National Weather Service confirms microburst hit Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as storms moved through region
NEW YORK -- The National Weather Service confirms a microburst hit Brooklyn on Tuesday afternoon as storms moved through the region.
The FDNY says these fast-moving winds came in just before 4 p.m.
"The sky turned like a grayish thing and it was very windy, and the trees just started falling down," one Bensonhurst resident told CBS New York early Wednesday morning. "I thought we had Hurricane Sandy, that's what I thought I was in, Hurricane Sandy, because the wind was gushing real bad."
Surveillance video shows the impact of what the National Weather Service is calling a microburst -- fast-moving cool air within a collapsing thunderstorm.
According to the NWS, a microburst with maximum wind speeds between 60-70 mph occurred along Bay Ridge Avenue between 18th and 20th avenues in around 3:40 p.m.
Bensonhurst resident Haydar Eren had parked his car minutes before it happened.
"It took out the sunroof, the windshield's cracked, the doors are a little pushed out. But thank God I didn't come outside to move it," he said.
Eren says it's life-changing to think how lucky he is he was not struck by one of the 55 trees the city says fell in Brooklyn on Tuesday due to high winds of up to 70 mph. His car was one of several damaged by fallen trees.
Along Bay Ridge Avenue, the FDNY had to move more than a dozen trees and restore traffic lights.
"It's like a war zone here. This is the worst we ever had this. We've had hurricanes in the past, but nothing like this," Bensonhurst resident Ron Caruso said.
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The FDNY says one person was injured when they came out of their house and a branch fell on their shoulder. A metal awning also fell.
"I was watching out the window when this huge burst of wind like I never saw came down the street, and the water was whooshing down. And I looked up and this tree was bending in half. The awning was hanging just by the very edge. It was very frightening," Bensonhurst resident Joan McGrath said.
FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer called it a prelude of climate change.
"New Yorkers got an eye opener today, and we're all really lucky at the outcome," he said.
As for all the fallen trees, the city says cleanup crews will be there within the next day. We did ask the parks department when the trees were last inspected and are waiting to hear back.