Floods cause rare closure of Yellowstone

Record flooding and rockslides unleashed by an unprecedented burst of heavy rain have prompted the rare closure of all five entrances to Yellowstone National Park at the start of the summer tourist season.

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

The closures come as Yellowstone was gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary year, and as local communities heavily dependent on tourism were counting on a rebound following COVID-19 travel restrictions over the past two summers.

All five park entrances were closed to inbound traffic for the first summer since a series of devastating wildfires in 1988. The National Park Service said it was working to evacuate visitors and staff from various locations, especially in the hardest-hit northern flank of Yellowstone.

The "gateway" community of Gardiner, Montana, just beyond the park's northern boundary and home to many of Yellowstone's workers, was cut off by a mudslide to the north and washed-out road surfaces to the south, according to the National Park Service.

Aerial footage released by the Park Service showed large swathes of the winding North Entrance Road between Gardiner and park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, carved away by surging floodwaters along the Gardner River.

The flooding and slides were triggered by days of torrential showers during one of the region's wettest springs in many years. The park service characterised the rainfall and floods sweeping the park as unprecedented, with the Yellowstone River topping its banks beyond record levels.

A sudden spike in summer temperatures also has hastened melting and run-off of snow accumulated in the park's higher elevations from late-winter storms.

Yellowstone occupies more than 890,000 hectares and is famed for its geysers, abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery.