Reuters/New York


Tennis fans hold umbrellas as rain falls in the Flushing neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City yesterday
The US National Weather Service reported a tornado may have touched down in the New York City borough of Queens yesterday morning, pulling down power lines, throwing around cars and damaging property.
The weather service said in a preliminary report that a tornado may have hit Breezy Point, a neighbourhood on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens.
Tornadoes are extremely rare in the largest and most densely populated US city.
The severe weather forced the US Open tennis women’s singles final at Flushing Meadows to be delayed from yesterday evening until today, the US Tennis Association said.
A National Weather Service advisory warned of more storms and possible tornadoes through the evening in other parts of the northeastern US including sections of New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
A spokesman for the New York Fire Department said there were reports of damage throughout the city but that the department had not yet confirmed the reports.
He said that in the borough of Brooklyn trees had been uprooted, power lines were down and a section of a roof of a house had been taken off.
“We have confirmed large trees were uprooted and electrical wires taken down. We also have confirmation a house roof being compromised. The roof has been taken off,” he said.