A powerful storm which may have been a tornado has struck downtown Atlanta on Friday night. Initial reports show that several people were injured and the high winds damaged numerous building including skyscrapers, hotels and two major sports arenas.

The tempest ripped two holes in the city’s Georgia Dome, where thousands of people were watching a Southeastern Conference men's basketball game at the time. The competition was delayed for about an hour.

The National Weather Service officials aren’t sure what to call it. It’s not sure that it was a tornado, but, with winds of about 60 mph, one thing’s for sure - it was a very powerful storm.

The area that went through the worst of the storm was downtown Atlanta, Police spokesman Ronald Campbell said according to the Associated Press.

The high winds filled the streets around the CNN Center wit debris, forcing police to close the area for traffic. The building that houses CNN was at the epicenter of the storm. The structure’s ceiling was very badly damaged and, as a consequence, water poured into the atrium. The windows in the CNN.com newsroom and the company's library were broken by the high-speed winds.

According to the sayings of a firefighter who helped at the rescue of three people, they were rushed to the nearest hospitals. One of them was a child who had suffered head injuries.

No deaths were reported. Overall, about 15 people were sent to hospitals with minor injuries. Most of the injuries were cuts, scraps and bruises.

The storm wrecked the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts, just east of downtown Atlanta. The structure went down in a "pancake fashion," Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said for CNN.

The Fire Department has responded to several incidents caused by the powerful storm from East Atlanta to downtown, said Atlanta Fire Department Capt. Bill May for AP. He confirmed the collapse of an apartment building and a vacant building.

The exact number of injured is unknown.