New York: Thousands Without Electricity as Hurricane Sandy Recovery Begins . Photo: Mr. Choppers.

A tree knocked down amid Hurricane Sandy killed two Jews in Brooklyn on Monday night while they were walking a dog, the New York Observer reported.

Jacob Vogelman, 23, and Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, growing up were part of synagogues in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn—Vogelman attending Congregation Beth Elohim (Reform), and Streich-Kest attending Kolot Chayeinu (progressive)—reported the Forward, which identified Vogelman and Streich-Kest as a couple.

Vogelman and Streich-Kest were found dead in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park neighborhood. Streich-Kest was a teacher at Bushwick High School for Social Justice, and Vogelman was studying at Brooklyn College.

“Jessie loved life and was deeply devoted to social justice,” Kest family spokesman Jonathan Westin said in an email statement, according to the Observer.