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"It had to be a 100-foot long section of roof, the entire roof, one side of the building to the other, flying through the air," says Best Western Employee Ray Burton, who saw the roof of the Best Western Being torn of Saturday afternoon.

This is just one of several first-hand accounts from local residents of a strong thunderstorm that went through West Yellowstone Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service says high winds that damaged buildings, cars, trees and downed power lines in West Yellowstone, were not caused by a tornado. Instead, the Weather Service is calling the event a microburst. KBZK-TV meteorologist Adam Bell is in West Yellowstone with representatives from the National Weather Service. They say there are numerous eyewitness reports of funnel clouds seen just before the damage occurred, but that there is no confirmation any of the funnels touching ground. In spite of the ruling by the Weather Service several residents insist in conversations with Bell say that it was indeed a tornado.

"It got closer and the clouds got really low, one set of clouds was going one way, the other set was going the other way and all of the sudden, 'Boom!' it got dark and stuff started flying up in the air," says Joey Difrancisco who was in town when the storm hit.

Weather Service researchers on the ground today say they estimate winds hit 85 miles an hour in the event which ripped part of the roof off the Best Western Hotel and caused other damage.

Today, workers are already beginning to repair the roof. At the same time, the roar of chain saws fills the air as residents and crews work to clear roads of downed trees. In spite of the damage, power is back in most of the town and it's business as usual with the same crowded streets you would normally see during a busy summer weekend.

About 40 people staying at the Best Western were displaced by the storm, but no injuries were reported and other hotels in town were able to take in all of the guests. Ray Burton, a Best Western employee says that if this storm had hit just two weeks ago some people would have had to leave town because all hotels were full and there would have been no where for displaced guests to stay.

Local people report that debris was thrown as much as 100 feet across the town. Bell reports a local resident took video of a tree branch thrust horizontally into the truck of another tree. Some cars were also damaged in the storm.

As of Sunday afternoon, Gallatin County Sheriff's deputies, the Gallatin County Emergency Government Department, National Weather Service officials and NorthWestern Energy crews were on the scene and cleanup was proceeding quickly.

If you have any photos or videos of the event, we would love to see them. Please send them to photo@kbzk.com or photo@kxlf.com.