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Storms bring flooding, tornado to NY Tri-State

August 21, 2026

Storms brought flash flooding and an apparent tornado across the New York City area and the Tri-State region, damaging property and prompting rescues.

AP News reports that storms moved through the Northeast, dropping heavy rain and winds that flooded roads, stranded drivers, and cut power in parts of Delaware. A meteorologist for the National Weather Service in New York tells AP News the storm was moving offshore Thursday evening and expected to taper within hours. AP News reports first responders assisted people trapped in vehicles amid flooding on the south shore, and that photos and video posted to social media show debris in the air and heavy rain as a possible tornado touched down at Atlantic Beach on Long Island's outer barrier, tearing apart a beach club and scattering chairs and wood beams across the shoreline.

The New York Times corroborates the account of the storm's path offshore and the damage at the beach club on Long Island, agreeing with AP News on the substance of what happened there. Beyond that corroborated core, AP News alone reports a series of additional details: rescues of people trapped in cars in Jersey City, closure of part of the Long Island Expressway in Queens, a likely tornado in Dover, Delaware, and power outages later restored in Delaware's electric cooperative service area.

What is settled: the storm's offshore track and the damage it caused to the Long Island beach club, both carried by AP News and the New York Times. What remains open is the fuller shape of damage and confirmation across the other locations AP News names, since those specifics have not yet been corroborated elsewhere in the coverage.

Still developing

The National Weather Service confirmation of a tornado on the beach was still forming by the time of draft, with parts of the record not yet carried across the coverage.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 43% · Contested 0% · Developing 57%

Sources