Montana couple sees their house fall into the Yellowstone River

CNN — Earlier this week, TJ and Victoria Britton watched their home in Gardiner, Montana – along with its 16 years of memories – fall into the Yellowstone River after historic rainfall and flooding inundated waterways in the area. “That was the weirdest thing I ever saw in my life.” TJ says he and Victoria are both still in shock and “trying to numb ourselves to the whole thing, but the reality is going to hit here pretty soon.” The couple says a majority of people they’ve encountered have been very supportive, but there was one group of tourists who were “applauding and cheering when our house was floating down the river.” “That was frustrating,” Victoria told CNN. “We heard a few people have some uncompassionate, unsympathetic things to say as we’re sitting there just waiting for our whole entire life to fall into the river.” Historic rainfall and flooding In a three-day period last week, Yellowstone National Park received about two to three times the typical rainfall for the month of June, and precipitation this month has already been more than 400% of the average across northwestern Wyoming and southern Montana, according to the National Weather Service. “It is probable that road sections in northern Yellowstone will not reopen this season due to the time required for repairs.” Neighboring towns feeling the impact Gardiner, Montana, where the Brittons live, is near Yellowstone’s northern entrance, and hotel owners say they are feeling the impact of park’s closure. “It’s a Yellowstone town, and it lives and dies by tourism,” said Park County Commissioner Bill Berg.