A possible tornado touched down in Elmira, N.Y., late Thursday, damaging buildings, toppling trees and bringing down power lines. The authorities said some people were trapped in their cars when the storm struck around 4 p.m. There were no reports of serious injuries.
Evan White, a reporter for the ABC affiliate WHAM-TV, took these photos and posted them on Twitter while he reported the story.
In #Elmira covering tornado damage
Reports @10&11 http://t.co/GLn0rMtx- Evan White (@evanwhite13) 27 Jul 12
Second St& Oak St http://t.co/KGBKhdZy
- Evan White (@evanwhite13) 27 Jul 12
East side billboard torn apart http://t.co/ZuXlmMh6
- Evan White (@evanwhite13) 27 Jul 12
Emergency officials in Chemung County said there was “significant damage†in Elmira. The National Weather Service said that there were unconfirmed reports that a tornado had touched down.
Severe weather moved across Ohio and Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon, and into New York and New England, bringing heavy rain and in some cases, strong winds and hail.
In the New York metropolitan area, weather officials said that the storm moved in shortly after 7 p.m. The hardest hit areas were northwest of the city in Westchester County and in parts of Connecticut, where there were multiple reports of downed trees and power lines. The highest measured wind gusts in the area were 60 miles per hour, near the Tappan Zee Bridge, officials said.
Around 8 p.m., wind gusts of up to 54 miles per hour were reported at Kennedy International Air port, weather officials said. Hundreds of flights were delayed because of the storm. Amtrak also reported delays.
Late Thursday, tens of thousands of people in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were without power.
On Instagram, the photo sharing service, people posted pictures from Elmira of downed trees and a new structure that appeared in a backyard.
