Derecho-storm toll 2 dead in Northeast

— The storm that rolled across the United States on Thursday, killing at least two, leaving thousands without power and scrubbing more than 1,000 flights, was a weak version of a rare windstorm known as a derecho.

The storm, spawned by a larger cold front that stretched from Texas to the Northeast, “was certainly a low-end derecho,” said Stephen Corfidi, a meteorologist at the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

A derecho is defined as having gusts of at least 58 miles per hour and leaving a swath of damage for a minimum of 240 miles.

“As far as it being on par with what occurred on June29, no,” Corfidi said, referring to a more powerful storm that killed at least 24 and left 4.3 million people without power from New Jersey to North Carolina. “It wasn’t right up there with the earlier event.”

New York Assistant Attorney General Richard Schwartz was killed by the storm, according to a statement from Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. Schwartz died after lightning knocked bricks and a scaffolding off a church in Brooklyn, the New York Post reported.

A woman in Genesee, Pa .,was killed when a tree fell on her, according to Accu-Weather Inc.

About 386,000 customers in five states lost power, the majority in New York and Pennsylvania. The storm also spawned a possible tornado in Elmira, N.Y., in Chemung County, and caused so much damage there that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the region.

In addition to the deaths and power failures, 1,012 flights were canceled Thursday as a result of the storm.

Front Section, Pages 3 on 07/28/2012

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