Pennsylvania officials confirm 12 Sandy-related deaths

Pennsylvania officials confirmed Friday that 12 people in the state died in Sandy-related events, with two others unofficially linked to the storm.

Still being investigated as possibly related to the storm are the Bucks County deaths of a 64-year-old woman and a 95-year-old woman. The house they were in caught fire after power was restored, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said.

Agency officials say that four of the confirmed storm-related deaths, including that of a 90-year-old woman in Upper Merion Township, were due to carbon-monoxide poisoning from portable generators.

"What we're starting to see - and it's a concern - is the carbon-monoxide exposures," said Glenn M. Cannon, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

An 8-year-old child in Susquehanna County died when a tree limb struck him outside his family home, and a 62-year-old Berks County man was killed when a tree crashed onto his house. Two people in Lehigh County died from exposure to the cold. Two were in vehicle accidents related to the storm.

Cannon also noted the number of elderly victims, who often are frail or have medical needs that can't be met in bad weather.

An 88-year-old Wayne County woman fractured her neck and died when she fell down the stairs in her home, which had lost power.

The storm was only one factor in the death of an 82-year-old Wayne County woman.

The woman, whose name a relative asked to be withheld, was a widow who had suffered the loss of her only child about 18 months before. She lived alone, with no family in the immediate area, Wayne County Coroner Edward R. Howell said.

During Sandy, according to the coroner's report, a tree fell on the woman's house. It was one hardship too many. Distraught, she picked up a gun and killed herself with a single shot, according to the report.