Tornadoes pummel New York’s Long Island and Delaware capital

First responders also rescued flood-stranded people after storms unleashed heavy rains in the US north-east

Residents in Delaware's capital and on Long Island, New York, were picking up the pieces on Friday after tornadoes touched down during sudden storms that battered the north-eastern US with heavy rains and left dozens of people stranded in their cars during flash flooding.

In Atlantic Beach on Long Island, the long peninsula that stretches out into the ocean to the east of New York City, images posted on social media showed a large funnel cloud over the water and small buildings torn apart at a beach club.