Fort Worth after the Tornado in 2000

Downtown Fort Worth after the Tornado

Photos courtesy of my friend, Scott Bjornlie

Trying to clean up the mess!

From left to right -The large buildings in the picture are Mallick Towers, one of the Bass Buildings, Tandy Tower Two, The Bank One Building, Union Pacific Resources, and the old CNB Building.

Here is a look through the Cash America Building at Montgomery Wards.

On the right is Calvary Cathedral and what was left of their prayer tower and steeple.

And the thunder rolls!

Buildings again from left to right - The two Bass Buildings, Tandy Tower Two, Bank One, Union Pacific Resources, and the old CNB Building.

The "scratch" on the top middle of the picture is the lightning from this storm.

The reason the windows on Tandy Tower Two look yellow is because that's plywood boarding up the many broken windows.

Here is a close-up view of the Cash America building. In the middle of the picture is a bookcase in someone's office with all of the books still in place. On the bottom floor, in the picture, is cubicle walls still standing and together after the estimated 125 mph winds directly hit this building.

The Cash America Parking Lot.

Looking at the damage done to this building it is amazing that they have found the structure to be sound. Most of the facade of the building, on all sides, is missing, but that will be replaced and the building will be occupied again.

Here is a different view of Tandy Tower Two and the Bank One Building.

A week and a half after the tornado, the streets in front of these buildings are still closed due to falling glass.

A view of the Bank One Building from 7th Street coming into downtown from the west. The intersecting street in the foreground is Summit Avenue.

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All photos copyrighted by Scott Bjornlie

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Update (4/28/01): It's been a year since the tornado, but these buildings are not back to normal yet. The Cash America Building has been stripped down to the supports and is in the process of getting outside walls again. Calvary Cathedral is still in the process of rebuilding. Mallick Towers re-opened after several months of renovations. The Tandy Towers and the Bass Buildings replaced glass that had broken and went on about business. The Bank One Building has had lots of controversy. The cost of rebuilding has been more than the owners of the building were willing to pay. Some of the tenants have been fighting to keep the building open, while I believe the owners have been fighting to tear it down. Downtown doesn't look the same, and it probably never will.

One good thing that came out of this disaster is the City of Arlington is getting new tornado sirens. Some mainly residential neighborhoods in Arlington were hit with a tornado later on that same evening.