Tiffany Edmondson
Blue & White Flash / Associate Editor
Hurricane Sandy has left its mark on Jackson State University as well as the lives of millions of east coast residents.
Days after Hurricane Sandy made landfall, it’s tropical remnants savaged the east coast leaving 22 Jackson State students stranded in the Big Apple.
On Friday Oct. 26, 17 students and two campus advisors flew to New York City to attend the 12th Annual Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute and Career Fair.
Danny Jackson, a senior English major from Memphis, Tenn., is one of the more than 500 Historical Black Colleges and University students who attended the institute and who is now stranded in the Hilton Hotel. Luckily, they are provided three full course meals a day.
Jackson said that the area where they are residing didn’t experience much damage compared to the Queens, Bronx, lower Manhattan and New Jersey. “There are millions of people without power and some homes have been burned and flooded. Wireless service was also out making it extremely hard for people to call their loved ones and call for help.”
Traveling to NYC ahead of the storm was a big risk but no one ever imagined that the storm would impact the tri-state area as much and as fast as it did. Storm surges as high as 13 ft splashed onto the coastal areas flooding homes, streets, airports and the subway system. Even hospitals were closed due to power outages and failed generators.
Once the LaGuardia Airport was shut down, all inbound and outbound flights to New York were canceled leaving the JSU students wondering if they will ever be able to depart the storm ravaged city. However, the JFK and the Newark airports have reopened.
Terica Hudson, a junior criminal justice major from Chicago, Ill. and the JSU student advisor for the Thurgood Marshall Institute, said that the students are all safe but they are very concerned about returning back to JSU.
“We are worried about getting back so we can get back to class for our grades,” said Hudson. “With only a few weeks left in this academic semester, this is a major concern.”
Jackson said that they were told that it is their responsibility to notify their professors about the issue at hand. He also stated that the university will approve their absences in light of the circumstances.
“I’m ready to come home because my school work is piling up,” said Jackson.
Although mother nature took it’s course in NYC, it still didn’t prevent the institute participants from taking advantage of the various workshops that were offered.
Ironically, Miss JSU Sarah Brown, was able to flee the area before the storm made landfall.
As of now, the students are planning to fly from New York to Nashville, Tenn. on Friday where they will be picked up by a JSU bus and driven back to Jackson. The university awaits their safe return.
