Irene floodwaters
Hurricane Irene killed at least 40 people, many of whom drowned in flooded streets like this one in Wayne, N.J. Reuters

The Hurricane Irene death toll continues to rise, including a Holocaust survivor who was found dead in floodwaters on Sunday in a Catskills cottage.

According to the New York Daily News, 82-year-old Rozalia (Leah) Stern-Gluck drowned in a cottage while vacationing in Fleischmanns, NY.

Stern-Gluck was trapped in the cottage at the Valkyrian Motel after a nearby creek overflowed during the brunt of Hurricane Irene as it swept New York. More than six feet of water flooded the cottage nestled in the Catskill Mountains.

Brooklyn resident Stern-Gluck was found on Sunday by New York State Police investigators.

Brooklyn Hasidic community leader Isaac Abraham told the New York Daily News that Stern-Gluck was a Holocaust survivor. She survived Hitler, but she couldn't survive Irene, he said.

The Hurricane Irene death toll climbed to 40 victims in the wake of the disaster as of Tuesday. Deaths spanned from nearly all of the eleven states affected by the storm and more casualties will most likely be reported as floodwaters ebb.

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