Yellowstone National Park was recently forced to close areas of the park indefinitely due to severe flooding which affected the park's infrastructure.
The park's Facebook page reported the "southern loop appears to be less impacted than the northern roads and teams will assess damage to determine when opening of the southern loop is feasible. The original post said the closure will continue until at least June 19.
“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," Cam Sholly, the park's superintendent, said in a news release first posted June 12. "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."
According to ABC 4, more than 10,000 visitors were evacuated from the park June 13 as the flooding happened. Bridges and roads in the area were destroyed by the flooding.
“The landscape literally and figuratively has changed dramatically in the last 36 hours,” Bill Berg, a commissioner in nearby county, said, according to a story from The Guardian. “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.”
Sholly noted they need the flood waters to subside before assessing the damage, but she noted the northern loop will be closed "for a substantial amount of time," according to the release. The Facebook post reported major damage to sections of road between the North Entrance in Gardiner, Mont.; Mammoth Hot Springs; Lamar Valley; and Cooke City, Mont., near the northeast entrance.
"The park does not expect the road sections in northern Yellowstone to open this season," the Facebook post reported. "The entrances to the park are closed while the flood waters recede so staff can evaluate roads, bridges and wastewater treatment facilities."
"I appreciate the efforts of the Yellowstone team and partners to safely evacuate areas of the park and of our gateway community partners who are helping us through this major event," Sholly said in the release. "We appreciate the support offered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service and the Montana and Wyoming governors. Yellowstone will continue to communicate about this hazardous situation as more information is available."
Sholly continues to update the public on Yellowstone's National Park Service page.
