A birds-eye view of Yellowstone flooding damage

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- While Chopper 5 often brings us beautiful video, this week's shots of flooding in Yellowstone National Park mainly show off Mother Nature's power. The flooding in Yellowstone is massive, a road near Soda Butte Creek is one of the dozens of spots where the rushing river was just too much. Picnic tables at Pebble Creek Campground where people ate lunch just a few days ago are now surrounded by water and debris. Seeing the damage just past Ice Box Canyon helps put into perspective how big some of the washouts are. The gateway communities of Cooke City and Silver Gate are now cut off from the park -- roads and bridges are gone.

During the flight today, @KSLChopper5 captured a bunch of video of @YellowstoneNPS. Lots of beautiful spots, wildlife, and places where the flooding did damage. We're doing a little tour of the hardest hit places tonight in our @KSL5TV newscast. #ksltv#Yellowstonefloodpic.twitter.com/3BvfcRWLoV — Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) June 16, 2022

Gardiner, Montana, may be the hardest hit town. That's where the Roosevelt Arch is, the original entrance to Yellowstone. The arch is essentially an island now, cut off from the rest of the park. It will take a lot of work to repair this damage and, in many places, the river has permanently moved, meaning roads will have to be rebuilt using new routes. But there are signs of hope already as Chopper 5 captured video of gravel trucks on the move to begin repairs in some places. Yellowstone is still Yellowstone, formed from past violent natural events. This is just another chapter animals --  and humans -- will get used to.

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