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Tornado Hits New York City, Active Watch For Western Mass.

CLICK TO ENLARGE: Tornado watch #635, effective until 9 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center)
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Tornado watch #635, effective until 9 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center)
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Tornado watch #637, effective until 10 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center)
CLICK TO ENLARGE: Tornado watch #637, effective until 10 p.m. Saturday. (Courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Storm Prediction Center)

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has issued two tornado watches (#635 and #637) for a portion of New England as well as some mid-Atlantic areas.

The watch covers three counties in Western Mass. — Hampden and Hampshire Counties until 9 p.m. and Berkshire County until 10 p.m. It also includes several counties in Connecticut and all of Vermont.

Tornado Descended On New York City

Earlier Saturday, a tornado swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood in New York City, hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and startling residents who once thought of twisters as a Midwestern phenomenon.

Firefighters were still assessing the damage Saturday, but an hour after it struck there were still no reported injuries and the area affected by the storm appeared small.

Videos taken by bystanders showed a funnel cloud hurling sand and debris in the air, and possibly small pieces of buildings, as it moved through the Breezy Point section of the Rockaway peninsula in Queens.

"It was crazy," said neighborhood resident Joseph Mure, who was in the shower when the storm hit, and went outside to snap a picture of the retreating funnel. "There were a lot of sirens going off. You could see it twisting."

Fire Department officials said there were power lines down and possibly other damage.

Approaching Storm System

The tornado struck as part of a line of storms that were expected to bring damaging winds, hail, heavy rain and possibly more tornadoes throughout the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday.

The storm system killed four people, including a child, in Oklahoma on Friday.

With reporting by the WBUR Newsroom and The Associated Press.

This article was originally published on September 08, 2012.

This program aired on September 8, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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