A tornado that hit this small, upstate city tore off rooftops, leveled brick buildings and toppled the steeples of two historic churches. No one was killed, but the twister left a debris-strewn scar through downtown and nearby areas. More than 370 homes were damaged. Residents are vowing to rebuild. But some of the damage on July 16 was so severe that the path forward is uncertain for many in this old manufacturing city, where people are more accustomed to digging out from snowstorms than from piles of rubble. Standing by the wreckage of his hot dog, catering and event business a week after the storm, Scott Smith gazed at the ruins of his storage space, which collapsed onto much of his equipment including tables, amusement rides and smokers. The 65-year-old owner of Scotty’s Hot Dogs plans to forge ahead with his enterprises. But he needs to find new warehouse space. “I do plan on rebuilding,” Smith said. “Is it going to be Rome? I would like to believe that.” The 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that was his first car was crushed. So was his first hot dog cart, which sat among a pile of bricks. “I was hoping to save it for my first grandchild one day, you know, start him or her out,” Smith said. “It’s kind of sad to see it sitting in that debris right now.” The July 16 tornado in Rome, which is home to about 32,000 people, was unusually destructive for this region, with peak winds of 135 mph (217 kph). It traveled for more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) and had an EF2 rating, considered “significant,” on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornadoes based on estimated wind speed and damage. Only about one in six tornadoes in New York are EF2 or greater, said Nick Bassill, director of the State Weather Risk Communications Center at the University at Albany. The Rome tornado was among 10 confirmed in the state that day. One of them killed an 82-year-old man about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of Rome who was struck by storm debris. The tornado roared through Rome like a locomotive, Smith said. He and his girlfriend, Wendy Goldenbaum, sheltered in his catering kitchen, holding each other as the building shuddered. In one particularly hard-hit area, four of the five homes that landlord Richard Secor owns likely will have to be demolished, he said, noting that includes one whose roof was ripped off but its occupants were OK. “Everything just lifted up like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and disappeared,” Secor said. Dozens of businesses already have sought relief funds, Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan said. Allison Graves has been working to haul stuff out of her New York Dance Academy studio, which adjoins a building that collapsed and took down a local landmark mural of a Revolutionary War hero on horseback. That left her building unusable and her plans are up in the air. “Where can we go? What can we do? I have been offered by some local studios some space if I want to go in and use their studios for the time being,” Graves said. Homeowner Willard Harvey is waiting for insurance information to decide how to proceed with his severely damaged house. He has a rural place up north where he and […]