RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s governor was not in Montana — or in the U.S. at all — when punishing floods hit Yellowstone National Park and communities on its fringes this week. He was in Italy. But Republican Greg Gianforte’s office didn’t tell his constituents that for days. Now Gianforte is back in Montana and under fire for not hurrying home more quickly and for keeping the public in the dark as to his whereabouts. In Gianforte’s defense, his office says he was briefed regularly about the flooding. The floods washed away roads, bridges and houses and closed all of Yellowstone, threatening some of the communities on the park’s outskirts that depend heavily on tourists visiting one of America’s most beloved natural attractions.
Montana governor under fire for vacationing during flood
