If you had told us at the beginning of the week that we’d be doing a “Helping Victims of the Brooklyn Tornado” post on Friday, we’d have asked you what you were smoking. Nonetheless, the latest tally is that the Brooklyn tornado damaged 32 houses to the point that residents were ordered to vacate. Many more homes were damaged. About 40 families, totaling 157 people, took shelter with the Red Cross at PS 314 on Wednesday night in Sunset Park and about 60 people remained yesterday evening. The Red Cross and city agencies are trying to find housing for them. In addition, about 40 percent of the trees in Leif Erickson Park came down.

The blog Right in Bay Ridge, which has been on top of the story from the neighborhood level, reports that there is a Red Cross Tornado Fund and that those that want to help the tornado victims can write checks or get money orders payable to the American Red Cross of Greater NY. The checks/money orders should say “Brooklyn Tornado” in the note section. They can be dropped or mailed to the Red Cross Brooklyn Office, which is located at 100 Pineapple Walk, Brooklyn, NY 11201