Fresh Loaf

On March 14, 2008, a tornado hammered Vine City, tore through downtown, and stormed over DeKalb Avenue, Cabbagetown and East Atlanta. All told, the twister caused at least $500 million in damage, killed one person, and forced businesses and homeowners to sift through the wreckage and rebuild their lives.

Christian Boone and Mark Davis of the AJC have an excellent piece today that sums up the storm and how  residents have responded. Following up on what I posted earlier, Wired Science’s Brandon Kiem has a more thorough article about new research that says a double whammy of urban sprawl and climate change might have fueled the storm. Kiem also posted this video simulation:

To view some of CL’s 2008 tornado coverage, click here. After the jump, some videos of the tornado — including the memorable footage of a carriage horse breaking free and galloping around downtown Atlanta during the storm.

(more…)

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Vine City's JFK Park after last year's tornado

One year after a tornado tore through Atlanta, researchers at the University of Georgia and Purdue University say the city’s asphalt splendor may have helped create the destructive storm:

Cities like Atlanta are full of concrete asphalt and other man-made materials which make the cities hotter than surrounding areas – the so-called urban heat island effect. That urban environment probably intensified the storm into a damaging tornado, the researchers believe.

The jagged contours of the urban landscape as well as the heat pouring off the city helped intensify the pattern of rising, converging air currents that culminated in the violent tornado, Shepherd said.

“The storm system acted like a hammer, and the urban area like a chisel,” Niyogi said.

(Vine City photo by Thomas Wheatley, homepage photo of tornado damage from Andisheh Nouraee’s Flickr)

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"What'll it be today, guv'nor?" (Photo by Joeff Davis)

• All that rain isn’t for naught. Tornado watch issued for the metro Atlanta area.
• I don’t think you can get more corrupt than Guv. Rod Blagojevich, but hey, they can keep trying!
• So first the Obama camp had talked to Blago about President-elect Obama’s seat, but then no, they really didn’t … Well, turns out Obama himself may have had hand in bringing down the Guv.
• Congress nears a bailout for the automakers … and here’s a message from the automakers to you.
• … And Saturn owners are feeling a little lonely all of a sudden.
• Scary: ‘Hitler was the perfect boss’: Former maid breaks her silence on the ‘charming’ dictator
• The slow crawl of justice … Plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez spill case just now begin to receive payments.
• Hide the children … well, it won’t matter … Google expands Street view … $10 bucks sez you can find yourself somewhere.

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MOTHER’S DAY TORNADOES: Twenty-three people are killed nationally by an estimated 47 twisters from Oklahoma and Missouri to Georgia, making this year the worst so far for tornadoes since 1999. At least one person dies in Georgia as six tornadoes hit through midstate.

EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE: A Valdosta Daily Times reporter, who was one of five media monitors of the execution of William Earl Lynd last week, writes of the experience.

THOMAS GOWN AFFAIR: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas gives UGA’s commencement speech over the weekend, recalling how Georgia was still too segregated for him to attend UGA in the ’60s.

SCHOLARBLIND: The AP profiles the valedictorian of this year’s Morehouse graduating class, who’s white.

CORN IN THE USA: By July, the entire Southeast gasoline pipeline will be using E10, which is at least 8 percent ethanol.

CAN’T ARGUE WITH RESULTS: Jonesboro High School’s mock trial team wins its second consecutive national championship.

SHADY ROVE: MC Turd Blossom has a new gig as FOX News “pundit.”

CROWS TERRIFIED: Northeast Georgia town trying to break Guinness World Record for “Most Scarecrows in One Location,” with 4,000 scarecrows by Sept. 1. No one so far has had the heart to tell Hoschton that this will not, in fact, make the town a “household word.”

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Amanda Araim and her husband, Yasir, run Nottingham Shire and Carriage for Hire, a horse-drawn carriage tour company headquartered near downtown.

“I always wanted unicorns as a kid, and this was the next best thing.”

The horses choose their own time off, usually every three or four days. “They like to work. If they don’t want to go to work, they don’t let you catch them. They’re not stupid.”

Yasir says a carriage ride’s leisurely pace isn’t usually a problem on the various city-approved roads. “Cars pretty much just zip around us.”

When a homeless man recently jumped onto a horse’s back on its route downtown, the horse kicked him off. “I’m sure he did [get hurt], but he got up and ran away.”

One of their horses was videotaped running loose during the tornado in March. “[She] broke free, ran two blocks where she was out of the way of the wind and debris … then just started following her regular route and her normal pace.”

Customers often request rides to the nearby World of Coke and Georgia Aquarium, which are off-limits to horse-drawn carriages. If customers want to leave the city-approved routes, they have to pay for a police escort.

The horses wear bags to catch their dung, and while Amanda says there are sometimes “blowouts,” drivers bring dustpans and brooms to clean up when that happens.

The company is located underneath occasionally loud MARTA tracks and the horses navigate busy downtown streets, but Amanda says noise doesn’t faze them. “It’s things on the road, like objects or new paving, that bothers them. They’re real careful where they put their feet.”

Amanda also breeds horses, some of which she sells on the company’s website. She has mostly sturdy Shire draft horses, which were selectively bred and widely used for pulling weight before the Industrial Revolution.

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ALL SHOOK UP: Illinois quake measured 5.4 on the Richter scale, was felt in Georgia and as far south as north Florida.

GWCC: Tornado damage is about $100 million, but officials say it will open April 28.

ASPHALT MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER: As Thomas reported yesterday, DOT chairman and commissioner are in love, and the former has resigned. Now Gov. Perdue has to grumble back into town to handle things.

SHOT IN THE DARK: Entire Charter cable TV, phone and Internet service knocked out Wednesday night in Hall County by a single bullet.

COAST IS CLEAR: Vidalia emergency room doctor is one of several volunteers being honored for working to fill potholes and doing other maintenance on coastal wildlife refuges that might otherwise not get done due to budget cuts.

FLU OFF THE HANDLE: Bad vaccine-mixing made 2007-08 the worst flu season in several years.

HONEYTASED HAM: Cops Tase a frenzied pig on I-75 after it falls off the back of a truck, the second time in two weeks a hoofed animal has caused an uproar on the interstate.

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It’s been one month since a tornado carved a six-mile-long path from Vine City to East Atlanta.

Having never lived in an honest-to-goodness disaster area before, I don’t know what my expectations should be about the speed of clean-up and recovery.

That said, I’m still surprised that parts of Peachtree Street, Boulevard, and Marietta Street are still closed to traffic.

One month seems like enough time to secure potential falling debris from downtown skyscrapers and the Omni.

Has anyone else noticed damage, public or private, that seems like it’s taking much longer than it should to clean-up?

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Have you been putting off filing your tax return? Well, don’t sweat it, Atlanta. You’ve been given another whole month to procrastinate.

No, we are not making this up. If you live in Fulton, DeKalb or any of five other Georgia counties hit by the March 14 tornadoes, then congratulations! – you are a resident of a federally designated disaster area and have until May 19 to file your federal and state income taxes. Here’s the link to a Georgia Department of Revenue release proving we’re not crazy.

And you needn’t have had your home destroyed or accountant blown away to get the automatic extension. All you need to do is print the words “March 2008 Tornado” across the top of your return.

And here’s a tip for you suburbanites from your friends at CL: Although the extension does not apply to you as an individual filer, it applies to all tax-preparation businesses within the disaster zone. Therefore, if you live in Cobb and don’t want to meet the April 15 deadline, you can head south on I-75, go to an H&R Block in Atlanta and get an extension. That’s our theory, anyway. If you get busted, you didn’t hear it from us.

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CABBAGETOWN RELIEF ART AUCTION: “shpg 4 trndo art. hm in 5 :-)”

(photo by Alex Gibbs)

Artists aren’t typically people with a lot of cash on hand, but when their friends and neighbors are in need, they always seem to step up.

Cabbagetown Relief, a benefit concert and silent art auction at Studio 900 in Inman Park, raised $5,500 dollars Saturday for victims of the March 14 tornado that pummeled several intown neighborhoods.

Cabbagetown was among the ‘hoods hardest hit by the storm, with several homes destroyed and the top floor of one the buildings at the iconic Fulton Cotton Mill lofts ripped off. Since Cabbagetown has long been an enclave for creative people, it wasn’t surprising that artful photos of tornado damage in Cabbagetown comprised the bulk of art being auctioned.

According to event co-organizer Michael Pisarri, Cabbagetown Relief will continue to raise money by auctioning art online.

Additionally, the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Improvement Association will try to raise money for tornado victims with the Dine-Out for Tornado Victims event on April 14.

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On Saturday, there will be a benefit concert and silent auction to raise money for Cabbagetown tornado victims.

Cabbagetown Relief takes place from 2-8 p.m. Saturday at Studio 900, at 900 Dekalb Ave. See cabbagetownrelief.com for details.

(photo by Josh Rouse)

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TAX BREAK: IRS extends tax deadline to May 19 for tornado victims in eight Georgia counties, including Fulton and DeKalb.

HOSPITAL SHOOTING: Three dead at Columbus hospital after a man goes on a shooting rampage. The suspect was shot in the shoulder by police, is in stable condition and charged with murder.

DEKALB POLICE: Grand jury calls for criminal investigation in six of the 12 fatal shootings by DeKalb police in 2006; DeKalb D.A. says the county will act on the recommendation.

TROY DAVIS: Attorneys ask state Supreme Court to reconsider its March 17 rejection of newly discovered evidence in the case.

GRAVE CONDITION: Tornado damage in Wren, Ga., unearths unmarked grave believed to belong to a Revolutionary War soldier.

WALK IT OUT: Norcross plainclothes cop tests testy drivers by walking back and forth on a crosswalk across Jimmy Carter Boulevard intersection, while uniformed cops lie in wait.

PRECESSION: President of Atlanta Federal Reserve says “slowdown” will last longer than previously predicted and may still become a recession. Also, AccessNorthGa.com expertly illustrates local effects of the economic downturn with this news graphic. [UPDATE: Apparently this story, and its graphic, have been taken down. But here's a screen shot.]

LIFE IN THE FAT LANE: Overweight Henry County man is denied bus service, despite weighing less than the posted weight limit for hydraulic wheelchair lift on county bus.

WTF, MSM? Local bloggers attended the Atlanta Press Club event on “Ethics and New Media: How the Blogosphere is Affecting Journalism and Business” last night. We’re still waiting on impressions from such folks as Shelbinator, GriftDrift and MostlyMedia.

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It appears that damaged caused by the tornado that blew through downtown on March 14 will cause the Tabernacle to be closed at least through next month. The structure, built in 1910, suffered significant damage to its roof and water damage inside.

From the Tabernacle web site:

Paramore – NEW DATE & NEW VENUE! The show has been moved to Masquerade Music Park on Friday, May 16th. Tickets for the Tabernacle show will be honored at Masquerade Music Park.

The Mars Volta – This show has been CANCELED. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

The Levon Helm Band – VENUE CHANGE! The show has been moved to Variety Playhouse. This show is no longer a reserved seating show. Limited general admission seating is available. Tickets for the Tabernacle show will be honored at Variety Playhouse.

Lifehouse – This show has been postponed. New date to be announced soon. Tickets will be honored for the rescheduled event.

Lisa Lampanelli – This show has been rescheduled for AUGUST 9TH. Tickets for the original 4/19 date will be honored.

Megadeth – VENUE CHANGE, TIME CHANGE! This show has been moved to Masquerade Music Park. The new show time is 5PM, doors are at 4PM. Tickets for the Tabernacle show will be honored at Masquerade Music Park.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters – This show has been postponed. New date to be announced soon. Tickets will be honored for the rescheduled event.

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OAKLAND CEMETERY: Still waiting on federal evaluation to begin cleaning up most tornado damage, including smashed Confederate monuments and uprooted 19th-century trees with roots tangled around coffins.

CHASE TATUM: Former WCW wrestler found dead in Buckhead home after apparent drug O.D.

CLINTON: It depends what your definitions of “ducking” and “sniper fire” are.

TYRA BANKS STALKER: All the way from Dublin, Ga.

BASKET CASE: Federal inmate Jonathan Lee Riches alone has filed 39 percent of all cases filed this month in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Among his March “defendants” are Eliot Spitzer, Tom Glavine, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Cyndi Lauper. Last August Riches filed a $63 quintillion suit against Michael Vick for selling his pit bulls on eBay to buy missiles from Iran.

UGA EARMARKS: Surprisingly, the recipients of earmarks like earmarks.

YELLOW JACKETEERING: Another Ga. Tech employee charged with racketeering for allegedly abusing state p-card. (According to AccessNorthGa.com’s news graphic, she is an elf and was arrested in miniature handcuffs much smaller than a dollar bill.)

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TORNADO: First Atlanta casualty unearthed from rubble.

CABBAGETOWN: CS Monitor reports on history, demographics and unity in tornado’s aftermath.

ROBO VS. HOBO: Owner of O’Terrill’s in Midtown uses remote-controlled, water-spraying robot to break up groups of ne’er-do-wells on the streets outside his bar. He blames nearby Peachtree and Pine homeless shelter for the problem.

CoCoRaHS: Worst acronym ever.

OBAMA, CLINTON: Exaggerate their political résumés.

MCCAIN: Exaggerates his conservative cred.

SENATE RACE: Rand Knight joins the scramble to run against Chambliss.

CLAYTON: Clayton News Daily profiles Santiago Wood and John W. Thompson, the two candidates for corrective superintendent. Also, Clayton school board meets tonight to discuss the nine SACS mandates.

“DELTALINA”: As they’re calling her. Or maybe “Norweltalina” if that Northwest merger ever happens.

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DEATH-PENALTY BILL: Voted down in state Senate.

OBAMA: Passport “imprudently” peeped; State Dept. investigating. Also, will be endorsed by Bill Richardson today.

BRACKETEERING: Obama woos N.C. sports radio station by picking UNC to win the NCAA tournament. He also said he picks Stanford over Pitt in the South, but earlier told the NYT he picked UNC, Kansas, UCLA and Pitt in the Final Four. Scandal!

BUSH DECLARES DISASTER: About our tornadoes, not his presidency.

NO MICH-AGAIN PRIMARY: Revote plan falls apart; Obama suggests splitting delegates, Clinton wants a mail-in revote.

QUEEN OF KONG: Zoo Atlanta gorilla headed to Orlando to get knocked up. (The scientific name for a western lowland gorilla, I’m amused to find out, is gorilla gorilla gorilla.)

DEANGELO HALL: Finally gets sent to Oakland; Falcons get second-round draft pick and fifth-rounder for 2009.

FOULED OUT: Former SEC ref sentenced to 12 years in prison for running a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

DON’T MESS WITH TAXES: Faux-IRS scam reported in Gainesville (and AccessNorthGa.com gets to the heart of the story again with another hard-hitting news graphic).

GIRL SCOUT COOKIES SURVIVE TORNADO: Says one scout leader: “Thank God none of our cookies were destroyed.”

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Several residents of East Atlanta have expressed annoyance and outrage at what they perceive to be the local media’s failure to adequately highlight tornado damage in their neighborhood. Some of that annoyance has been directed at us.

East Atlanta was hit hard by the tornado.

Based on the concentration of downed trees and power lines, the tornado appears to have crossed I-20 at Glenwood Park. It then tore through the North Ormewood neighborhood and continued southeast, crossing Moreland Ave into East Atlanta between McPherson and Metropolitan avenues. The worst damage I saw was in the residential area directly southeast of the intersection Flat Shoals and Glenwood avenues.

Here’s a map (click to enlarge):

The points on the map above show places where someone at CL photographed storm damage last weekend. By plotting the points on the map, you can see the tornado’s west-to-east path from Vine City to East Atlanta.

This map was on CL’s Flickr page on Sunday. Photos of the damage in East Atlanta were on our Flickr page last Saturday. Here are some thumbnails:

Nevertheless, because I didn’t post anything on this blog alerting readers about the updated photos and map, some readers were clearly left with the impression that we ignored East Atlanta.

We didn’t ignore East Atlanta, but we didn’t put our coverage in a place where a lot of people would see it. For that, I apologize.

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From the page of Flickr user elemess:

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SpaceMax, an Atlanta public storage company with two locations, is offering four months of free storage to people in metro Atlanta whose homes were seriously damaged during last week’s storms.

John Rinehart, an assistant manager at the company’s Zonolite Road location, says he was moved to initiate the offer after seeing the extensive tornado damage in East Atlanta.

If you’re a tornado victim in need, he says just call the Zonolite (404-888-9688) or the Decatur location (404-292-0606) and tell them.

They can verify your claim with insurance documents, or by simply visiting your damaged house.

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DISBARRED: Scooter Libby.

CITY SEARCH: Dunwoody will likely get to vote on becoming a city. Gov. Perdue will have to sign off on that first, though, and we know how he feels about Georgians’ enfranchisement.

UNDERDAWGS: Fourteenth-seeded Georgia plays No. 3 seed Xavier today at 12:20.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE: Chinese government, Emory and Atlanta Public Schools open Chinese cultural institute at Coan Middle School.

DEARTH OF PENALTY? GOP leaders are split over a House vote to let judges sentence a convict to death despite up to two jurors protesting. For now, death-penalty cases are stalled across the state, anyway. (Also, btw, I love AccessNorthGa.com’s news graphics.)

FALLING GLASS: Several downtown streets still closed as broken glass rains down from skyscrapers.

SIREN’S SONG: Not heard before downtown’s twister.

HIT PARADE: Hull woman pleads guilty to requesting three murders from an undercover cop.

COLLEGE TRY: Study projects 70,000 more students at metro Atlanta colleges by 2020.

SENATE RACE: Chambliss campaigns, Jim Martin enters the race.

GOOD SUPERINTENTIONS? Two Clayton interim superintendent candidates lay out salary and contract demands.

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RIDERS ON THE STORM: Lenny’s Bar sustained damage but reopened the next night. (photo provided by Bean Summer.)

It takes more than a tornado to silence this town.

Rumors of Lenny’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Although the seamy local punk and indie rock club at 486 Decatur St. in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward stood directly in the path of the tornado that struck downtown, Cabbagetown and East Atlanta on Friday, March 14 around 10 p.m., the club was open less than 24 hours later.

In the wake of the storm rumors spread that Lenny’s roof had been torn off and the club was closed. But according to Lenny’s booking agent Bean Summer the rumors were unfounded.

The Friday night line-up was to feature performances by local bands the Preakness and Sleep Therapy, as well as the St. Louis, Mo. psychedelic rock band, Wormwood Scrubs.

The first band had just started when the storm hit.

“I was in the office checking my e-mail and I thought a bomb had gone off downtown,” Summer recalls. “The air was sucked out of the room and I could hear a bunch of loud pops from things hitting the building.”

Some roof tiles were blown off of the building, air conditioning units were knocked over, windows were broken, and a gas line ruptured but was repaired within a few hours.

Read more about this story at the Crib Notes post.

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The Georgia World Congress Center, one of downtown’s attractions hit hardest by this weekend’s tornado, will accommodate two scheduled conventions as planned, the center’s authorities say.

The International Window Coverings Expo, scheduled for March 26-29, and National Propane Gas Association, March 29-31, will not be canceled, and the facility will be in shape to host the events. That’s $14 million in economic impact the city’ll enjoy because of around-the-clock repairs by crews at the convention center.

“The collaboration of the hospitality community has saved economic impact that would have been lost,” Spurgeon Richardson, president and CEO of Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a release. “Had it not been for the GWCC, the hotels and so many other stakeholders in Atlanta, we would have seen business go to other cities. Instead, we are ready to roll out the welcome mat for our visitors.”

The bureau also says that only 700 of the city’s 92,000 hotel rooms are closed for repair and that reshuffling of other planned activities will bring 38,000 visitors to town and reap an estimated $18 million.

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DELTA BLUES: Airline offers voluntary buyouts to more than half its workforce to deal with rising fuel costs.

GOING GREEN(HOUSE): Power plant greenhouse gas emissions increased nationally by 3 percent last year, with Georgia as one of the worst offenders.

WESTIN P’TREE: Shifted “a few feet” when tornado hit it Friday; structural engineers to examine foundation.

WEATHER: High winds, thunderstorms to hit this afternoon, isolated tornadoes possible. Still won’t be enough rain for Lake Lanier, though.

SMITHSONIAN: Clough will have his hands full.

RUNAWAY BRIDE’S GROOM: Marries someone else.

DEANGELO HALL: Trade to Oakland will be finalized by Thursday; could send the Falcons three second-round draft picks.

TYLER PERRY: Will begin filming a new movie in downtown Covington next month. The release date is Sept. 12; Andisheh will be first in line.

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The tornado that struck downtown Atlanta Friday night left the Tabernacle with significant roof damage and water damage inside.

The venerable concert facility owned by Live Nation has no shows scheduled until March 29. The company expects to learn the full extent of the damage on Friday.

“Structural engineers are looking at the building,” Molly Sandman, a spokeswoman for Live Nation, says. “There is damage to the roof, but we don’t know the extent of it. There’s also water damage. But we’ll get it all fixed up.”

A press release issued today by Live Nation described the damage as “significant.”

Once the engineers have finished assessing the damage, Live Nation will have a clearer idea of what it will take to get the facility in operation again and when that will happen.

Paramore is scheduled to perform there on March 29, followed by The Levon Helm Band on April 9. The status of those shows is still up in the air.

The structure was built in 1910 as The Broughton Tabernacle church. The first pastor of the church founded the Georgia Baptist Hospital, now known as the Atlanta Medical Center.

The building was vacant for a time, then converted into a House of Blues for the 1996 Summer Olympics. After that, it became a full-time concert facility that seats 2,600 people and is known for its warm acoustics.

Rolling Stone and Paste magazine have each lauded it as one of the country’s best small music venues.

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RON SAILOR JR.: State rep. pleads guilty to federal money laundering charges, is expected to resign today.

FLORIDA: Abandons mail-in Democratic primary do-over, considers allowing residents to shuffleboard in their votes.

TROY DAVIS: Retrial denied by state Supreme Court, despite seven of nine witnesses recanting their testimony that helped convict him of murder.

CHAMBLEE SIX: Half-dozen Chinese immigrants trap and subdue international fugitive in their home.

AIRLINE FRACTURE: Seniority negotiations between Delta and Northwest pilots break down.

GRADY: New nonprofit board meets for the first time, picks leaders.

OUT THE WINDOW: Replacing tornado-shattered glass from downtown’s skyscrapers will cost millions and could take months due to pre-existing construction projects and scarce manpower.

CLAYTON: Residents pray for help following Saturday’s vote by the National Accreditation Commission board to revoke the school system’s accreditation.

UNORTHODOX CHURCH’S: Atlanta-based Church’s Chicken chain expanding in Russia, calls itself “Texas Chicken.”

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If you’re wondering why Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington wasn’t standing next to Mayor Shirley Franklin and Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran at Saturday’s post-tornado city news conference, it’s because he’s on vacation.

According to APD’s public affairs office, Pennington is out of the country and will not be cutting his vacation short to lead the department’s post-tornado operations.

You may recall, Pennington was also out of town when Atlanta Police shot, killed, and attempted to cover-up the killing of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a botched 2006 drug raid.

At the time, Pennington said he was unable to book a flight back to Atlanta on any of the at least 58 non-stop daily flights from New York.

Question: If it’s not actually necessary to have a police chief on-duty during times of crisis, why does the city pay him?

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