Yellowstone flood: Photos show damage as surrounding communities assess economic impact

As record flood waters in Yellowstone National Park receded Thursday, surrounding communities were assessing the damage and bracing for the potential economic fallout to come.

In Billings, Montana, officials restarted their water plant Thursday after asking residents to conserve water because it was reduced to a limited supply when the Yellowstone River reached record levels and prompted the plant’s closure.

The city of 110,000 people stopped irrigating parks and boulevards, and its fire department filled its trucks with river water. Normal operations resumed on Thursday after the river level began to drop.

Meanwhile, floodwaters continued to move downriver and were expected to reach Miles City in eastern Montana on Friday morning. Local authorities said low-lying areas along the river could be flooded, but there was no immediate risk to the city of more than 8,000 people.

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Unprecedented flash flooding earlier this week drove nearly a dozen of the more than 10,000 visitors out of the nation’s oldest park.

No one was injured or killed by the raging waters that ripped homes off their foundations and diverted the course of a river and may require damaged roads to be rebuilt at a safer distance.

The Montana National Guard, as of Wednesday, rescued 87 people from small towns and a campground affected by flooding. He said his soldiers manned road checkpoints near Red Lodge, Montana, a gateway town on the northern edge of the park, and had set up a command center there to help coordinate search and rescue operations.

Yellowstone officials are hopeful that next week they can reopen the southern half of the park, which includes Old Faithful Geyser. However, park officials say the northern half of the park is likely to remain closed all summer, a devastating blow to local economies at the height of tourist season.

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The rains came just as hotels around Yellowstone have filled up in recent weeks with summer tourists. More than 4 million visitors were counted by the park last year. The wave of tourists doesn’t subside until fall, and June is usually one of Yellowstone’s busiest months.

It’s a similar blow to how COVID-19 temporarily shut down Yellowstone two years ago, cutting tourist visits to the park in June 2020 by about a third before they rebounded for the rest of that summer.

Closing off the northern part of the park will prevent visitors from going near places like Tower Fall, Mammoth Hot Springs and Lamar Valley, which is known for spotting wildlife such as bears and wolves.

Meanwhile, as the waters recede, parks officials turn their attention to the enormous effort to rebuild many miles of dilapidated roads and possibly hundreds of destroyed bridges, many built for hikers.

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Montana Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras signed a disaster emergency declaration Tuesday and said she would meet with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and state disaster and emergency services staff at Red Lodge on Thursday.

Associated Press writers contributed to this report.