5 deaths on Long Island linked to snowstorm; 6th person found dead in snow, officials say

Five people died on Long Island in connection with the blizzard that dumped as much as 31 inches Sunday into Monday, and a sixth was found outside in the snow, officials said.

Three people died from shoveling snow in Nassau, according to county spokesman Chris Boyle. The deaths were either during or after snow-shoveling and were all heart-related, Boyle said.

None of them was found in the snow or on the street, according to Boyle, who did not have further information.

Three people died while outside in Suffolk, a county spokesperson said Tuesday when asked about storm-related deaths. Two of the people had heart attacks, one while shoveling snow, spokesperson Mike Martino said.

The third was found buried in snow outside a Deer Park housing complex by workers shoveling snow, according to the county police department, which didn't say if the death was weather-related. 

The workers discovered that man in the snow about 3:45 p.m. Monday as they shoveled a walkway at a housing complex on Parkcenter Drive, according to a police department news release. Homicide Squad detectives are investigating but they believe the man's death was not criminal in nature, the release said.

Snow from this storm was wetter and heavier than the late-January storm that dumped a foot of snow on Long Island, and there was more of it, increasing the risk for snow-shovelers. Cold weather increases the strain on the body, doctors told Newsday. 

Long Island authorities said at least six people died of snow- and cold-related deaths earlier this year. Most of those deaths were men older than 60 who had medical episodes connected to shoveling snow. 

Newsday's Nicholas Grasso contributed to this story.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.