New-York tribune., 1901-07-14
A TORNADO IN NEW YORK
TIL, DANAGE WROUGHT AT THE NORTH
END OF MANHATTAN ISLAND BY THE
lily i
TERRIFIC WIND OF JULY ..

There may have been tornadoes in Manhattan |
Island before meteorological records were kept
but old inhabitants say that the enc which cut
n swath nearly eighth of a mile wide on the
bluff at Inwood on Friday. July . was the hrst
If which they ever heard. The nearest previous
visitation of this character, and the only one
remembered within the present limits OF New
York City. occurred at Woodhaven Junction, in
the present Borough of Queens short time |
before consolidation.
There appears to he little doubt that the In |
wood storm Of a week ago genuine tor |
nado 1t was a black, funnel shaped cloud, and
came with a humming like swarm of bees, |
which almost instantly to a deafening roar; |
and before those in its track had time to think |
had done its work Of destruction and passed out
of sight 1t swooped down on the bluff with
terrific force, swapping off like match sticks
hundreds Of large trees and uprooting others
~ hch had withstood the tempests of a century, |
founded entirely the high ground at Fort
George and the Harlem River and then touched
the earth again at Featherbed Lane across the
Harlem where it moved another swath through
the woods for short distance then lifted and
disappeared That dwelling houses were
razed and no lives lost seems miraculous. The
burst of wind was followed by a downpour of
in which flooded the stricken district and ex-
,-aded far beyond it in all directions The
water. which descended more rapidly than the
sewers could carry it away, above the floors
il many houses in the valley between Inwood
and Fort George and almost to the ceilings in
some houses in the Borough of The Bronx Hail
fell after the tornado had swept by, and broke
many windows and skyghts. killed poultry and
frightened women and children.
The tornado first touched the earth on the
summit of the bluff between One-hundred-and-
Tin nsfK a,,I
trees were prostrated on the high ground and
two hundred linear feet of the sheds Of Duran
dos Abbey Hotel blown down. much of
the Wreckage being carried over the steep bluff
into the valley below. The cloud rushed down
the declivity as If impeIlcd by a resistless
weight, wrecking the stately forest trees which
had long been the pride Of the neghborhood by
breaking them off at distances varying from two
to twenty feet from the ground, denudng great
trunks Of their branches and tearing others
from the ground by their roots. The destruction
on the William II. Hayes estate where the Alb
bey Hotel is situated, was perhaps greater than
at any other place. Charles II. Aitken. a game
fowl breeder who lives the foot Of the bluff
was the worst sufferer except one His little
barn was demolished by the tempest and falling
trees and his two horses were imprisoned be-
meath the wreckage. They had not been taken
out at o'clock last Monday afternoon al
though enough Of the debris had been removed
to enable their owner to know they were un-
harmed and TO permit the animals to be fed and
Watered
Two greenhouses belonging to H /. Battle
man, the florist, about three hundred yards out
in the valley from Mr. Aitkens place were in
the track Of the whirlwind and were dcmol-
ished. Three others were just outside the path
Of the storm, and escaped
The Kngsbridge Road down the hillside from
the Boulevard and Eleventh-ave was rendered
impossible by the rush Of water. The Muschen-
helm place on the top Of the bluff suffered Sc
Verely. Many Of the trees cherished by a r
stewart while he owned the property were up
rooted, and nearly all the others were denuded
OF their branches, or their trunks were broken
IN two. The l.. ii. Libby place once the urop-
Vrty OF W llllam NJ. Tweed was also greatly dam
aged by the tornado. Among the roadways be
sldes the kingsbridge Road, which were badly
washed by the flood the Ridge Road he
tween 1ryon Terrace and the Abbey; The. wind
ing road from the Abbey to the Kingsbridge
Road; Lafayette Boulevard and French Roule-
Vard. All the unpaVed streets and paths lead
ing down the hills in the vicinity were convert
-d INTO brooks by the rush Of water