On Father's Day 2010, Billings Montana suffered a very strange tornado that pointed it's finger at a 12,000 seat Arena and sucked most of the life out of a community center.
We lost several businesses besides the Metra Arena (also known as the Rimrock Auto Arena), and numerous homes were flooded during the 2 hour deluge of rain and hail that went along with this storm cell. Here is the link to some pictures if you want to see what happened---click here to go to one of our local tv stations KTVQ.
Fortunately, or miraculously, no one was killed or seriously injured.
One of the strangest things to me, is how this tornado picked the tightest and most congested place in our whole city to land. There are 2 huge cliffs of Rimrocks towering over the Metra which is right in the tight valley along with the Yellowstone River. Topographically, it just seems weird to me to have this happen, there, it's actually one of the last places around here I would think one would land. The last time we had a tornado in Billings Montana was over 50 years ago!
The area was designated a disaster, and the Governor authorized the Montana Army National Guard to assist the local police in providing security for the local area and businesses that were destroyed. As I drove by this morning, trying not to gawk (don't want to rear end the person in front of me), I'm just trying to recall the time I have spent inside that Metra Arena watching hockey games, sports tournaments, rodeos and graduations.
Thank goodness we weren't having a major event the afternoon of the tornado, I don't even want to think of the possible devastation.
Now back to the day after the tornado. Here is a picture of a storm cloud, due east of my house. While it's beautiful in it's arrangement, it is a reminder of what can happen when Mother Nature feels like stirring things up a bit.
