The Redbridge councillor whose American cruise turned into a nightmare when Superstorm Sandy struck is finally back home on dry land.

Cllr Ian Bond, the deputy council leader, was due to spend the last part of his holiday with his brother and elderly mother in New York.

But when they finally got there on Friday, it was to catch a flight home as soon as possible.

Cllr Bond said: “We were inconvenienced but the people in New York were the ones who really suffered.

“The city was in a terrible state, the petrol queues were huge.

“Homes were ruined, there were power shortages and there were abandoned cars all over the place where people had kept on driving until they ran out of gas.”

There were reports of people breaking into car parks to siphon petrol from vehicles and fights breaking out at overcrowded petrol stations.

Cllr Bond had to spend the night in the airport car park in a hire car with his brother and 81-year-old mother when hotels were too full to take them.

He said: “It’s not what you expect from one of the biggest cities in the world but we’ve never experienced weather like that in this country.”

Cllr Bond hopes to visit New York again in better circumstances.