House Swept Into Yellowstone River as Record Flooding Offers Yet Another Glimpse of Climate Crisis
“A hot world means more rain,” said one climate campaigner.
Footage circulating on social media Tuesday showed a home in Gardiner, Montana crashing into the flooded Yellowstone River after rushing water undermined the foundation and broke the house’s stilts, offering what climate campaigners warn is a picture of the kind of catastrophe likely to become more common as the climate crisis worsens.
“A hot world means more rain,” said author and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben in response to the video.
The building—reportedly a multi-family house where five local families and individuals lived—was swept into the rushing river after heavy rains and the region’s fast-melting snowpack triggered historic flooding.
Video near Yellowstone National Park shows a house falling into the raging Yellowstone River on Monday.
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 14, 2022
Heavy rain and melting snow have caused flooding, damage and triggered evacuations in and around the park. https://t.co/aSUy3KQD9C pic.twitter.com/QPudzkm1aj
While an unknown number of tourists visiting Yellowstone National Park were evacuated, journalist Kathleen McLaughlin tweeted, “the impact of catastrophic flooding in the Yellowstone region will fall hardest on working-class people” who live there year-round.
National media, please know the impact of catastrophic flooding in the Yellowstone region will fall hardest on working-class people who live in these places, people who are already struggling with untenable housing prices. Don't relegate it to a travel story, I beg of you.
— Kathleen McLaughlin (@kemc) June 14, 2022
Power outages were reported on Monday across Yellowstone National Park, which covers 2.2 million acres in parts of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, while officials evacuated visitors and closed entrances to the park indefinitely, according to NBC News.
“This is flooding that we’ve just never seen in our lifetimes before.”
“We will not know timing of the park’s reopening until flood waters subside and we’re able to assess the damage throughout the park,” park superintendent Cam Sholly told CBS News.
Road access to Gardiner, home to about 900 residents, was cut off due to the flooding as mudslides and rockslides were reported in the area.
“This is flooding that we’ve just never seen in our lifetimes before,” Cory Mottice, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service based in Billings, Montana, told NBC.
The river crested at 13.88 feet on Monday. The previous record, 11.5 feet, was set in 1918.
NBC reported that “numerous homes and other structures were destroyed” in addition to the home that collapsed into the river, but said there have been no reports of injuries thus far.
Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute, said the dramatic footage of the house should push policymakers to “speed up climate action this decade, this year, this month, this week, today, right now.”
Nowhere on Earth is immune to climate change.
— Ani Dasgupta (@AniDasguptaWRI) June 14, 2022
Failure to act will only make things worse. It's time we speed up climate action this decade, this year, this month, this week, today, right now. https://t.co/ipVUJs2q6y
“Nowhere on Earth is immune to climate change,” said Dasgupta.
Source:
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