Daily News from New York, New York • 5

DAMAGE COIXTTROIa jDcD DB MOM Many struggle to pick up the pieces afterstorm trashed businesses l'V, s. V- i pi.0 IA gi BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS, NOAH FOWLE and CORKY SIEMASZKO K' j' 1 i DAILY NEWS WRITERS SLUMPpD ON a stoop across the street from his tornado-damaged I Brooklyn home, John CardeUo held his head in his hands i "My life has been ruined," he said. 1 1 1 A day after the ferocious twister Spawned by one of the most powerful storms in city history tore through Brooklyn, millions of commuters returned to the subways and got back to work. But dozens of New Yorkers like Cardello were wondering where they would spend the night and how they would repair their homes.

Across southern Brooklyn, there was a cacophony of hammering and sawing as toppled trees were removed, damaged cars were towed and homeowners began making repairs. Sen. Chuck Schumer called on FEMA to fast-track federal aid to the hardest-hit neighborhoods in Bay Ridge and Sunset Park. "Local businesses and residents are dealing with something that hasn't happened in more than a century," said Schumer storm hit Bay Ridge and Sun-setJPark like a ton of bricks." The, city Office of Emergency Management released a staggering accounting of the raging storm: 60 buildings were severely damaged, and more than half of those Were evacuated; 30 people were left homeless; more than 500 trees were toppled. Ir Help couldn't arrive fast enough for a 54-year-old teacher whose hard-hit home on Bay Ridge Ave.

appeared on the cover of yesterday's Daily j- The tornado tore off the roof, destroyed the chimney and razed a fence damages he estimated at $50,000. "Now I don't know where to stay," said Cardello, who fled his house with the only item he was able to retrieve, a useless cordless telephone. "Maybe the Red Cross will have a place for me." Cardello's neighbor Raul Quinones, 72, also was locked out of his damaged house. "I'm just happy that nobody got injured," he said. On 86th St.

in Bay Ridge, city inspectors marked a half-dozen homes with red or yellow tags, meaning they were not safe for occupancy. "It's a bit eerie," said Gloria Fennikoh, 68, who lives on the block and whose house sustained minor damage. "It's people ypu see all the time and you worry" 0 John Cardello looks at his tornado-damaged home across Bay Ridge Ave. in Brooklyn. Cardello, who is staying with neighbors while he tries to figure out how to get home fixed, is one of about 30 city residents storm made homeless.

Photo by Debbie Egan-ChinDaily News At the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church on 68th the Rev. David Aja-Sig-mon prayed he'd find the money to replace the 15-foot-tall stained-glass window that was smashed by the storm. "The community will try to help us, and that's something that gives me comfort," he said. Over in Sunset Park, 47-year-old Javier Colon was trying to get somebody from the city to tell him what to do about his pickup truck, which was destroyed by a fallen tree. City Hall's suggestion that residents in need of help call 311 seemed like a cruel joke.

"Yesterday I tried all day to get through to 311," Colon said. "I'm still waiting to from jthem todays I'm trying to find out who is going to pay for the damage to my car," More than 127,000 calls were made to 311 immediately after the storm three times more than usual, the OEM reported. Samuel Johnson said his BMW was damaged and the tornado also nailed his building on 46th St. But he wasn't crying about it. "There are people who have lost a lot more than me," said Johnson, 71.

"After 91 1 1 saw how quickly the city can bounce back, and today it's the same." A massive cleanup also was underway in the subways, which literally were stopped on their tracks Wednesday when the storm dumped 3 inches of water on the city within an hour. Yesterday, an army of transit workers was removing trash and pumping out the remaining rainwater. Only the Queens Blvd. line trains reported delays of up to 30 minutes because of signal problems and repairs related to the storm. "The mixture of water and trash that blocked the pumps are just like leaves blocking a gutter," said a Times Square station agent, who declined to give his name.

"Today we are sanitation." Many straphangers were still furious that the MTA failed during the storm. "If after Sept. 11 they got it running, they can do it after a little rain," said Ari Steinberg, 36, as he boarded a 4 train to Union Square. "I expect the trains to work." With Alison Fox, Peter Kadushin and Adam Lis berg a csiemaszkonydailynews.com.