A brief but powerful storm swept through Throggs Neck on Saturday, uprooting trees, downing utility lines and blocking roadways as residents spent the day cleaning up the damage. Along the Cross Bronx Service Road, large trees were torn from the ground, leaving scattered debris and tangled power and cable lines in their wake.
Carmine, who lives nearby, said he watched one tree sway violently before it came down. “This tree was shaking like this,” he said, adding that he heard “some crashing sounds” while he was inside his home. One fallen tree was uprooted completely, leaving a large crater where it had stood.
The storm’s damage was not limited to the roadway. Con Edison crews were seen in the area assessing the impact after utility lines were hit, a sign that the cleanup would stretch beyond clearing branches and trunks from the street. The weather new york readers were searching for on Saturday had already turned into a local repair job by the time crews arrived.
One resident said she moved her car off the street shortly before the storm hit, and a tree later fell in the exact spot where it had been parked. Another downed tree came within about a foot of striking a parked vehicle, a near miss that showed how narrowly some residents avoided serious damage. The falling trees left blocked lanes, scattered debris and a neighborhood trying to piece itself back together.
City agencies were contacted about when the fallen trees will be removed, but no timing was confirmed. For now, the damage in Throggs Neck is visible block by block, and the unanswered question is how quickly the neighborhood can get its streets cleared and its utility lines secured.
