Environment

Tornado in Yonkers? Residents Report Toppled Trees and No Power

by Amy Judd | July 8, 2009 at 12:59 pm

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Update: 11:34 am PDT - Thursday July 9

750 are still without power in the Westchester County area, and residents are now saying that it was a hail storm that caused all the damage and not a tornado. Power is expected to be restored to everyone by 11pm tonight.

Three streets are still closed in Yonkers, but workers are helping to clear the damage to be finished today.

The streets still being worked on were Woodworth Avenue and Point Street, Palisade Avenue from Shonnard Place to Lake Avenue, and Trausneck Place from Roberts Avenue to Emmett Place.

Previous reporting:

Could a tornado have touched down in Yonkers last night or early this morning? Residents reported seeing golf-ball sized hail stones in Yonkers and Westchester County, as well as toppled trees and no power, and now the National Weather Service is trying to determine if a tornado touched down or whether it was just a strong storm.

The National Weather Service is investigating reports of at least one tornado in the Yonkers area after a storm blew through the area Tuesday night into early Wednesday.

Tornadoes are not common in this area.

Residents said that around midnight, the sky turned green and it just started raining down hail.

The sky turned green and winds gusted to 60 miles per hour. "It sounded like a friggin' freight train coming through," said Matt Kachmar, 21. "You couldn't see a foot in front of the house (with) all the hail!"

There were no serious injuries reported, but about 13,000 are still without power, and trees are down and roads are closed, making it very difficult for residents to get around or get help.