Hey everyone!

Ironically, it was our Aunt Mimi who first let us know that a tornado had passed by our neighborhood a couple of blocks to the north of us. Kathia and I were at home safe watching a movie. Hobbes, our usual early warning system for all things out of ordinary, was agitated, but we thought he was just mad we were watching a movie and distracted him easily with a chew toy. There was hail and hard rain around 9:30. The tornado passed by at 9:45. We wrapped up the movie at 11:00 and would have gone to bed not knowing any better if Mimi hadn’t called to check in on us.

The Tornado that passed through Atlanta was an “F2”, which according to Wikipedia, can cause “Considerable damage. Roofs torn off frame houses; mobile homes demolished; boxcars overturned; large trees snapped or uprooted; light-object missiles generated.” Not growing up in Florida or the Midwest, “light object missiles” is a new phrase for my vocabulary. This is the first tornado to ever pass through downtown Atlanta. Lightening strikes more often.

I got up this morning and ran through Grant Park, which is as beautiful and intact as ever, aside from some twigs on the ground and a few earlier bloomers that lost their flowers. The Atlanta Zoo security tells me they lost power but no animals were hurt. The local T-League had a morning game and decided to play on.

Cabbage Town and the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts were not so lucky. CNN Center, Centennial Park, and the Downtown buildings all suffered a lot of damage. Fortunately, even with all the March Madness fans in town, no one was hurt. To date, there have been NO FATALITIES from the downtown tornado.  A couple in Polk county was hit directly by another twister.  Our heart goes out to their families.

The front of CNN Center lost several windows. My side of the building was not too damaged. My own office is a ways back from the windows anyway. I now get to kid all my senior colleagues who have one of the few window offices at CNN Center.

To see the aftermath, check out these pictures on iReport.com:

Cabbage Town Damage:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-3748

Downtown / Centennial Park Damage

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-3847

Lots of love, Abraços, e tudo de bom!

Ross, Kathia & Hobbes