College Student Vishwaja Muppa Dies In Car Crash; University President Blames Hurricane Sandy And Power Outages

Vishwaja Muppa, a 21-year-old college student attending Stony Brook University was tragically killed in a car accident after the SUV she was riding in crashed into a police car.

The incident occurred at one of the many intersections that are currently without power as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

At 1:30am on Tuesday, Muppa was in the backseat of the vehicle in Port Jefferson, New York. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the SUV and three other passengers were taken to a nearby hospital, as was the Suffolk County officer, Rene Garcia. Garcia was released after he received treatment.

Muppa was pursuing a Master’s degree in Biology.

A day after the incident, Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged the impact Hurricane Sandy had on Long Island.

"Hurricane Sandy hit Long Island and the New York metro area particularly hard, and we must direct our resources to where they are needed the most and can help the most people," Cuomo said in a press release.

"Traffic lights are out in a majority of the intersections in Suffolk County and overhead street lighting is also out," the press release said. "Street signs were also damaged during the storm. Drivers should use extreme caution when driving, especially at night, when approaching intersections."

Dr Samuel L Stanley Jr , the president of Stony Brook University college, issued a letter to fellow students, citing Hurricane Sandy as the cause of Muppa’s death.

“Hurricane Sandy left a tragic casualty within the Stony Brook University campus community early on Tuesday morning,” Stanley Jr. wrote in a statement on the university website.

“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,” he went on to say.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, 8.5 businesses and homes were left without power. Currently, 3.8 million homes and businesses are without power, according to the Associated Press. At least 92 people have been killed in the United States, 46 of those deaths being in New York.