Crazy
[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080315/D8VDQEUG0.html
ATLANTA (AP) - Crews hadn't even had time to assess the damage from a possible tornado that ripped through downtown, smashing skyscraper windows, sucking furniture out of hotel rooms, crumbling part of an apartment building and rattling a packed sports arena, before they braced for another storm on Saturday.
An even larger system than the one that hit Friday night was forecast to move through northern Georgia starting at daybreak, bringing heavy rains and high winds to the area, said Vaughn Smith, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Peachtree City. Crews were expected to be in downtown Atlanta then to determine whether Friday's damage was caused by a tornado, he said.
At an early morning news conference, Mayor Shirley Franklin called the storm "what we now know was a tornado." But weather service officials continued to say only that a "possible tornado" hit around 9:40 p.m., accompanied by a storm packing 60 mph winds.
At least 27 people were hurt, though no injuries were believed to be life- threatening. Streets around the Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena, the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park were littered with broken glass, downed power lines, crumbled bricks, insulation and even the occasional office chair. Billboards collapsed onto parked cars. Stunned fans from the arenas and hotel guests wandered through the debris in disbelief.
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]"It was crazy. There was a lot of windows breaking and stuff falling," said Terrence Evans, a valet who was about to park a car at the Omni Hotel when the apparent twister hit.
A tornado warning had been issued for downtown a few minutes before.
There was no announcement of the approaching storm for the 18,000 fans inside the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament. The first sign was a rumbling from above and the rippling of the Fiberglas fabric roof. Catwalks swayed and insulation rained down on players during overtime of the Mississippi State-Alabama game, sending fans fleeing toward the exits and the teams to their locker rooms.
"I thought it was a tornado or a terrorist attack," said Mississippi State guard Ben Hansbrough, whose team won 69-67 after an hourlong delay under a roof with at least two visible tears. A later game between Georgia and Kentucky was postponed. SEC officials said the tournament's remaining games would be played at Georgia Tech.
[/FONT]
