I was at the Georgia Dome Friday night March 14 and was one of the few people outside when the tornado hit.

I had been at the Dome, Gate C trying to buy a ticket to get in with no success. I gave up when the lightning got bad and it started to rain.

As I began to walk back to my car,I chose to go toward Gate D. That route put me under the ramps that go from the Red Deck parking into the Dome. I was sheltered there as the storm passed over the Dome.

I heard the sound like a train and a loud boom. I could hear metal banging from the direction I had just come. I looked up at the sky and saw the strongest wind I have ever witnessed. Debris was raining down on the sidewalk outside my cubbyhole.

I stayed there for about 5 minutes. Then the air was calm, it stopped raining and I walked to Gate D. A Georgia Dome official grabbed me and took me inside. A few seconds later, the hard rain started again, but I was dry.

If I had gone the other way toward Gate B, I would have been out in the open near the front of the Georgia World Congress Center. I would have been within a few feet of the front of the building that faces Northside Drive. That is the area where the big sign was almost toppled over, where metal gates and trailers were blown thru the air and windows all over were blown out. My choice of direction probably saved my life.