Larry Mayer/Billings Gazette, via Associated Press
Main Street Casino staff members watching a second
thunderstorm approaching after a tornado in Billings, Mont., on Sunday.
The tornado was first reported at about 4:45 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, said Lt. Mark Cady, of the Billings Police Department. The tornado approached the city from the southeast, doing the most damage in two neighborhoods called The Heights and the Lower Heights, before heading northwest, he said.
The tornado also tore off more than half the roof of the Rimrock Auto Arena at Metra Park, leaving pieces strewn over a ¾-mile area, Lt. Cady said. The arena, which seats 10,000 people, hosts indoor football games, rodeos and concerts. The tornado also damaged a casino, a bar and a laundry operation in the city’s downtown area and leveled a glass shop and broke some gas mains.
At a McDonald’s restaurant, about 20 people took cover in the walk-in freezer when they saw the tornado coming, Lt. Cady said. The tornado blew out all the glass from the building.
The tornado was also accompanied by floods that left cars stranded on roads under deep water. Runoff from the storm also overwhelmed the city’s sewer system.
“Manhole covers were blowing off because of the pressure from the water beneath,” Lt. Cady said. “It’s a mess right now.”
The tornado was part of a storm moving through the area that also dropped hail measuring nearly three inches in Bighorn and Yellowstone Counties, the National Weather Service said in a local storm report.
The Billings Logan International Airport reported 2.24 inches of rain from the storm, setting a local record for the date. The old rainfall record for this date was 0.47 inches, set in 1947.
The storm left as quickly as it appeared, and a half-hour later, the sun was shining, officials said. Some area residents who wanted to see the damage themselves created additional work for emergency workers as traffic became congested along Main Street, officials said.
“Main Street is the busiest road in Montana,” Lt. Cady said. Officials were trying to dissuade people from driving to the city to tour the damage, he said.
Officials continued a flash flood warning for central Yellowstone County until 9:45 p.m.