1 Dead as Tornado-Like Storm Rips Through the Region

A short but violent tornado-like storm swept through New York City and parts of New Jersey on Thursday evening, uprooting trees and damaging cars and causing at least one fatality, overturned trees, widespread property damage and power outages.

The evening storm walloped Brooklyn and Queens knocking down trees and sending residents scrambling as the skies darkened and 70-mile-per-hour winds howled. The storm hit just after 5 p.m., when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Staten Island. Shortly afterward, warnings were issued for Brooklyn and Queens. Video of what appears to be a funnel cloud was filmed over Perth Amboy.

* Con Edison is reporting 30,000 households without power in the five boroughs including 25,000 in Queens and 6,000 in Staten Island. As of 7:30 pm, power lines were still on fire in Queens.

* New York City public school will remain open on Friday

* 40,000 6,000 New Jersey households were without power.

* A woman was killed after a tree fell down and crushed her car, which was parked in the shoulder of the roadway on the Grand Central Parkway near Jewel Avenue. The driver, 30-year-old Iline Leuakis of Mechanicsburg Penn., had pulled over to escape the rain. A passenger, a 60-year-old man, was listed at Booth Memorial hospital in stable condition.

* 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.

* Long Island Rail Road service has been suspended partially restored from Penn Station to Jamaica and Penn Station and Port Washington. Limited eastbound service was available from Jamaica. Expect delays through the night and into the Friday morning commute

* 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.

Sideways rain, black clouds and fierce howling winds caused major damage to Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and parts of Long Island. Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights and Bushwick in Brooklyn, and Flushing and Ridgewood in Queens seemed to be hit particularly hard.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Tornado-Warning-Issued-for-Eastern-New-York-City-103086814.html