LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - After strong winds ripped off the roof of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Thursday night, crews had a lot of work to do Friday.
Debris sat on and around cars in a back parking lot while the only small portion of the roof left sat hanging off the side. Beams dangled in front of the 8th floor. The winds ripped off the top facade of the roof which stood on an eight-foot pad of concrete.
Rita Reedy with Crowne Plaza owner-operator AL J Schneider Company said, "We'll start waterproofing that concrete and the damage inside. There's no structural damage. It's just due to the sprinklers."
The sprinklers went off in the attic of the hotel, dripping water down the walls of the rooms through several floors. "Some rooms have water damage in them, some rooms don't," Reedy said. "We're taking a look at what rooms need to be taken care of."
Winds were so strong they uplifted a car from the parking lot to a tree across the way. Hotel managers said they're just thankful no one was hurt.
With the light of day, guests wanted to get their cars out of the blocked-off parking lot, but they'd have to wait a little bit.
"That is not going to happen until we get photos of the damage and then clear everything because we can't take a chance to have a guest hurt," Reedy said. Hotel management said each driver's insurance will need to kick in because the damage was caused by a storm.
Thursday night when the storm hit, the Crowne Plaza Hotel had 100 percent occupancy. It also was expecting 100 percent occupancy this weekend. All of those guests have been moved to the Galt House.
Copyright 2012 WAVE News. All rights reserved.
Onlookers assess the damage outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
A broken hotel window.
Roof damage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Police tape marks the area where cars sustained damage in the hotel parking lot.
Debris on top of a vehicle outside the Crown Plaza Hotel.
