A New York Tornado?

Yesterday, I finally had time to go to town on the front garden.   The garden used to be pretty flowers.  (This is what the flower garden used to look like, back in June.)

However, this summer with the relentless heat and lack of rain really did a number on the flowers.  This is what it looked like yesterday before I pulled all things dead.  I am so embarrassed to even show y'all this photo.  Hahaha  What I hate the most about this garden, is that we had sprinkled some "wildflower" seeds in July, when the garden was starting to look sad from the heat.  Well, I realized, I really, really hate cosmos!  LOL.  See that busy thing in the middle?  It's a cosmos and it never flowered, and I let it grow because I thought it would, and it's like gigantic mess!  We put the same wildflower seeds in the backyard and we have like 30 of these nasty cosmos growing everywhere.  Never again!

I have to say, it is fun to rip out the old stuff.  This is what it looked like afterwards.  I left the perennials alone, and some of the plants that still have buds.  And yes, I left that dang Cosmos in.  Only because I want it to flower because I left it in there all summer, I figure it still might bud.  Glutton for punishment, I know, but if it doesn't flower, I'll be even more annoyed that I left it there all summer.

Here is the left side of the garden.  The zinnias are still going strong, so I couldn't bare to pull it.  Miss Zinnia, you are definitely welcomed back in my garden next year.

When all was said and done, one big bucket of old flowers and weeds for the compost!

I was lucky to get all this gardening done before a fierce thunderstorm and a "tornado!" ripped through the boroughs.  Seriously, all of the sudden the sky turned ominous, dark and really windy.  I moved all the container plants against the house so that they could be less likely to topple over.   Then sheets and sheets of rain!  Wow!

This morning, I watched the local news. This is a video of the storm in action!
http://video.newyork.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5120759&at1=News&h1=Terrifying%20Storm%20Caught%20on%20Video&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Here is video from a channel 2 news chopper showing the path of destruction. The storm ripped up trees from all directions. So scary!
http://video.newyork.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5120751&at1=News&h1=Retracing%20the%20Steps%20of%20the%20Storm&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

This is what happened in Staten Island. We got the beginning of the storm and they said it got more powerful as it moved north toward Brooklyn and then Queens. We got gusty winds and sheets of rain, but they said on the news that as the storm moved upwards, it just because more furious. We are lucky we didn't get any damage on our property or street, but I am thinking about all those that weren't as lucky. They are in my thoughts.
http://video.newyork.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5120747&at1=News&h1=A%20Mess%20in%20Staten%20Island&flvUri=&partnerclipid=