Aug 20, 2009 6:09 am US/Eastern
Central Park Left In Shambles After Severe Storm
High Winds Topple Trees On Upper West Side
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Cleanup crews had a tough job on their hands Wednesday morning after wild weather tore through Central Park and other areas of New York City on August 18, 2009.
CBS
-
-
CBS 2 viewer Jeremy Katzeff of Jackson Heights, NY sent us this amazing photograph of a lightning bolt in New York City during a severe storm on August 18, 2009.
CBS 2 Viewer Jeremy Katzeff
-
-
CBS 2 viewer Steven Malecki of Sunnyside, Queens snapped this incredible shot of lightning during a severe storm on August 18, 2009.
CBS 2 Viewer Steven Malecki
-
-
Wild weather brought down trees in Manhattan's Central Park on Tuesday night, August 18, 2009.
CBS
Central Park was rocked by severe weather Tuesday night, but the full thrust of Mother Nature's destruction wasn't visible until Wednesday morning.
From the playground to the pathways, Mother Nature's Manhattan mecca looked nothing like it did Tuesday, leaving even the park's tiniest visitors, like Jeff Janus' dog Harry, upset.
"He knew that things were not in their right places," said Janus. "Trees are not supposed to be on the ground, and branches should not be all over the place and he was very, visibly perturbed."
When Tuesday night's storms pushed through the area, they did so with a vengeance. Debris could be spotted all across Central Park, specifically the Upper West Side, so much that joggers and bikers couldn't get through. Some of the benches that people were sitting on are no more.
"All of a sudden there was a lightning bolt that illuminated the whole park like there were movie lights," said parkgoer Mary Efremov, who was sitting on one of the destroyed benches when lightning hit. As soon as it did, she bolted, leaving the park for the safety of her apartment.
"The wind was coming in sideways and the lightning strikes were just incredible," said parkgoer David Fuhrman. "I don't know if this was lightning, this was not a tornado. I've seen tornadoes before and this was not a tornado."
It was no tornado, but all the destruction was caused by a strong line of storms that prompted severe thunderstorm warnings from Jersey all the way to Queens. It's believed winds reached about 60 mph during the storm.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
World's Most Useless Facts
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments