BILLINGS, Mont. — A tornado that ripped the roof off a sports arena in Billings, Mont., Sunday evening also tore through businesses, damaging a bar and a casino and leaving just the walls of an auto-glass shop standing.
The tornado struck about 4:30 p.m. as a big storm system with golf-ball-size hail passed through the area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Keith Meier.
After running through Main Street in the city’s northeast area, the twister quickly moved toward the 10,000-seat Rimrock Auto Arena about a half-mile away, where it hovered for about 15 minutes, snapping trees and telephone poles.
“It would touch down and suck back up and touch down and touch down again,” said Trooper Toman Baukema of the Montana Highway Patrol, who saw the tornado from a patrol station about a mile away.
Big pieces of metal could be seen hanging from power lines near the arena, and tangles of insulation and metal debris were strewn for hundreds of yards. There were several employees inside the arena when it struck, but there were no reports of injuries, Baukema said.
