Official: Four Dead After Homes Collapse in New York Storms

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Oliver Darcy.›

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SMITHFIELD, N.Y. (AP) — Officials in central New York say four people are dead and four homes have been destroyed in building collapses amid severe thunderstorms.

A spokesman for the Madison County emergency management office says the deaths were reported Tuesday evening in Smithfield, located between Syracuse and Utica. No details were immediately available.

Woodmoor (Silver Spring) family ofm5 will be displaced - large tree crashed into house at 10621 Lorain Ave, no injury pic.twitter.com/9iwSid2i9O

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 9, 2014

Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley did not identify the victims. He told The Post-Standard he was still notifying their families.

Riley said in a television interview that dogs are being used at the Smithfield site to search for additional victims and that neighbors are being interviewed.

3 deaths due to high winds in Smithfield NY which is southeast of Syracuse. Photo Credit: @uticaOD. #nywx. pic.twitter.com/LaeLmHRnRM

— NWSBinghamton (@NWSBinghamton)

July 9, 2014

National Weather Service meteorologist Joanne LaBounty says investigators will determine if a tornado touched down.

The emergency management office spokesman says there is widespread damage in the towns of Sullivan and Lenox, between Syracuse and Utica.

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