Candidate Killed In Storm: John Rose Of West Virginia Ran For House Of Delegates

Among the casualties of Hurricane Sandy was a Republican candidate for the West Virginia Legislature who was killed when a tree branch fell on him due to the storm.

John Rose, Sr., 60, who was a candidate for the West Virginia House of Delegates, died after he was hit by a falling tree limb while checking the fences of his deer farm in Barbour County, W. Va., his son, George Rose, told the Associated Press.

Chris Lawrence, a West Virginia radio show host, said on Twitter that John Rose was riding an ATV when the branch struck him.

As New York City and New Jersey dealt with flooding and storm surge from Hurricane Sandy, West Virginia was hit with another type of extreme weather during the storm: heavy snow.

Blizzard conditions were experienced in the Mountain State, with several feet of snow blanketing West Virginia from Sandy, which became a post-tropical storm after making landfall Monday night near Atlantic City, N.J.

Another snow-related death was reported in Barbour County. Cindy Hart, emergency services director of the county, said a man in his 60s died Tuesday after shoveling snow from the storm, the AP reported.

A third storm-related death occurred in Tucker County, where a 40-year-old woman was killed when her car smashed into a cement truck Monday, according to the AP.

In all, five deaths in West Virginia were attributed to the storm as of Wednesday.

The death toll from Sandy in the United States climbed to 55 as of Wednesday morning, according to figures compiled by the AP. In the Caribbean, the storm killed 71 people, although that number continues to increase.

A campaign website for Rose could not be found.