The tornado actually started on Staten Island, skipped over the Narrows (near the Verrazano Bridge), touched back down in Brooklyn (near Bay Ridge/Sunset Park), hopped up again and came back down finally near where Paul grew up. Most of the damage was done in Bay Ridge where some 20 homes had to be declared uninhabitable. Trees were all over the streets there.

The storm continued moving eastward and hit my area about an hour later. It was much less severe at this point but the rain was as heavy as I've ever seen.... we had 2" in about a half hour.

That 1889 mention of the last tornado in Brooklyn is unofficial; the one yesterday is being touted as the first official tornado in Brooklyn's (recorded) history.

Yesterday was the hottest day on Long Island this year (but not as bad as Beth had in Baltimore) and we didn't have any earthquakes (like TIS' area in L.A.).