Friday 17 June 2022 07:19 PM Montana couple describes seeing home float away during Yellowstone floods trends now
TJ, 51, and Victoria, 36, spoke to DailyMail.com in an emotional interview days after their home was washed away by the Yellowstone River
Still reeling from losing their home in devastating floods brought by 'unprecedented' rainfall, Victoria and TJ Britton are slowly trying to put their lives back together.
The couple's house on the bank of the Yellowstone River in Gardiner, Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park, was swept away on Monday evening as flooding reached record levels.
Video of the property falling into the river and floating downstream was widely circulated on the Internet, bringing attention to the natural disaster ravaging the region.
Five days on, the Brittons took DailyMail.com to the site where their house had stood for the past 16 years.
It was the first time they had returned to the area that till this week they called home.
TJ, 51, is a carpenter for Yellowstone National Park, while his wife Victoria, 36, works at a local hotel.
They lived on the bank of the river in on the upper floor of the two-story wooden building. The large apartment building, owned by the US Government, was shared with four other families.
'It's surreal and I'm still processing what happened days ago,' TJ told DailyMail.com.
The couple lived in a government-owned two-story wooden building, shared with four other families, on the banks of the river in Gardiner, Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park
TJ and Victoria were forced to evacuate the home Monday, just hours before it fell into the river and was swept away by rapidly rising flood waters
The couple's home made headlines earlier this week after video of the structure collapsing into the water was shared by witnesses online and went viral
The pair were first warned by a neighbor that the building's backyard structure was falling into the river, but they admitted they did not anticipate the situation would become worse
After a few hours, the stark reality that the couple were going to lose their home began to settle in
He became emotional as he recalled the moment a neighbor knocked on the door at 6:30 Monday morning to tell him part of the property was collapsing into the water.
'Our neighbor told me that an area of my backyard had washed into the river. I couldn't believe it, but I never thought our house would be consumed by the river.'
TJ said he didn't want to leave his house, but was 'basically forced' to evacuate around 8:30am by a park ranger.
The couple quickly packed up, grabbing some important papers, a few personal items, and their two dogs, Lilo and Stitch, before leaving.
'I didn't even grab a change of underwear. I thought we'd be back. The worst possible scenario was that the house would be condemned, but we would still be able to go in and retrieve our belongings,' he said.
But after a few hours, the stark reality that they were going to lose their home had settled in.
The pair shared photos of their house with DailyMail.com that showed the home being consumed by the rapidly rising river throughout the day.
About 45 minutes after a park ranger ordered them to leave, the wooden electric pole outside the building began slowly bending and getting consumed by the raging waters.
'A short time later, the wires snapped, and you could hear the arcing of the electricity and the pole floated away in the river,' Victoria said.
Over the next few hours, the couple stood on the hill above their house watching the river erode the bank little by little.
Five days after losing their home, the Brittons took DailyMail.com to the site where it had stood for the past 16 years
As the flooding conditions worsened, TJ and Victoria stood elevated on the hill above their house watching the river erode the bank little by little
TJ, who works as a carpenter for Yellowstone National Park, said he thought the worst case scenario was that their home would be condemned, but never imagined it would be completely 'consumed by the river'
By 3pm, as the water levels continued to rise, the Brittons knew it was only a matter of time before the river would swamp their house, so TJ jumped on his bike and cycled to the other side of the river to snap some pictures of the building and garage before it disappeared.
A picture taken from the hill above their house at 4pm shows no garage in sight.
About an hour later, the water had eroded the slopes so much that parts of the house were now in the river.
It was at approximately 7:15pm that the entire house fell into the water, captured on video by several witnesses who were watching the destruction from across the river.
At that time, however, TJ and Victoria were a few miles away making other preparations and did not witness their home's final demise.
'I'm glad we didn't see our house fall into the river, I'm not sure I would have been able to handle it,' Victoria said. 'I heard there were people clapping when it was falling.'
When TJ received word that his house had been swept away, he rushed back to town to meet up with his wife.
Then on the way back, driving along the river, he saw his own house floating downstream.
'It was the most God-awful thing I ever saw,' he said with tears in his eyes. 'It was where my kids grew up. Our entire lives were lost. It was surreal seeing my house in the river, our mattress was floating behind it with my pillow on it.
'You see on the news all the time people losing their homes, and you tell yourself how sad it is, but to really live through it is a different story. You just fill a loss, it's not fun.'
