“Our first priority was to evacuate the northern part of the park where we have a lot of road and bridge failures, mud landslides and other problems,” Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement Monday. Just north of Yellowstone, several towns in Montana County Park are also experiencing widespread flooding, which has washed away bridges and roads, making travel unsafe or impossible to evacuate, Park County officials said on Facebook Monday. Officials have also issued warnings in many areas for residents to avoid drinking local water due to a broken water supply network and submerged wells. “The river has never been so high next to my house,” said Elizabeth Aluk, who lives in Gardiner in Park County. Aluk told CNN on Monday afternoon that she could not be evacuated because the streets and bridges around her house had been washed away.
An Indiana family living in a short-term rental cabin in Gardiner told CNN they had to leave Monday morning, but flooding left them stranded. “The water levels were high on Saturday, but in the last 10-12 hours things have gotten rougher,” said Parker Manning. “Our exit from the city would be north at 89, but these roads are all underwater at the moment.” The Yellowstone River, which runs through Park and many cities in Park County, swelled to a high on Monday due to recent heavy rainfall and significant snowmelt runoff at higher altitudes, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller. The Yellowstone River in Montana’s Corwin Springs reached 13.88 feet on Monday afternoon, surpassing the all-time high of 11.5 feet since 1918, according to NOAA River Meter data. “The river is still rising near Livingston and is expected to peak between 6pm and 9pm on Monday,” Park officials said on Facebook. Across the nation in recent days, extreme weather has hit communities, including storms that have left nearly 300,000 customers without power in the Midwest, a threat of a tornado in Chicago and a dome of severe heat that has left more than a third of the U.S. population dead. heat alarm.

Some were evacuated while others remain trapped

As many roads and bridges become impassable by floods, park and county officials are working to evacuate those who can and provide support to those who are unable to leave. The Park County Sheriff’s Office issued a shelter until 7 a.m. Monday for those 52 miles south of U.S. 89 South Highway, the Facebook post said. The National Guard and local search and rescue teams are assisting with evacuations and rescue throughout the county, including two air lifts and a quick rescue on the water, the county said. Many communities in Park County are isolated and surrounded by water, including Gardiner, Cooke City and Silver Gate, according to an update on the county’s Facebook page. Rapid flooding has also destroyed homes, as images show houses either partially or completely collapsing. In neighboring Montana’s Carbon County, flooding disrupted utility lines, leaving many Red Lodge customers without power, officials said. Meanwhile, several roads and bridges in Yellowstone have also been flooded, park officials say. Videos released by the park show sections of the asphalt road washed or severely eroded. Due to forecasts for higher flood levels and concerns about water and sewerage systems, the park also began removing visitors from the park’s southern loop on Monday, Soly said. “We will not know when the park will reopen until the floodwaters recede and we are able to assess the damage to the entire park,” Soli said. “It is possible that the north loop will be closed for a significant period of time.”

The dramatic increase of rain strengthens the flood waters

In June, rainfall in northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana was above 400% of the area average, according to Miller. The dramatic increase in rainfall has been combined with near-record temperatures in the area that have caused snow to melt in high-altitude areas, the NWS reported in Riverton, Wyoming. During Sunday night, melting snow reached streams and rivers, further adding to flood waters, NWS reported. In addition to the Corwin Springs record, the Yellowstone River reached 10.9 feet in Livingston, Montana on Monday, surpassing the 1997 area record of 10.7 feet, the NWS told Billings, Montana. CNN’s Sara Smart, Claudia Dominguez, Raja Razek, Brandon Miller and Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.