Its Craaaazzy Out There
An [F1 tornado touched down in Long Island] this morning, bringing hurricane-force winds to Islip Terrace, according to the National Weather Service. A Weather Service Meteorologist said the agency received a number of damage reports after issuing a tornado warning for the area, and ground crews later confirmed a hit. As a result, 51,000 people in eastern Nassau and western Suffolk counties lost power and Suffolk Executive Steve Levy ordered the [opening of the county's emergency operations center](http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/local_story_199150015.html).
But thats only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the tornado and power outages, todays angry weather is also responsible for at least four house fires, flash flooding, and widespread transportation delays throughout the region. Dozens of flights were canceled or delayed and numerous motorists were stranded on flooded streets. Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow even had to [divert patients from its emergency room] when parts of its basement and ground floor flooded with up to 10 inches of water. Shelley Lotenberg, a hospital spokeswoman, told Metro that one nearby road looked like a river was flowing through it. And were sure your morning commute was pretty hellish, too. [Flooding at the 65th Street Station](http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/ny-liair0719,0,6207648.story?coll=am-topheadlines) in Queens stopped the F, V, R and E trains, among other canceled routes, and drivers faced hour-long delays on the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel, as well as disruptions on the FDR Drive, the Long Island Expressway and seemingly every other roadway in the city. But luckily you probably werent on a school bus. At least 11 people, including a handful of kids, were injured in [two unrelated school bus accidents](http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/ny-bc-ny--schoolbuscrashes0718jul18,0,7141373.story?coll=am-topheadlines)one in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan. The Manhattan bus collided with a truck in Midtown, sending five children to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center with minor injuries, while the Brooklyn crash at 44th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway sent six to Maimonides Medical Center.
All the crazy weather is reportedly the fault of a low-pressure system brooding around Canada that is expected to continue bombarding the area until Friday. Oh goody. Let the summer fun continue!