After storm, 'it's Forest Hills without the trees'

The sound of chainsaws were heard for blocks in Forest Hills Friday morning, where many of the large, old trees that canopy the neighborhood's streets were uprooted.

The neighborhood was among the hardest hit in the city, where an estimated 900 trees were downed in Thursday evening's freak storm, according to the city Office of Emergency Management. A National Weather Service storm survey team was out Friday, trying to determine if there was tornadic activity.

"It looks like trees were literally twisted off their trunks," Jonathan Walston, a Forest Hills resident said.

Even on a work morning, people were out and about with cameras and cell phones documenting the damage of the quick but powerful storm Thursday night that knocked out electricity, blew out windows, and cluttered streets with debris.

Queens had 28,283 customers out of power, according to the Con Edison website, as of 11:35 a.m. Friday.

The windows of a bus shelter on Continental Avenue were blown out, and some streets were still impassable late Friday morning from the large limbs laying across them, although main avenues such as Queens Boulevard were passable.

The storm scared a group of employees and customers at the H.B. Chevrolet car dealership, on 69th Road in Forest Hills.

Steve Forshner, a sales representative there, said there were about 10 to 12 customers in the showroom when it suddenly got very dark and windy, and the plate glass windows started to bow before they shattered. Luckily, no one was hurt, he said. About 16 to 20 cars were damaged in the used car lot across the street, he said, as workers Friday morning swept up branch debris and glass from the showroom floor and leaves stuck to the shiny new cars.

"As long as no one was hurt," he said. "It's only money."

Local residents didn't wait for the city to clear the streets, instead taking out their own chainsaws or hiring local companies.

Mara Einstein, 50, another Forest Hills resident, said her daughter's bus driver told her he had to stop three times this morning to clear branches blocking his way.

Einstein was home at the time of the storm, and was saddened by its devastation.

"Now it's Forest Hills without the trees," she said. "I don't think we'll feel the full effect of it until the spring. It's like a canopy of flowering trees. When the spring comes, it's not going to be there. And that's sad."