Severe Weather Moves Through Tri-State Area; Topples Trees, Snarls Traffic
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Strong storms swept through the Tri-State Area Thursday, leaving a mess in their wake for commuters and homeowners in several towns.
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A cold front and area of low pressure pushed a round of severe storms into our area, producing strong winds and heavy downpours.
1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon Reports From The Palisades Park/Leonia Line
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The roots in the saturated ground couldn't withstand the wind gusts of one of the many rainstorms to hit Palisades Park in Leonia throughout the day. For just a few minutes, visibility got bad with rain, hail and a massive tree came down on the house next to Julia Cassano's.
"Pretty much sounded like a bomb going off next to my house. My dog started freaking out, my brother ran upstairs really concerned and it was just a giant boom," she told 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon.
Just a few blocks away, another tree fell onto Vincent Chiarello's house.
"If the tree would have come through the window, we would have been...somebody would've got hurt," he said.
Power lines were also brought down and streets were littered with leaves and limbs.
Alan Lowe, of the Bronx, is lucky that the large ash tree in his front yard crushed the corner of his home, but mostly fell between houses. Lowe said he thought it was just going to be another rainy day.
"When I listened to the weather this morning...and they said it was a very big storm is expected and it started to blow," he told 1010 WINS' Al Jones.
Lowe and his wife went into the basement as the tree started to get a whole lot closer to them.
"We could've had a big issue, but thank God everybody is okay. That's the most important thing," he said.
The tree took out the corner of the house on Grosvenor Avenue, which is littered with branches large and small.
1010 WINS' Al Jones Speaks With An Unlucky Bronx Resident
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Flooding also caused snarled traffic on the Henry Hudson Parkway, which was also blocked for time by a tree covering all lanes.
A truck driver told 1010 WINS he could see the storm approaching him while driving on the Major Deegan when a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect for the area earlier.
"I could see it coming northbound," he said. "I pulled off, I couldn't see a thing in front of me."
Other motorists also followed suit and pulled over onto the side of the road until the storm passed.
