( CNN ) -- When Hurricane Irene hit , 11-year-old Zahir Robinson and his mother took shelter on a bed in the upstairs bedroom of their apartment in Newport News , Virginia . Just after noon on Saturday , an `` extremely large tree '' toppled by the high winds smashed into the room and pinned the youth beneath it , according to local police . Despite frantic efforts to remove the tree , including the use of a large crane to lift it , the boy died -- one of 15 fatalities in six states so far from the storm . Eight of the deaths involved falling trees or limbs broken off in the hurricane . While the prospect of toppled trees and crashing limbs is easy to imagine , planning against such a threat is difficult . In North Carolina , three of the six known deaths were tree-related , while the lone death reported in Maryland involved a tree falling on a house and all four deaths in Virginia -- including Robinson 's -- were caused by overturned trees . `` I am saddened to learn of this unfortunate tragedy , '' Newport News Mayor McKinley Price said of Robinson 's death . `` My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this young child . I urge our residents to take all precautions necessary to remain safe during and after this storm . '' Falling trees or limbs snapped off in high winds pose a particularly difficult threat to avoid . The size and weight of a toppled tree , which can exceed 10,000 pounds , make it an unstoppable force , while the random nature of falling tree limbs pose an unpredictable danger . When Hurricane Fran hit North Carolina in 1996 , half the 24 deaths there involved falling trees or limbs , according to information posted online by the Renaissance Computing Institute at East Carolina University . `` Before hurricane season , assess your property to ensure that landscaping and trees do not become a wind hazard , '' the National Hurricane Center warns on its website . `` Trim dead wood and weak / overhanging branches from all trees . Certain trees and bushes are vulnerable to high winds and any dead tree near a home is a hazard . '' CNN 's Tom Cohen contributed to this report .
NEW : Eight of the 15 deaths reported involved toppled trees or falling limbs . The fatalities include an 11-year-old boy in Virginia . -- A man was killed when a tree fell on his car near New York City, police said.