Winter Storm Stella leaves several dead across Northeast, Midwest states

 The late-season winter nor’easter claimed a number of lives as it swept across coast after barreling through the Midwest, including a New Hampshire teen who died in a crash at the beginning of the storm.

Ava Doris was driving west on Cherry Valley Road when she lost control of her Sedan and crashed into a tree, the Concord Monitor reported. Police responded to the crash in Rocky Road around 7 a.m.

The 16-year-old driver had just left home Tuesday and was en route to meet her father, who dispatched police calls in Gilford.

Once they freed her from the vehicle, first responders rushed Ava to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia, where she later died, police told the Monitor.

Police said the snowy road was a factor in the crash.

A Massachusetts man also lost his life in the March blizzard after a train collided with a public works’ truck in Longmeadow.

An Amtrak train around 4 p.m. Tuesday struck one of the city’s snowplows as it was crossing the tracks in the Wildlife Refuge area, WGGB reported. The male driver, an unidentified Longmeadow public works employee, died instantly.

He was reportedly clearing snow off the tracks by Pondside and Bernie Road in the Meadows area of town, which does not have lights or crossing signals.

There were not any passengers on the train at the time of the crash and the incident is currently under investigation, according to the news station.

A man in Connecticut was also killed Tuesday afternoon after he was hit by a snowplow.

The 82-year-old unidentified man was cleaning off his car — parked in the lot of Willow Arms Apartment Complex — when the private contractor plow struck him while it was backing up, police told WFSB.

He was taken to the hospital where he died a short time later, according to the news station.

An additional four men in Milwaukee, all over the age of 60, died in snow-removal related incidents. Three of them — ages 68, 78, and 64 — died while shoveling, while the fourth, 76, lost his life while operating a snow blower, TMJ 4 reported.

Winter Storm Stella, while it did not pummel New York with 2 feet of snow as predicted, did close down almost the entire city.

Authorities warned residents over the tri-state area to gear up for the potentially crippling consequences of the storm and a state of emergency was declared for many states up and down the coast.

By 9 a.m. Tuesday the warning was downgraded to an advisory, with the Big Apple getting only 7 inches of snow.
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