© Daily GazetteDebris is visible at Goff Road in Smithfield, N.Y., following severe storm on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. Officials in central New York say four people are dead and four homes have been destroyed in building collapses amid severe thunderstorms.
In all, five people died Tuesday as strong thunderstorms blew down buildings, trees and utility lines and left hundreds of thousands without power into Wednesday.
Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley said Kimberly Hilliard, 35; her 4-month-old daughter, Paris Newman; Virginia Warner, 70; and Arnie Allen, 53, were killed in the rural town of Smithfield, between Utica and Syracuse.
He said four homes were destroyed and numerous others were damaged, with Allen's two-story home blown hundreds of feet before it landed on an unoccupied house.
In Manchester, Maryland, a tree fell at the River Valley Ranch summer camp, killing one child and injuring six others headed to a shelter.
© AP/Oneida Daily Dispatch, John HaegerA fireman walks through a debris field off Goff Road in Smithfield, NY., follow a storm on Tuesday, July 8, 2014.
Barbara Watson, the meteorologist leading the weather service survey team in New York, said the Smithfield tornado's winds were at least 100 mph and certainly reached undetermined higher speeds.
Gary M. Sprague lives across the street from Hilliard's property, where three vehicles were partially buried in some of the wreckage from the torn-apart house. Wood from the home's framing and walls was scattered around the lawn, and a hot tub sat amid the rubble.
Sprague's home was untouched, but he said he knew immediately afterward that things were bad at his neighbor's.
"If they were in it, they had to be gone," he said. "You can only assume the worst at that point. This is horrible, just horrible."
Madison County Undersheriff John Ball said the dead mother was found next to an outdoor wood boiler and a neatly piled stack of wood, which were untouched. The baby was found about 100 feet away in a field. Neighbors were helping sift through the rubble.
"It took a toll on everybody that was here," Ball said. "This is a rural, close-knit community."
Allen Wiley lives with his wife and two sons at the top of the hill, a couple of hundred yards from Hilliard's destroyed home. He went in the basement with his 13-year-old and 10-year-old sons and stayed there a good three hours.
"We went downstairs quickly, got in a circle and huddled tight," Wiley said. "Before we knew it, windows were popping. I knew visually what we were seeing wasn't good."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said several other central and northern New York counties were damaged but added it was "nothing like what happened here in Madison County."
Scattered thunderstorms were forecast for upstate New York starting Wednesday afternoon, but no watches or warnings were issued.
Nearly 44,000 utility customers across New York were still without power at midday Wednesday.
© Daily GazetteThe National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado destroyed the homes in upstate New York where four people were killed.
The National Weather Service said three small tornadoes also touched down in northeastern Ohio, causing minor damage.
In Maryland, the storm blew down two tent canopies that had been erected for Wednesday's 150th anniversary event at the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, according to Chief Ranger Jeremy Murphy, but the event was held as scheduled.
Utilities in the Baltimore-Washington area reported about 34,000 power outages as of early Wednesday afternoon.
In New Jersey, nearly 5,500 homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday afternoon.
5 die during East Coast severe storms
Associated Press writers George M. Walsh and Chris Carola contributed from Albany, New York.
Source: The Associated Press
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