Rare Tornado Hits North of New York City
- From: Jake <Jake1178@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:46:20 -0000
Tornado slams Lower Hudson Valley
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS09/607130345/1025
While the brunt of bad weather may be over, residents and emergency
crews face a daunting task today: cleaning up after a storm so severe that
it left thousands without power, tore down trees and spawned a rare
tornado that cut a destructive swath in Westchester County.
Although the storm and the tornado, which caused a Hawthorne building
to collapse, lasted only a short time and created widespread problems,
few people suffered injuries.
"I think we were extremely lucky," County Executive Andrew Spano said
at a news conference last night, describing the aftermath of the tornado.
Three people were treated for minor injuries, and a pregnant woman was
taken for medical treatment after having stomach pains. After initial
reports that people were missing, everyone was accounted for last night.
Investigator Joe Becerra of the state police said a trooper was taken to
Westchester Medical Center with minor injuries after "his patrol car was
picked up by the funnel and flipped around several times" on Route 9A in
Hawthorne. Becerra said the trooper, whose name was not released,
appeared to be doing all right.
Spano and other county officials said they couldn't remember the last time
a tornado passed through.
AccuWeather.com meteorologist John Gresiak said a waterspout was
first sighted at 3:40 p.m. over the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee
Bridge, and within a few minutes, it quickly moved east into Tarrytown
and Hawthorne and out of Westchester County.
"From the time it was over the river to the time it was in Hawthorne was
about 10 minutes, 15 minutes," he said. The tornado's exact wind speed
is still being determined.
As of 9 p.m., about 5,000 customers were still without power in several
communities, including Sleepy Hollow, Mount Pleasant, Tarrytown, New
Castle and Hawthorne, said D. Joy Faber, a Consolidated Edison
spokeswoman.
Faber said she could not determine when most of the power would be
restored because of the substantial damage to the area. She said crews
must first cut and clear large tree limbs and remove debris.
"This is a pretty extensive job, and our crews will be working throughout
the evening," Faber said. "Safety is our No. 1 priority, and they will work
throughout the night until all our customers are restored."
In the meantime, Faber said she encouraged anyone who may see
downed power lines to stay clear of them.
But it was yesterday's short but powerful tornado that shocked several
Lower Hudson Valley residents, many of whom said they couldn't believe
what they were seeing.
In Sleepy Hollow, business owners and residents said they saw a large
black cloud accompanied by lightning come down Beekman Avenue,
knocking down trees in its path.
Jackeline Alarcon was sitting in her office at 76 Beekman Ave., chatting
with a co-worker who had just changed her shift. As the two women
spoke, the storm passed by, knocking in the entire storefront glass
window.
"It looked like the end of the world. It got so dark and then the wind hit
us," said Alarcon, 27.
Police Lt. Gabe Hayes said the path of destruction was clear up
Beekman, but there were no injuries. It happened in 15 to 20 seconds,
he said.
In that short period, a priceless stained-glass window was shattered at
St. Teresa of Avila Church. Sister MaryAnn said the window was more
than 125 years old.
"Even if you couldn't read, those windows told the whole story of our
faith," she said. "The entire community, young, old and Hispanic came out
to help us clean."
In Yonkers, Jesse Young, 28, a lawyer who works at 22 Saw Mill River
Road in Hawthorne, part of a complex that includes an Applebee's, a
Comfort Inn hotel and the Executive Diner, said he was picking up
documents from another office in the building when the window started to
rattle and became opaque white.
"From as far as you can see north to as far as you can see south, there's a
clear-cut path of downed trees right now," Young said. "It basically took
the top off of every tree in its path."
Ray Conta, 36, owner of a medical billing company in the same building
as Young's law office, was tracking the storm on a weather Web site.
When the sky darkened, the Chappaqua man stepped outside to see one of his
employees coming in from the parking lot.
He saw a funnel of debris swirling behind him.
"I yelled out to him to run and get back into the building. ...
He still can't believe it. He asked me, 'Did that really just
happen?' I said, 'Yes, it did. You just ran away from a tornado,' " Conta said.
A California Closets store, nearby at 16 Saw Mill River Road,
sustained severe damage in the storm, with at least one
wall of the structure apparently collapsing. Witnesses reported
cinder blocks scattered around the building.
About 200 emergency personnel responded to the storm.
Technical rescue teams were summoned from Yonkers,
Greenburgh and New Rochelle but were not needed,
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Louis Alagno said.
Many buildings in the area around Route 9A were evacuated,
including a preschool with 40 children and 15 staff
members. Among the other roads in Mount Pleasant,
Stevens Avenue had the worst damage, Supervisor Robert
Meehan said.
Elsewhere, commuters on Metro-North Railroad trains experienced
several delays because of two fallen trees across
the tracks. The trees fell on the tracks close to
Stewart Street between Valhalla and Pleasantville, said Dan Brucker, a
spokesman for Metro-North Railroad.
By 5:30 p.m., northbound service had been restored while crews
continued to work on southbound service. All trains
were running by 7 p.m., he said.
But Brucker said that, thankfully, no trains ran into the trees
and the trees did not land on any railroad cars.
The storm also caused the closing of several roads,
including the Saw Mill River Parkway at Eastview and Route 9A
near Route 117.
.
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