A COUNCILLOR, his elderly mother and brother experienced a disaster holiday after they were caught up in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

As America struggles to return to normality after the hurricane wrecked havoc across the east coast last week, cllr Ian Bond of Roding ward is now back on home soil.

The family were on a cruise booked for his mother's 80th birthday as the hurricane hit.

On Tuesday their ship was being held against the dock wall in Boston by tugboats as heavy rain fell and strong winds blew.

His ship was due to dock in New York the following morning, but as the port was damaged in the storm the ship took a 600 mile detour to South Carolina.

He said: "The whole thing was a disaster in so many ways.

"The ship went into panic. The staff tried hard to cope, but it was just complete chaos."

When the trio arrived in South Carolina they flew back to Philadelphia, hired a car and drove three hours back to New York in time to catch their flight home from John F Kennedy airport on Friday.

Cllr Bond added: "We pitched up in New York quite late on Thursday and tried finding somewhere to stay, but the worst problem was with so many people made homeless they were staying in hotels as well.

"We ended up sleeping in the hire car in the airport car park, with half of our luggage on the back seat.

"The damage in New York was incredible. The whole of New York was like a disaster zone.

"It was worse than anything we would see in this country. Cars were just abandoned in the streets and everywhere was shut down.

"It wasn't quite the holiday my mother had planned for her birthday.

"But what we went through was nothing compared to what people are going through at the moment."

Almost two million people are still without power and the number of dead stands at 85.

The New York Marathon was cancelled on Sunday so the clear up of the city could begin.