- One man was killed in Brooklyn, New York, and a woman died in Genesee, Pennsylvania
- Richard Schwartz, 61, an assistant New York State attorney general, was killed after being hit by scaffolding and bricks falling from a church steeple that was struck by lightning
- 32 million people in path of severe storm and New York City has 'unusually high risk' of tornado
- State of emergency issued after tornado touched down in Elmira, NY at 4.15pm with fires, building damage and motorists trapped in cars
- Flights delayed up to 2 hours at JFK, La Guardia and Newark airports
- Campsites evacuated in Allegany and Niagara regions
Two people were killed and more than 100,000 homes and businesses in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania were without electricity Friday morning after ferocious thunderstorms swept through the region.
A state of emergency and curfew were in effect in Elmira, New York, this morning after a suspected tornado toppled power lines and trees and hospitals were placed on disaster alert.
Only emergency vehicles allowed on the streets until 8 am while the damage was cleared, Chemung County Office of Fire and Emergency Management spokeswoman Karen Miner said.
Frightening: Two people were killed after the storm ravaged parts of the East Coast, including New York City
Ferocious: The moment the storm moved across New York City, grounding hundreds of flights and leaving tens of thousands of residents without power
Unpredictable: Dark clouds loom over New York City as thunderstorms and torrential rain batter the U.S.'s East Coast
Skyline: The storms sent black, menacing clouds rolling across New York City on Thursday
Bolt: Lightning strikes over Manhattan yesterday evening, in the wake of a huge thunderstorm which passed through the Tri-State area
Gloomy: This dramatic image taken by photographer Ryan Brenizer shows the storm's path across Manhattan
Lightning strikes the antenna on the top of the Empire State Building yesterday
Dark and stormy: Clouds rumble over New York as severe weather broke along the East Coast yesterday
