GARDINER, Mont. (WAWV/WTWO) Heavy floods and rockslides at Yellowstone National Park has affected vacation plans for a local Terre Haute family.
Parker Manning and his family had plans set for their family trip to visit Yellowstone for about 60 days.
The Manning family was excited to visit some of the most notable national parks until a recent flood put a pause on it all.
“The water had eroded the roads and washed the bridges out,” Parker Manning said. “It was a disaster.”
Parker Manning and his family had rented a cabin in Gardiner, Montana above the Yellowstone River.
Manning said it wasn’t too long after arriving Saturday June 11th until rain came their way.
“There was no doubt there was a tremendous amount of water,” Manning said. “We started to see some debris floating down through there Sunday night.”
The Manning family got up early Monday and anticipated another day at Yellowstone, until they got a notification from the park.
“About 7:30 A.M. We actually got a message that the gate to the park was closed and there was severe flooding,” Manning said.
That same day manning got notice from park rangers and emergency staff that roads wouldn’t be open anytime soon. Manning said this when is conditions continued to get worse.
“Later that afternoon we saw one of these homes that was on the edge of the river,” Manning said. ” it was pretty evident that the dirt on the bank was really sloughing off.”
A quarter of the house had balanced over the edge of the water until the house was washed into the river 10 minutes later.
Manning said this brought negative flashbacks for him and his family.
“We’ve been life long Terre Haute residents and went through a flood in 2008 and it was a horrible experience,” Manning said. “We knew the destruction that water could have on properties.”
Tuesday Manning got a call from county officials that there was a short opportunity for visitors to drive out of town.
“They said if you want to leave, you have to leave now,” Manning said.
Within 20 minutes the Manning family packed up and left.
Parker said while the trip didn’t go as planned they still tried to make the best out of an unfortunate situation.
“We’ve got a great family and everybody got along well even though we were in a very small cabin a little longer than we anticipated,” Manning said.
Manning, his wife, and daughters will stay in Swan Valley, Idaho for the next couple of days.
