[Artemisia] Tornado In Bronzehelm/Billings

[Jacquie Ziegler]

Gene Mealey wrote:
> I haven't heard from anyone in Bronzehelm - would someone from there mind sounding off and letting us know if everyone came through it ok?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Antoine 
>   
So far, all have reported in locally as being okay. Angrim apparently 
has at least a partially flooded basement, but he had no power last 
night to assess further. He stayed elsewhere and was going to be 
checking on things today. That is the only report I have had personally 
of any Shire members being impacted, beyond a very impressive show by 
Mother Nature. The Metra arena was targeted by the tornado, and is being 
reported this morning as destroyed. Several businesses nearby on Main 
Street were either damaged or destroyed, but so far only one or two 
reports of people getting slightly injured by softball-size hailstones.

Winds were estimated at 135 mph, and the airport recorded 2.24 inches of 
rain in the couple of hours following the tornado itself. That is about 
five times average for the month, so definitely a record-breaker. Last 
recorded tornado was 1958. There was a funnel cloud in 1999 - I remember 
that one! - but it didn't actually touch the ground.

Shauna
on-the-ground reporter :-)