Tornado Hits Billings, Montana

On Sunday, June 20, we were visiting my husband's children in Miles City, MT. When we were just getting ready to return to Billings, Amber, our daughter-in-law, received a message that a tornado had hit the Metra Arena, and had also touched down in the Heights. They sent a picture of the tornado hovering in the sky.

As we set off on the 150 mile trip home, we were accompanied by falling rain, blowing wind and the occasional lightning bolt strike. The rain stopped as we got to Forsyth. Then, as we continued, the rain grew stronger and the wind howled and whipped around us. Visibility was almost non-existent, and the nearest turn off was the upcoming rest stop just past Hysham. We figured we were traveling through the edge of the Tornado.

When we got to the rest stop, the rain stopped, and the sun was pushing through. We continued our journey, arriving in Billings. The road to the Heights was blocked off, with water running down the debris-lined street. Chunks of insulation littered the landscape. There was enough water to float a small boat.

We drove up to an AppleBee's parking lot, from where you could see the Metra Arena. The roof was gone, and at least one wall was down. You could see the inside of the arena, including the many tiers of seating.

Sui Ming Woo and her husband live on Nutter Boulevard in Billings. Sui Ming said:

"We saw the rain and wind and heard the sirens. The hail was big, and sounded like someone knocking on the door as it hit the house. Later, the Yellowstone County Disaster and Emergency Services called to check on the residents of our neighborhood because of the flooding. The street in front of our house was covered in water. It looked like a river was running in front of the house."

She shared with me that their son, who lives in Hong Kong, called them at 9:00 p.m. because he had already heard about the tornado.

Denise Krohl reported hail, wind and rain up near her home. It became so bad that it washed away several tons of river rock that line the ditch in front of her house. The rocks were found several houses down, neatly grouped on the lawn of one of her neighbors.

Kim Cummings, the Farmers Insurance District Manager for Eastern Montana, said they only got rain and wind. She and a team of agents had set up at Denny Menholt's car dealership. She said there might be as many as 1,000 claims due to the storm. She also said the Farmer's Insurance catastrophe-response bus was setting up in the Heights, Walmart parking lot.

The idea for the catastrophe-response bus came when they were reflecting on communication problems during Katrina and Rita. As a company, they realized the need to have a team that could bring everything with them to serve their customers because, at times, the local office might not be available to serve the customers.

I met Matt and Dee at the bus (MCC - Mobile Catastrophe Center). They explained about the state of the art self-contained mobile office. It is equipped with satellite-based communications systems - phones, internet, fax, Doppler radar system for keeping track of weather. It even has a cooking grill if they need to help feed people in an emergency. It is designed to bring communications and help to communities where the local power grid is down. They have three buses in their fleet. Two are stationed in Kansas, and one is stationed in California.

The bus and team was impressive. Wednesday and Thursday, they will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to help with claims and to field questions. Their contact number is 1-800-HELP-POINT. Their trained team can be sent anywhere during a disaster.

The last tornado to hit Billings was 52 years ago. According to the Billings Gazette's July 4, 1958, issue, the tornado hit at 5:05 p.m. on July 2. It was the first confirmed tornado to ever hit Billings. It was categorized as an F2 (under the old rating system), roughly equivalent to today's EF2 rating. The Gazette estimated that it caused approximately $2.5 million dollars worth of damage ("$19 million in today's dollars").

I am sure that many of the people who live in tornado alley wonder what all the fuss is about. The Father's Day tornado was rated as an EF-2, a baby tornado. Thankfully, there were no fatalities here. Approximately 10 businesses were hit. The National Guard was called out to keep the buildings secure, and to keep citizens safe as clean up was performed.

Personally, I'm glad the Father's Day Tornado was mild. We have much to be thankful for. Saturday night, the arena was filled with people watching the Outlaws play an indoor game of football. Sunday, when the tornado hit, the arena was empty. Here's wishing we have another 52 years without any tornadoes visiting.

Thackeray, L. (2010, June 22). Black clouds gathered 52 years ago before first recorded tornado. Billings Gazette, 8A.