Still, “this is flooding that we’ve just never seen in our lifetimes before,” Mottice said. 

Why is Yellowstone flooding?

Record rainfall combined with rapidly melting snowpack caused the deluge of flooding this week with scientists pointing to climate change as responsible for more intense and frequent weather events.

The floods come as summer tourist seasons ramps up in the area in June, one of the park’s busiest months.

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