Vehicles crushed by trees in Queens during soaking storms
BELLEROSE, Queens -- Cars were crushed by falling trees in Queens and there were reports of several other trees down across the city as the worst of the storms moved through the Tri-State area on Monday.
A giant tree came crashing down on a Mercedes sedan on 86th Avenue in Bellerose.
Despite the damage, the owner of the Mercedes was in good spirits Monday afternoon.
"It's alright, because you know, at least nothing happened, right, it didn't fall on the house, otherwise it would be a really big disaster," said Roland Vergel Detios.
Detios doesn't live in Bellerose, but was visiting family when the 90-year-old Oak tree uprooted during the severe weather.
The mature tree stood roughly 65 feet tall before it toppled. It's so massive, that even lying on its side, the branches extend about 30 feet in the air and the unearthed root system is about 8 feet tall.
And buried under the plush leaves and sprawling branches was another car, a 2025 Hyundai Elantra parked across the way.
"I work from home, I was just sitting on my desk, which faces the window that faces the street and I heard a big crack, I thought it was thunder, so I just looked up, and I saw the entire tree light coming towards the house," say Paya Mathu. "So then I ran downstairs because I didn't even remember if my car was on the side or in the front."
About 10 miles away a tree also came down on a truck in Woodside.
And there were reports of other trees down across New York City, including in Gramercy where a downed tree blocked off East 18th Street near Second Avenue.
And on the Upper West Side, a tree fell over on cars on West 90th near Riverside Drive.
"You just go through all the what ifs and, you know, I was just about to sit in my car and go to the gym, well, I was just about to send my dog out in the yard, you know? And that's where he goes, like it does his business," Mathu said. "And I'm thankful that nothing bad happened, but you just kind of have to figure out what to do next."
While most of the rain has moved out of the area, flooding still remains a concern for Monday evening.
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