2008 Tornado
On March 14, 2008, Oakland Cemetery sustained significant damage when a tornado tore through downtown Atlanta. The City Sexton, Sam Reed, estimated that 50 to 60 trees were toppled and many more significantly damaged. Dozens of headstones and obelisks were also destroyed. Additionally, debris from other damaged buildings was blown into the cemetery; a shredded window blind was “draped like a necklace” around one marker. It was the first tornado to hit the downtown area since weather record keeping began in the 1880s.
A map of the storm shows that the largest intensity of the storm was centered over the cemetery.
As of March 2010, damage from the tornado is still somewhat evident. The trunks and debris from a few downed trees remain to be cleared. However, much of the cleanup has been completed, and Oakland has reopened to visitors.
- See article: 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak.
Read more about this topic: Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)
Famous quotes containing the word tornado:
“The sumptuous age of stars and images is reduced to a few artificial tornado effects, pathetic fake buildings, and childish tricks which the crowd pretends to be taken in by to avoid feeling too disappointed. Ghost towns, ghost people. The whole place has the same air of obsolescence about it as Sunset or Hollywood Boulevard.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)