6:35PM EST: As YWN had posted earlier, a massive storm ripped through NYC at approximately 6:00PM. Although it has not been confirmed, the damage can only be described as a tornado, or something very close to it.
In Brooklyn on the Gowanus Expressway, Hatzolah was operating at the scene of three overturned tractor trailers. Eye witnesses report seeing massive roof damage at the Lowes store. Readers were sending YWN photos from all over Brooklyn of trees snapped in half.
Meanwhile, the storm continued into Queens, and three tractor trailers were reportedly overturned on the Van Wyck Expressway just past the LIE. There was at least one person heavily entrapped in the wreckage.
At other locations in Queens there were multiple trees reportedly on top of vehicles – some with people inside of them.
YWN was receiving reports that there was one person found killed from flying debris in Queens, but that has yet to be confirmed.
UPDATE 6:42PM EST: (NY Daily News) A fast-moving storm packing 100 mph winds, hail and heavy rain Thursday triggered a series of tornado warnings Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens.
The storm slammed the city about about 5:20 p.m. prompting the National Weather Service to issue its first tornado warning for Staten Island.
Further details and updates will be posted as they become available to us.
UPDATE 7:33PM EST: Con Edison said electrical wires were down across the city and there were hundreds of power failures.
Hundreds of trees were toppled in Brooklyn and Queens, trapping at least two people inside crushed cars. Officials confirm that one person was killed in Queens.
UPDATE 11:33PM EST: The National Weather Service is checking to see if a tornado did in fact touch down in Brooklyn.
The storm struck the borough around 5:30 p.m. The sky turned black as night while hail, and rain came pounding down. Strong winds blew through neighborhood streets of Park Slope snapping trees and damaging cars.
UPDATE 11:48PM EST: •Con Edison is reporting 30,000 households without power in the five boroughs including 25,000 in Queens and 6,000 in Staten Island.
•6,000 New Jersey households were without power.
•One person is reported dead after a tree fell down and crushed a parked car on the Grand Central Parkway near Jewel Avenue. The driver, an unidentified woman, pulled over on the side of the road to escape the rain. A tractor trailer overturned on the Gowanus Expressway, according to eyewitness accounts.
•Authorities confirm 6 people including 4 police officers suffered minor injuries in a car accident at W. 207 St and 9th Ave. The accident happened around 9:02pm. Four of the six people injured were taken and treated at nearby hospitals.
•Service for departures and arrivals at LaGuardia, Newark and JFK airports was delayed two to three hours.
•The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed the massive storm as a tornado yet although many witnesses have reported spotting funnel clouds. And winds of up to 80 miles-per-hour were reported.
UPDATE 12:18AM EST: The Kew Gardens Hills Eiruv and Hospital Eiruv will be down for Shabbos/Yom Kippur. There will be an update regarding the Eiruv for next Shabbos.
YWN PHOTO LINK: Initial photos have been loaded, and can be viewed by clicking HERE.
DO YOU HAVE PHOTOS OR VIDEOS OF THE STORM DAMAGE? – SEND THEM TO [email protected]
Have you checked out http://www.ywnradio.com/ yet?
(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN / Sources: WPIX / NBC New York)
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16 Responses
RIGHT BEFORE YOM KIPPER
A COINCIDANCE? I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!
ITS A MESSAGE, SO LISTEN!!!!!!!!!!
it was not a tornado,
despite numerous accidents damage and heavy rain
CBS-TV CALLS IT A MONSTER THUNDER STORM
WHICH CAME IN VERY FAST
What weather! In a nutshell, Mashiv Haruach, Umorid Hagoshem!
Just got report that the frum neighborhoods in Queens have much damage.
Wires burning, homes have trees through roofs, etc.
Sidewalks upended, cars damaged, etc.
The plural of MVA is MVAs. No apostrophe.
“Ein Tzarah Baah LaOlam Elah Beshvil Yisrael”
NY has never had any tornados, and now suddenly it gets hit with one that costs millions of dollars in damages? The day before Erev Yom Kippur?
I’m shaking..and so should everyone else be.
#6,
There was a tornado in the Riverdale section of the Bronx back in July. Miraculously there were no fatalities, and no significant damage to the several Jewish schools and synagogues that were within a block of the tornado’s path.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE WAS CRAZY!!!!
WE SHOULD ALL LEARN!
JUST A DAY BEFORE YOM KIPPUR!!!
NO COINCIDENCE AT ALL!
Hashem is sending us a message in flashing lights…..DO TESHUVA!!!!!!!!
i live in the frum community in queens and as someone so appropriately stated “it looks like a war zone”. every street has trees down, on cars, and houses. debrees was flying all over the place. (pictures 73-78 are of the queens area, but they are not the worst that is here, there is much worse.) people are locked out of their houses because there are uprooted (yes, uprooted with the sidewalk) trees in front of thier houses blocking them. main street is backed up from booth memorial to the van wyck, and the other side is completely shut down. houses are destroyed by trees, cars are crushed, poles are down, traffic lights are not working, sukkas flew never to be seen again, there is a question of weather or not the eiruv is down. its just not normal.
i would like to mention that among all the craziness, the number of nissim in this situation is unbelievable. people who moved out of the way right before it hit, people who were in their cars and got away without a scratch, people who had trees fall down right in front of them. every story is unique and every nies is truly a miracle.
Hashem is telling us to DO TESHUVA!!!! its erev Yom Kippur, and this is our wakeup call!!
THERE IS A KEY CALLED A CAPS LOCK THAT YOU CAN TURN OFF SO YOU DON’T SOUND LIKE WHATEVER YOU SAY IS OF ULTIMATE IMPORTANCE AND NEEDS EMPHASIS.
#6, your point is taken. However, there have been a number of tornado’s in NY. Not very common, but it has happened.
To # 10
It ReAlLy BoThErS yOu HoW iS wRiTtEn?
GmAr ChAtImA tOvA!
can someone explain me these following two sentences that appeared in the article……
The National Weather Service is checking to see if a tornado did in fact touch down in Brooklyn.
The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed the massive storm as a tornado yet although many witnesses have reported spotting funnel clouds.
i mean who do we call to find this out, Savta SImcha, President Obama or PM Netanyahu. is this state business or islamic radicals attacking New York.
i mean, it should be pretty simple, is this a storm or a tornado….
although in fact what is the difference???!!! if it was a storm turn right at the next corner, Tornado, oh Gosh, quick take a left. if it was a storm, the FBI investigates, Tornado, get the CIA in…..
i dont know, but i guess it must be really important….
i agree with all those that woke up and reaised Yom Kippur was coming. shame they were sleeping till now!!
wishing everyone a Gmar Chasima Tova and a Gut Gebentched Yohr
I don’t understand why New Yorkers can never seem to understand what a tornado is. A storm cannot be “classified as a tornado”, that makes as much sense as classifying a tree as a green leaf. A tornado is *not* a storm or a type of storm. A tornado is a severe weather phenomenon that can sometimes occur during specific types of thunderstorms. It has absolutely *nothing* to do with the speeds of storm winds. If you guys are still confused, Google it.
Seriously…
@ichbin, YWN’s editorial policy seems to have no regard for proper apostrophe use. You’re fighting a losing battle.
#9, you quote “i live in the frum community in queens and as someone so appropriately stated “it looks like a war zone”.”
I heard that also on the radio, and my reaction was, What are you talking about!.
I dorm in Queens and I saw the damage, and I won’t downplay it’s pretty bad, but it does not look like a war zone.