In mid June, the rain began to fall in Yellowstone National Park. It didn’t let up for nearly four days, and the Yellowstone River became a raging torrent that flooded the park so badly that more than 10,000 visitors were ordered out. The nation’s oldest national park was forced to close its gates, and At Home In Wild Spaces was there when the Yellowstone flooding happened.
According to reports, the Yellowstone river hit nearly 14 feet on on the Corwin Springs gauge, which is two feet higher than a record set in 1918. The unending rain and snowmelt filled the river to overflowing, and towns like Gardiner, Cooke City, and Silver Gate, Mont. were cut off from the rest of the world, leaving locals and some tourists stranded.
Now, a week later, officials have announced that parts of the park will reopen soon to a limited number of visitors. They also said that the National Park Service will spend $50 million to fast-track repair work to restore access to about 80 percent of the park within two weeks.
Even with that amount of money flowing into repairs, it’s clear from the footage that the park will never be the same.
