Atlanta begins cleanup and recovery after tornado | 03.17.2008 | 09:22:25 | Views: 7471 | ID: March 17 '08: City and police officials in Atlanta are working to restore order to the downtown area after a tornado smashed through several neighborhoods CNN reported. The storm's 130 mph winds "slammed into skyscrapers as well as landmarks like the CNN Center and the Georgia Dome ... Dozens of streets remained blocked Monday as cleanup crews gathered debris and downed limbs and trees, piling it on sidewalks or in dumpsters positioned on cordoned-off roads," the cable news channel reported. The cleanup efforts have caused massive traffic jams, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The paper reported, "The massive downtown cleanup effort will continued into the week, following the Friday night twister that cut a swath from Vine City and the Georgia World Congress Center, east across the downtown connector to Cabbage town." "The storms resulted in damage initially estimated at $150 million and left Atlanta's skyline pockmarked with missing windows," the Journal-Constitution reported. "Atlanta was spared any fatalities but a separate tornado Saturday afternoon killed two people in northwest Georgia." Atlanta Police Department Spokeswoman Judy Pal said during a press conference, "You are coming into a zone that has a lot of safety issues," and that if at all possible "please stay out of the city" until cleanup crews can restore order. The Associated Press reported business leaders in the city are worried about the potential loss of revenue due to the extensive damage caused by the storm. "Hotel officials said they were concerned about getting the Georgia World Congress Center back into shape as a conference venue," the AP reported. "If the Georgia World Congress Center is unable to host trade shows and meetings, the city's biggest hotels may have to host large conferences that normally would have been held at the convention center," the AP reported. National Blueprint Tags: Response & Containment, Citizen & Community.
Copyright ©2007 TheBreakingNews.com. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction in part or full without prior written permission.
|