A scientist from Bristol now living in New York has described the scene of dozens of trees uprooted in her neighbourhood, which survived the worst of the damage caused by ”super-storm” Sandy that triggered devastating floods and cut power to millions of people on the US east coast.

Hannah Williams, 30, who moved to New York from Clifton in 2009 to work at the Institute for Cancer Genetics, lives on the Upper Westside in a sixth-floor apartment looking onto a sheltered courtyard. ”So we are high and dry so to speak,” Hannah wrote in an email.

“The worst threat to us is the empty food markets following panic buying and the fact that there is no way to get to work at the moment because the subway is suspended with no clear idea when it will be open again.

“Sadly, as with Hurricane Irene, the focus has been a lot on NYC but some of the smaller towns and villages out in the suburbs and countryside are likely to be much worse affected and suffer for much longer.”

After venturing out of her apartment once the storm had passed, Hannah said that “there is a strange atmosphere outside. Lots of people out strolling around checking out the damage. It feels like a holiday since no one can get to work.

“Nothing quite like the devastation downtown but still glad I wasn’t out and about yesterday night!”