Survey team to determine if tornado touched down

A National Weather Service storm survey team was out in the field Friday trying to determine if it was a tornado - or, tornadoes - that cut a swath through three New York City boroughs Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, more than 700 Long Islanders, most of them in the Town of North Hempstead, remained without power at midafternoon, according to the Long Island Power Authority.

The Long Island Rail Road resumed full service in all directions at the tail end of the Friday morning rush. About 9:30 a.m., the LIRR informed customers that hourly service has been fully restored in both directions on the Port Washington branch - the last line to resume service after the storm. The LIRR said trains were running on time by early afternoon.

Much of the severe storm damage was reported on Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens, officials said - and the weather service storm survey team will focus on those areas.

"Clearly, there's widespread wind damage," Weather Service spokesman David Wally said Friday. "Whether that's from straight-line winds or whether it's tornadic . . . you don't know until you see the damage. But so far there has been no determination."

The weather service reportedly confirmed that a small tornado touched down in southern New Jersey Thursday night.

Gov. David A. Paterson said in a statement that he has "asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide teams of federal inspectors to determine the extent of damage in the three boroughs."

In New York City, police said a Pennsylvania woman, Iline Leuakis, 30, was killed during the storm when a tree fell on her car on the Grand Central Parkway. There were no other reported deaths, officials said.

The highest recorded wind speed was 74 mph near the Tottenville section of Staten Island, according to the weather service. But those winds died down significantly as the storm made its way across Long Island, the highest recorded wind in Islip clocked at 28 mph, the weather service said.

An 80-foot tree fell on a house in Forest Hills while the roof was blown off a nearby building, according to official reports. There was significant damage to other roofs in Fresh Meadows along the Long Island Expressway, while a "large tree" knocked down power lines in Oyster Bay Cove - and 1-inch hail was reported in Atlantic Beach.

The storm forced the closure of Penn Station and a suspension of LIRR service between Manhattan and Jamaica Thursday, making a mess of the evening commute as commuters scrambled to find alternate ways home. With service on the Port Washington branch suspended overnight the railroad ran shuttle service ran overnight between Jamaica and Brooklyn. All other lines were operational overnight, although there were cancellations and delays of up to an hour Friday, officials said.

Among the many trees that fell down on the Port Washington line were a couple of 70-footers that damaged communications equipment at the Murray Hill stop, which controls the LIRR train signals, LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said Thursday.

The trees that severed the connection between Penn Station and Jamaica were across the tracks in Forest Hills and Woodside, preventing a clear right of way. The first reports of downed trees came in about 5:45 p.m. At about 6 p.m., service was suspended.

To alleviate overcrowding, LIRR officials closed Penn Station to new customers Thursday night, while those already waiting were allowed to remain.

Burt Carnesi, 47, of East Northport, said he was troubled by the sketchy information provided by the LIRR but said he was keeping it in perspective: "Working in the city, you have to deal with the problems. I have problems with the LIRR, but you have to remember that 90 percent of the time it's OK," he said.

Even commuters who bypassed Penn Station were stymied. Hank Hintze, 50, of Long Beach, was stranded at Jamaica at 11 p.m., unsure of when his train to Long Beach would depart.

He was supposed to have dinner with his son to celebrate the young man's 17th birthday. Instead, Hintze had spent at least five hours trying to get home.

"It's frustrating, but you can't control this," Hintze said. "It's an act of God. What are you going to do?"

With Sophia Chang, Keith Herbert, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Chau Lam, John Riley and Bill Mason