Tornado Last Night, More Storms Today

It looks like the Atlanta metro area is in for a rough couple of days. Last night a small tornado struck right in the heart of midtown, damaging the CNN Center, Georgia Dome, Omni Hotel, and many other buildings (sorry, CNN is still on the air). Today could be rougher still with strong storms expected the area midday:

ATLANTA — Crews hauled broken glass and furniture out of downtown streets Saturday and homeowners surveyed damage caused by a possible tornado that surprised many residents and basketball fans.

More thunderstorms headed across northern Alabama toward the city Saturday morning. "We're bracing for another round of whatever mother nature throws at us," said Lisa Janak of the state emergency management agency.

At least 27 people were hurt Friday night, though no injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

Mayor Shirley Franklin said the storm was "what we now know was a tornado." Weather service officials continued to say only that a "possible tornado" hit around 9:40 p.m. as a thunderstorm roared through with wind up to 60-mph wind.

All downtown events scheduled for Saturday were canceled, including the St. Patrick's Day parade.

The storm smashed hundreds of skyscraper windows, blew furniture and luggage out of hotel rooms, crumbled part of an apartment building and rattled a packed sports arena.

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Possible Tornado Rips Through Atlanta 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 the occasional office chair. Billboards collapsed onto parked cars.

CNN said its headquarters building suffered ceiling damage that allowed water to pour into the atrium, and windows were shattered in the CNN.com newsroom and the company's library. A water line inside the building broke, turning a staircase into a waterfall.

"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 storm twister hit.

A tornado warning had been issued for downtown a few minutes before the violent weather hit.

I watched CNN in the aftermath of the storm last night and there was some interesting video, especially as the storm hit the Georgia Dome and the fans started scrambling for the exits. CNN did a good job of reporting the story on their front porch, though the anchors were typically stupid at times. One of their reporters was standing in a street full of debris right in front of the CNN Center, with cops and firefighters all around, when the international anchor asked him if he could see any "rioting or looting". She must not have much faith in the residents of Atlanta.