Update 4:21 PM EDT
Round 2, coming up.
Worst cels are skirting the north Perimeter and the southern metro, including the airport.
Tornado last night was confirmed: EF2, 130 MPH
CNN on cable/satellite and their website has the best coverage, given that they got nailed in the middle of the storm!
Stay safe, everybody.
Update 9:36 AM EDT
OK, now with daylight damage is getting assessed and cleanup planned. GEMA has its hands full.
Reminds you of that scene from Die Hard
McClaine: Is the building on fire?
Sgt Powell: No, but it's going to need a paint job and a shitload of screen doors!
That's what the area around CNN and Centennial Olympic Park is like.
The part that Barry fans want to know:
Philips Arena had very minor damage. (Barry - you still have a venue to play in!) By "minor" I mean that a lit name sign and some siding came lose. Easy to take down.
The CNN Center/World Congress Center got hammered. Holes drilled into the roof in various places. Lots of hotels lost lots of windows. Pete saw footage of the Omni @ CNN and the nearby Westin. These hotels are - and this is his word - "fucked". Especially the Omni. Come Monday you're going to want to give a call to wherever your reservations are for 3/29 and see if there's any changes that need to be made. Give them the weekend to shovel out the truckloads of glass from the streets and atriums.
Older homes in the area are totalled. Developers and emergency staff alike are relieved that there are no bodies to recover. People are shaken up but again, the important part is: No. One. Died.
Downtown is a war zone. Windows are blown out along CNN Center and some skybridges between buildings started falling. The monuments in Centennial Olympic Park are horizontal. They're reporting a tornado on the local news that stopped the SEC B-ball championships dead in its tracks when a several-ton catwalk at the top of the Georgia Dome started swinging. There's a hole in the roof of the Dome now and a lot of older buildings are rubble. The stairs at Georgia Dome are flooded. Cars were picked up and thrown around with people in them. It makes Beirut look like Walt Disney World. MARTA is shut down and a lot of people will be stranded for a while.
No fatalities, only minor injuries. A moment of prayers or good thoughts to whatever deity or higher power you acknowledge would do some good.
More detail from WSB-TV/DT Channel 2 (ABC Affiliate)
Thanks for all the updates. I have a cousin in Alpharetta. Haven't been able to get through to her today. Prayers are going out to you guys today.
ReplyDeleteAlpharetta is fine. All points north of the city are just getting major thunderstorms.
ReplyDeletePete got home from a business trip, landed at the airport, then got out about 15 minutes before a storm cel hit with 2-inch hail. We're staying in for a while....
Stay safe...my prayers are with you guys. Thanks for the update.
ReplyDelete