Storm Floods Subway System and Spawns Brooklyn Tornado

A severe storm this morning dumped nearly 2 inches of rain on the city and flooded most of the subway tracks around the city; shutting down the entire subway system around the city. Every line was effected and commuters who use the subway to get to work were advised to "stay home if they could" by MTA officals. Some parts of the elevated subway system in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx were blocked by downed trees.

The Long Island Railroad service is suspended due to the tracks at the Bayside Station being completely flooded and Metro-North service was temporarily suspended.

This is not the first time the New York subway has been flooded. In 2004 Hurricane Francis dumped more than three inches of rain on the city and turned stairs in subway stations into waterfalls.

Roadways were also effected by the severe storm. Many motorists in New Jersey were trapped in their cars due to the high water. In Williamsburg Brooklyn many streets were also flooded including high trafficked Broadway.

To make the situation worse. A rare F2 tornado touched down in Brooklyn ripping some roofs off of houses and apartments, toppling trees (or ripping the tops completely off), and blowing out windows in buildings in the Bay Ridge and Kensington neighborhoods. Con Edison is urging residents in Brooklyn to conserve energy as the clean up effort gets under way. Con Ed fears the heat advisory today is likely to put a strain on the on the power grid.

Tornadoes are a rare occurrence in New York but are becoming more frequent. On July 18th an F1 touched down in a nearby suburb of New York, Islip Long Island. Last year an F2 tornado touched down in Hawthorne and Mount Pleasant, 20 miles north of New York in Westchester County. Less than 10% of tornadoes recorded in the US reach F2 scale.

At least one person was killed in the violent storm. Today's storm is one of the most destructive and most likely costly in recent New York history. Some studies suggest the increase in Tornado activity and severe weather in the New York area is due global warming. Many other studies show rainfall patterns and amounts are already changing on a global scale.