This is how it looked in New York City last night as a tornado struck in the middle of rush hour, throwing Penn Station into pandemonium . For thousands, it was a nightmare getting home.
We kept abreast of the commuter havoc with Clever Commute’s 60 or so messages throughout the evening. Some of the most notable — in chronological order — were:
5:31 on the DeCamp line: “Massive thunderstorm bringing 3W to a grinding halt in Secaucus.”
6:12 “Penn is a disaster. Tree over E. River tracks”
6:20 “Lightning strike by Penn… Penn a mess.
6:39: “All NJ Trains showing standby. Yes, all of them.”
7:37 from PennStation lost power at Watsessing and a rescue train had to pick up the passengers.
From the Morris and Essex line at 7:50 pm : police activity in Penn Station.
Baristanet’s Brian Glaser had this to say about trying to get home:
In Penn Station: with the ENTIRE departures board listing “Delayed” next to EVERY train, the announcer says, more than once, “Due to overhead wire problems at the train yard, some trains may experience slight delays.” No m’am, ALL trains ARE experiencing delays. It says so right there.”
LIRR fared even worse, with service halted completely due to felled trees on tracks.
Shortly after the deluge began, Baristanet was notified by Breaking News Network that lightning had hit a Maplewood home on Woodside Road, but upon arrival, the fire department discovered it to just be an electrical transformer on a nearby pole arcing in the wind. Maplewood’s Deputy Fire Chief Walter Nugent said that Maplewood “usually gets hammered during big storms. We’re very fortunate that there wasn’t a lot of storm-related damage yesterday.”
Other parts of NY and NJ didn’t fare as well, though. Strong winds, heavy rains and lightning downed trees and power lines in many towns and causing property damage. Brooklyn and Queens were hit by a tornado, killing one person. Check out this rooftop video footage of the tornado descending taken in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Anyone want to share their stories from the maelstrom? Property damage or a bad commute hangover this morning?
If you missed the traffic mess and want some vicarious misery, check out this strange (and perhaps boring?) video of post-tornado Queens, posted on YouTube by “pikavelo.” BTW, Baristanet does NOT recommend shooting footage while operating a moving vehicle.
Photo from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqMvQyH5zyc
This was one of the rare nights that I happened to get out of work early enough to catch the 5:25 280 Express bus. Uneventful, until we got out of the Lincoln Tunnel. I remarked to the woman sitting next to me that it “looked like the wrath of God out there.” The sky was this weird conglomerate of colors, the wind was wicked, and there was a torrential downpour. The weather report had said “showers.” Little did I know how bad it really was.
We creeped along, trying to get to the bridge. I called my husband and said I would be late.
Then all of sudden, it was gone, just like that. I didn’t realize the extent of the damage until I turned on the evening news. Tornadoes in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island? Who knew?
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my.
DeCamp got me home OK. Left PABT @ 6pm. Rt 3was fine. Fared a lot better than at crap Penn Station.
Anyone spinning around in Oz today?
Definitely the worst rain I’ve ever had the displeasure to drive in. Wouldn’t have been so bad though, except for the nincompoops who refused to turn on their headlights, and continued to tailgate.
At 6 pm DeCamp was okay and NJT trains from Penn were down. Unbelievable.
There was a silver lining for me in the Big Storm. I figured out how to get to Montclair when Route 3 is a parking lot. Went through Lyndhurst, Nutley, Bloomfield…all surface streets. Surprisingly simple.
Wow. I was on the 5:20 train out of Penn Station, changing at Newark/Broad. First time I am hearing that there was anything amiss! I must live in an alternate universe.