Killer winds

I woke up Monday morning, ready to head to Billings, when I heard about the tornado. It had hit the Metra, the venue for the YVKC show, late Sunday afternoon. All the club members had been there just 45 minutes earlier, coordinating setup for the coming shows, but luckily had left before the twister hit. Damage was limited to several vehicles, some huge old pine trees, and the main Metra building.

I’ve never seen the damage from a tornado. Seeing those big old trees down made me realise there would be no “holding on” to something while the winds blew. The trees that were knocked down had huge root balls — I’m sure they were holding on for dear life. The trees still standing were stripped bare of their needles. The building itself was made of blown foam, which was torn apart and scattered everywhere. It’s lucky the twister hit the foam building, and not Pacific Steel right down the street!

YVKC club members are to be commended for their quick work in getting the show going.

The Metra's main building - the Rimrock Auto Plaza

The vague round thing in the left half of the picture is the root ball from a downed tree.

More damage to the trees

The Billings rimrocks