Tornadoes touch down in New York as hurricane Beryl’s remnants reach east coast

More than 25,000 people left without power in the region

Michelle Del Rey
Thursday 11 July 2024 21:53 BST
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Tornado rips through fields in Eden, New York

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At least six tornadoes touched down in New York state on Wednesday as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl battered the east coast.

The twisters struck in the western part of the state, close to Buffalo. The town of Eden was placed under a state of emergency after a tornado ripped through farms and left animals injured, according to Erie County’s Executive Mark Poloncarz.

“Thankfully there are no reports of human injuries,” he wrote on X, adding that immediate clean up would occur in hard-hit areas.

One video showed the roof torn off a home in Arkwright, a town in Chautauqua County.

More than 25,000 people were left without power in the region, according to WJZY. On Thursday, only 10 households were left without power in Erie County.

A tornado rips through fields in Eden, New York on 10 July. At least six tornadoes touched down in New York state on Wednesday as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl battered the east coast
A tornado rips through fields in Eden, New York on 10 July. At least six tornadoes touched down in New York state on Wednesday as the remnants of Hurricane Beryl battered the east coast (Viral Press)

In a statement posted to X on Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said: “Yesterday, we had a total of 42 tornado warnings — breaking the single-day record in New York. Our first responders and emergency crews are continuing to work with local partners to help communities recover and we won’t stop until the job is done.”

The National Weather Service said that it was not expecting hazardous weather in western New York on Thursday as the storm tapered off to a “post-tropical cyclone” and made its way north through Canada.

Hurricane Beryl killed at least eight people in Texas and Louisiana earlier this week.

The hurricane caused an estimated $32bn in damages in the US, according to forecaster AccuWeather. More than a million people in Houston, Texas remained without power without power on Thursday, and officials warned that 500,000 were likely to stay in blackout into next week.

The storm caused flooding in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys before heading Northeast. The hurricane caused heavy destruction in the Caribbean before making its way to the US.

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