Severe weather leaves mark on Southern Tier

While Elmira and Chemung County saw some of the worst damage, the impact of the storm was felt across the Southern Tier. YNN's Chris Whalen shows us the remnants left behind in Tioga and Broome counties.

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SOUTHERN TIER, N.Y. -- It was a near perfect day Thursday afternoon: Sun shining, a gentle breeze and temperatures in the low 80s. Two hours later, a more ominous sky covered the Southern Tier and then the warnings came: A radio alert from the National Weather Service reported tornado sightings across the region.

No tornadoes have been confirmed to have touched down yet, but by 4 p.m., hard rain and wind rocked Owego.

"You couldn't see outside of the door here, the wind was blowing really bad, I actually thought the windows were going to blow out because of the amount of wind and rain," said Colleen Powell-Harbin, a Tioga Center resident.

After the storm calmed down, tree limbs littered the road, as well as fruits and vegetables from a nearby farmer's stand.

Shortly after making their way through Tioga County, the clouds hit Broome County leaving a similar scene.

Roadways were washed out and trees and power lines came down in Vestal. In Johnson City a tree narrowly missed going through a house and hit the garage instead.

The worst of the storm lasted only about 20 minutes, but it only takes seconds for it to cause an emergency. New York State Police used Thursday's severe weather as an opportunity to remind motorists how to deal with poor driving conditions.

"If there's inclement weather, you've got to exercise common sense and use good judgment and slow down and if that means putting your four-ways on as you're traveling or pulling off to the shoulder of the road if you're driving through the storm and putting your four-ways on until the storm blows over, that might be the best thing to do," said Sgt. Jason Hopf of the New York State Police.

A few more storms are expected throughout the region over the next few days, but not to the magnitude of what was seen Thursday.