Perilous
Times and Climate Change
Hurricane Irene blamed for 40 deaths
August 30, 2011 - 11:19AM
AFP
Hurricane Irene is being blamed for at least 40 deaths in 11
eastern US states and Canada, as Vermont and upstate New York
suffered disastrous flooding.
The toll includes six dead each in New Jersey, New York state and
North Carolina, five in Pennsylvania, four in Virginia, three in
Vermont, two each in Connecticut, Delaware and Florida, and one
each in Maryland and Massachusetts.
One man in Canada, whose car plunged into a chasm after the road
was washed away, and another person in Vermont whose companion
also perished were missing presumed dead after being swept away by
floodwaters, police said.
Most of the fatalities were caused by falling trees, road
accidents, or people being swept away by floodwater as Irene, now
downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone over Canada, wreaked havoc
up the eastern seaboard.
The youngest fatalities were an 11-year-old boy killed by a
falling tree in his apartment on the Virginia coast and a
15-year-old girl who died in a car accident in North Carolina when
the traffic lights failed.
Six deaths were being blamed on Irene in New York state, including
a man who was electrocuted as he tried to save a child who had
gone into a flooded street with downed wires.
Another of the fatalities was a 68-year-old father-of-13 resident
of the Bronx who was found dead in the water after he went to
check on his boat in the marina.
Massachusetts reported its first death on Monday: a man
electrocuted by a downed power line, emergency management
spokesman Scott MacLeod told AFP.
A New Jersey rescuer died in hospital of injuries sustained on
Sunday when he was swept away by floodwaters in Princeton. He had
been on life support and was prematurely announced as dead on
Sunday by Governor Chris Christie.
More fatalities are feared after Irene barrelled up the east coast
late on Sunday into the densely populated northeastern states of
Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and then on
into Canada, dumping heavy rains.
Millions of people in the United States were still without power
and officials warned that flood damage from the massive storm's
heavy rains may be felt for days.
Irene earlier last week left at least five people dead in the
Caribbean, including one in the US territory of Puerto Rico and
two each in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.