Tornado in Central Park

Last night, there was a particularly strong thunderstorm over New York City and I went to sleep thinking this would be a good thing to bring the temperature down. However, when I woke up this morning, the same sluggish warm weather was there, promising another hot and humid day… From the entrance of Central Park, I noticed that the road was littered with small broken branches and tree leaves, as a result of the thunderstorm, but I did more than half a loop of the park before hitting my first broken tree. And then there were many, many downed trees, fallen in a fairly concentrated area which was quite coherent with a tornado pattern. From 90th street up to the northern end of the park, by Harlem Meer, there were dozens of major trees uprooted or torn appart or yet completely cleaned from their branches… No clear sign of trees hit by lightning though. Plus numerous broken branches all around. The major inner road that the half-marathon used last Sunday was blocked at several points by huge trees fallen accross. The tennis courts had been hit too, while the outdoor swimming pool that stood at a lower level was pristine clear of wreckage. After completing the loop around the park, I came back to my hotel, grabbed my camera and went back immediately for another half-loop to take a few pictures before the park services would clean the roads or even close the park. I am actually surprised that Central Park still remains open as there may be loose branches still hanging or weakened trees. The only place that was closed was asmall part of the main road where a few trees had fallen, leaving a wide area to contourn them, with a police car turning people around to use instead a narrower path under the trees with several trunks that were a nuisance to climb… I am equally surprised that the potential dangers linked to broken trees did not prevent joggers or people walking small children or dogs from venturing on the smaller paths.