“I thought it was a tornado or a terrorist attack,” said Mississippi State guard Ben Hansbrough, who was guarding Alabama’s Mykal Riley when the clatter began above their heads, growing into an angry growl that, yes, sounded like an approaching freight train.
The rest of the tournament has been moved to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum which is a much smaller venue. Only 9,100 seats are available compared to the Dome’s 26,000. Because of the size difference only players’ families, cheerleaders, bands and those with working credentials will be getting a first hand viewing of the tournaments.
“We planned for a lot of things,” Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. “We didn’t plan for a tornado.”
The basketball fans hoping to catch their favorite teams have had that dream dashed in light of the heavy storms that hit Atlanta on Friday and are expected to return on Saturday.
When the storm hit many fans were in the dark about the approaching danger but those with cell phones ringing knew seconds before that the area was under a tornado warning.
“The guy behind me got a phone call saying there was a tornado warning,” said Lisa Lynn of Atlanta, who was watching the game from the lower deck. “And in 2 seconds, we heard the noise and things started to shake. It was creepy.”
Although the structure survived the possible tornado metal and screws fell to the playing field. The Georgia Dome is as tall as a 29 story building with one of the world’s largest cable supported roofs. Several windows in CNN Center, which is in the same complex were blown out. There were no injuries.
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