Nearly Two Dozen Deaths Attributed To Irene
MIAMI (CBS4) – Nearly two dozen deaths in eight states have been attributed to Hurricane Irene.
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. The Orlando Sentinel reports the high school teacher had a large cut on his head, apparently from hitting the sea floor. He was pronounced dead shortly after being pulled from the water. In Flagler County, 55-year-old tourist James Palmer of New Jersey died Saturday in rough surf. Family members say they lost sight of him after he waded into the surf in North Florida. He was pulled to shore and his wife attempted CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
In Nash County, North Carolina a man was killed after a tree limb fell on him outside his home Saturday morning as outer bands from the storm brought near hurricane-force gusts inland. In Goldsboro police said a 15-year-old girl died Saturday afternoon after the SUV carrying her and family members collided with another SUV at an intersection where Irene had knocked out power to traffic lights. The victim and other family members were thrown from their SUV, and occupants of both vehicles were taken to the hospital. The girl's family was returning to northern Virginia from a vacation in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A man in Pitt County, North Carolina drove through standing water, went off a road and died after striking a tree on Saturday. Also in Pitt County say a man was found dead in his home after Irene's winds toppled a tree onto his house. A mother in Sampson County, North Carolina died Saturday morning when a tree fell on a car carrying her and two family members.
Newport News, Virginia authorities report that 11-year-old Zahir Robinson was killed when a large tree crashed through his apartment shortly after noon. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The boy's mother, who was in the apartment, was not injured.
In Brunswick County, Virginia a tree fell across a car Saturday afternoon, killing 67-year-old James Blackwell of Brodnax. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. In Chesterfield County police say a man died after a tree fell on a house that he was inside with six other adults. A woman in the house was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police in King William County, Virginia said a man was killed when a tree fell on him as he was cutting another tree on Saturday night.
A 58-year-old Harrisburg, Pennsylvania man was killed Sunday morning when a tree toppled onto his tent, state police said. The man was one of about 20 people at a party on private property in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, some of whom who decided to sleep outside.
A man in a camper was crushed by a tree in northeastern Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, state emergency management officials said. Police found his body shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday.
A motorist was killed when he lost control of his car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Carbon County, skidded over an embankment and hit a tree. State officials attributed the accident to the storm.
A woman who had called police early Sunday for help getting out of her flooded car in Salem County, New Jersey was found dead in the vehicle hours later.
A man in his 50s was electrocuted in Spring Valley, New York when he tried to help a child who had gone into a flooded street with downed wires. The child was in very serious condition at Westchester Medical Center's burn unit, said a spokesman for the Rockland County Emergency Operations Center.
Also in New York, police said they recovered the body of a woman who apparently drowned after she fell into Onesquethaw Creek in New Scotland, near Albany.
In Prospect, Connecticut, one person was killed in a fire that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said apparently was caused by wires knocked down by the storm.
In Queen Anne's County, Maryland a woman was killed when a tree fell on a house and caused the chimney to collapse. Another person in the house was not hurt.
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