(The following story by John Valenti appeared on the Newsday website on July 18.)
NEW YORK — The skies opened up just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, unleashing a torrential downpour that is wreacking havoc on the roads, at the airports and on the Long Island Rail Road and is also causing electrical outages across Long Island, according to local authorities.
The national weather service in Uptonhas issued a tornado warning for.southwest Suffolk county until 945 a.m. National weather service doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado near Sayville or about near Islip…moving northeast at 10 miles per hour.
The tornado will be near Sayville and Ronkonkoma by 940 a.m. Holbrook by 945 a.m.
When a tornado warning is issued based on Doppler radar it means that strong rotation has been detected in the storm. A tornado may already be on the ground or is expected to develop shortly. If you are in the path of this dangerous storm move indoors and to the lowest level of the building. Stay away from windows. If driving do not seek shelter under a highway overpass.
The bad news regarding the bad news is that the National Weather Service is predicting the thunderstorms will continue throughout the day and into the evening, which figures to make the already bad situation even worse as we approach the evening commute.
The Federal Aviation Administration is reporting flight delays of well more than one hour at Kennedy and LaGuardia. The New York State Department of Transportation has reported at least four accidents and incidents, some believed to be weather-related, on three major highways — the Long Island Expressway eastbound near Exit 57 and westbound at Exit 55, the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway southbound at Exit 4 and the Northern State Parkway suffering from flooding between Exits 28 and 29 — and also has issued a weather alert for all Long Island roads on Wednesday.
The Clearview Expressway, parts of the Cross Island Expressway and parts of the Cross Bronx Expressway have all reportedly been closed due to excessive roadway flooding.
The Long Island Rail Road is reporting that all train service on the Main Line through Mineola is temporarily suspended and on the Port Washington Branch has been temporarily suspended due to “weather-related high water” at various locations on the branch.
The Long Island Power Authority is reporting scattered weather-related power outages across Long Island, with more than 1,000 customers currently without power in Hempstead, another almost 500 without power in North Hempstead with additional outages reported in Oyster Bay, Huntington and Brookhaven.
The NYSDOT alert regarding roadway flooding was issued at 8:30 a.m. and cautions drivers that thunderstorms moving throughout the area — most notably through western Suffolk County — are expected to produce “torrential rains” dropping 1-2 inches per hour and that the “excessive runoff” will cause urban flooding.
Drivers should proceed with caution, the NYSDOT said.
Air traffic destined to LaGuardia is experiencing delays of 1 hour and 25 minutes, while officials have cancelled all departures headed to Philadelphia International Airport until further notice. Departure delays — including gate holds and taxi delays — are ranging between 46 minutes and one hour at Kennedy Airport, according to the FAA.
A so-called “Traffic Management Program” has been put into effect at both Kennedy and LaGuardia, the FAA reports.