ROME, New York (WWNY) – A confirmed tornado in the city of Rome on Tuesday tipped over vehicles and left streets clogged with tree debris, power poles and electrical transformers.
The winds were fierce enough to knock a tourist attraction, a B-52 bomber, off its pedestal at Griffiss Business and Technology Park. Steeples crumbled and roofs were torn apart at First Presbyterian Church and St. Mary’s Church, both built in the 1800s. St. Mary’s is not an active church and is privately owned.
“These are beautiful old churches. It breaks my heart,” Rome resident Barb Mulvey said on Facebook.
A Rome landmark, a mural of a Revolutionary War figure on horseback, was destroyed, along with the building on which it was painted. All that remained was an image of a horse hoof.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was “miraculous” no one was killed in Rome, a city of 31,000. She toured the small downtown Wednesday and said 22 buildings were damaged or destroyed. She described trees “collapsed like toothpicks,” houses with their roofs gone, and mobile homes tipped over with people inside.
She marveled at narrow escapes, including two children in a medical waiting room who emerged unscathed, though the building was partially “obliterated.”
Storm debris hit and killed an 82-year-old man who was outdoors about 30 miles away in Canastota, village administrator Jeremy Ryan said.
Across the U.S., the storms have led to at least five deaths, including the one in New York.
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