by Alex Oliveira at Daily Mail
- More than 10,000 visitors have evacuated from Yellowstone as unprecedented flooding tore through the northern half of the nation’s oldest national park, washing out bridges and roads
- Remarkably, no one was reported injured or killed. The only visitors left in the massive park straddling three states were a dozen campers still making their way out of the backcountry
- Yellowstone National Park, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, could remain closed for as long as a week, and northern entrances may not reopen this summer at all
- Officials warned on Tuesday that local drinking water has become unsafe, and to be on alert for displaced wildlife
- Yellowstone River hit historic levels after days of rain and rapid snowmelt and wrought havoc across parts of southern Montana and northern Wyoming
- Cabins were washed away, small towns were swamped and knocked out power
- The floods hit the park just as a summer tourist season that draws millions of visitors was ramping up
Yellowstone National Park could be closed ‘indefinitely’ as devastating flooding continues to ravage the towns, roads, and bridges along the Yellowstone River.
Park officials characterized the severe flooding tearing through the region as a once in a ‘thousand-year event,’ that could alter the course of the Yellowstone river and surrounding landscapes forever.
Officials say that the river’s volume is flowing 20,000 cubic feet per second faster than the previous record measured in the 90s.
10,000 tourists were evacuated – including a dozen trapped campers who were rescued by helicopter – emptying the park completely of all visitors.
Officials warned on Tuesday that local drinking water has become unsafe, and to be on alert for displaced wildlife.
All entrances to the park were closed on Tuesday, and though park services say some southern roads may open in a week, they predicted that the northern roads will be closed through the fall.
Houses in surrounding communities have been flooded or washed away by streams that turned into raging rivers, roads have been carved away, and bridges have collapsed into the torrent.
The Governor of Montana, Greg Gianforte, declared a statewide disaster.
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