Mama Nature

Can you believe it? A tornado in downtown Atlanta! (the cylinder of clouds and debris just to the right of the building with the triangle lights on top in the far left of the photo) Crazy...I live about a mile east of downtown and about a mile north of Cabbagetown. Cabbagetown was where the tornado blew off the top front corner of a huge brick cotton mill turned loft development and tore down 100 year old oak trees. I got a phone call on Saturday morning at 8:30 from my Dad asking if I was ok. Not having even know about the tornado until that point I was like, "I'm a little bit hung over, but nothing another couple hours of sleep won't take care of" then he told me about the tornado. Being a weather geek, I couldn't believe it...so I jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera, went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and got in the XTerra to check things out. First I drove down to the Cotton Mill Lofts. I turned right on Dekalb Ave and started seeing debris in the road...then I pulled up to Boulevard and couldn't believe it! The top front corner of the build was just gone. To my right was an automotive parts warehouse that was pretty much demolished and the neighborhood behind that (Jackson Street) was a mess. I couldn't believe that nobody was hurt looking at these buildings. I decided to drive downtown and check things out...I headed down Decatur Street, passed Georgia State, passed Underground Atlanta - both ok- and then was stopped at a road closure. There was a taxi in front of me that I decided to follow...he went up a one way street, the wrong way (we had no choice) and then took a right on to Peachtree and then a left on Trinity. So did I. I parked two blocks from the Tabernacle Theater and walked up Trinity towards Centennial Olympic Park. I immediately noticed glass everywhere and realized that wearing flip flops was not the best choice. Walking up towards the park, I noticed windows shattered at Ted's Montana Grill, the Tabernacle, all the hotels and the Equitable Building was hit really bad. I then came up to Techwood Drive...it was crazy. Cars were smashed by bricks and huge iron billboards bent over like taffy. Walking through Centennial Park, trees were knocked down as where 60 foot tall towers from the Olympics and insulation was everywhere. It probably came from the Omni or the World Congress Center, both which were hit really bad. I headed back to my car and back to the house. Glad I was able to drive right into downtown before they closed all the roads. It was amazing to see the power of a tornado up close...amazing still that with all that damage a mile away from my house, the gates on my fence (which always shut, even with a light wind) remained untouched and sitting perfectly open. Amazing.