ATLANTA -- Damage from a tornado that struck downtown Atlanta Friday and subsequent storms Saturday has reached an estimated $250 million, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine said Monday.

"That figure includes damage from across the state, such as Polk and Bartow Counties, where damage was quite extensive," Oxendine said. "This storm caused the largest loss yet recorded in our state for tornado damage."

Jerry Albert, 71, was killed by flying debris, Floyd County Deputy Chief Coroner Tony Cooper told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In Polk County, Bonnie Gene Turner -- who was in her early 60s -- was killed, Coroner Trey Litesey said. A storm demolished her home and threw her and her husband into a field. Her husband survived.

In Atlanta Monday, commuters to downtown were encouraged to stay home Monday as cleanup in the area continued after a tornado ripped a path of destruction through the city's core.

But apparently, the message did not get through. Interstates were choked with traffic as thousands headed downtown, only to encounter exits and streets that were clsoed because of storm damage.

Many traffic lights remained out as of Monday afternoon.

Broken glass still littered the ground and police warned pedestrians to watch for glass and other debris that could fall from buildings.

At least 27 people were hurt but no deaths reported in the tornado that swept through Friday night.

Cleaning up the shattered glass, torn roofs and debris-littered streets of downtown will be a much quicker task than repairing the financial damage caused by the tornado, state officials said Sunday.

Several landmarks, including the Georgia World Congress Center, the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Equitable Building, were in the six-mile path of the storm, which moved along the Atlanta skyline for about 20 minutes. The city's main convention center and two major hotels were hobbled as the convention season began.

This weekend alone, with the closing of the Georgia World Congress Center -- which includes the 3.9 million square-foot convention center, the Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park -- the facility lost the Atlanta Home Show, a dental convention and the much of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament.

Dan Graveline, executive director of the Georgia World Congress Center, said on a walking tour with reporters and Gov. Sonny Perdue that it was still too early to quantify the damage, but added that crews were working to assess the wreckage. Graveline said he was hopeful repairs would begin soon, starting with the areas that could be fixed most quickly.

The tornado ripped through the roof of an exhibition hall in one building, leaving light fixtures, awnings, and pieces of the building's infrastructure dangling and exposed as workers continued to clear the scattered insulation, metal, glass and other debris littering the facility.

But the damage that's beyond the naked eye is also a concern, Graveline said.

"The critical part is what you can't see," he said. "That takes some time."

During the news conference, Perdue also expressed relief and gratitude for the minimal loss of life and quick response of emergency workers.

"You already see people working," Perdue said. "This resource will be restored as quickly as possible."

Hotel officials said they were more worried about getting the Georgia World Congress Center back into shape as a conference venue than the state of their facilities, most of which sustained minor damage in comparison.

"All the major hotels downtown rely on the Congress Center as part of the package of bringing conventions to the city," said Ed Walls, general manager of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, which was damaged by the tornado.

Walls estimated that about 30 percent of the hotel's business came from events related to the facility, and that the first four months are among the busiest of the year for conventions in Atlanta.

Mike Sullivan, marketing director of The Omni Hotel at CNN Center, said hotel and convention center officials were expected to meet Monday to discuss their post-tornado options. If the Georgia World Congress Center is unable to host trade shows and meetings, the city's biggest hotels may have to host large conferences that normally would have been held at the convention center.

"Hotels really are working hard together to try to keep people here," Sullivan said.