Tornado touches down in downtown Atlanta

[Aclaim]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/15/storm.atlanta/index.html

[guinaevere]

We've had some crazy weather lately. That's for certain. But at least we're getting some rain. My poor lawn and gardens are just pitiful after last year.

[Martianinvader]

I haven't checked the Cafe in a while, but is that the first Guinny post in months?

Hi!

[stargirl]

I heard that on the news today.

You know, they said that the CNN Center were one of the buildings affected. I'm wondering if the rest of the Turner Broadcasting buildings were messed with too, mainly CN HQ and others...

[guinaevere]

Hiya Marti! This is the second or third post (http://www.forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=2808145&postcount=210). I managed to check in after ages, and an hour later the tornado sirens started going off and the hail started flying. Crazy.

[tucsoncoyote]

Well after reading a lot of the stories that are out there, about this event, I myself come to the realization that this tornado in Atlanta could have been a lot worse. and here's why:

First off, the Size of the Storm: Even though the tornado that struck Downtown Atlanta was just a category EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which had a track of 6 miles in length and was 200 yards wide at its strongest. If this had been any stronger, (an EF3 to an EF5) there could have been more injuries and fatalities (currently at last count the storms that hit last night have killed 1 and injured 27...)

Then there's the issue of what was going on last night, especially at the time the storm hit. At the time there were two sporting arenas (The Georgia Dome and Phillips Center) both had basketball games going on..(The Georgia Dome was packed full of people (about 70,000 in all), and the Phillips Center (which could hold 21,000) and you get a scope of the potential for disaster here..

Because what if this storm had hit say just before both games started or just after the games were over and the fans were leaving? Well the potential was there for a lot more deaths..

Add to the fact that the Georgia dome is a wide expanse dome, and you could imagine that coming down on the heads of all those folks enjoying the SEC playoffs.. Add to the storm also damaged some of the hotels, it's lucky no one in the Omni nor the Ritz Carlton weren't killed either.

In short.. I feel if this storm had been stronger, this could have been a major disaster. After all I bet no one here has seen the power of an EF5 tornado..and I bet a lot of folks dismiss this as a fluke..

Yet I would like to point out Misconception #3 on the Tornado project Website which reads the following:

Myth or Misconception #3 .... Tornadoes never strike big cities.
FACT: This misconception has a small kernel of possible truth at its heart. Before we get to that possible bit of truth, we first have to make a number of things clear. When one thinks of a "big city", the image of sky scrapers and large office or apartment buildings come to mind. In actuality, if you were to compare the downtown where these buildings occur with the rest of the city, it would comprise a rather small percentage of the city's area.

The St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois areas have had more than their share of tornado strikes to their downtowns. The first time was on March 8, 1871, when a tornado that did F-3 damage moved from the west bank of the Mississippi River, across the river, to the Brooklyn-Venice area of Illinois. Ferries and steamers were torn apart and their fragments carried as much as 30 miles. Most of the damage was to the six railroad depots that were destroyed. Eight of the nine deaths occurred in the railroad yards.
A tornado struck again on May 27, 1896, killing 255 people in the two states. Touching down on the NW edge of Tower Grove Park, the storm widened into a mile-wide, complex combination of tornado and downburst winds. It struck the Eads Bridge, just as the windstorm had in 1871. Seven people were killed in a building about where the I-55 sign is on the map to the right. A photo of that building, and another photo of the East St. Louis damage can be seen here. About 1,000 people were injured as the storm collapsed or swept away portions of houses, factories, saloons, hospitals, mills, railroad yards, and churches. The storm was at its maximum intensity as it crossed the Mississippi into East St. Louis, and it killed 118 people there, 35 of which were in the Vandalia railroad freight yards.
The third time St. Louis was struck was on September 29, 1927. The tornado began at the south edge of Webster Grove and as it passed through the middle of the city, its path widened from 100 to 600 yards. Over 200 city blocks were torn apart, and 72 people were killed. In Illinois, 6 people were killed when a crucible of molten metal was overturned. Debris from the tornado was carried up to 50 miles.

In the past 40 years, the city of St. Louis and the surrounding suburbs of St. Louis County have been hit 22 times, although none of them were in the tiny skyscraper heart of the city. There are three possible reasons for that.

First, the central city may produce a "heat island" in which turbulent rising air disrupts the formation of small tornadoes(keep in mind that most tornadoes are small). The second possibility is that the "roughness" created by the skyscrapers causes turbulence that disrupts the formation of small tornadoes. The third, is, of course, the idea that tornadoas are rare, and the central city is very small. So it is a matter of coincidence.

The thing is Atlanta Georgia, (and St. Louis Missouri) aren't the only cities that have been hit by tornadoes. There have been other cities that have been hit before.. Waco Texas, Kansas City Missouri, Lincoln Nebraska, even Salt Lake City Utah. The bottom line is that everytime a tornado goes through a city, that city's occupants are at risk.

In fact in closing I would like to throw out a what if scenario using last night's storm as an example.. Imagine this storm not being an EF2 but a mile wide EF5 storm.. Imagine it hitting Atlanta during rush hour.. when everyone is out and about.. or imagine it hitting during those games.

In short no one can imagine it happening.. but I always state this.. It's not a matter of "If" it's going to happen, but rather, a Matter of "When".. and Last night Atlanta proverbial dodged a bullet. but someday somewhere in the US, a Major city will get hit, and hit hard.. when that happens, the unimaginable will happen..

So that's it in a nutshell. I'm just glad all the potential possible events didn't happen.. else this could have been a far lot worse that what it is..

:coyote:

[RayChuang]

tucsoncoyote,

The Discovery Channel some time ago showed a "what if" scenario of a mile-wide supertornado ripping through downtown Dallas, TX, something that is not so far-fetched. If it happened during a late afternoon rush hour such a tornado could cause tens of thousands of casualties and could literally wipe out the city almost as bad as a full-scale aerial bombing attack.

The even more scary thing: almost every city east of the Rocky Mountains are at risk for such a storm. :eek:

[Aclaim]

The even more scary thing: almost every city east of the Rocky Mountains are at risk for such a storm. :eek:

It is especially scary when you count the fact that a tornado touched down in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah on August 11,1999 which is in the Rocky Mountains area where tornadoes don't usually happen.

[KPTitan]

The even more scary thing: almost every city east of the Rocky Mountains are at risk for such a storm. :eek:

And unfortunately, I've been one of the people to experience that. Actually, the town 7 miles west from me had almost gotten hit at least 2 times from what I heard, during the late 70's/early to mid-80's and last summer. I didn't get hit though, 'cause I was in Montana at the time of the big tornado storm when the town was completely surrounded by tornadoes and funnel clouds...and the fact that only funnel clouds were sighted by the subdivision I live in. I'm very sure that it's gonna happen again this year.

I'm watching the Weather Channel about the Atlanta tornado right now. Apparently they were under another tornado warning today, but it was only just south of the city.

About tornadoes touching down in the Rocky Mountains...I've read somewhere that the most dangerous place to be during a tornado is in the mountains, if a tornado actually touches down in the mountains because then you'd have those big-*** evergreen and pinetrees flying around as deadly missiles. My aunt and uncle told us last summer that there even was a tornado that touched down right in the mountains by a small lake community, and it was close to hitting some lakefront homes up there.

[purplehairedwonder]

My school is about an hour north of Atlanta and I spent the majority of the afternoon seeking shelter as tornado sirens went off. Apparently there was tornadoes touching down all over the area and we didn't have power for a good portion of the afternoon >< There's another storm that is supposed to hit tonight too. *sigh* We need the rain, but not the damage.

[TyUnlimited]

And I was wondering why the winds winds today were so bad. The winds were pretty strong all the way down to one of the southern-most points of the state, and I didn't know that storms and tornado's caused them, I just though it was a windy day.:p


So they've had tornado watches up northern of Atlanta, and Severe Thunder-Storm Watches south of Atlanta?

[purplehairedwonder]

So they've had tornado watches up northern of Atlanta, and Severe Thunder-Storm Watches south of Atlanta?I don't know about south of the city, but north of the city we were under a warning and had developed tornadoes touching down near us. There was one on Lake Lanier, apparently.

[TyUnlimited]

I don't know about south of the city, but north of the city we were under a warning and had developed tornadoes touching down near us. There was one on Lake Lanier, apparently.

So how many tornado's exactly were there?(if there were more than one)

And the wind still seems rough around my area, I went down the road just a moment to take some food to a neighbor, and the wind had blown everything around, the dog pin they had was moved roughly 5 feet from where it was 2 hours earlier.

I wonder how long all of this will last...

[purplehairedwonder]

So how many tornado's exactly were there?(if there were more than one)I can't find a number, but all the articles mentioned large numbers of reports of tornadoes *shrug*
I wonder how long all of this will last...Storms are moving in again on Wednesday. The good news is that Lake Lanier is up about 5 feet since the end of December, though.

[FireStarterLE]

So how many tornado's exactly were there?(if there were more than one)


Local news says there were possibly 10 reported


I wonder how long all of this will last...


The today's outbreak will be over tonight (into early Sunday morning). Then things will clear out in time for more rain on Wednesday