(WASHINGTON) — All Yellowstone National Park entrances have been closed in the wake of “unprecedented” rainfall causing “substantial flooding, rockslides and mudslides on roadways,” the National Park Service announced Monday.

Some roads have been washed out and others are covered in mud or rocks, according to the park service. Power has also been knocked out in multiple parts of the park, officials said.

Park Superintendent Cam Sholly described it as “record flooding.”

The flooding was sparked by near record-high temperatures melting high-elevation snow over the weekend. Rivers are at peak levels now and are forecast to recede in the next few days.

The park service didn’t say when Yellowstone would reopen but noted that officials need time to assess the damage and wait for conditions to stabilize.

The closure will last through Wednesday at a minimum. The park service warned that many roads could be shuttered “for an extended period of time.”

The massive national park spans 2,219,789 acres, mostly in Wyoming but also in neighboring Montana and Idaho. Summer is the park’s busiest tourist season.

ABC News’ Max Golembo and Dan Peck contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A yearslong legal attempt to get Happy, an elephant residing at the Bronx Zoo, transferred to an elephant sanctuary failed Tuesday when New York’s highest court rejected a petition from the Nonhuman Rights Project.

The group filed a writ of habeas corpus on Happy’s behalf, suggesting a legal instrument that has safeguarded the liberty of humans, by providing a means to secure release from illegal custody, should also apply to an elephant.

The New York Court of Appeals disagreed, though it said Happy was entitled to proper care.

“Because the writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a ‘person’ subjected to illegal detention,” the decision said. “Thus, while no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion, the courts below properly granted the motion to dismiss the petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and we therefore affirm.”

Happy has lived at the zoo for 50 years.

The elephant was part of a 2006 study published in the journal Science that described her ability to recognize herself in a mirror as evidence of human-like self-awareness. As such, Nonhuman Rights Project asserted, the elephant was not a thing lacking rights but akin to a person with a fundamental right to liberty based on the principle of habeas corpus, which guards against unlawful detention.

The Nonhuman Rights Project first filed a writ of habeas corpus arguing for Happy’s legal personhood and seeking her release from the zoo in 2018. A New York City judge denied the habeas corpus relief in 2020. The state Court of Appeals granted an appeal last year.

In a statement Tuesday, the Nonhuman Rights Project said that the court’s decision to reject its petition “is not just a loss for Happy, whose freedom was at stake in this case and who remains imprisoned in a Bronx Zoo exhibit. It’s also a loss for everyone who cares about upholding and strengthening our most cherished values and principles of justice — autonomy, liberty, equality, and fairness — and ensuring our legal system is free of arbitrary reasoning and that no one is denied basic rights simply because of who they are.”

The group said it plans to continue its campaign for her release and “consider our legal options and next steps in New York.”

ABC News has reached out to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo, for comment.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(HOUSTON) — A 7-year-old boy was inside his home when authorities said he was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Harris County, Texas, which encompasses the Houston area.

Around 10:45 p.m. Sunday, the unknown gunman drove in front of a trailer home and opened fire at it, Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Brown said.

Paul Vasquez, who was inside the trailer, was shot in the chest, the sheriff’s office said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.

Paul’s mother and two brothers were home at the time but none of them were hurt, Brown said.

No motive is known and no suspects have been identified, authorities said.

The gunman’s car is believed to be a white or gray four-door sedan, authorities said.

Just 24 hours later, at about 10:45 p.m. Monday, a 9-year-old girl was shot and killed in an apartment only 15 miles away, according to Houston police.

The girl’s mom was shot in the upper body, police said. She is in stable condition and is expected to survive, police said.

This shooting was believed to be the result of family violence, police said.

The suspect is not in custody, police said.

These deadly shootings come one week after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a Detroit home by outside gunfire.

After the slaying of 7-year-old Paul Vasquez, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that he’s “outraged.”

“This is the daily toll of gun violence … Let’s not accept daily gun violence as our norm,” he tweeted. “We can and we must do more.”

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Tuesday called for a special state legislative session to address youth gun violence.

“Yes, we need more mental health resources … yes, we need to look at broader issues. But we cannot address gun violence and the gun violence epidemic without addressing the need for gun safety policies,” Hidalgo said at a news conference. “My hope is that as we do our work in Harris County we can work together as a state, we can work together as a nation, to finally tackle this.”

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis added, “We owe it to these kids to keep them safe from gun violence.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.