NYC Beachfront Hit By Tornado as U.S. Open Reset

NEW YORK — The U.S. Open men’s final will finish Monday, and the women’s singles finals will finish Sunday after severe weather swept through the New York metropolitan area.

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado struck a beachfront neighborhood in New York City.

Videos taken by bystanders show the funnel cloud hurling sand and debris in the air as it moves through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens on Saturday. A New York Fire Department spokesman said there were power lines down and possibly other damage.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Severe weather barreled across the Northeast on Saturday as a powerful cold front brought heavy rain, high winds and at least one tornado into a beachfront neighborhood of New York City.

 A waterspout with winds up to 70 mph churned onshore and turned into a tornado toward Breezy Point, officials said, a Queens neighborhood on the western edge of the Rockaway peninsula.The funnel churned about 600 yards inland before dissipating and was thought to be a relatively low-strength twister, Dickman said. But it still had enough power to knock down trees and power lines, causing minor structural damage to nearby buildings.

Twelve New York counties, as well as five New Jersey and three southern Connecticut counties, remained under tornado watches as a line of fast-moving storms mixed with warm, muggy air surrounding the New York metropolitan area.

 The harsh weather also forced a delay at the U.S. Open men’s semifinals in Flushing Meadows, Queens, and caused the women’s singles finals to be rescheduled for Sunday.

“This is just the beginning of an incredibly active, potentially deadly day,” said CNN meteorologist Alexandra Steele.

Tornado warnings were extended until 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Fire officials responded to reports of apparent tornadoes in both Brooklyn and Queens, and said they uncovered damage in both areas, although no injuries were reported.

An FDNY official, who declined to be named citing official policy, said fire units were deployed to the Breezy Point area, responding to reports of overturned cars, broken windows and roof damage.

Roughly half a mile away, the Breezy Point Surf Club was damaged and closed after powerful storms knocked out the power, said Santiago.

“I heard a big wind and heard a snapping of a utility pole,” said Jim Brady, who said he watched as the storms rolled in at Breezy Point.

“It literally looked like the Wizard of Oz,” said Jim Brady, a fellow witness.

The harsh weather left 275 New York City households without power, emergency officials reported. (CBS/CNN)