Montana highway patrol: Tornado touches down in Billings, tears roof off of large arena

Tornado tears roof from arena in Billings, Mont.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A tornado touched down in Billings, Mont., tearing off much of the roof of a mostly empty 10,000 seat arena and caused other damage to the building Sunday evening, authorities said.

The tornado struck in an industrial part of the city’s downtown at about 5 p.m. as a big storm system with golf ball-sized hail passed through the area, Trooper Toman Baukema of the Montana Highway Patrol said.

Baukema said he saw the tornado hit from the highway patrol station, about a mile away. The tornado hovered over the Rimrock Auto Arena for about 15 minutes, he said.

“It would touch down and suck back up and touch down and touch down again,” he said.

Trees and telephone poles on the outside of the arena were snapped. Big pieces of metal could be seen hanging from power lines, and tangles of insulation and metal debris were strewn for hundreds of yards in the surrounding area.

There were several employees inside the arena when the twister struck, but there were no reports of injuries, Baukema said.

Surrounding buildings at the MetraPark expo center, which includes a horse race track and several pavilions, appeared to have suffered little damage. The arena is the multi-facility event center’s main venue and often hosts rodeos, monster truck shows, concerts and high school graduations.

Authorities were checking on reports of damage at a commercial strip mall about a quarter mile away from the arena, Baukema said. Crews were working to shut off a gas leak at the mall, he said.

The storm also caused flooding of streets and basements in the area from heavy rain, Yellowstone County emergency coordinator Duane Winslow said.

Associated Press Writer Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.