AMERICA - Hurricane Irene Snips ("because it is so large")

"Officials: At least 21 killed as a result of Hurricane Irene" by CNN Wire Staff, CNN 8/29/2011

Emergency officials said at least 21 people in nine states have died as a result of Hurricane Irene.

• North Carolina -- 6


• Virginia -- 4


• Pennsylvania -- 4


• New York -- 2


• Connecticut -- 1


• Maryland -- 1


• New Jersey -- 1


• Florida -- 1


• Vermont -- 1

Authorities are trying to determine whether an additional death reported in New York is connected to the storm.

Here is a state-by-state breakdown:

• New York

-- A 50-year-old man was electrocuted Sunday while attempting to aid a father and son who came in contact with a downed power line on a flooded street in Spring Valley in southern New York, police there said.

-- The body of woman who apparently drowned after she either fell or was swept into a storm-swollen creek was recovered Sunday near New Scotland, New York State Police said.

-- Authorities are trying to determine whether the drowning death of a windsurfer whose body was discovered Sunday in New York's Bellport Bay is related to Irene, Suffolk County Police said. This death is not among the fatality count until the determination is complete.


• Pennsylvania

-- One person was killed in an overnight traffic accident in Carbon County, said Ruth Miller, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

-- In separate incidents, a man in a camper and a man in a tent were crushed when trees fell on them, Miller said.

-- Miller did not immediately have details on the fourth death, but said it was a storm-related fatality.


• Connecticut

-- Gov. Dan Malloy told reporters that state police were reporting an apparent storm-related fatality "related to downed wires."


• Florida

-- Witnesses spotted a 55-year-old surfer face-down in the water Saturday off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, said Capt. Tamara Marris, a spokeswoman for the Volusia County Beach Patrol. He was nonresponsive and had a large cut on his head when emergency personnel examined him. Marris said the death was connected to the storm because "the surf that we had this morning was a remnant of Hurricane Irene."


• Maryland

-- A woman in Queenstown, Maryland, died Saturday night after a large tree knocked a chimney through the roof of her home, crushing her, according to Kevin Aftung, the chief of emergency Services for Queen Anne's County.


• New Jersey

-- A woman was killed when floodwaters swept away her car, Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday. Christie had said earlier that a firefighter was killed while attempting a water rescue, but later said he was given "bad information." The firefighter remains in intensive care.


• North Carolina

-- One person was killed when a tree fell on a car driving down a highway in Sampson County, North Carolina, state emergency management spokesman Ernie Seneca said.

-- A child died in a car crash at an intersection in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where the hurricane had knocked out power to the traffic light, Goldsboro Police Capt. Anthony Carmon said. The crash occurred when a car carrying a family drove through the intersection and struck another vehicle, Carmon said. Several people inside the car sustained injuries.

-- A motorist died after he lost control of his vehicle and struck a tree in Pitt County, Seneca said.

-- A man feeding livestock in Nash County died after he was struck by a tree limb, Seneca said.

-- A man in Onslow County died of a heart attack as he put plywood over his windows in preparation for the storm, Seneca said.

-- A sixth person was killed in North Carolina, Gov. Bev Perdue said. CNN affiliate WITN reported that the man was found dead in Pitt County after winds from Irene toppled a tree onto his house.


• Vermont

-- The body of a woman who was swept into the river in Wilmington has been found, the state's emergency management office said Monday.


• Virginia

-- A man in Chesterfield County died after a tree fell on his home, emergency officials said.

-- A man was killed in Brunswick County, Virginia, after a tree fell on his car, said Eileen Guertler, a spokeswoman for the state's emergency operations center.

-- In Newport News, Virginia, an 11-year-old boy died after a tree crashed on an apartment complex, authorities said. The boy and his mother were lying in bed just after noon when the tree pinned him, CNN affiliate WVEC reported.

-- An older man in King William County, Virginia, died after a tree fell on his house, according to the state's emergency management department.

"Eastern Seaboard Braces for Potentially 'Historic' Hurricane Irene" PBS Newshour Transcript, 8/26/2011

Excerpts

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): But emergencies were declared in at least six states and the District of Columbia. And up and down the East Coast, national, state and local officials added to the urgency.

SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JANET NAPOLITANO: Given the amount of rain associated with this storm and the likelihood of flooding, however, I would encourage you not to focus too much on whether it's a Category 2 or a 3. If you are in the storm path, you won't be able to tell much difference.
----
ED RAPPAPORT, National Hurricane Center: This is -- has a couple unusual aspects.

Of course, the one you have been talking about already, and that is a threat for the Northeastern United States, probably the most significant tropical event for some areas in the last 20 years there. What makes this also different is that, while the strength of the storm is down a little bit, and it's not nearly as strong as some we have seen in the past, it is still a significant threat.

And one of the reasons is because it is so large. The area of hurricane-force winds will take close to 10 hours to pass some areas, and tropical-storm-force winds could be sustained for 24 hours in other locations, too.

So there is a concern about the duration of the storm. In addition, those winds are going to raise the water level, the storm surge by four to eight feet over portions of the coastline all the way from North Carolina to southern New England, so dual concerns there along with some possibility of excessive rainfall and freshwater floods inland to the west of the center.

JEFFREY BROWN: And as you watch this -- you were just talking about the strength issue. I don't know if you heard Janet Napolitano in our tape piece talking about, whether it's a 3, whether it's a 2, it's still powerful, something to be concerned about.

But what strengthens -- what makes it pick up strength or lose strength along the way here as you're watching?

ED RAPPAPORT: We don't think there will be any significant strengthening. In fact, the weakening trend that we have seen, while slow, is good news. And we think that the weakening will -- this trend will persist all the way through southern New England.

That means that we're looking at a Category 1 to Category 2 landfall in North Carolina, and then a Category 1 hurricane all the way up the U.S. coast, East Coast, from there, either right on the coast or just offshore into southern New England.

The storm just doesn't have the internal structure to be able to support a very intense maximum wind. But it does have the energetics of a strong storm. It is just spread out over a large area.