2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak

2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak

Tornado (shadow at left), after going through downtown Atlanta
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	March 14–15, 2008
Tornadoes confirmed	45 confirmed
Max rating1	EF3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	24 hours, 7 minutes
Damage	>$250 million
Casualties	3 deaths (1 in Atlanta), 53 injuries
Areas affected	Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina
1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected the Southeastern United States on March 14–15, 2008.

A tornado caused widespread damage across downtown Atlanta, including to the CNN Center and to the Georgia Dome, where the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament was postponed. Other buildings that were damaged include the Georgia World Congress Center, Philips Arena (during an Atlanta Hawks game), and the Omni Hotel, which was evacuated after many windows were blown out. The Westin Peachtree Plaza suffered major window damage. The image of the building with all the windows blown out became famous and, for a time, was the symbol of the tornado. Centennial Olympic Park, SunTrust Plaza and historic Oakland Cemetery were also damaged. One man was killed near downtown Atlanta and 30 others were injured. Two other deaths took place on March 15 in the northern Atlanta suburbs from the second, larger round of severe weather and tornadoes. In total, 45 tornadoes were confirmed over the 24-hour period from eastern Alabama to the Carolina coast, with most of the activity concentrated in the Metropolitan Atlanta area, the Central Savannah River Area and the Midlands of South Carolina.