Yellowstone flooding – live: Tourists warned National Park closed for months as video shows perilous escape

Flooding caused mudslides and widespread destruction

Montana declares flood disaster due to Yellowstone flooding

More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from Yellowstone National Park, as dangerous flood waters have knocked out bridges and roads, as well as causing mud slides.

Heavy rains and snow melt caused the Yellowstone River to jump its banks, prompting widespread destruction and toppling riverside properties.

All five entrances to the park, which gets hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, have been closed to visitors for the first time in 34 years. Officials say the landscape has ben changed “literally”.

All visitors aside from a single group of backpackers have left the park, according to officials. Emergency crews are prepared to potentially rescue the group.

The north entrance of the park is expected to be closed all summer as officials seek to repair damaged infrastructure.

Key Points

• Montana governor declares state of disaster
• Record deluge sparks scramble to evacuate 10,000
• Park could be closed ‘for months'
• Video shows visitors’ perilous escape

[15 June 2022 03:34 · Josh Marcus]

Family starts GoFundMe after house falls into river in Montana

A family is crowdfunding relief funds after their home was swept away in historic flooding at Yellowstone National Park.

“I have always seen this kind of thing happening on the news or whatever to someone else and today I found out exactly how it feels and I understand now that it is truly overwhelming and exhausting,” the family wrote on their GoFundMe page. “I have experienced today the absolute best and worst of humanity. The concern, support and generosity from complete strangers, friends and family is absolutely amazing to me. Thank you all.”

[15 June 2022 03:04 · Josh Marcus]

Former Montana legislator says Yellowstone disaster shows ‘profound inequality'

Former Montana legislator Tom Winter says the ongoing flooding and destruction in Yellowstone is a sign of “unchecked climate change” and “profound inequality” in the state of Montana.

He also noted that five families lived in a riverside house that was recorded collapsing into the river, a sign of the state’s housing problems.

“In short, it’s a Montana story. And our leaders could protect us, but won’t,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

[15 June 2022 02:34 · Josh Marcus]

ICMYI: Chaos and flooding continues in Yellowstone

All visitors except a group of backpackers have now been evacuated after Yellowstone National Park was hit by a record deluge, according to officials.

Tourists to the world-famous park were asked to get out after roads and bridges were washed out as “unprecedented” flooding devastated areas of southern Montana.

Graeme Massie had this report for The Independent on what is going on.

[15 June 2022 02:04 · Josh Marcus]

WATCH: Video shows rockslide as cars exit Yellowstone

Historic rains and snowmelt have set off floods and mudslides across Yellowstone Park.

One visitor caught video of the chaos.

Twitter user Anne Leppold said a car in front of her was struck by a rockslide as a procession of vehicles sought to exit the park’s North Entrance.

According to park officials, all those inside Yellowstone have been evacuated except a single group of hikers.

[15 June 2022 01:44 · Josh Marcus]

Another bit of (non-natural) history in Yellowstone

As floods swept across Yellowstone National Park, officials reckoned with another historic challenge: confronting the famed park’s historical links to the genocide of Native Americans.

On Tuesday, a name change went into effect, renaming the park’s Mount Doane as First People’s Mountain.

The 10,551 peak was originally named for Gustavus Doane, a US army captain who killed at least 173 Native Americans, including numerous civilians, during the so-called Marias Massacre, an attack in response to the alleged murder of a white furrier.

27 different indigenous tribes have connections to the park, which was established in part at gunpoint by the US Army, who kept native peoples off their ancestral lands.

“The big myth about Yellowstone is that it’s a pristine wilderness untouched by humanity,” University of Montana anthropology professor Doug MacDonald told the Smithsonian Magazine. “Native Americans were hunting and gathering here for at least 11,000 years. They were pushed out by the government after the park was established. The Army was brought in to keep them out, and the public was told that Native Americans were never here in the first place because they were afraid of the geysers.”

[15 June 2022 01:24 · Josh Marcus]

Montana governor declares state of disaster as floods strike Yellowstone and beyond

Montana governor Greg Gianforte declared a state of disaster in response to heavy flooding that caused devastation in Yellowstone National Park and beyond throughout the last few days.

So far, the Montana National Guard has rescued 12 people by helicopter, as communities near the park like Gardiner have been partially cut off from the outside due to destroyed infrastructure.

[15 June 2022 01:04 · Josh Marcus]

WATCH: Video shows sections of road missing after massive Yellowstone floods

An aerial video feed shows the extent of damage from flooding in Yellowstone National Park.

Watch below, courtesy of the National Parks Service.

[15 June 2022 00:44 · Josh Marcus]

Yellowstone floods are only disaster hitting West

As the climate crisis continues to alter the balance across a variety of natural systems, extreme weather events like the flooding in Yellowstone will only become more common.

As park officials seek to assess damage and rescue stranded visitors, many states across the country have experience climate-inflected disasters of their own.

In the Southwest, wildfires have proliferated amid high winds and dry conditions.

Meanwhile, apocalyptic wind storms tore through the Midwest.

[15 June 2022 00:22 · Josh Marcus]

Yellowstone: One group of backpackers remain after record deluge sparks scramble to evacuate 10,000

All visitors except a group of backpackers have now been evacuated after Yellowstone National Park was hit by a record deluge, according to officials.

Tourists to the world-famous park were asked to get out after roads and bridges were washed out as “unprecedented” flooding devastated areas of southern Montana.

Superintendent Cam Sholly told reporters that just one group of campers now remains in the park’s backcountry as officials take stock of the scope of damage that has been done.

Graeme Massie has the details on this breaking news story here.

[15 June 2022 00:06 · Josh Marcus]

What caused Yellowstone to shut down?

A series of “unprecedented” rainstorms have created chaos inside Yellowstone National Park, which closed its gates to visitors on Monday.

The severe weather caused mudslides, with multiple roads being rendered impassible, and a bridge getting destroyed.

“Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and others issues,” park superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.

Guests already inside the park have been evacuated, and no return date has been announced.

Catch up on the latest with our report on what’s going on inside the park.