GARDINER, Mont. – A year after more than a foot of rain created devastating flooding in Yellowstone National Park, the visitors have returned, and local businesses are bouncing back. But the recovery continues.
Over the 48-hour period between June 12-13, 2022, rivers and streams swelled well beyond flood stages as heavy rain dropped more than a foot of water. In combination with snowmelt, the water created epic flooding and mudslides.
FOX Weather correspondent Robert Ray spoke to Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly one year after the flooding wiped out roads and caused thousands to be evacuated.
“This is about a 750-foot section that we lost during the flood event last June; we lost 4 or 5 sections,” Sholly said, standing in front of a missing chunk of road. “The engineers looked at this quickly and determined it was not repairable.”
‘IT WAS JUST INSANE‘: HISTORIC FLOOD SWALLOWS HOUSING UNIT ALONG RAGING YELLOWSTONE RIVER
The flooding washed away homes in the nearby town of Gardiner, Montana, and the park visitors the city depends on for business were gone for months during recovery efforts. More than 4 million people visit Yellowstone National Park every year, and the flooding closed key roads visitors use to traverse the park’s geography.
“You never know what weather and other things are going to deliver to you, and we found out the cost last year,” Richard Parks of Parks Fly Shop told FOX Weather.
Kayla Kernes, of Ridge Line Hotel, said the loss of business was devastating.
“Gardiner thrives on the hundreds of thousands of people that come through here every summer,” Kernes said.
In October 2022, an alternative road reopened the park’s north entrance to visitors and with it, tourism returned to Gardiner.
One year later, Sholly said there is still a lot of work to do in Yellowstone as engineers work to restore access and find permanent solutions.
“People are back in, these entrances are open and they are back in the park and that’s good,” Sholly said. “But we have a lot of work to do figuring out what the long-term solution is for these road corridors.”