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WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two people died in the U.S. state of Virginia Saturday, bringing to four the death toll from Hurricane Irene which started slamming the U.S. East Coast with high wind, torrential rain and flooding.
An unidentified person was killed in Brunswick County sitting inside his car when it was struck by a tree toppled by strong wind and heavy rain caused by Irene.
This was the second death from the storm reported in Virginia after a 11-year-old boy was killed earlier the day when a tree crashed through his apartment in Newport News City, said Bob Spieldenner, spokesman with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
The unidentified boy and his mother were inside their apartment home when a large tree fell. The boy was dead on the scene, but his mother escaped unhurt, according to city spokeswoman Cleder Jones.
In North Carolina, where Hurricane Irene made first landfall early Saturday morning, a man was killed in a rural area of Nash County after he was hit by a large tree limb while walking outside his home.
On Friday, another man living in the Onslow County, North Carolina, died from heart attack while putting up plywood board to the windows of his house to shield it from the storm, according to the North Carolina Emergency Management Agency.
As expected, Irene has caused flooding and power outages in North Carolina, even as it was downgraded Saturday morning from Category 2 to Category 1, with weakened force.
U.S. government officials warned on Saturday that Irene, though a little weakened after it reached the shores of North Carolina, remained "dangerous" and residents on the East Coast have to take it seriously and get prepared.
Irene has already demonstrated its destructive force after making its landfall in North Carolina on Saturday morning, bringing about high wind, torrential rain, flooding and power outages. About one million residents in North Carolina and Virginia were reported to be left in dark on Saturday as the storm knocked out power supply in many residential areas.
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