It's a Twister, Auntie Em!
Who would ever believe that a tornado would rip through the heart of downtown Atlanta? For those that haven't heard, that's exactly what happened this morning. I had three early morning catering jobs today and two of them were downtown. I stumbled across the storm damage within a couple of hours of it happening. I later saw the footage on the news, but it failed in comparison to the first hand account that I 
witnessed. Saddest of all was the destruction of my former apartment complex. The Cotton Mill Lofts lost a couple of floors-- when I drove by I saw an empty gap where a few apartments use to be. Debris from the building and the apartments littered the roads. Down the street a couple of blocks, I saw a bicycle wrapped around the top of a telephone pole. I also saw buildings that had collapsed, burying the nearby cars in bricks. I couldn't drive a block without saying "Oh my God!" at least ten times. 
The top three pictures will be of the Cotton Mill, and the following pictures will be of other damage a mile away in downtown Atlanta.
posted by Brian at 4:55 PM
7 Comments:
Did Oakland Cemetery take any damage?
5:38 PM
I think Oakland Cemetary is fine-- I haven't heard of any damage there and I didn't see anything this morning-- although it was still dark when I was in the area. Let's keep our fingers crossed!
5:43 PM
Actually, came back here to say that after I posted the above question, Kev sent an email....Oakland took a major hit.
Story below.
Oakland Cemetery. At historic Oakland Cemetery, dozens of trees and old monuments were toppled by the storm. We took a big hit, said Sam Reed, sexton, or caretaker, of the property.
He estimated that 50 or 60 old trees, including the oldest crepe myrtle, were down, many by the roots. Many more, including ancient magnolias, were damaged and may have to be removed. The 100-year-old ladies comfort station that was under renovation was split in two by a tree.
Winds also tossed headstones and obelisks. The 20-foot obelisk for the Winship family was toppled from its platform and had broken in half across a paved path. Metal from the nearby train tracks, paper from nearby offices and other trash littered the grounds. A shredded window blind was draped like a necklace around the marker for James L. Bell, a Confederate soldier who died in 1918.
"Ive been here 10 years and Ive seen storms come through here but never like this," said Reed.
5:52 PM
You answered something I've been wondering, Steve. I didn't know that "Winship" is a family name. It's the Winship Cancer Foundation at Emory where I'm receiving treatment. Please let me know more about them in an e-mail.
6:25 AM
1937: The Robert Winship Memorial Clinic is founded at Emory University with a gift from Robert Woodruff. Woodruff, the president of Coca-Cola, had lost his mother to cancer that year. The Clinic is named in honor of Mr. Woodruff's maternal grandfather, Robert Winship.
1:30 PM
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6:35 PM
oakland park cemetary was severely damaged, many historic markers destroyed and over 80 trees felled. i was in the a&p lofts, whick took a direct hit from the tornado. it was amazing and terrifying. i live on the third floor and looked out just in time to see it working its way through our parking lot. thank god the building i live in is all reinforced concrete and steel. we suffered minor damage, some electrical and some roof problems. no one was hurt, no one lost anything of value.
i have posted more on my blog, brian. i miss you.
xoxo,
peg
12:01 PM
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