Southeast student affected by spread of Hurricane Sandy

Elizabeth Fritch, a senior at Southeast Missouri State University studying TV/film and journalism, is a production intern at NBC Universal's "The Maury Show" and "The Trisha Show" in Stamford, Conn. Last year she was the Arts and Entertainment editor for the Arrow. Fritch experienced some of the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast on Oct. 29. According to CNN, dozens of streets were turned into rivers, 7.5 million people lost power and more than one hundred people have died.

Fritch was interviewed via email.

What part of the East Coast are you located?

I live in Stamford, Conn., where I work. It's in the southwestern region of Connecticut. It's about an hour northeast of New York City, and I'm about a 15-minute drive from the coast of Long Island Sound.

Was your area expected to get the effects of the hurricane?

Oh, definitely. There were warnings all over the television. They were tracking the storm for a while. We knew it was going to hit. But since I've never been in a hurricane before, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I wasn't that worried about it until about a day before it hit when my family kept texting me asking if I was ready for it.

What kinds of precautions were you told to take, and did you do anything to prepare for it?

In the beginning I hadn't really prepared at all. I had a few candles and thought I was set. It wasn't until about a day or two before the storm that I really paid attention to the warnings on the news. The news is what really worried me. It was on TV constantly, so I finally figured out it was a bigger deal than I was making it out to be. I have some family friends in Middletown, Conn., that have lived here for over 10 years, so they took me shopping and told me exactly how I needed to prepare. It wasn't until a day before the hurricane that I realized I could be without power and water for a while.

What did you experience when the hurricane finally hit?

Honestly, where I live nothing really happened. There were high winds, about 40-50 mph, with some wind gusts of 90 mph, but that was the scariest thing that happened. They called for an evacuation of some of the coastal streets, but I was fine where I was. Over 50 percent of Stamford lost power though, so I was very lucky to have it the entire time.

Did you have to stay a home for a couple of days like a lot of people did?

I stayed at home the day before to prepare for the storm. Then I stayed home on both Monday [Oct. 29] and Tuesday [Oct. 30] when the winds were the worst. On Wednesday [Oct. 31] I had to work, and I was so excited to get out of my apartment.

When you finally got to get away from home, was your area damaged badly?

Not really. I live downtown and walk to work, so I didn't get to see a lot of Stamford. I saw, like, one huge tree that was torn up at the roots. Other than that, there wasn't much. I heard there were a lot of trees down around the area though.

Did more of the surrounding areas around you get it worse, and what is the worst you have heard of?

Yeah, a lot of the surrounding areas were pretty bad. There were quite a few coastal areas in other towns in Connecticut that were flooded. The number of power outages was crazy. Lower Manhattan and the coast of New Jersey were hit the worst. It's so crazy to see the damage on TV knowing I only live a few hours away. I know people that still don't have power, and one of my friends I work with said he's not been in his house since the storm. He's had to bounce around from house to house because his house is flooded, and they still don't have electricity. He says he's pretty sure it's ruined.

Was there anything that you gained from experiencing such a disaster?

To pay attention and to listen to the authorities. If they tell you to evacuate, leave. It's not worth risking your life to stay in that kind of situation. I can't imagine what it would've been like to wake up and my whole apartment have been flooded. So, yeah, listen to the authorities and take all of the necessary precautions.