Yellowstone damage

Heavy rains and snowmelt on June 13 brought devastating flood waters to the north entrance (above) and other parts of Yellowstone National Park. The floods forced visitors to evacuate and kept the park closed until June 22. Damage was most extensive in the northern part of the 3,500-square-mile park, and officials with the National Park Service estimate that recovery could cost as much as $1 billion. Those costs will include the rebuilding or repairing of facilities, roads, bridges, and sewer systems and conservation efforts. The park’s reopening saw less than 5,000 cars enter the park, about half the normal traffic for this time of year, as the park instituted a system of allowing cars with license plates that end with odd digits to enter on odd-numbered days and even digits on even-numbered days. Park officials said the system would remain in place for the rest of the summer. The northern section of the park remained closed, and officials said they weren’t sure when they could reopen it.