1600 acres. this is about five miles north of mariposa grove. it is important that people know, yosemite national park remains open. the park is open and we are certainly impact did by fire and smoke. the southern entrance is closed , but the other entrances are open. as the fire continues to move, as was mentioned, we are continuing to attack the fire by the air and ground. this is a 100% suppression fire. our top priority is protecting the firefighters, park employees, and residents, and also suppressing the fire as quickly and safely as we can. while you spell out that there are some portions of the park that are more vulnerable and dangerous than others, and the park remains open, what are you telling park hours to be
It is being called a 500 year event. devastating floods sweeping yellowstone national park, destroying homes, forcing evacuations, and closing all entrances. more surging water could be on the way. here is cnn s nick watt. that is insane. reporter: this was a home for park employees, obliterated by the yellowstone river, as was the only road in, from the north entrance. the oldest national park on earth is now closed. i have heard this news, a 1000 year event, whatever that means, these seem to be happening more frequently. reporter: bridges and houses washed away, others balanced on the brink. julia vargas jones shot these exclusive pictures from a helicopter carrying a law enforcement shift change in the park which has to be by air, when there is no road left. a lot of the roads, and access points have been cut off.
It is being called a 500-year event. devastating floods sweeping across yellowstone national park, destroying homes, forcing evacuations and closing all entrances. and more surging waters could be on the way. here is cnn s nick watt. that is insane! reporter: this was a home for park employees, obliterated by the yellowstone river, as was the one and only road in from the north entrance, the oldest national park on earth is now closed. i ve heard this is a thousand-year event, whatever that means these days. they seem to be happening more and more frequently. reporter: bridges washed out, houses washed away, others balanced on the brink.
The reopening would be in areas not badly hit by floods. officials had closed all five of the park s entrances on monday due to damage from major flooding. this video was taken near the park s north entrance, sue there heavy rain and melting snow have washed out r0eds anoads and dam bridges. nick watt has the story for you. reporter: that is insane. this was a home for park employees, obliterated by the yellowstone river. as was the one and only road in from the north entrance. the oldest national park on earth is now closed. i ve heard this is a 1,000 year event. what that means, these days it happens more and more frequently. reporter: this is climate change, an unusually late heavy snowfall, then unusually high temperatures melting that snow.
this was a home for park employees, obliterated by the yellowstone river. as was the one and only road in from the north entrance. the oldest national park on earth is now closed. i have heard this is a 1,000-your event. whatever that means these days. they seem to be happening more and more frequently. this is climate change, an unusually late heavy snowfall, then unusually high temperatures melting that snow, plus, a lot of rain. combining to cut off this gem of the american west. more than 2 million acres, 1,000 miles of trails, 500 geysers, bears, birds. as much as three months worth of water barreled down this valley in three days. breaking record high river levels set over 100 years ago. overwhelming infrastructure built for what was normal last century, not for the extreme and