There are many myths when it comes to tornadoes
that many people still believe. Growing up in
taught was that tornadoes always skip over lakes.
The small town I grew
up in was surrounded by lakes, so naturally we all believed we could never be
hit by a tornado. This is not true, but I am still asked about this every
year.
Another tornado myth widely believed is that a tornado will never
strike in the downtown area of a major city. In recent years
just this past weekend
downtowns were hit by tornadoes. The one in downtown
tornado damage scale and may have caused over $150 million dollars of damage.
A
tornado is a rare meteorological occurrence at any particular spot, but when
conditions are right, they can and do form anywhere.
Yes, the Atlanta tornado definitely hit the downtown areas — pretty much ground zero at the major center complex where all the arenas, convention center and CNN Center/Omni hotel are located. Damage estimates have now climbed to $250 million thus far. Imagine the Mpls Convention Center, the Metrodome, the Target Center, the Hyatt Hotel and Nicollet Mall all connected and a tornado hitting all those buildings. That is the equivalent to what Atlanta endured.