Daily News from New York, New York • 3

MAYHBM in the M0RE8IMG ,3 1 First twister to rip through borough since the 19th century City chaos as trees fall, rails and roads flood; SI driver dies A FEROCIOUS TORNADO spawned by a deadly, hundred-year storm cut a path of destruction through Brooklyn yesterday as record-setting rains drenched the city and crippled the subways into last night. The twister the most power r. c- Vt I Lcr 1 1 try nNy- voice cracked remembering her husband of 25 years who died in 2005. "I only stopped to get my wedding ring." The tornado categorized as an EF2 with wind speeds of 1 1 1 to 135 mph first landed on Bay Ridge Ave. between Third and Fourth according to the National Weather Service.

It roared along a northeast path, moving to 68th tearing the roofs off 1 1 homes, knocking once-mighty trees onto cars and ful to hit the city since the National Weather Service began keeping reliable records and the first to touch down in Brooklyn since 1889 tore roofs off dozens of homes and toppled hundreds of trees, with wind speeds reaching 135 mph. The storm dropped about 3 inches of rain on the city in just an hour, flooding streets and subways and causing a deadly car wreck on Staten Island. This story was reported by: PETE DONOHUE, NOAH FOWLE, ALISON FOX, ALYSSA GIACH1NO, ROBERT KAPPSTATTER, JONATHAN LEMIRE, ADAM USBERG, CARRE MELAGO, TINA MOORE, XANA O'NBLL, MCKREISMAN, JOYCE SHELBY and JESS WISLOSKI It was written by: JONATHAN LEMIRE The wild weather also created chaos in the city's morning rush hours, knocking out service or causing delays on every subway line, Hordes of soggy and angry commuters' were forced to abandon jheir normal travel routes. Thousands of others tost elec shattering apartment windows. "I heard the glass shatter all over the floor.

A huge piece of glass fell down in the place where I was sleeping," said Sarra Djemil, 21. "We heard somebody screaming for help. "A woman in the street had been pinned by a "tr? Piles and piles of trees, oh, my! In Brooklyn, 62nd St looks like a scene in The Wizard of Oz" yesterday after a twister hits borough hard, peeling roofs, zapping power and stranding commuters. Photo by Andrew tricity, and the airports suffered delays of up to an hour. This is Mother Nature at her best op-worst," said Lauren Gi-annone she surveyed the fallen tree near her Shore Road apartment a in Brooklyn.

"I thought it was "The Wizard of I called my husband who. was on ih'id way to work and asked him if the Wicked Witch of the West flew by." The Brooklyn cyclone hop-scotched through Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, first touching down about 6:30 a.m. The path of destruction was stunning. Crushed cars. Giant trees yanked from the ground.

Roofs peeled away. It was one of the most powerful storms in city history. "My roof was falling in one room at a time, it was all coming down," said Lame Mastellone, gazing at her devastated 58th St. home. "It felt like slow motion." beam, she needed three men to carry her inside." The twister next touched down in Leif Ericson Park Square, eviscerating trees and prompting Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to say the park "looked like it was the site of a World War artillery battle." "There was just nothing left," he observed.

The tornado obliterated the roof of a Nissan car dealership at 66th St. and Fifth Ave. The cyclone then skipped off the ground only to land at Sixth where it tore the awnings off several businesses. The winds diminished to 100 mph before the twister touched down for a final time along 58th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves.

But it was still strong enough to rip the roofs off five more homes. "It felt like a truck hit our building," said Michele Traverzo, 21. "The whole building shook." hours after the rain had stopped. "They should have a backup plan," said Tabatha Pulliza, 37, whose hour commute from the Bronx to Brooklyn took four times as long. "If I'm not giving up trying to get to work, why is the MTA giving up on us?" "This is ridiculous," said Michael Fassano, 47, a copy technician from Forest Hills, Queens.

The problems lingered into the night as MTA officials conceded the agency wasn't prepared and Bekim Korale, 39. "I worked at 40th St. and Park Ave. during last month's steam blast but compared to this, forget it." More than 40 buildings were shredded in all including one on 62nd St. which lost a brick wall, allowing passersby to look into the tidy home as the day grew sweltering with temperatures in the 90s.

About 100 people were temporarily homeless, officials said. An additional 14,000 people briefly lost power across the city, according to Con Edison. Roughly 730 customers remained without electricity at sundown, officials said. Five people suffered minor injuries, and a 23-year-old New Jer Mayor Bloomberg said. Unable to see in the deluge, the woman, whose name was not released, pulled over on the Staten Island Expressway.

She was then hit by another vehicle and her car burst into flames. Cops arrested the other driver, Yahov Rainshtein, 58, for getting behind the wheel with a suspended license. The storm dumped a record amount of rain on LaGuardia Airport 2:54 inches, crushing the previous high of 1.83 inches in 1976. Commuters were trapped in a chaotic quagmire as subways, buses and even cabs were halted by flooding. Furious New York Gov.

Spitzer demanded answers. After surveying a row of damaged homes in Brooklyn, Bloomberg said, "I don't know that God had rush hour in mind when the storms hit." jlemirenydaifynews.com I saw the twister and every- sey woman driving on Staten Is- ers raged at the MTA for failing "I knew I had to get out of there," said Mastellone, whose thing was flying ina circle," said died during the storm, to get thesubws. running even.