Atlanta tornado damage still apparent

Keith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:34:25 +0000

I had forgotten about the rare tornado that happened here in May. The Westin, where we are staying, had some pretty major damage to windows from flying debris. People had no warning as a warning system does not exist. The Sunroom, a bar and restaurant on the 72nd floor was full of people when the windows began to break at 9:35pm. The black squares in the photo are where windows were broken.

A tornado caused widespread damage across downtown Atlanta, including to the CNN Center and to the Georgia Dome, where the 2008 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament was postponed. Other buildings that were damaged include the Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena (during an Atlanta Hawks game), and the Omni Hotel, which was evacuated after many windows were blown out.

Work is ongoing at CNN, the Omni Hotel, the Westin and others that were damaged. Apparently the glass windows, two layered and quite large, have to be special ordered. Of course, there is delay while the insurance companies try to get out of paying for the damage.

When you walk the street, there are several buildings that have covered sidewalks to protect pedestrians from repair debris. Amazingly, the damage for the most part was to higher buildings. Buildings standing only 4 or 5 stories high seemed to have been spared any damage.

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Atlanta tornado damage still apparent