East Coast Storm Weather Update: Thousands Left Without Power, 4 Killed

In the aftermath of torrential rainstorms that slammed the East Coast Wednesday night, more than 50,000 people in the region were left without power Thursday morning, a local NBC affiliate reported. A possible tornado that hit Virginia Wednesday killed four people, and buildings along the East Coast were left mangled by the storm.

PSEG Long Island said 37,577 of its customers were left without power, Con Edison in Westchester, New York, reported 5,347 of its customers were powerless and JCP&L in New Jersey claimed 5,106 of its customers were down.

Officials said a 2-year-old boy, a 50-year-old man and a 26-year-old man in Waverly, Virginia died in the storm, CNN reported. A man from Appomattox County, Virginia, also was killed, and schools in the county were closed Thursday as a result of the storm, which, “left an 8-10 mile path of destruction,” state police said.

“Cars were crumpled on the highway. It picked cars up and threw them in the ditch,” Sharon Faison, a medical assistant who drove to the mobile home park in Waverly where the three deaths occurred, told WAVY-TV, Hampton Roads, Virginia. “We just have to pray.”

In Queens, New York, a massive chunk measuring 60 feet by 20 feet of the Verizon building fell onto the street below. While no one was injured, three cars were damaged. A vacant three-story building also collapsed in Bronx, New York, as a result of the storm, likely caused by high winds.

Before wreaking havoc on the East Coast, the storm did major damage in the South Tuesday, with tornadoes claiming the lives of three people in Louisiana and Mississippi. As of Thursday morning, at least 26 tornadoes have been confirmed from National Weather Service surveys from Texas to the Gulf Coast states, as well as the Carolinas and Virginia. Overall, 300 reports of severe weather, primarily high wind gusts or wind damage from thunderstorms, were received by the Storm Prediction Center Wednesday into early Thursday, which is the highest number of severe weather reports over any 24-hour period since July of last year.