Washington: A violent tornado blasting winds up to 130 miles per hour wreaked havoc through downtown Atlanta, Georgia, toppling trees onto homes, blowing windows out of high-rises and injuring 30 people, city officials said today.
The storm, which struck at about 0140 GMT, ripped roofs off downtown apartment buildings and sent people fleeing from their seats in the middle of a university basketball tournament as debris fell from the ceiling.
About 30,000 homes lost power due to the tornado, said John Sell of Georgia Power. "We have a lot of broken poles," he said.
By midday today 10,000 homes remained without electricity, and new storms in the state's northwest sector were causing more damage.
Verona Murrell of the National Weather Service in Atlanta said their meteorologists had confirmed the damage was caused by a rare inner-city tornado measuring EF2 on a the Enhanced Fujita scale, with 5 the most intense twisters.
The Atlanta fire department said 30 people were sent to hospitals for treatment, but there were no deaths or serious injuries reported.
CNN showed images of homes crushed by huge trees, huge concrete flame pillars toppled in the city's Centennial Olympic Park, and office towers -- including CNN's own headquarters -- with scores of windows blown out.
At the Georgia Dome, where the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament was underway, McClatchy newspapers sportswriter Jim Mashek said a silver washer fell from the ceiling to about 12 inches from his hand.
