Friday’s SEC Basketball Tournament in Atlanta was interrupted when a tornado hit the Georgia Dome and caused damage to its roof.
The tornado then proceeded to hit the Georgia World Congress Center, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Westin Peachtree Plaza, and Atlanta’s famed Centennial Park, causing damage along the way.
Since Friday, Building C at the Georgia World Congress Center has reopened and crews are busy repairing damage sustained in buildings A and B.
According to Bill Howard, vice president of marketing for the Atlanta CVB, the two buildings should be back to normal soon.
“We don’t have a specific opening date for hall A and B, but we have every reason to believe they will be open for a meeting we are holding on April 26,” he said. “I am expecting them to open in mid-April.”
Howard said work is being done to repair the Georgia Dome and Centennial Park.
As for the hotels, the Omni sustained most of its damage in its south tower. The tower’s 467 guest rooms will remain closed until mid-April, said Mike Sullivan, spokesperson for the hotel.
Only about 12 rooms in the hotel’s 600-room north tower sustained damage, and Sullivan said they should be operational by mid-April as well.
The Westin Peachtree Plaza sustained some window damage and plans to open its affected rooms soon. Its restaurant was also damaged and is slated to open March 21.
“Out of more than 90,000 hotel rooms in this area, we lost less than 600 rooms total,” Howard said.
