March 15, 2008, 22:00
A tornado in northwest Georgia killed two people and injured others today, one day after a twister battered Atlanta's downtown, officials said.
One person died in Polk county and a second died in Floyd county, said Buzz Weiss of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. Both counties are on Georgia's border with Alabama.
A fresh tornado warning was also in effect for parts of Atlanta as well as parts of northeast Georgia at 4:05 pm local time, as the storms moved quickly east, the National Weather Service said.
"In addition to the threat of a tornado ... very large hail to the size of baseballs can be expected," the service said. Workers were clearing debris in the heart of Atlanta following last night's storm, which damaged landmark buildings, overturned cars and injured dozens of people.
Some 30 people were taken to hospitals and one was in serious condition after the storm, which packed winds of 130 mph, police and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said. Franklin declared a state of emergency in the city.
The tornado powered through as tens of thousands of basketball fans packed area stadiums to watch big games. "It was a very significant, very serious storm. There's lots of damage. It's the first tornado of this type in the city for over 30 years," said Weiss.
CNN headquarters damaged
Police evacuated the multistory Omni Hotel, which shares a building with the CNN Center, after high winds shattered windows and spilled debris onto the street.
Winds also broke windows and caused damage at CNNCenter, the television network's headquarters, CNN said.
The storm struck the most prominent section of downtown Atlanta, which houses attractions including CNN, the Georgia Dome, the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola.
Those buildings are clustered around Centennial Olympic Park, built for the 1996 Summer Olympics. "We are doing everything in our power to respond to what we now know was a tornado that came through," Franklin said.
Officials temporarily halted the game between Mississippi State and the University of Alabama at the Georgia Dome after high winds damaged the roof and caused a large monitor hanging above the court to sway ominously.
Thousands of people were attending a National Basketball Association game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Atlanta Hawks at the Philips Arena, adjacent to the CNN Center complex. But the game was not suspended.
Friday's storm started north of the city and swept through downtown at about 9:45 pm. It downed at least 37 trees and overturned cars.
Emergency services were searching a building in a suburb of metropolitan Atlanta that partially collapsed "in a pancake fashion," Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said.
Witnesses said they heard a sound like a freight train when the storm hit and saw a funnel-shaped cloud. One woman told a local television station she saw a whirling circle of debris higher than her hotel room on the 12th floor.
Tornadoes are common in parts of the US South, often leaving a trail of death and devastation. But they usually strike rural areas. The deadliest tornado in a US city in recent decades hit Waco, Texas, in May 1953, killing 114. - Reuters
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