More than 10,000 people in Yellowstone National Park have been evacuated following the impact of historic flooding, officials there said.
After the power went out, the snow thawed and the roads and bridges were out of service, the park began an evacuation, according to Superintendent Cam Sholly, who assured that a group of campers remained in the area, according to the report. news agency The Associated Press.
Sholly said crews were prepared to evacuate them by helicopter but as of Tuesday afternoon it hadn't been necessary.
Flooding reached unprecedented levels, washing away several sections of the main road from the north entrance of the park.
A shocking video showing a home in Gardiner, Montana being washed away by the current of the Yellowstone River on Monday demonstrates the impact of the flood.
In the images you can see how the house wobbles on the river bank until the waters drag it and several pieces of wood come off.
The Yellowstone River in Corwin Springs reached a height of 13.88 feet (4.2 meters) on Monday, higher than the previous record of 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) set in 1918, according to the National Weather Service.
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There were no immediate reports of injuries, although dozens of campers had to be rescued by raft in central Montana.
Officials also said they would be evaluating possible "loss of homes and structures" in Stillwater County.
This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows the razed Lower Blacktail patrol cabin in Yellowstone National Park, Monday, June 13, 2022.AP
The consequences of the strong currents caused the indefinite closure of one of the most emblematic parks in the country, just as the summer tourist season began, which attracts millions of visitors.
Yellowstone was the first national park in the country and has 2.2 million acres that includes the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
There visitors can see wild animals, all kinds of wildlife such as deer, moose, bison, bears, wolves, among many others.
According to the website you can explore geothermal areas that contain about
half of the world's active geysers.
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Massive flooding in Yellowstone forces evacuation and closure of the national park]
Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told The Associated Press that the climate emergency makes extreme weather events more likely.
"Will this be repeated in Yellowstone in five or even 50 years? Maybe not, but somewhere there will be something equivalent or even more extreme," he said.
Fires and floods have millions of people in the US on edge.
June 14, 202202:39
The flooding came as other parts of the United States were experiencing extreme hot and dry weather.
Out West, crews from California and New Mexico are battling wildfires.
More than 100 million Americans have been warned to stay indoors as a heat wave sweeps through states stretching across parts of the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes and eastern South Carolina and North Carolina.
With information from
NBC News
and
The Associated Press