FROMBERG, Mont. —

As officials scramble to reopen Yellowstone National Park to tourists after record floods pounded southern Montana, some of those hardest hit in the disaster live far from the famous park's limelight and are leaning heavily on one another to pull their lives out of the mud.

In and around the agricultural community of Fromberg, the Clarks Fork River flooded almost 100 homes and badly damaged a major irrigation ditch that serves many farms. The town's mayor says about a third of the flooded homes are too far gone to be repaired.

Video above: Officials seek quick Yellowstone flooding repairs

Not far from the riverbank, Lindi O'Brien's trailer home was raised high enough to avoid major damage. But she got water in her barns and sheds, lost some of her poultry and saw her recently deceased parents' home get swamped with several feet of water.

Elected officials who showed up to tour the damage in Red Lodge and Gardiner — Montana tourist towns that serve as gateways to Yellowstone — haven't made it to Fromberg to see its devastation. O'Brien said the lack of attention is no surprise given the town's location away from major tourist routes.

She said she's not resentful but resigned to the idea that if Fromberg is going to recover, its roughly 400 residents will have to do much of the work themselves.

"We take care of each other," O'Brien said as she and two longtime friends, Melody Murter and Aileen Rogers, combed through mud-caked items scattered across her property. O'Brien, an art teacher for the local school, had been fixing up her parents' home with hopes of turning it into a vacation rental. Now she's not sure it's salvageable.

"When you get tired and get pooped, it's OK to stop," O'Brien said to Murter and Rogers, whose clothes, hands and faces were smeared with mud.

Video above: Couple describes moment home was swept into Yellowstone River

Yellowstone will partially reopen at 8 a.m. Wednesday, more than a week after more than 10,000 visitors were forced out of the park when the Yellowstone and other rivers went over their banks after being swelled by melting snow and several inches of rainfall.

But the northern half of the nation's oldest national park, which is marking its 150th anniversary this year, is expected to remain closed through the summer, if not longer, along with one of the major entrances to the park through Montana. The closure will deprive visitors from seeing Tower Fall and Lamar Valley, one of the best places in the world to see wolves and grizzly bears.

Meanwhile, outside of the population centers that border the park, there's a maze of damaged roads. A key bridge that leads to the town of Fishtail collapsed, causing traffic to divert through a single-lane county road. There are about 500 people in Fishtail.

Lee Johnson and his wife and daughter run the restaurant Montasia, so named because it's a fusion of Malaysian and Montana cuisine. He said business has plummeted.

"When we opened for the first time after the flood, it started just dead. And you start to have that sense of dread creep in. Did I do all this, did I sink all this money in, have I started this business and people can't even get here anymore?" Johnson said.

Johnson and his Malaysian wife Yokie took over the lease on a landmark 124-year-old Fishtail building earlier this year, transferring their restaurant from another part of the state. For Yokie, the business was a dream come true.

Video above: Yellowstone flooding hits nearby Montana towns

"Not being from Montana, I wanted to own something," she said. Going into business with her family was her biggest goal. Yokie said running the restaurant gives her strength as she battles cancer.

"I'm not sure how much time I have left, so the time I have left I want to be with my family, work with them every day, see them every day," she said.

Johnson said he is humbled by the chance to support his wife and determined to keep the restaurant open while the flood damage is repaired.

"You hitch your wagon to this community and it's just a matter of keeping up," he said.

A man who picked up a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park caused it to be shunned by its herd, prompting park officials to kill the animal rather than allow it to be a hazard to visitors.

Park officials quickly defended the decision to kill the newborn bison.

"We made the choice we did not because we are lazy, uncaring or inexpert in our understanding of bison biology. We made the choice we did because national parks preserve natural processes," the park said in a statement posted Tuesday on Twitter.

Related video above: Unidentified man could face charges after bison calf encounter, Yellowstone National Park officials say

Park officials' options for dealing with the animal were limited, according to the statement, which said bison must be quarantined before being sent to conservation herds outside the park. A bison calf abandoned and unable to care for itself is not a good candidate for quarantine, the statement said.

The calf became separated from its mother when the herd crossed the Lamar River in northeastern Yellowstone on Saturday. The unidentified man pushed the struggling calf up from the river and onto a roadway, park officials said in a news release.

Human interference with young wildlife can cause animals to shun their offspring. Park rangers tried repeatedly to reunite the calf with the herd but were unsuccessful.

At one point, visitors saw the calf walking up to and following cars and people. This created a hazard, so park staff killed the animal, according to the news release.

It's the latest example of Yellowstone visitors getting in trouble or hurt after approaching bison. Park officials euthanized a newborn bison after a similar incident in 2016, when a Canadian man and his son put the calf in their SUV, thinking they could rescue it.

The man pleaded guilty. He was fined $235 and ordered to pay $500 to the Yellowstone Park Foundation Wildlife Protection Fund.

Bison have gored several people in Yellowstone in recent years, often after they got too close to the animals.

Many of Yellowstone's larger animals — including bison, which can run up to 35 mph and weigh up to 2,000 pounds — are deceptively dangerous, even when they are just grazing or resting.

Video below: Bison herd blocks cars while strolling along a national park road in Wyoming

Park rules require visitors to keep at least 25 yards away from wildlife including bison, elk and deer, and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves.

Park officials are investigating the bison calf incident. The suspect was a white male in his 40s or 50s who was wearing a blue shirt and black pants, the statement said.

The calf's body was left on the landscape, similar to the 25% or so of Yellowstone's newborn bison that don't survive, park officials said in the Twitter statement.

"Those deaths will benefit other animals by feeding everything from bears and wolves to birds and insects. Allowing this cycle of life to play out aligns most closely with the stewardship responsibility entrusted to us by the American people," the statement said.

Yosemite National Park officials are reminding people not to approach or feed wildlife.

A girl was injured while approaching a buck that was being fed by another visitor, according to a post on the national park's Facebook page.

"The buck spooked and its antlers connected with the girl's arm, causing a deep laceration and chest abrasions," the post says. It goes on to say the girl was treated at the park and then taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Park officials remind visitors that it's illegal to feed or approach wildlife in Yosemite.

"While some animals, including deer, might get used to people approaching them, they spook easily and will defend themselves if people get too close or startle them," the post says.

A woman suffered significant thermal burns from her shoulders to her feet while trying to save her dog who jumped into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park, officials said Tuesday.

The 20-year-old woman from Washington state was visiting the park in Wyoming Monday when she and her father exited their vehicle to look around, according to a news release from the park.

Their dog then jumped out of their car and ran into the Maiden's Grave Spring near the Firehole River, the park said.

The woman followed the dog into the hot spring to save it and her father pulled her out.

She was taken to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center after she received some initial treatment from park rangers and local fire officials.

The dog was removed from the hot spring and its condition is unknown.

Park officials said they are investigating.

Yellowstone officials caution visitors that the ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, with scorching water just below.

Yellowstone has more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, including geysers and hot springs, that can be as hot as nearly 200 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"Everyone must remain on boardwalks and trails and exercise extreme caution around thermal features," the park said.

The woman's burns mark the second significant injury in Yellowstone National Park's thermal area this year.

A 19-year-old concessions employee from Rhode Island suffered second- and third-degree burns near the Old Faithful Geyser last month and was also taken to the burn center, park officials said.

In May of last year, a woman was burned after falling into a thermal feature at Yellowstone when it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. She told park rangers she was moving backward to take photos when she fell.

And last October, a 3-year-old was burned when they ran off a trail and slipped into a small thermal feature near the Midway Geyser Basin.

Related video above: Last year, a woman who was illegally checking out Yellowstone National Park fell into a hot spring and suffered severe burns

A Connecticut woman who walked directly on thermal features at Yellowstone National Park in July was sentenced to seven days in jail, prosecutors said.

Madeline S. Casey, 26, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor offense, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming.

"Although a criminal prosecution and jail time may seem harsh, it's better than spending time in a hospital's burn unit," acting U.S. Attorney Bob Murray said.

In July at the park's Norris Geyser Basin, Casey and another person left a protective walkway, approached a thermal pool and walked directly on the ground. Signs nearby instruct visitors to remain on the boardwalk.

"The ground is fragile and thin and scalding water just below the surface can cause severe or fatal burns. More than 20 people have died from burns suffered after they entered or fell into Yellowstone's hot springs," park spokesperson Morgan Warthin said in the statement.

A judge ordered Casey to pay $2,040 in fines, fees and community service, according to court documents. Her jail time must be served by Jan. 31, 2022, and she is banned from the park during her two-year probation.

Casey and her attorney, Ryan Wright, did not respond to CNN's request for comment Thursday.

Officials have been stressing the importance of adhering to safety signs at the national park.

Video above: The Top 5 most visited national parks during the pandemic

In May last year, a woman was burned after falling into a thermal feature at Yellowstone when it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. She told park rangers she was moving back to take photos when she fell at the Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most famous geysers in the world.

Two men last year were caught trespassing on the cone of Old Faithful, which is a closed thermal area. They were sentenced to 10 days in jail and five years of probation. They were also ordered to pay $540 restitution and banned from the park for five years.

"Visitors must realize that walking on thermal features is dangerous, damages the resource, and illegal," Park Chief Ranger Sarah Davis said regarding their sentencing. "Law enforcement officers take this violation seriously."