Montana city mops up from tornado that hit arena

BILLINGS: Survivors of a tornado that tore into Montana”s largest indoor arena and leveled several commercial buildings returned to a scene of devastation Monday — awe-struck that a twister so destructive caused no major injuries.

Under sunny, blue skies, owners of damaged businesses in Billings picked through the rubble of their storefronts, salvaging what they could from rain-soaked piles of debris.

Local officials said a 12,000-seat arena that suffered extensive damage would have to be gutted and, if there is structural damage, possibly razed.

But residents and local leaders said Billings got off surprisingly easy given the force of Sunday”s twister, which snapped trees and power lines, lifted the roof off the Rimrock Auto Arena and left debris scattered across hundreds of acres.

The only reported injury was a homeowner who was hit in the head by a large hailstone.

A day before the tornado hit, more than 7,000 people had been inside the Rimrock arena for an Indoor Football League game.

“The big guy was looking out after us,” Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy said. “If that thing had hit on a Saturday night, it would have been a disaster.”

Witnesses and officials said the tornado carved through a commercial area, crossed a wide swath of unoccupied land and then stalled for 15 minutes or more over the arena before it dissipated.

It was the first large tornado to hit Billings in more than a half-century.

Seven dead in US tornado

WASHINGTON: Seven people were killed when a devastating tornado swept through northwestern Ohio, a state emergency management official told foreign news agency on Sunday.

“All seven deaths were a result of the tornado,” said spokeswoman for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency, adding that the fatalities were from a tornado that touched down in Wood County, southeast of Toledo, Ohio.

As many as seven tornadoes touched down in northwestern Ohio late Saturday and early Sunday morning, according to data from the US National Weather Service. A five-year-old child was among the dead in the small town of Millbury, Ohio, local media reported, citing Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer.

Heavy storm winds were already raking Millbury when the main twister touched down at around 11:00 pm Saturday, destroying some 50 homes, businesses, and the roof and walls were ripped from the local high school, local officials said. A dozen people were hospitalized following the tornado.

Parkersburg Tornado Documentary

Tonight’s “20/20? takes a look back at the Parkersburg, Iowa tornado of May 25, 2008.  One of my friends, a storm chaser named Ben McMillan, was one of the first people on the scene after the tornado decimated the town.  He’s one of the people talked to in the show.

20/20 airs tonight at 9pm on ABC -  just make sure you change the channel back to 13 afterwards for 13News 10 at 10!