As damages caused by Sandy are being weighed, death toll in New Jersey, New York area too is rising.
In the latest of Sandy deaths, an Indian-origin woman studying at New York's Stony Brook University has been declared dead after her SUV crashed into a police officer's car during Sandy.
21-year-old Vishwaja Muppa was studying master's degree in Biology and was aspiring to study medicine.
"Hurricane Sandy left a tragic casualty within the Stony Brook University campus community early on Tuesday morning," wrote Dr Samuel L Stanley Jr., the president of Stony Brook University in a statement.
"On behalf of Stony Brook University, I extend personal and heartfelt condolences to Vishwaja's family, her friends, her professors and all those who knew her," Stanley said.
He has also offered counseling to anyone at the school who express the need to talk about the loss of one of their own community.
As Huffington Post reports, Muppa 'was in the backseat of her friend's vehicle with other Stony Brook University students when it was hit by a police car at 1:30 am Tuesday in the town of Port Jefferson, N.Y. She was pronounced dead at the scene.'
Suffolk County police officer Rene Garcia who slammed into Muppa's SUV suffered some concussions and was released after the treatment. Other three friends of Muppa too were injured. Officers from neighboring county say the failure of traffic lights at the junction where the mishap occurred may be the reason behind the crash. The accident is under investigation.
According to Times of India, Muppa's parents M Narendar Reddy, a private contractor and mother Jyothy stay in New Jersey.
"She was such an amazing person," Simi Jawandha, SBU student and friend of Muppa, said in a Facebook message. "I think everyone should know that. She was literally the first friend I made in college and more than my best friend she was a sister," reports SBStatesman.
