NEW YORK CITY — Hurricane Sandy’s death toll rose to 41 Wednesday, as authorities proceeded with the grim task of identifying the cause of death for the dozens of people left dead in their homes and on the streets of Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan after the storm.
A spokeswoman for the city's medical examiner said the count was evolving every day.
"It's an ever-changing process," Ellen Borakove, the M.E. spokeswoman, said, "The numbers will be changing as the recovery continues."
She also explained that the categorization of whether a death was hurricane-related was also prone to change as law enforcement found additional information about the circumstances.
William McKeon, 78, who lived on Shore Front Parkway in the Rockaways, was added to the list of storm victims late Wednesday after succumbing to what the medical examiner said were storm-related injuries.
Among those who have been removed from the list of Sandy victims are Herminia St. John, 75, who died in her Gramercy home at 444 Second Avenue in Manhattan after power for her respirator shut off Monday night during the storm.
Rose Faggiano, 85, who was found dead inside 164-25 98th St. in Queens by firefighters on Oct. 30, was also determined to have been the result of natural causes, the source said.
The vast majority of storm victims were found in Staten Island, with 22 bodies recovered. Nine were in Queens, seven in Brooklyn; and two in Manhattan, Borakove said.
As of Friday, the deaths in the city from Hurricane Sandy include:
BROOKLYN
► Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, and Jacob Vogelman, 23, were killed by a falling tree Oct. 29 while walking their dog on a Ditmas Park street the night the storm struck, the FDNY and residents reported. A neighbor found the couple the next morning and Streich-Kest and Vogelman were pronounced dead at the scene. Their dog Max was alive and taken in by a neighbor.
► A neighbor found an 87-year-old man lying face down in the living room of his apartment at
► Cy Schoenfeld, 72, was found unconscious and unresponsive by police on Tuesday Oct. 30 in his home at
► An unidentified 91-year-old woman was found unconscious Tuesday Oct. 30 when police responded to a 911 call at a
► Richard Krins, 67, was found unconscious and unresponsive when police arrived at his home at
► An unidentified 51-year-old man was found unconscious and unresponsive by police Thursday Nov. 1 in a grassy area near
► An unidentified 48-year-old man was found unconscious and unresponsive by police on Thursday Nov. 1 in front of
► Anthony Narh, a
► Frank Suber, a 55-year-old Staten Island man, was found dead inside a commercial building at
QUEENS
► Lauren Abraham, a 23-year-old
► Anthony Laino, 30-year-old
► Henry Sullivan, 57, was found dead Oct. 30 in the basement of his home at 426 Beach 136th
► Nancy Gavin-Sorensen, a 50-year-old
► Rick Gold, 67, was discovered by a neighbor in the basement of his house at 511 Beach 133
► An unidentified 72-year-old man was found in bed on Tuesday Oct. 30 having apparently drowned at 161 Beach
► An unidentified 84-year-old woman was found at 325 Beach
► Eden Toussaint, 58, was found by police in the basement of his home at 420 Beach 69 St., near
► George Stathis, 90, was discovered at 154 Beach 121 Street the morning of Saturday Nov. 3. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The medical examiner determined that he drowned.
► William McKeon, 78, was found unconscious and bleeding from his head at the bottom of a wet, sandy stairwell inside his home on Shore Front Parkway in The Rockaways after Hurricane Sandy hit. McKeon died Tuesday Nov. 6 night at Jamaica Hospital from what the medical examiner determined to be storm-related injuries.
► Angela Dresch, 13, was found dead at
► Arthur Kasprazak, an NYPD officer, was killed Monday Oct. 29 while off-duty as he helped seven family members, including a 15-month-old boy, escape rising flood waters by leading them to the attic of his
► John Filipowicz Sr., 51, and his son, John Filipowicz Jr., 20, drowned while clinging to one another when the storm surge filled their home at
► Beatrice Spagnuolo, 80, was found unconscious and unresponsive in her home at
► Andrew Sammarco, 61, was found dead Tuesday Oct. 30 at
► Ella Norris, 89, was found unconscious and unresponsive at
► Leonard Montalto, 53, was found dead in his home at 176 Fox Beach Ave., in Oakwood, on Wednesday Oct. 31. The medical examiner determined that she drowned.
► Anastasia Rispoli, 73, was found unconscious and unresponsive in her home at
► Eugene Contrubis, 62, was found dead on Tuesday Oct. 30 in his home at
► Anna Gesso, 62, was found Tuesday Oct. 30 floating in her basement at
► James Rossi, an 85-year-old man who lived at
► Patricia Bevan, 59, was floating in a pool of water on the first floor of her home at
► Jack Paterno, 65, was discovered by police Tuesday Oct. 30 floating in a pool of water just within the front door of his home at
► George O'Regan, 79, was picked up from his home at 70 New Lane Wednesday Oct. 31after he had apparently fallen down a flight of stairs in the dark. He was taken to Staten Island University North hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
► Marie Colborne, 66, and Walter Colborne, 89, were discovered in a wooded lot at Tennyson Drive and Nelson Avenue, about a block from their Harbour Court home Thursday Nov. 1. A neighbor said the couple did everything together. "That was the beautiful thing about the two of them," said Ricci Martin. "They were always together." The medical examiner determined that they both had drowned.
► Brandon and Connor Moore, brothers 2 and 4-years-old respectively, were discovered in South Beach, Staten Island Thursday Nov. 1, four days after they were swept from their 29-year-old mother’s grasp by rising floodwaters Monday night. After her home lost power, the boy’s mother packed them into a blue Ford Explorer and headed toward relatives in Brooklyn, police said. But flood waters stalled the SUV near the 400-block of Fr. Capodanno Boulevard, so she and her two boys left it to find help. Her boys were swept away and she wasn’t able to find them in stormy dark. The medical examiner determined that both had drowned.
► Charlotte Breuers and David Hagley, 77 and 65-years-old, were found Friday Nov. 2 unconcious and unresponsive at 1025 Olympia Blvd., in New Dorp, police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene and the medical examiner determined that they both drowned.
For a map showing the location of where the deaths occurred, click here.
With reporting by Nicole Bode, Wil Cruz, James Fanelli, Ben Fractenberg, Matthew Katz, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska, Tuan Nguyen, Nicholas Rizzi, Sonja Sharp, Andrea Swalec, and Janet Upadhye.