Yellowstone National Park Flood: Tragedy Closes All Park Entrances, Destroys Roads

The Yellowstone National Park flood on Monday prompted the closure of all the area's entrances as well as the destruction of some of the roads in the popular tourist attraction.

The National Park Service announced on Monday that the closure of the park's entrances was because of the "unprecedented rainfall causing substantial flooding, rockslides, and mudslides on roadways," ABC News reported.

The Yellowstone National Park spans 2,219,789 acres of land mostly in Wyoming, but also in Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone National Park officials were not able to determine when the famous tourist spot would reopen, NPR reported, citing Associated Press.

Superintendent Cam Sholly said that they cannot assess the damage in the park until the flood waters subside.

"It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time," Sholly added.

The park service in the Yellowstone National Park confirmed that some parts of the roads along the area have been washed out by the floods.

Meanwhile, other parts of the roads were covered in mud or rocks. The Yellowstone National Park released an aerial footage acquired by KBZK, showing the aftermath of the tragedy in the area.

The footage showed the current condition of the North Entrance Road through the Gardner Canyon between Gardiner, Montana, and Mammoth Hot Springs. The video from the park revealed a scene featuring the raging current of the Yellowstone River with its murky water, with some parts of the roads destroyed.

Another footage circulating on Twitter showed that heavy flooding washed away a bridge in the affected area.

Yellowstone National Park Flood Prompts Evacuations

Some residents near Yellowstone National Park were forced to evacuate due to severe storms across Montana, according to Montana Public Radio.

Residents in parts of Livingston were under a pre-evacuation order on Monday afternoon. Livingston City Fire Department advised the people from the eastern part of town near the famous tourist attraction to "make preparations for evacuation" due to the high chances of flooding.

Red Lodge was also subjected to evacuations, as the weather conditions caused basements to be swamped and wash out bridges in the area. The Red Lodge Community Church reportedly served as an evacuation spot since Sunday.

"We were not prepared for this by any means whatsoever, and we still don't know what's going to happen next," Pastor Pam Peterson said.

'Unprecedented' Overflowing of Yellowstone River

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that heavy rains on the snowpack over Beartooth/Absaroka mountains "resulted in unprecedented rises" on the Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs and Livingston.

The flooding in the Yellowstone National Park pushed the said river to its highest record levels and it continued to rise as of Monday.

Scientists noted that they cannot direct the link of a single weather event to climate change without extensive study. However, they contended that climate change is responsible for extreme events, including storms, floods, and wildfires.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Yellowstone Flooding Takes Out Bridge, Washes Out Roads - From 23 ABC News | KERO