NEW YORK (AP) -- Tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power, schools and roads were closed in some places, and at least one community declared a state of emergency on Thursday after violent thunderstorms tore through the New York metropolitan area.
1010 WINS SLIDESHOW: Storm Damage in Tri-State
The swift-moving storm system brought rain and strong winds to an area stretching from northern New Jersey to southern 
Connecticut on Wednesday afternoon, with a gust as high as 70 mph measured in the Brooklyn Heights section of Brooklyn, said Tim Morrin of the National Weather Service. After examining the damage on Thursday, the Weather Service determined that no tornadoes passed through Westchester or northeastern New Jersey.
The storm system felled trees and tore down power lines in some areas, including some of the city's northern suburbs.
1010 WINS AUDIO: John Montone Hears Residents' Harrowing Tales
"It happened so quickly. It just came out of nowhere,'' said Robert Spano, who had a tree fall on his car outside his plumbing business in Bedford Hills.
Con Edison said Thursday night 6,500 Westchester County homes and businesses were still without power. Most of those outages were in Cortlandt, New Castle, Bedford, Mount Kisco, Ossining and Croton. Connecticut Light and Power reported about 12,000 outages statewide Thursday night.
A state of emergency was declared in the Westchester County town of New Castle, where major state routes and many secondary roads were still impassable Thursday and public schools in Chappaqua canceled classes, said New Castle Police Sgt. Bruce Cathie.
Several other northern Westchester County school systems also were closed or opened late.
Dry ice is being handed out at:
- Arcadian Shopping Center, South Highland Avenue, Ossining;
- Diamond Properties (the former Grand Union warehouse), 333 North Bedford Rd., Mount Kisco.
Customer outreach vans also will be at those locations.
For residents picking up dry ice, instructions for safe handling and disposal are printed on the bag containing the ice. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide and should be used only in well-ventilated areas. Keep children and pets safely away.
The storm knotted the Wednesday evening commute for riders of the Metro-North Railroad, as downed trees and power poles suspended and slowed service in some places. The tracks were cleared and repaired and service was back to normal early Thursday, the railroad said.
Many residents were facing a longer cleanup. In Croton, a pine tree that had towered over Wilma Messenger's three-story house had toppled across her yard and into a neighbor's, she said.
Her 13-year-old son, Ari, had watched it fall from a second-story bedroom.
"It kind of sounded like Niagara Falls when it was falling,'' he said.
The company urges customers to report power interruptions or service problems online at www.conEd.com, or by calling Con Edisons toll-free customer service number 1-800-75-CON ED (1-800-752-6633).
1010 WINS reporter John Montone took photo of a downed tree on Route 120 in Chappaqua Thursday morning.
Photo of fallen tree resting on a house on Allendale Avenue in Allendale, N.J., by Tariq Zehaw of The Record -- Photo at right in story taken by 1010 WINS reporter Sonia Rincon as firefighters extinguished a fire involving downed wires in Oakland, N.J.
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