Here is an update to venues in downtown Atlanta that we are hearing about on our drive into work today (Monday morning).
- Nobody was killed downtown however, 2 people died in other GA counties. Had the SEC Basketball Tournament not gone to overtime, many more thousands of people would have been outside when the tornado hit
- The GA Dome (competition venue) is working to get the building ready for Easter Sunday services which can hopefully be held
- The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) has canceled or postponed events through the end of March. For those that do not know, this is where the "pits" are located each year
- Exhibitors that had displays in the GWCC during the storm have still not been allowed back into the building to break down their displays
- IMHO, the GWCC buildings will be the only venue that MAY not be ready for the Championship event. Again, I stress MAY not be ready. These buildings bring in millions of dollars in trade shows etc
- CNN Center food court is open today
- The GA Aquarium and World of Coke are open
- Approximately $200+ million in damage to downtown Atlanta
- People are being encouraged to stay out of the downtown area if they do not work in that area. In other words, gawkers stay home
- A few downtown streets are closed due to glass that may still may fall from buildings that have not been boarded up or had the glass replaced
- Downtown hotels are open with a small number of rooms damaged after the windows were blown out
Moderators, I second the motion to combining the threads if possible on the Atlanta Tornado so there can be a centralized thread for info. There are at least 4 in the General, Championship & Extra Discussion forums.
Dave