My friend who lives in Atlanta sent me a text message tonight stating that something wierd just passed his car. I am trying to call him. I now know it was a tornado.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A tornado swept through downtown Atlanta Friday night, slamming trees into cars and homes, disrupting a college basketball game and damaging the building that houses CNN.
Atlanta Fire Department spokesman Capt. Bill May said there were numerous injuries and widespread damage reported in downtown Atlanta, with roofs ripped off and trees torn down.
The storm tracked from the northwest side of the city to the southeast, demolishing buildings and downing trees that crushed cars and ripped through the roofs of homes.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for the area, in effect until 10 p.m. The storm came through at about 9:45 p.m.
Inside CNN Center, water poured through damage in the ceiling into the building's atrium. Glass shattered, and parts of the building filled with dust.
Timothy Wood, 30, of Cumming, Georgia, took refuge from rain at Philips Arena. "First thing I saw were cups then I saw larger objects -- like parts of Philips Arena were coming off and being blown into the street," Wood said.
"People were just running to the closest place of safety they could find. Me and another guy were struggling trying to close the door to Philips and we saw another guy across the way and we waved him over. It probably lasted about two minutes. We went back outside after it was over and there were trees that were actually broken," he said.
Virtually all of the windows facing Centennial Olympic Park on the Omni Hotel, which is attached to CNN Center, were shattered. One employee said visitors to the hotel were being evacuated.
The storm tracked from the northwest side of the city to the southeast, demolishing buildings and downing trees that crushed cars and ripped through the roofs of homes.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for the area, in effect until 10 p.m. The storm came through at about 9:45 p.m.
Inside CNN Center, water poured through damage in the ceiling into the building's atrium. Glass shattered, and parts of the building filled with dust.
Timothy Wood, 30, of Cumming, Georgia, took refuge from rain at Philips Arena. "First thing I saw were cups then I saw larger objects -- like parts of Philips Arena were coming off and being blown into the street," Wood said.
"People were just running to the closest place of safety they could find. Me and another guy were struggling trying to close the door to Philips and we saw another guy across the way and we waved him over. It probably lasted about two minutes. We went back outside after it was over and there were trees that were actually broken," he said.
Virtually all of the windows facing Centennial Olympic Park on the Omni Hotel, which is attached to CNN Center, were shattered. One employee said visitors to the hotel were being evacuated.
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