Crowds flock to Yellowstone as park reopens after floods

By MATTHEW BROWN and AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (AP) — Throngs of tourists have gleefully returned to watch geysers erupt and bison cross roads at Yellowstone National Park as it partially reopens following destructive floods. Park managers raised the gates Wednesday at three of Yellowstone’s five entrances for the first time since June 13. That day, 10,000 visitors were ordered out after rivers across northern Wyoming and southern Montana surged over their banks following a torrent of rainfall that accelerated the spring snowmelt. The cost and scope of the damage is still being assessed.