Breaking News Scenario

The University of Montana's Lady Griz basket ball team is playing in Bozeman.

You are the Saturday reporter and are doing cop checks in the newsroom when you receive a call from a frantic lady. She says her friend is a mother/volunteer with the team and has just called to say a tornado is bearing down on the gymnasium.

Her friend's cell number is 721-3331.

Call and check on this tip.
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You reach Robin Selvig, coach of the Lady Griz team, by telephone. He's distraught and has spent hours trying to ease the fears and concerns of his players, their relatives and others in Missoula.

"This is a freak storm and I'm so upset it has caused so much consternation for my team and their families," Selvig said.

He said he had visited player Aimee Grant at the Bozeman hospital. She's 19, plays as a guard and came to UM from Lick Skillet, Ala. Her knee was damaged by flying chairs and other objects. He said it could be ACL damage.
"This injury is crushing, both for Aimee and for the team," Selvig said. "She's been a key player on the team and is at the top of her game. I think it is just wretched to have this injury happen to her at such a tender age."
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Bozeman resident Joe Hornback told the Associated Press news agency that eight people from his neighborhood had sought shelter from the storm in a small cellar. There was a calm before the tornado hit, he told the AP. "Then you just heard the wind blow, just like you turned the light switch on.
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Tornadoes are a rarity in Montana and typically are associated with the Midwest in the spring and summer. The tornado's appearance in Bozeman has been blamed on unusually warm, wet weather and global warming, which is causing dramatic climate changes.

"It's February, but we're going to treat it like May," said Mike Foster, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Great Falls.

Foster said this tornado had veered north to Canada.
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Gov. Brian Schweitzer declared the city a state of emergency, allocated $500 million in aid and dispatched 1,000 National Guard members to help people.

"We will do everything we can to get Bozemans the assistance they need," Schweitzer said.