Atlanta examines tornado damage
The News Review:
- Atlanta examines tornado damage
- One of Atlanta’s cultural gems hit hard by tornado
- Puzzling ‘Eye Of A Hurricane’ On Venus
- Stock Markets Down; Atlanta Clean up After Tornado; McCain in Iraq;…
- After tornado, Atlantans take matters into own hands
- Tornado blowback puts the brakes on budget talks
- One-third of mobile home park destroyed by tornado
Atlanta examines tornado damage
USA Today – Mar 17, 2008
Two people were killed in northwest Georgia when a separate storm struck Saturday. Cleaning up downtown Atlanta’s shattered glass, torn roofs and debris-littered streets will be a much quicker task than repairing the financial damage caused by the tornado, state officials said Sunday. Despite the damage, some people did make their way through damaged areas to get to work. “I could have walked faster,” said Kendra Wright, 22, an office manager downtown whose 20 minute commute took an hour… Sonny Perdue that crews were still working to assess the wreckage. Graveline said he was hopeful repairs would begin soon, starting with the areas that could be fixed most quickly. The tornado ripped through the roof of an exhibition hall in one building in the World Congress Center. Light fixtures, awnings and pieces of the building’s infrastructure were dangling and exposed as crews worked to restore the facility. Hotel officials said they were concerned about getting the Georgia World Congress Center back into shape as a conference venue. “All the major hotels downtown rely on the Congress Center as part of the package of bringing conventions to the city,” said Ed Walls, general manager of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, which was damaged by the tornado. Walls estimated that about 30% of the hotel’s business came from events related to the facility, and that the first four months are among the busiest of the year for conventions in Atlanta.
One of Atlanta’s cultural gems hit hard by tornado
Atlanta Journal Constitution – Mar 17, 2008
It knocked over hundreds of monuments. They ranged from a 40-foot column to stones a child could sit on. The tornado smacked two buildings mdash; one, hit by hurricane-force winds, surrendered its shingles; the other, hit by a falling oak limb, surrendered its roof. The tornado blew the head off a marble angel. It kicked over a cross that had stood in the same spot since 1899. It left Kevin Kuharic stunned. On Monday, Kuharic, Oakland’s director of restoration and landscapes, walked paths littered with evidence of destruction: torn bits of insulation, tattered shingles, tiny pieces of granite and marble.
Puzzling ‘Eye Of A Hurricane’ On Venus
Science Daily – Science Daily (press release) – Mar 17, 2008
It was discovered in 1974 by the Mariner 10 spacecraft. There is a similar structure on the planetrsquo;s north pole, which was observed by the Pioneer Venus mission in 1979. Venus Express scientists have been studying the structure in the thermal infrared, the wavelength range which reveals the temperature at the cloud-tops. Seen in this wavelength, the core of the vortex appears very bright, probably indicating that a lot of atmospheric gases are moving downward in the region, which creates a depression at the cloud-tops, making the region hotter.
Stock Markets Down; Atlanta Clean up After Tornado; McCain in Iraq;…
CNN International – Mar 17, 2008
Here’s what’s on the run down, too dangerous to commute. Many downtown Atlanta workers told to stay home. Post-tornado troubles linger. COLLINS: The dollar drops again just when you’re planning your overseas trip. We’ll tell you how to make the most out of that travel money. HARRIS: And candidates keep the focus on Iraq. Hillary Clinton delivers a policy speech.
After tornado, Atlantans take matters into own hands
Atlanta Journal Constitution – Mar 17, 2008
Attorney Don Keenan counts himself among that group, even with intermittent power outages and traffic and parking miseries. Keenan’s building opposite Centennial Olympic Park wasn’t harmed and his Mercedes, parked in a nearby lot Friday night while he was out of town, miraculously escaped the fate of other vehicles, but for a scratch or two. Most importantly, a co-worker who was in the building when the tornado swept through wasn’t injured. Noting his heritage and the calendar’s turn to March 17, Keenan paused and said, “Luck of the Irish. Mellichamp was feeling better, too, once she learned that most of downtown would be reopened to traffic for Tuesday. “It’s good news,” she said, “that we’ll get our street back. Staff writers Ken Sugiura, Eric Stirgus, Michelle Hiskey, Mike Morris, James Salzer and Ariel Hart contributed.
Tornado blowback puts the brakes on budget talks
Atlanta Journal Constitution – Mar 17, 2008
gif’>Reddit”) Tornado blowback puts the brakes on budget talks Monday, March 17, 2008, 01:37 PM The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Our AJC colleague James Salzer says the Friday night tornado that raked downtown Atlanta has stalled budget negotiations in the state Capitol #8212; because lawmakers aren#8217;t sure what the state will need to fix the Georgia World Congress Center. #8220;We#8217;re going to have to change things because of the storm,#8221; said House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans).
One-third of mobile home park destroyed by tornado
Charleston Post Courier – Mar 17, 2008
Suite F, North Charleston, SC 29406. As severe weather warnings grew more urgent on Jack Karger’s television Saturday night, the 77-year-old stood up to move to a safer spot in his home at the Strawberry Mobile Home Park. At that moment, strong winds from a tornado lifted his camper off its tires, throwing Karger’s frail body to the floor. Seconds later, the television plunged from its countertop perch, landing inches away from him. The momentary quiet that followed was interrupted by the loud crash of something heavy colliding with the camper. Two tornadoes with winds up to 105 mph tore through Berkeley County on Saturday night. One ravaged Karger’s neighborhood, built among tall pines in Pimlico, north of Goose Creek… Workers from the Carolina Lowcountry Chapter of the American Red Cross said almost one-third of the mobile home park’s nearly 50 homes were destroyed. The winds tipped over dozens of garbage bins, dumping soda cans, plastic packaging and other items into the neighborhood. The tornado traveled about half a mile. It knocked several trailers off their cement-block foundations, some leaving behind staircases to nowhere. “We’re continuing to ascertain the damage and monitor the aftereffects of this storm,” Gov. Mark Sanford said in a statement released Sunday. “As damage assessments are completed, we’ll have a fuller and more accurate picture of the storms’ effects.