AMERICAN FURNITURE IN ATLANTA https://blog.dnevnik.hr/american-furniture-in-atlanta

Powerful Tornado Damages Downtown Atlanta
By SHAILA DEWAN and BRENDA GOODMAN

ATLANTA — A powerful tornado scored a direct hit on the commercial center of downtown Atlanta on Friday night, blowing windows out of dozens of high-rise buildings, tossing trees and cars, and severely damaging many of the city’s landmarks, including the CNN Center, the Georgia Dome, Philips Arena, Grady Memorial Hospital and Centennial Olympic Park.

At least 27 people were injured and transported to local hospitals, said Capt. Bill May of Atlanta’s Fire Rescue Department, most with cuts and bruises from flying glass and debris.

The weather service said the tornado’s winds reached 130 miles an hour and in only 20 minutes cut a path six miles long and 200 yards wide through the downtown area. There was considerable damage to the area’s older trees, which was made worse by the region’s long drought, weather officials said.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin declared a state of emergency in the city at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, a designation needed to make the city eligible for federal recovery money.

No fatalities had been reported by Saturday morning, though crews were still combing through a condominium building in the southeastern part of the city where four floors had fallen on each other, making search and rescue operations difficult and dangerous.

The severity of the sudden storm surprised forecasters, who broke into prime-time programming Friday night around 9:40 p.m. to report that possible tornadoes could be heading for the downtown area. Thousands of people had gathered in the sports and convention area for two basketball games and a dental convention.

The twister brought what was supposed to be a busy Saturday to a near-standstill. The convention was canceled, as was the St. Patrick’s Day parade and the Atlanta Home Show, both scheduled for Saturday. The Southeastern Conference basketball playoffs were moved to a smaller stadium open to players and their families only.

The storm damaged the roof of the CNN Center, sucking the furniture out of the lobby and allowing storm water to pour into the newsroom. CNN said one of its computers had been sucked through a broken window and that dust, glass and water were scattered around the building, though the network stayed on the air to report on the city’s damage.

The storm passed right through the heart of the city, wreaking havoc on landmarks large and small. It blew the windows out of Ted Turner’s restaurant, called Ted’s Montana Grill, and the Tabernacle, a popular concert venue. Skyscrapers were pocked with broken windows and billboards were twisted into skeletal scaffolds. Debris and glass carpeted the usually busy streets, making them impassible.

Brenton Young, a dentist from Shelby, N.C., had just put his drink order in at Thrive, a chic downtown restaurant, when street-level windows started exploding. “People were jumping up and screaming,” Mr. Young said. “We didn’t know if a car had hit the building or what had happened. People were hitting the floor. People were running for the center. It was a chaotic three seconds.”

Cheryl Denton, also in town for the convention, said she was in her hotel when the storm hit. “It just came up all of a sudden,” she said. “We looked out the window and stuff started swirling, and it was there and gone that quick.”

Her friend Dwayne Hawkins added, “It was on the news and it hit 15 minutes later.”

At a 2 a.m. news conference Saturday, Kelvin J. Cochran, the fire and rescue chief, said it would take 24 to 36 hours to complete the search and rescue operation.

One of the 11 people who were taken to Grady Hospital had life-threatening injuries, a spokeswoman for the hospital said, but by Saturday morning the condition of that victim had been upgraded to stable. The 10 others had been treated and released.

A few blocks away, where the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball playoffs were under way, players from both teams froze, mouths gaping on the court, when part of the fabric roof was torn away by the force of the storm, allowing a sudden gush of wind to blow through the Georgia Dome. Catwalks at the top of the dome swayed and bits of insulation rained down on players and fans during overtime of the Mississippi State-Alabama game, halting play and sending spectators scrambling for the exits.

After a 65-minute delay to sweep the court and make sure the facility was sound, the game resumed. (Mississippi beat Alabama, 69-67.)

Cory Reavis, a 32-year-old firefighter who lives in the loft building where several floors collapsed, said that most of the damage had occurred in a part of the complex that was under renovation and thus not occupied. But Mr. Reavis said he had helped rescue one man in another part of the complex.

“He was sleeping and the roof collapsed on top of him,” he said. Mr. Reavis said the man’s injuries were not serious.

Mr. Reavis and his girlfriend were in his loft when the storm passed. “We thought it was the

Betula papyrifera also known as American White Birch and Canoe Birch. It is a species of birch native to northern North America, like Canada, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Colorado. It is a medium-sized deciduous tree with white , flaking bark and horizontal strips. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins and grow from the tips of twigs. The fruit matures in the fall and has tiny winged seeds. They bloom between September and spring. The bark is food for deer and moose. The inner bark is food for porcupines and the seeds are food for mice. The Paper Birch is used for firewood, furniture and flooring.

<< Arhiva >>