Several landmarks, including the Georgia World Congress Center, the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Equitable Building, were in the six-mile path of the storm, which danced along the Atlanta skyline for about 20 minutes on Friday night. The city's main convention center and two major hotels were hobbled as the convention season began.
This weekend alone, with the closing of the Georgia World Congress Center - which includes the 3.9 million-square-foot convention center, the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park - the facility lost the Atlanta Home Show, a dental convention and much of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament.
Dan Graveline, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said on a walking tour with reporters and Gov. Sonny Perdue that it was still too early to quantify the damage, but added that crews were working to assess the wreckage. Graveline said he was hopeful repairs would begin soon, starting with the areas that could be fixed most quickly.
The tornado ripped through the roof of an exhibition hall in one building, leaving light fixtures, awnings and pieces of the building's infrastructure dangling and exposed as workers continued to clear the scattered insulation, metal, glass and other debris littering the facility.
The damage that is beyond the naked eye is also a concern, Graveline said.
"The critical part is what you can't see," he said. "That takes some time."
During the press conference, Perdue also expressed relief and gratitude for the minimal loss of life and quick response of emergency workers.
"You already see people working," Perdue said. "This resource will be restored as quickly as possible."
Hotel officials said they were more worried about getting the Georgia World Congress Center back into shape as a conference venue than the state of their facilities, most of which sustained minor damage in comparison.
"All the major hotels downtown rely on the Congress Center as part of the package of bringing conventions to the city," said Ed Walls, general manager of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, which was damaged by the tornado.
Walls estimated that about 30 percent of the hotel's business came from events related to the facility, and that the first four months are among the busiest of the year for conventions in Atlanta.
Mike Sullivan, marketing director of The Omni Hotel at CNN Center, said hotel and convention center officials were expected to meet Monday to discuss their post-tornado options. If the Georgia World Congress Center is unable to host trade shows and meetings, the city's biggest hotels may have to host large conferences that normally would have been held at the convention center.
"Hotels really are working hard together to try to keep people here," Sullivan said.
Calls to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce seeking comment were not immediately returned on Sunday.
At the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, a 735-foot cylinder of glass and steel that has long been an Atlanta icon and is billed as the tallest hotel in the western hemisphere, about 100 guest room windows were blown out by the storm. The drapes from those rooms could still be seen flapping in the breeze on Sunday.
Walls said that guests were relocated in the hotel or to another hotel after the storm, but that there were no injuries. The hotel's glass elevator, located on the outside of the building, was also damaged.
"It looks worse than it is," Walls said on Sunday, estimating that the glass repair could take about a month, depending on the availability of supplies and how fast crews can complete the job.
Walls could not provide a financial estimate of the damage on Sunday. He said the 1,100-room hotel is fully operational.
The damage was worse at the Omni Hotel, located in the same corridor as the CNN Center and the Georgia World Congress Center. Sullivan said that 467 of its 1,067 rooms were damaged. Most of the affected rooms were located in the south tower, with about a dozen or so rooms damaged in its newer north tower.
"For all intents and purposes, we're downsized 50 percent for at least two weeks," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said that before the storm, the hotel was planning to host 21 groups through the end of March. Most of those groups can remain at the Omni, but some would be sent to the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. The decreased availability at the in-demand hotel could be a challenge for Atlanta, he said.
"This city's always had the reputation in the hospitality industry," Sullivan said. "That's definitely going to be tested now."
People walk through the debris in front of the CNN Center Friday night. Dave Martin - Associated Press
Windows blown out at the CNN Center. Dave Martin - Associated Press
A tear in the ceiling of the Georgia Dome is visible after severe weather passed over the building during the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday at the Georgia Dome. Chris Graythen - Getty Images
A high seating area of the Georgia Dome shows damage that was caused by high winds near the end of the Alabama Mississippi State basketball game in Atlanta Friday. Dave Martin - Associated Press
One of the staircases next to the Georgia Dome is littered with building debris caused by bad weather in Atlanta Friday. Bill Haber - Associated Press
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