The National Weather Service confirmed that a waterspout came ashore as a tornado in the eastern Rockaways in Queens, just south of John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to NWS meteorologist John Murray. A second waterspout, forming separately off Nassau County, made landfall in the village of Atlantic Beach, where it tore into the Sun and Surf Beach Club.
Nassau Tornado Damage
Josiyah Green, the fire chief in the nearby hamlet of Inwood, said that the tornado spawned in Atlantic Beach pulled roofing and walls apart, which damaged roughly 50 cabanas at the beach club. One person suffered a minor head injury. The Nassau County Executive has since declared a state of emergency for the county, and said on social media that some residents were trapped in flooded vehicles, though none were seriously hurt.
Nassau County’s First Tornado After Five Years and Queens’ After Eight
Nassau County had gone nearly five years without a confirmed tornado. The last one on record touched down on November 13, 2021, an EF0 that passed through Woodmere and Levittown during a rare mid-November tornado outbreak. Since 1950, the county has recorded only nine confirmed tornadoes, capping out in strength at a designation of EF2.
The last time a tornado was confirmed to touch down in Queens was in August in 2018, where it cut through College Point as an EF0 for three-quarters of a mile downing 50 trees.
