ATLANTA — Sometimes it’s surprising how isolated the Capitol can feel from the city in which it sits.
The aftermath of the tornado and strong storms that struck downtown Atlanta on March 14 in some ways proved that isolation true and in some ways not.
There were bulletins about Gov. Sonny Perdue touring the heavily damaged World Congress Center over the weekend, declaring states of emergency and asking for federal aid, which was agreed to Friday. It was even reported that a conference committee meeting on Monday was postponed because legislative leaders were waiting on damage estimates to the state owned conference center, which still aren’t in.
But by the time legislators, many of whom left the day before the tornado, drove in from all reaches of the state to resume session on Tuesday, the Gold Dome seemed untouched and shining as brilliantly in the sun as ever. The only evidence of disaster were the new white squares dotting the skyscrapers in the distance that you could only imagine were blown out windows — and the even more overwhelming traffic as drivers had to avoid the closed downtown streets that border the Capitol. The building was just far enough southeast to be out of harm’s way.
There were warnings in the Atlanta media all week to stay away from downtown because of falling glass — not that we temporary Capitol inhabitants go there much during usual times because the traffic is usually enough to keep us away.
The natural disaster seemed to be on the lips mostly of the lawmakers who live in the metro Atlanta area full-time. In an impassioned plea for a designated funding source for Georgia’s struggling trauma system, Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, a former nurse, said it could’ve been much worse if Grady Memorial Health was forced to take on a flood of critical injuries.
“What would’ve happened if the Georgia Dome collapsed?” she asked. The dome, filled March 14 with college basketball fans, sustained some roof damage.
No one died in the storms that hit Atlanta. Maybe it would’ve shaken the Capitol more, but, thankfully, we don’t have to know.
