(CNN) Two people have died, including a priest on his way to church, and hundreds of thousands of people remain without power after storms swept through much of the eastern US on Halloween.

Retired priest John Thomas Connery, 82, was on his way to a church in Newport, New York, on Thursday night, when he was swept away by floodwater, according to a deacon who worked with Connery at various churches in the area.

Father John T. Connery

Connery disobeyed a traffic control signal and drove into a flooded area in Norway, New York, said Michael Kopy, the state's director of emergency management. Connery got out of his car after it got stuck when the shoulder of the road collapsed, Kopy said. He lost his footing and was swept away, New York State Police said in a release.

Connery, who had served for 56 years and lived about 60 miles away in Glenville, planned to spend the night in the rectory and lead the All Saints Day mass in Newport on Friday morning, Deacon Jim Bower of the Holy Family Parish in Hicksville, told CNN.

"It's always a tragedy when anyone passes away and I think we always take it harder when its someone that we know and have a great deal of respect and love for," Bower said.

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