I've been reading that the man killed in Flushing, the two boys killed in Salem and the man killed in Pearl River were killed in their homes by fallen trees.
Moral?
G-d is in charge. We can and should take reasonable precautions, but we are not in control. People can listen to instructions to avoid going outside and get killed by the storm by being inside.
Apparently, rabbonim in safer zones did not think it was forbidden to leave the house during the storm for minyan, yeshiva, mikva and weddings because I did not hear or read of any such announcements. Whoever was mesader kiddushin at weddings during the storm (with at least one chuppa outdoors) held it was permissible to be there and for guests to attend the wedding.
You know how sometimes (often) people say, "If only one person is affected/killed/inspired/helped ..." But that does not seem to be how the halacha or logic works in many of these cases. Rabbonim didn't say, if only one person might get injured or killed nobody should leave their house. It's good they didn't, because indoors wasn't necessarily the safest place to be.
May all those still lacking electricity have it restored immediately!
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My son works as a para in a yeshiva and that yeshiva was open throughout the storm, albeit for limited hours. Other yeshivas were closed but Torah learning never ends, at least at that school. My son did have to climb out of his apartment to avoid a downed wire but with Torah learning, it was business as usual.
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