Brooklyn begins cleaning up after storm

(New York - WABC) (WABC) -- The tornado cleanup is well underway in Brooklyn Thursday, and officials expect it will take quite some time before it's finished. At least 40 homes were damaged.

The National Weather Service confirmed that a EF-2 tornado touched down. And though the wild weather from Wednesday has given way to sunny skies, the mess left behind in Bay Ridge is certain to linger for days.

We have complete coverage of the aftermath, starting with Eyewitness News reporter Carolina Tarazona in Bay Ridge.

For some people out here, the loss has been truly overwhelming. We saw cars crushed by giant trees and roofs ripped off houses. Many residents have been evacuated, and dozens have been forced to take shelter.

A crunching sound can be heard throughout the streets, and it's all part of the recovery effort. Huge trees are being picked up off the ground, put into chippers and reduced to dust.

Throughout Bay Ridge Thursday, the cleanup is at full speed.

"Take them off the cars, clear walkways, clear the houses so people can get in and out and just take it away," said Randy Hayes, of Family Tree Service.

But some weren't so lucky, their homes still condemned. The roof on one house on 69th was completely ripped off. Trees on that street were cut off at the trunk after they ripped through the sidewalk.

"It's a horror, it's scary," displaced resident Angela McCormick said. "At my age, you retire, have great grandchildren, trying to enjoy my granddaughter, my daughter, we all live here. It's devastating."

More than 80 people are at PS 314 this morning, the Brooklyn public school their only shelter. The Red Cross is doing the most they can for them.

"Setting up a shelter is not an ideal place for people to stay, so our next move is to get people into more permanent housing," the Red Cross' Eddie McQuillan said. "We have a lot of families in here."

Bulldozers are still working on 69th Street, where families have been evacuated.

Residents say one of their main concerns is whether or not insurance will cover their losses.

From the residential cleanup to the businesses that were also hit hard. Eyewitness News reporter Phil Lipof has that part of the story.

Believe it or not, the two are not mutually exclusive. Take, for instance, one man who owns a Greek restaurant. He watched as his business was destroyed and then as his upstairs apartment was damaged. He is just one of the many business owners who will be cleaning for days to come.

It's the sound of cleanup throughout Bay Ridge, one day after a rare tornado touched down.

The 4th Avenue Presbyterian Church lost its beautiful stained glass window. Across the street, Kiriakos Kakuros watched as his Greek restaurant and apartment above took a direct hit.

"I was outside when it happened," he said. "And then it came so fast, I didn't have no chance to move."

Windows shattered, debris is everywhere. He planted some trees 35 years ago, never thinking their branches could become bullets.

A car dealership in Bay Ridge took the brunt of the storm. Workers have patched the cars up the best they can and put them on the front lawn so the insurance adjuster can get a look at them.

"We removed all the poles that came down and broke on these cars," manager Vinnie Tepedino said. "We cleaned up all the pilings from the roof that came down."

Tepedino jokes he's having a huge sale on select models. Humor is not a bad way to deal with something you just can't control.

"I was blown away, it was just overwhelming to see the amount of damage that happened that quick," he said.

A lot of businesses lost their metal awnings, which were just bent and twisted in the wind. There are insurance adjusters all over the neighborhood, so now business owners can begin to figure out just how much they've lost and how much they might be able to recoup.

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