Thursday morning update: Flood warnings for a stretch of the Yellowstone south of Livingston remain in effect until 10 this morning, but there are signs the ice jam responsible for backing up the river is starting to break.
Park County officials had not reported changes in conditions early Thursday morning, but the river gauge at Livingston showed a “sharp increase” in flows overnight, a NWS statement said.
More free-flowing water could mean that the ice jam is clearing, but there has been no visual confirmation yet.
The banks of the Yellowstone River in the Paradise Valley have changed drastically in the past ten years. Trophy homes off all different styles have been thrown up along the banks of one of the more popular sections of the river without any forethought or respect for what Mother Nature can unleash when she is angry. In 1996 and again in 1997 the Yellowstone River saw concurrent 100 year flood events which gave us a glimpse of the power of water and what it can do to property that is adjacent to it's fearsome flows. We as humans are not very good at learning from our mistakes and in the years since well over 20 homes have built near the Yellowstones banks with no recollection of what had taken place only a short time ago. People have the right to use their property as they see fit, however I also do not sympathize or agonize when they use poor judgement just to hear the water rushing by or because they want a particular view of our natural enviornment. I hope that the couple whose home is being threatened by the icy flows of the river can make it through without losing everything but maybe they will think twice about where they built and understand that they could see their dreams disappear at the hands of the river they wanted to live so near.
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