GUILDERLAND — A death in McKownville last week after Tropical Storm Irene swept through has been classified as “secondary to the storm,” according to Guilderland Police.

Elizabeth Slagle was checking on the flooding in her basement when she fell down the stairs; a neighbor found her on Monday, Aug. 29, when she checked on her in her Parkwood Avenue home, Lawlor said. Slagle was 88.

“Whether or not the death was storm-related is very interpretive,” said Carol Lawlor, chief of the Guilderland Police. “Since she wasn’t struck by lightning or swept away in a river, I’d call it secondary.”

Slagle lived alone in her McKownville home; the rest of her family lives in Georgia.

The family held special calling hours in her home on Wednesday evening, inviting neighbors to share their memories of Slagle.

— Anne Hayden