Yellowstone Mudslides Trap Several Cars, Rout Tourists

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — Heavy rain unleashed mudslides that buried a car, temporarily trapped eight others and caused flooding that chased 55 tourists from their rented cabins, park officials said Saturday.

The mudslides took place Friday night on a stretch of road below slopes denuded by the huge forest fires that swept the park in the summer of 1988, officials said.

The occupants of the car that was buried escaped uninjured, park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said.

Eight vehicles were stranded for about 2 1/2 hours in Gibbon Canyon after 13 mudslides, the spokeswoman said. They were on a stretch of road 15 to 25 miles inside the park from the west entrance, which was hit by mudslides earlier this month.

Thunderstorms that dumped up to four inches of rain on the park sent water three feet deep through a cluster of cabins in the Mammoth area near the north entrance, forcing the evacuation of 55 guests, Anzelmo said. No one was injured in either incident.

Workers expected to have the road cleared by today, but were considering keeping it closed to traffic as a precaution, the spokeswoman said.