Rare Yellowstone Closure from Historic Floods Spells Hardship for ‘Gateway’ Towns in the US

Environmental News from the US: 

Emergency crews scrambled on Tuesday to reopen roads and restore utilities in rural communities of Montana and Wyoming cut off by historic floods in the first natural disaster to force a summertime closure of Yellowstone National Park in 30 years.

Major sections of the park’s northern half are expected to remain closed for the rest of the season, dealing an economic blow to adjacent gateway communities counting on a rebound in Yellowstone tourism for the park’s 150th anniversary following two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte declared a statewide disaster, with rescue and relief efforts focused in three counties after days of record rainfall that triggered epic flooding, mudslides, and rockfalls in the greater Yellowstone region.

The upheaval followed one of the region’s wettest springs in many years and coincided with a sudden spike in summer temperatures that have hastened the runoff of melting snow in the park’s higher elevations from late-winter storms.

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Source: Reuters

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