Virginia boy, Florida surfer among 37 Irene deaths

This Aug. 28, 2011, photo shows a tree that had fallen on a house in Queen Anne's County, Md., causing a chimney to collapse, killing one person. / AP/Queen Anne's County Office of the Sheriff

Last Updated 5:29 p.m. ET

Hurricane Irene has led to the deaths of at least 37 people in 11 states:

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, New Castle County Police found the bodies of two men who had sent a text message to a friend saying that 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.

68 Photos

Irene's flooding

Massachusetts (1):

• In Southbridge, a public works employee was apparently electrocuted by a downed wire at his home Monday morning as he headed to work, officials said.

New Jersey (4):

• 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, police said. Her body was found eight hours later in the vehicle, about 150 feet off the road, police said.
• The body of Ronald Dawkins, a 47-year-old postal worker, was found about two hours after he abandoned his partially submerged vehicle early Sunday and stepped into a hidden drainage creek, Kearny police said.
• Scott Palecek, 39, was walking in Wanaque when a pipe broke loose and swept him away in floodwaters Sunday, police said.
• The body of Jorge Hernandez, 25, of Point Pleasant Beach, was found Monday morning in a Manasquan River inlet jetty. Authorities think he might have gone there to watch the storm.
• The body of another man was found in Manasquan River inlet in Point Pleasant Beach on Monday afternoon. His identity was not immediately determined.

New York (5):

• Rozalia Gluck, 82, of Brooklyn, drowned in a cottage in the Catskills community of Fleischmanns that was swamped by floodwaters from a nearby creek.
• 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 afternoon, state police said.
• Police in Suffolk County say 68-year-old Joseph Rocco of East Islip drowned while windsurfing in Bellport Bay.
• One man died after his inflatable boat capsized on the Croton River, police said.
• The body of 68-year-old Jose Sierra, of the Bronx, was pulled out of the water at a marina Sunday afternoon. He accidentally drowned, authorities said.

North Carolina (6):

• A man was killed in Nash County after a tree limb fell on him outside his home Saturday morning.
• Goldsboro police say a 15-year-old girl from northern Virginia died Saturday after the SUV carrying her and family members collided with another SUV at an intersection where Irene had knocked out power to traffic lights.
• Authorities in Pitt County say a man was found dead in his home after Irene's winds toppled a tree onto his house.
• Another man in Pitt County drove through standing water, went off a road and died after striking a tree on Saturday.
• A mother in Sampson County died Saturday morning when a tree fell on a car carrying her.
• New Hanover County deputies recovered the body Sunday of Melton Robinson Jr., who had been missing since falling or jumping into the Cape Fear River.

39 Photos

Irene's trail of destruction

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 morning when a tree toppled onto his tent, state police said.
• A man in a camper was crushed by a tree in northeastern Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, officials said.
• 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 afternoon in the Wissahickon Creek, around a half-mile from where her car was found in the flooded waterway.

Vermont (2):

• Rutland Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Michael Garofano Sr. had been checking Sunday afternoon on a water system intake. His body was recovered Monday. His 25-year-old son, Michael Garofano Jr., had been with him and 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.

Virginia (4):

• Newport News authorities reported that 11-year-old Zahir Robinson was killed when a tree crashed through his apartment.
• In Brunswick County, a tree fell across a car Saturday afternoon, killing 67-year-old James Blackwell of Brodnax.
• Chesterfield County police say a man died at a Hopewell hospital Saturday after a tree fell on a house he was in.
• A King William County man, 57-year-old William P. Washington, was killed when a tree fell on him as he was cutting another tree Saturday night.

[jschamberlin]

Hey all you east-coast folks - first, hope y'all are safe. Second, - and this is for all those critical on the over-preparing - better take a look at the hurricane maps. While Tropical Storm Jose won't cause problems, tropical depression 12 (hurricane Katia by Thursday it looks like) is churning right towards Irene's starting point. Mind you, if it makes it to there, odds are it will at least be a cat 1 by the time it starts turning up the coast, if not stronger.

Better to be prepared and have it be a non-event, rather than be caught unprepared and end up in a body bag :-)

[2catnight]

A lot of these deaths were people who made stupid decisions and they could have put others at great risk who may have tried to help them. What part of evacuation do some people not understand?

[displeased2]

Did these people die in evacuated areas? I doubt it.

[DenverBroncofan]

@displeased2...All the beaches were closed, which leaves no excuse for the surfers

[Harden_Tar]

Anybody that was killed while they were surfing, canoeing, wading, or anything that was an elected activity are morons. For the people that drove into flood waters and were swept away, not so much, but common sense was not their strength. I do feel sorry for the folks that did the right thing and stayed indoors and had a tree kill them. I don't know what to say about the guy who was killed by a tree when he was sleeping outside during a hurricane.

[DenverBroncofan]

States had hundreds of thousands being avacuated from their homes, while surfers put themselves in harms way. It's too bad they drowned, no pity here for any of them other than their families.

[PR_in_Alabama]

Police in Suffolk County say 68-year-old Joseph Rocco of East Islip drowned while windsurfing in Bellport Bay.



R u kidding me!! C'mon New Yorkers u are smarter than that!.

[wlhoppers]

Apparently not

[sepa2]

He was a maverick

[credibility2]

The loss of life, at any age, is tragic. However, I'll never understand the stupidity of those who take risks in situations like this, just for the thrill of, and end up killing themselves. Not a nice thing to do to the remaining family members and friends who now grieve over this inexcusable situation.

[wlhoppers]

Very well said

[displeased2]

Right, we should cower in fear instead of taking advantage of ideal conditions. Paying the ultimate price (death) to live a little is a chance worth taking.