Two tornadoes hit New York City as severe weather lashes region

By David Ariosto, CNN

updated 1:30 PM EDT, Sun September 9, 2012

A video from a CNN stringer shows a tornado touching down in Queens, New York, at approximately 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 8.

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Tornado hits Queens, New York

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Thousands without power in Virginia, Maryland, D.C.
• A tornado hits in a beachfront neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York
• A second tornado hits New York City, this one in Brooklyn
• 12 are hurt trying to evacuate arena outside D.C. due to severe weather

New York (CNN) -- Severe weather barreled across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Saturday as a powerful cold front brought heavy rain, high winds and at least one tornado into a beachfront neighborhood of New York City.

A waterspout with winds up to 70 mph churned onshore and turned into a tornado toward Breezy Point, officials said, a Queens neighborhood on the western edge of the Rockaway peninsula.

Amateur video captured images of the twister spiraling a mixture of sand and debris, which was largely flung onto a nearby baseball field, according to Ross Dickman, a National Weather Service spokesman.

Are you there? Send your photos and videos, but stay safe.

The funnel churned about 600 yards inland before dissipating, Dickman said. But it still had enough power to knock down trees and power lines, causing minor structural damage to nearby buildings.