Hurricane Irene Blamed For More Deaths

Hurricane Irene has led to the deaths of at least 40 people in 11 states. The total is derived from state and local law enforcement agencies, emergency officials and family members:

CONNECTICUT: 2

_ In Prospect, 89-year-old Charlotte Levine was killed early Sunday when a falling tree limb pulled power lines onto her house and started a fire.

_ In Bristol, 46-year-old Shane Seaver died after he and another man went canoeing down a flooded street and the canoe capsized. Seaver's body washed ashore late Sunday in Plainville.

DELAWARE: 2

_ In Hockessin, police found the bodies of two men who had sent a text message to a friend saying they were running through Irene during the height of the storm.

FLORIDA: 2

_ In Volusia County, 55-year-old Frederick Fernandez died Saturday off New Smyrna Beach after he was tossed off his board by massive waves caused by Irene.

_ In Flagler County, 55-year-old tourist James Palmer of New Jersey died Saturday in rough surf.

MARYLAND: 1

_ In Queen Anne's County, Md., 85-year-old Anne Bell was killed when a tree knocked a chimney through the glass roof of the sunroom where she was sitting.

MASSACHUSETTS: 1

_ In Southbridge, 52-year-old public works employee Richard Gorgone was electrocuted Monday when he touched a railing on his front porch that was electrified by downed power lines.

NEW JERSEY: 6

_ Michael Kenwood, an emergency medical technician, died of injuries after being knocked over by floodwaters in Princeton.

_ Celena Sylvestri, 20, of Quinton called her boyfriend and then 911 early Sunday seeking help getting out of her flooded car in Pilesgrove. Her body was found eight hours later in the vehicle, about 150 feet off the road.

_ The body of Ronald Dawkins, a 47-year-old postal worker, was found after he abandoned his partially submerged vehicle Sunday and stepped into a hidden drainage creek.

_ Scott Palecek, 39, was walking in Wanaque when a pipe broke loose and swept him away in floodwaters Sunday.

_ The body of Jorge Hernandez, 25, of Point Pleasant Beach was found Monday in a Manasquan River inlet jetty.

_ The body of another man was found in Manasquan River inlet in Point Pleasant Beach on Monday. His identity was not immediately determined.

NEW YORK: 8

_ Rozalia Gluck, 82, of Brooklyn drowned in a cottage in the Catskills community of Fleischmanns that was swamped by floodwaters.

_ A man in his 50s was electrocuted in Spring Valley when he tried to help a child who had gone into a flooded street with downed wires.

_ Sharon Stein, 68, drowned in a creek as she and her husband were evacuating their New Scotland home Sunday.

_ 68-year-old Joseph Rocco of East Islip drowned while windsurfing in Bellport Bay.

_ A man died after his inflatable boat capsized on the Croton River.

_ The body of 68-year-old Jose Sierra of the Bronx was pulled out of the water at a marina Sunday afternoon.

_ The bodies of 23-year-old Mikita Fox and Danine Swamp were pulled from a river in Altona after their vehicle plunged into the water while crossing a storm-damaged bridge.

NORTH CAROLINA: 6

_ Katherine Morales Cruz, 15, of Manassas Park, Va., died Saturday in a two-car collision at an intersection where Hurricane Irene had knocked out power to the traffic lights.

_ Ricky Webb, 63, who lived on a farm near Nashville, was killed after a tree limb fell on him when he went outside to feed his horse Saturday.

_ Tim Avery, 50, was found sitting in a chair facing the television after strong winds toppled a tree onto his Ayden home.

_ Jose Manuel Farabia Corona, 21, of Dover died in a Pitt County traffic accident after his SUV went off a road and twice slammed into trees Saturday as Irene's began to make landfall.

_ Sabrina Anne Jones, 26, of Clinton died when a tree fell on a car carrying her, her husband and their young daughter Saturday in Sampson County.

_ Deputies recovered the body of Melton Robinson Jr., who had been missing since falling or jumping into the Cape Fear River as storms reached North Carolina.

PENNSYLVANIA: 5

_ Michael Scerarko, 44, was killed Sunday when a tree fell on him in his yard.

_ A 58-year-old Harrisburg man was killed Sunday when a tree toppled onto his tent.

_ A man in a camper was crushed by a tree in northeastern Pennsylvania's Luzerne County.

_ A motorist was killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when he lost control of his car during the storm in Carbon County, skidded over an embankment and hit a tree.

_ The body of 64-year-old Patricia O'Neill of East Norriton was discovered Sunday in the Wissahickon Creek, about a half-mile from where her car was found in the flooded waterway.

VERMONT: 3

_ The body of Rutland Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Michael Joseph Garofano was recovered Monday, a day after he was checking on a water system intake in Mendon. His 24-year-old son, Michael Gregory Garofano, was still missing.

_ A body recovered from the Deerfield River is believed to be that of a woman who fell in while watching flooding in Wilmington.

_ Police said another man was found dead in Lake Rescue in Ludlow.

VIRGINIA: 4

_ 11-year-old Zahir Robinson was killed when a tree crashed through his apartment.

_ 67-year-old James Blackwell of Brodnax was killed when a tree fell across a car Saturday in Brunswick County.

_ A man died at a Hopewell hospital Saturday after a tree fell on a house he was in.

_ 57-year-old William P. Washington of King William County was killed when a tree fell on him as he was cutting another tree Saturday night.

Comments

[PlayTOE]

12:14 PM on 08/30/2011

We are clearly sending our condolences to those who lost loved ones, but we can also take lessons from those who died.

A few died or were injured while trying to help others, and these deserve our highest honor.

Some died due to lack of knowledge. Downed power lines are dangerous, flood water is dangerous, windows break so we need to be careful, these lessons cannot be stressed enough. Evacuation orders protect you and the rescue crews who would need to risk their own lives to rescue the stupid, the ill informed and obstinate.

Some died due to outrageous stupidity. I think surfing in a hurricane qualifies for a Darwin award, and 55-year-old Frederick Fernandez earned his nomination.

If we learn from these who died, then their deaths have at least achieved some good.

[richntee]

10:26 AM on 08/30/2011

HERO'S-* A man in his 50s was electrocuted in Spring Valley when he tried to help a child who had gone into a flooded street with downed wires.
* An emergency medical technician, died of injuries after being knocked over by floodwaters in Princeton. THINNING OUT THE HEARD - Volusia County, 55-year-old died Saturday off New Smyrna Beach after he was tossed off his (SURF) board.
* 85-year-old was killed when a tree knocked a chimney through the glass roof of the sunroom where she was sitting.(maybe her age and mental condition had something to do with it)
* 68-year-old man of East Islip drowned while windsurfing in Bellport Bay.
* A man died after his inflatable boat capsized on the Croton River.
* A 58-year-old Harrisburg man was killed Sunday when a tree toppled onto his tent.
* In Hockessin, police found the bodies of two men who had sent a text message to a friend saying they were running through Irene during the height of the storm
* In Bristol, 46-year-old man died after he and another man went canoeing down a flooded street and the canoe capsized VICTIMS All the rest of the deaths Regardless of the reasons my sincerest condolences to the loved ones left behind (And maybe lessons could be learned from the poor choices made by the THINNING THE HEARD group, next time there is a dangerous event think of the sadness of the loved ones you leave behind.)

[LeBelAge]

08:03 AM on 08/30/2011

Its clear that some people who died do not take mother nature seriously. You don't go outside during or shortly after a hurricane.

[MCTSilverlakeCA]

03:14 AM on 08/30/2011

While listing the deceased from natural disasters is an honored way to remember them, listing the ones who died because they totally ignored safety and deliberately put themselves in harms way for a lark - like surfing -- in my opinion - do not belong on the same page.

[aFtersootdamP]

12:43 AM on 08/30/2011

A sad tally, but one of the lowest of any hurricane.

[WarriorLemming]

08:14 PM on 08/29/2011

We are all walking towards our inevitable deaths that will happen one day but the people who died surfing in the storm seem to be running towards their deaths. Sad for those family members left behind realizing the reckless behavior of a loved one.

[hateadem]

01:07 AM on 08/30/2011

I doubt that those who lost family will be thinking about how it happened as much as it did happen. It is half a heart that offers condolences and then adds a swipe of insult to it.
My heart breaks for all those who lost family , friends, pets and homes during this disaster. Thoughts and prayers will continue to be said for all of you. Blessings for better days ahead.
from North Carolina.

[Sanndy Myer]

07:25 AM on 08/30/2011

Agreed, and well said...from Virginia.