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by Suzanne_Marques from Los Angeles

Last Post 21 days, 16 hours Ago


Twister Tears Up Atlanta
Mar 16, 2008 | 11:29 AM
Category: News
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Could you imagine a tornado sweeping through downtown LA?  Of course not.  And the people who live in downtown Atlanta feel the same way, because there has never been a tornado recorded in Atlanta's history.  (They started keeping records in the 1800's.)

I lived in a high-rise just outside of downtown, on the 14th (really 13th floor.  No one labels the 13th anymore).  I was never concerned about the number of my floor.  I feared tornadoes.  I remember your regular storms... when the wind would howl and lightening would crackle on the horizon with intensity I've only seen in the South.

I never did experience a tornado at my condo in Atlanta.  Lord knows I covered the aftermath of several as a reporter.  I'll never forget the words people used to describe them.  The sound.  Like a freight train at your window, your house shuddering, shaking to its foundation.  Then suddenly the wind starts to win.  Windows are blown, roofs ripped off, chairs and televisions sucked out your front door.

Now, let's go back to talk of downtown LA.  The difference between Los Angeles and Atlanta is that SoCal is very spread out.  Even if we talk about destruction in downtown LA, unless you live or work there, you may never see it.  Except on tv.

But for Atlanta, downtown is the heart of the city.  The one major freeway cuts through the center.  It's impossible to avoid it and you wouldn't want to.  It's a lovely sight. 

Today, I'm looking at photos of my old home and can't believe the destruction.  Bricks, glass, debris, uprooted trees litter the streets.  The Georgia Dome & CNN Center are beat up,  Centennial Olympic Park is a mess.  Headstones were toppled at historic Oakland cemetery.

I know we're here in LA & Atlanta's across the country, but I thought I'd try & bring a sense of what they are going through out there.  It's like they've been socked in the gut... or had them torn out feels dramatic, but more appropriate to say.  They've declared a state of emergency & I'm hoping for a speedy recovery.

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Member Comments Total Comments: 8
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o0lux0o read my blog view my photos
Mar 17, 2008 | 5:48 PM

Yeah Suzanne, what a shocking event. Very unexpected. Seeing all the videos and photos of downtown, the curtains flapping in the wind from the buildings, it looks like a war zone! The AP estimated $250 million worth of damage statewide. I wish them the best.
sebar read my blog view my photos
Mar 17, 2008 | 11:34 PM

By the way speaking of twisters, when it was windy the other day last week on Thursday, a microburst nailed the new backyard patio table and swivel chairs. The umbrella was tied up tight, but the microburst took the entire table and four chairs and tossed it several feet. The table itself had a glass center, and that broke. The morning was spent with a shop vac on the lawn sucking up the glass. A Blue trashcan got tossed several feet as well. It was a very small but sudden burst of win probably gusted at like 80mph for a couple of seconds between homes.
Suzanne_Marques read my blog view my photos
Mar 18, 2008 | 6:45 AM

lux, it looked like a war zone to me too... perfect way to describe it.
sebar, my goodness. isn't it wild when mother nature shows us who's boss? now if we could just keep the earthquakes away.... fingers crossed!!!
sebar read my blog view my photos
Mar 18, 2008 | 3:00 PM

Why, it is a part of life. In my sci-fi story Moon Racists when the bad guys in the snub fighters start destroying the moon cities with mainly families, the good guys have to help save them using their captured Interdimensional Motivators captured from the Asian Racists. Opening those doorways between the legitimate collapsing moon city and the shielded alien spacebase on the dark side of the moon helped avert catstrophe. Whether man made or by nature, it is a part of life and we have to do our best to survive it...

By the way the two Moon Racists clips are at youtube, you'll have to do a search to find them...Rated "R"
steveincanton read my blog view my photos
Mar 18, 2008 | 4:42 PM

Thank Goodness the game went into overtime or the crowd would have been let out into the disaster!
Suzanne_Marques read my blog view my photos
Mar 18, 2008 | 9:56 PM

steve in canton, georgia! :)
that was incredible, i heard the warning came just a few minutes before the game was about to end at the georgia dome. yikes!

sebar, i get what you're saying but i've lived through enough earthquakes for my countenance. maybe you're a tougher soul than I! you certainly have a creative imagination. :)
RobinZodiac read my blog view my photos
Mar 21, 2008 | 1:30 PM

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims family and friends.
mystere read my blog view my photos
Mar 21, 2008 | 7:04 PM

One thing that tornadoes and other disasters do: They remind you what is really important in life. I'm thankful for those who survived, and saddened for those who lost loved ones.

Suzanne,
Seeing the place where you stayed while working for that NBC affiliate in Atlanta going up in the tornado must have given you the eeriest of shivers down your spine. I hope you didn't lose any good friends in that disaster.

By the way, I'm used to earthquakes...I still remember the Sylmar quake in 1971...I was in the second grade...I remember a crack in the asphalt at my old elementary school in Cypress. I'll take a quake over a tornado.
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Suzanne_Marques

Suzanne Marques is a native Southlander. She loves reporting in her hometown. She loves LA... She loves it!

Member Since: 7/18/2006


 

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