How long will Yellowstone National Park be closed due to flooding?

Major flooding washed away roads, swept away at least one bridge and set off mudslides in Yellowstone National Park on Monday, forcing officials to close the entrances to the popular tourist attraction.

National Park Service rangers have closed off all entrances to the park due to “heavy flooding, rockslides and extremely hazardous conditions”.

The closures come as Yellowstone was preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary year, and as local communities were expecting tourism following covid-19 travel restrictions over the past two summers.

The entire park, including parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, will remain closed to visitors, as well as those with lodging and camping reservations, at least through Wednesday, as officials inspect the damage done to roads and bridges.

Torrential showers in Yellowstone

The flooding was caused by days of torrential showers in the park after one of the region’s wettest springs in years.

A spike in summer temperatures also caused the melting of snow accumulated in the park’s higher elevations from late-winter storms.

Evacuating the park

The flooding hit after recent “unprecedented rains,” park officials said on Facebook.

“Our first priority has been to evacuate the northern section of the park where we have multiple road and bridge failures, mudslides and others issues,” superintendent Cam Sholly said in a statement.

“It is likely that the northern loop will be closed for a substantial amount of time,” he added.

Officials consider the damage to the northern part of the park to be major and large sections of the Yellowstone could be closed until well after the busy tourism season. They can’t, however, say when the park might reopen until the flood waters subside and they can assess the damage.

Yellowstone was established as the world’s first national park in 1872 and is one of America’s top outdoor travel destinations.