By SPA
Atlanta : A possible tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, smashing skyscraper windows, sucking furniture and luggage out of hotel rooms, crumbling part of an apartment
building and rattling the rafters of two major sports arenas filled with basketball fans. At least 13 people were hurt, AP reported.
Streets around the Georgia Dome, the Phillips Arena, the CNN Center and Centennial Olympic Park were littered Friday night with broken glass, crumbled bricks, insulation and
even the occasional office chair. Billboards collapsed onto parked cars. Stunned fans from the arenas wandered through the debris in disbelief.
National Weather Service officials said a possible tornado hit downtown Atlanta, and wind was clocked at up to 60 mph (96 kph) as the storm moved through the city.
Most of the damage was concentrated in downtown Atlanta, Police spokesman Ronald Campbell said. He said authorities blocked off roads around the CNN Center, where heavy debris filled the streets. A chair from the skyscraper’s lobby sat in the middle of the street, flanked by cars crushed by fallen debris.
Buzz Weiss, a spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said nine people were taken to hospitals, including a firefighter. Grady Hospital, the city’s large public hospital where eight of the injured were taken, had broken windows but was operating as usual.
Kendra Gerlach, spokeswoman for Atlanta Medical Center, said the hospital was treating about five patients in the emergency room. She said each patient suffered minor injuries with only cuts, scraps and bruises.
Atlanta Fire Department Capt. Bill May said the department was working multiple incidents from East Atlanta to downtown. He said part of a loft apartment building.