VIDEO: Montana house collapses into Yellowstone river after record flooding

Gulf Today Report

Dramatic videos captured by tourists in Yellowstone National Park show the moment a house on the edge of the Yellowstone River collapses into the floodwaters.

Some of the worst damage happened in the northern part of the park and Yellowstone’s gateway communities in southern Montana.

National Park Service photos of northern Yellowstone showed a mudslide, washed out bridges and roads undercut by churning floodwaters of the Gardner and Lamar rivers.

The flooding cut off road access to Gardiner, Montana, a town of about 900 people near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Gardner rivers, just outside Yellowstone’s busy North Entrance.

Cooke City was also isolated by floodwaters and evacuations were also issued for residents in Livingston.

Officials in Park County, which encompasses those cities, said on Facebook Monday evening that extensive flooding throughout the county also had made drinking water unsafe in many areas. Evacuations and rescues were ongoing and officials urged people who were in a safe place to stay put overnight.

The Montana National Guard said Monday it sent two helicopters to southern Montana to help with the evacuations.

Cory Mottice, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings, Montana, said rain is not in the immediate forecast, and cooler temperatures will lessen the snowmelt in coming days.