US East Coast storms: Grounded planes, ripped roofs, power cuts (PHOTOS)

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Published time: July 27, 2012 03:59
Edited time: July 27, 2012 12:59

A storm cloud begins to dump rain as it passes over the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Lucas Jackson)

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Natural disasters, USA, Weather

Almost 300,000 homes and businesses lost power and hundreds of flights were canceled as severe thunderstorms with rain, hail and strong winds swept through Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

The first tornado was reported in south-central New York State around 4 pm local time (8 pm GMT), where it ripped roofs from buildings and trapped people in their vehicles. The storm then moved to New York City and Philadelphia, followed by southern New England.

By 7 pm, power cuts had left more than 300,000 customers in the three states without electricity and at least 842 flights had been canceled in the US according to Bloomberg. Strong winds were downing trees and power lines, causing fires. Floods were reported as the storms rolled east. In Williamstown, West Virginia, 3.15 centimeters of rain fell in just 25 minutes.

No serious injuries have been reported at this point.

The storms formed along the front of cold air that stretched from New York to northern Texas.

A storm cloud begins to dump rain as it passes over the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Lucas Jackson)

Clouds gather over apartment buildings ahead of a thunderstorm on the east side of Manhattan July 26, 2012 in New York. (AFP Photo/Stan Honda)

AFP Photo/Stan Honda

A storm cloud begins to dump rain as it passes over the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 26, 2012. (Reuters / /Lucas Jackson)

Jessica Stansfield poses for a photo below an enormous uprooted tree after the town was hit by a tornado in Elmira, New York, July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Adam Fenster)

Reuters / Adam Fenster

Downed power lines and trees are pictured on a street after the town was hit by a tornado in Elmira, New York, July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Adam Fenster)

Part of a roof lies on a sidewalk after the town was hit by a tornado in Elmira, New York July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Adam Fenster)

A car drives past fallen trees on a street in Elmira, New York July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Adam Fenster)

Reuters/Adam Fenster

Downed power lines and trees are pictured on a street in Elmira, New York July 26, 2012 (Reuters / Adam Fenster)

Comments (11)

JIM (unregistered) 27.07.2012 15:34

Bad weather, it sucks, its destructive, devastating, it's NATURAL. Not HAARP, not global warming, not the wrath of God or some curse put upon us by some mystical creature. Weather folks, weather.

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Soussi (unregistered) 27.07.2012 11:44

I think the first BIG BIG BIG disaster will be the earthquake in Japan within the coming week!! Just a lucky guess. The London bombings will be deathly but not as HAARP's work in Japan. If this becomes true, look up Vincent Lemaigre, living in Toulouse, working for Procter & Gamble. He can tell you the rest from his friends plans, he told me 12 years ago!!

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JJ (unregistered) 27.07.2012 10:32

Yeah the USA Government would never do anything evil, like have tech stuff
to control the Weather right? Anyway, this is what Global Warming looks
like as the CO2 level goes up, the planet warms (From burning Fossil Fuels),
more warm means more energy, you see the results. American politicians
don't care, they get tons of money from big oil, they get to destroy the whole
planet, as long as they get money for their election campaigns. Meanwhile
people are dying from bad air(really bad) sweltering heat that's not natural,
and they deny global warming cause it's politically popular to do so. USA
is a horrible country to live in, you are not a citizen you are a prisoner.

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