MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. - A commercial building was destroyed, a hotel's roof was partially ripped off and hundreds of trees were uprooted when a tornado struck Wednesday afternoon, a Westchester County official said.
Pleasant around 4:10 p.m. She said the greatest damage was along the Saw Mill River Road north of Dana Road.
The commercial building, which housed California Closets, was decimated, Tolchin said, with the sides pulled down and the windows and doors blown out.
"It looks like the twister went in one side and out the other," she said.
The Comfort Inn next door lost part of its roof.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said reports of a tornado in Westchester had come in but hadn't been confirmed. He said the NWS would have to assess the level of damage done to determine whether a tornado had touched down.
There were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities or of people trapped because of the extreme weather, Tolchin said.
"It is an absolute miracle that no one was lost or injured," she said. "It's amazing when you see the devastation."
Saw Mill River Road was closed from Eastview to Exit 25-A for some time. The county's office of emergency management was opened just before 5 p.m.
Severe weather knocked out power to more than 4,000 Westchester residents, said Consolidated Edison utility spokesman Chris Olert, and hundreds of employees were out assessing damage in Tarrytown, Pleasantville and other parts of the county. The weather also knocked down trees and caused damage to houses.
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