On the recordJune 22, 2010
I rise today to share an incredible story about a community working together in the aftermath of a powerful storm in Billings, MT. The storm that occurred on Father's Day spawned at least one tornado that touched down in Billings Heights, blowing apart several businesses and one of the city's most familiar buildings. If my colleagues will take a look, this is a picture of what the inside of Rimrock Auto Arena looks like today. You can see the tornado ripped off the roof. Thousands and thousands of folks have memories from inside this building, from concerts to sporting events to graduations. This picture was taken by Larry Mayer, a photographer for the Billings Gazette. Minutes after the tornado tore through, emergency responders, as my colleagues can see, arrived on the scene to keep folks away from the debris in the streets. The wind twisted guardrails around light poles. The rain turned streets into rivers. Golf ball-sized hail came crashing down. In our part of the country, we are used to extreme weather--subzero cold, drought, snow, and severe thunderstorms--but a tornado tearing through the middle of Montana's largest city is pretty darn rare. Through it all, only one minor injury was reported, and that was due to hail. While we stand together in support of the folks who lost their businesses and their property last Sunday, we are grateful no one died. Nobody lost their home.
