A record amount of rainfall and snowmelt in the Yellowstone area has caused considerable damage to roads and infrastructure over the last 24 hours. Yellowstone National Park Service have released footage shot from a helicopter which show several areas of the road eroded from flooding from the neighboring river.
The National Park Service has made the decision to close Yellowstone to all inbound visitors, and more rainfall is forecast in the coming hours.
The video was shot by Yellowstone’s helicopter manager from a park helicopter and shows the current conditions of Yellowstone’s North Entrance Road through the Gardner Canyon between Gardiner, Montana, and Mammoth Hot Springs.
“Due to record flooding events in the park and more precipitation in the forecast, we have made the decision to close Yellowstone to all inbound visitation,” said superintendent Cam Sholly. “Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and other issues. 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.”
An update yesterday evening reported that the Northern portion of Yellowstone likely to remain closed for a substantial length of time. Many sections of road in these areas are completely gone and will require substantial time and effort to reconstruct. The NPS will make every effort to repair these roads as soon as possible; however, it is probable that road sections in northern Yellowstone will not reopen this season due to the time required for repairs.
All entrances to Yellowstone remain temporarily closed while the park waits for flood waters to recede and conduct evaluations on roads, bridges and wastewater treatment facilities to ensure visitor and employee safety.
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