Sections of the park's North Entrance Road to Gardiner, Montana, were washed away by the flood waters/NPS

National Park Service Director Chuck Sams on Thursday said Interior Department leadership teams are working to muster the resources to help Yellowstone National Park recover from this week's catastrophic flooding.

"Yellowstone is a region shaped by our planet’s mighty natural forces. This is what makes it so spectacular and unmatched anywhere in the world. This week’s flooding reminds us that we humans are just one small part of this ecosystem," Sams said in a statement released by Yellowstone.

The rest of Sams' statement:

I commend and deeply appreciate Superintendent Cam Sholly’s phenomenal leadership and the tremendous work of the park’s staff. A direct testament to the professionalism of their effort is the fact that we have had no flood-related injuries reported to visitors or our NPS and partner employees.

I am in frequent contact with Superintendent [Cam] Sholly and Regional Director Mike Reynolds, and am providing regular briefings to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau, and their leadership teams. We are all working together to ensure Yellowstone has all requested resources to support their emergency response and flood recovery efforts. 

The National Park Service is committed to working quickly to reopen as much of Yellowstone National Park as possible as soon as it is safe to do so.

I also want to thank elected officials and state staff in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho for their intense efforts and coordination in quickly responding to this unprecedented event.

We realize there is much challenging work ahead, and we will do everything we can to support the park, partners, concessioners, and gateway communities on the road to recovery.” 

Heavy rains falling on snowpack that was already melting due to warm temperatures last Sunday into Monday unleashed devastating flood waters that chewed through the park road east of Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower through the Lamar Valley to Silvergate and Cooke City in Montana as well as the road from Mammoth Hot Springs north to Gardiner, Montana.

There existed the possibility that the sewer line that ran from Mammoth Hot Springs beneath the Gardner River to the town of Gardiner had been broken and was leaking raw sewage. Water and power lines around Mammoth also had been impacted. A house owned by the National Park Service in Gardiner that six park workers and their families called home was pulled into the raging waters and washed five miles downstream.

In the wake of the storm, the entire park was closed by the superintendent. An exact date when the West, South, and East entrance roads will reopen hasn't been announced, but it's expected to be next week.

Sholly on Tuesday said the northern half of the park would remain closed for the rest of summer because of the storm damage.

Xanterra Travel Collection, which manages the hotels in the park, did not respond immediately Thursday to a Traveler inquiry regarding how it was handling reservation cancellations made necessary by the closure of some of the park's lodges.