Twister hits Queens by Noel Thoman

On September 17th 2010 for the first time since 1985 a tornado touched down and hit Queens. Those of us working until close that night got to experience this first hand and I am sure it is something we will never forget.

While others were aware of the tornado warnings, everyone in the office had no idea of what was going on other than the fact that it was raining. I was trying to get my work done because it was starting to rain and I did not want to get soaked walking home.

Right before I started packing my things a the end of the of the day a co-worker walked into the management office to discuss a customer with me. About one minute into our conversation I heard a lot of noise coming from outside, it sounded like a bunch of bowling pins falling and the rain drops sounded as if they were golf balls falling from the sky.

It was at this point that most of us decided to get up and walk over to entrance to see what was going on because all the gates were down already and we could not see out the other windows. As we walked over to the window someone walked in from outside to get away from the rain. The gates started knocking against the windows and the doors were swinging open and then the power went out.

All of us were standing in a circle when another co-worker came running into the front door soaked. It was so bad outside that she left her car in the middle of 59th ave and later on found out that her car had an electric pole going through the roof.

Power lines started to fall and spark, there was a flash of light and then it went pitch black. It looked like a huge cloud went down 59th ave and then light started to break. When we all stepped outside we could not believe what we were seeing, trees and power lines were down everywhere.

The Facilities Manager pulled up to our rescue, asked if everyone was ok and like always took charge of the situation. It was not until about a half hour later until everyone decided to leave, One of the Managers and Technician drove everyone home and I started on my way home. As I was walking home there were trees down everywhere and traffic

was almost stopped, it was like a scene out of a movie.

Magic went without power through Friday night. Fortunately for the great staff we have, we were able to pull through even without power. I am personally thankful that everyone here at Magic made it safely through the storm.

On a lighter note I would like to thank Mother Nature for the beautiful new window by my desk.