Perilous
Times
Storm-related deaths rise to 10 as Hurricane Irene pummels
US East Coast
* From: NewsCore
* August 28, 2011 4:10PM
AN 11-year-old boy and a teenage girl were among at least ten
people who died today when Hurricane Irene pounded North Carolina
and Virginia as it made its way along the heavily-populated US
East Coast.
Three deaths as a result of Irene were confirmed by officials in
Virginia, five in North Carolina and one in Maryland.
A spokeswoman confirmed the death in Maryland to FOX New Channel.
It reportedly occurred when a tree fell on a house in Queen Anne
County causing a chimney to collapse.
Earlier in Virginia, an 11-year-old boy, identified by police as
Zahir Robinson, died after a tree crashed on to a two-story
apartment building in Newport News, pinning him for nearly
two-and-a-half hours before he was pronounced dead, The
Virginian-Pilot reported.
Also in the state, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that
67-year-old James Blackwell died after a tree fell on a car in
Brunswick County, approximately 185km from the Atlantic coast,
while a Chesterfield man was killed when a tree fell onto a house
just before 3pm.
In Goldsboro, North Carolina, a 15-year-old girl died today when
her father's car crashed at an intersection that was without
functioning traffic lights because of a power outage, The Raleigh
News & Observer reported. Four other children were in
hospital.
Two other deaths in North Carolina also came in cars, with one
driver dying after his vehicle hydroplaned into a tree in Pitt
County and a woman passenger killed when the car she was in struck
a tree in Sampson County.
Another two people were killed when their car ran off the road
near Franklinton, 113km north of Goldsboro, but it was unclear if
the wreck was related to Irene, according to the News &
Observer, which also reported that Goldsboro's 911 centre had its
roof blown off by strong winds.
Earlier today, a man was struck and killed by a large tree limb
brought down by Irene's winds in Nash County, North Carolina,
approximately 240km inland. The man reportedly went outside to
feed his animals when he was hit, local officials said.
In Onslow County, North Carolina, a resident died from a heart
attack while boarding up his windows with plywood yesterday, the
North Carolina Division of Emergency Management told the News
& Observer.
In Florida, a surfer was pronounced dead in New Smyrna Beach,
160km south of Jacksonville, after a monster wave knocked him off
his board. Authorities said he may have been killed by a blow to
the head, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
Authorities also said today that a man, Milton Robinson Jr, 27,
had been reported missing in the Cape Fear River in Castle Hayne,
North Carolina. The search for him will resume tomorrow.
And on Thursday night, a 22-year-old surfer, Lee Terrell, drowned
in a rip current off the Virginia Beach coast in what The
Times-Dispatch called the first Virginia death linked to the
hurricane.