After nearly two inches of rain fell on the area Sunday, an estimated 30-thousand
tons of earthen material flowed onto a three quarter mile long section of road
-- just east of sylvan pass.
Three cars were trapped, two of which were from Pocatello and a fourth stranded by the mud. Sixteen travelers were rescued.
Mudslide closes Yellowstone entrance People trapped in cars, but no one injured July 20, 2004
Mudslides from an area stripped of vegetation by forest fires engulfed three vehicles and closed the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Park rangers helped free 16 people after the mud started flowing Sunday night following thunderstorms. Mud sloshed up to the hoods of cars, and some people had to be pulled out through car windows.
No one was injured.
The slide is up to 10 feet deep and 90 yards long, blocked about three-quarters of a mile of the park’s East Entrance Road at Sylvan Pass.
the slide wiped out guardrails and undercut part of the roadbed
Park staff were scanning the debris for unexploded artillery shells that might have been carried onto the highway. In the winter, shells are fired to trigger avalanches above Sylvan Pass to reduce the chances of larger, unexpected slides.
Drought-stoked fires charred 23,500 acres in the area last summer and closed the east
.