BROOKLYN – In the aftermath of Wednesday’s tornado in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Flatbush and Midwood, the Parks Department responded quickly to remove the more than 200 trees that had been knocked down by the wind.
However, for many of those whose homes were damaged, vacated by the Buildings Department or declared unsafe, the immediate future was still uncertain. Many went to friends’ and relatives’ homes, but others, mainly Chinese-Americans from Sunset Park, had to spend the night at a shelter on 59th Street set up by the Red Cross.
According to Parks Department spokesperson Phil Abramson, the department received 512 calls Tuesday. Some 212 trees were reported down, and 276 other trees, while still standing, suffered significant damages. Not all of them were on residential streets – some were within city parks themselves, such as Shore Road Park and Leif Ericson Park.
As soon as the areas were secured by the Fire Department, said Abramson, the Parks Department responded “immediately” with crews of about 70 foresters and arborists, many of whom usually work in other boroughs.
One of the reasons the department asked homeowners to let its experts take care of the trees, rather than attempt to do it themselves, was the danger that inexperienced people might inadvertently spread Asian Longhorned Beetle infestations. This threat, fortunately, failed to materialize.
Once cut down and removed, the trees were taken to Dreier-Offerman Park (also known as Calvert Vaux Park), where they will be chipped and made into mulch.
While damage to trees in Bay Ridge received most of the initial publicity in the media, Midwood and Victorian Flatbush also saw extensive damage. According to the Village Voice, the worst-hit street was Rugby Road between Beverly Road and Albermarle Road, with many fallen trees and damaged cars. The web site of Mary Kay Realty also showed several photos of damage to the Flatbush area, saying “the 100-year-old trees in the neighborhood got the worst of it.”
In addition, a tree that fell across the tracks of the B and Q train south of Church Avenue stopped subway service there for several hours.
Cops, Firefighters, CERTs Pitch In
In addition to the Parks Department, many other city agencies played a part in the cleanup, which was supervised by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM). Firefighters responded to a variety of emergencies, and police kept people away from buildings that had been vacated and blocks that had been cordoned off.
The last two closed-off blocks, said Capt. Eric Rodriguez of Bay Ridge’s 68th Precinct, were on 68th and 69th streets, where Verizon was putting up new overhead telephone wires to replace ones that were downed in the storm. The job was expected to be completed by last night.
As usual in emergencies, the city’s “first responders” were assisted by the local Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs), many of whose members helped in to direct traffic.
Some Lost Homes
In the area of damaged buildings, however, the situation was more serious. Most of the damage was to the roofs of houses, especially older houses – one entire row of houses on 69th Street in Bay Ridge was so affected. In addition, one house on 62nd Street and Sixth Avenue in Sunset Park had its entire front wall ripped off.
The Buildings Department said yesterday that more than 70 buildings were damaged by the tornado. Some 31 of them were vacated because of serious damage. A team of nine inspectors and engineers continued to rove through the area, conducting on-spot assessments of buildings in the area.
The Red Cross’ shelter was set up a P.S. 314 on 59th Street, and 75 people stayed there Tuesday night. The great majority of them were Chinese immigrants, and interpreters were called to the site. As of yesterday afternoon, the Red Cross was trying to find temporary housing for them, but was prepared to keep the shelter open another night if necessary.
Insurance Concerns
State Sen. Marty Golden, R-Southwest Brooklyn, who represents many of the distressed areas, arranged for an emergency mobile insurance van manned by the state Department of Insurance help residents file insurance claims for damage to their homes and cars.
The vehicle will be at the Bay Ridge Community Service Center at 69-35 Fourth Ave. today from 1 to 4 p.m., as well as Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Monday from 1 to 4.
“Most of this damage should be covered by normal homeowner’s and auto insurance policies,” said an Insurance Department spokesman.
Thankfully, the tornado had one happy ending. The web site www.brooklynparrots.com reported that the famous monk parrots who have made Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Flatbush their homes have survived with no problem. One particular colony of parrots in Leif Ericson Park fortunately prefers to build their nests at the top of steel poles, rather than in trees!
