Thursday, September 16, 2010: The tornado hit while I was at work. I took the subway home. The E train was too full, as the Long Island Railroad was not running out of Penn Station, so those riders took the E train to Jamaica station to catch trains out there. But I was able to ride the local M train. There was a long line of people waiting for the local bus, with an MTA employee telling people at the end of the line that there was no service. Luckily I was at the end of the line and heard that, and began walking to Kew Gardens Hills. I saw many downed trees and a few smashed cars. In some cases the trees were blocking the sidewalk and I had to walk in the street.
Friday morning, September 17, 2010: I took a few photos before catching the bus to work.
This tree appeared to be perched precariously on a building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Jewel Avenue. It was removed in the early evening of Friday, probably by the city or its contractor. It was probably judged a safety concern. See my photos from Sunday morning for a view of the roof damage left behind.
Tree on building
One of the worst-hit blocks was 69th Road between Main Street and 147th Street:
Storm damage on 69th Road
About three trees in a row were downed on the right side of the street, and two or three in a row on the left side of the street. Few trees were left standing on the block.
Storm damage on 69th Road
Storm damage on 69th Road
The vehicle doesn’t look badly damaged, even though a tree is resting on it.
Tree fallen onto car
Tree fallen onto car
This Accord did not fare as well:
Crushed Honda Accord
Another view:
Crushed Honda Accord
Continuing down the block:
Storm damage on 69th Road
Storm damage on 69th Road
The end of the block, at the intersection of 69th Road with 147thStreet.
Storm damage on 69th Road & 147th St.
Continuing past 147thStreet:
Storm damage on 69th Road
Storm damage on 69th Road
Moving over to 69th Avenue (I think; or maybe 68th Drive):
Storm damage on 69th Ave.
Sunday morning, September 19, 2010: : As promised, here is the damaged roof that had a tree leaning against it. As you can see, a log remains in the roof, and it has lost some plywood and support beams.
Damaged building at Jewel Ave. & Main Street
Another badly hit block was 70th Avenue, between 141st Street and 137th Street:
Damaged car on 70th Ave.
Car covered with branches
Storm damage on 70th Ave.
Storm damage on 70th Ave.
Storm damage on 70th Ave.
Another view of this car. The tree caught the left rear fender as it fell, shoving the rear of the car sideways a foot or two.
Storm damage on 70th Ave.
Most of the trees fell onto the sidewalk or street, but there were a few that hit buildings. I couldn’t tell if the roof of this home was damaged.
Tree resting on house on 70th Ave.
On 137th Street, between 70thAvenue and Jewel Avenue. This is the most severely flattened car that I have seen:
Flattened car on 137th St.
The same tree smashed a Volkswagen Beetle:
Flattened Volkswagen Beetle on 137th St.
Another view showing the Beetle in the foreground and the other car in the background:
Flattened cars on 137th St.
On Main Street, between 68th Road and 68th Avenue:
Crushed brick wall on Main St.
Another view, stitched panorama:
Crushed brick wall on Main St.