Kangaroo Flat expat Jay Davey says he is currently in the eye of the storm.

The masters student has been living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the past two years and described the atmosphere as miserable.

“The storm has definitely lived up to the hype, it is a strange feeling,” Mr Davey said.

“We haven’t copped a lot of the rain but it is dark – it is miserable.”

Mr Davey said he hadn’t lost power yet and the immediate threat was trees falling on the road.

Meanwhile another Bendigo expat has told of the complete darkness covering the city that never sleeps.

Briony McCarthy has lived in New York for five years and is currently stuck in lower Manhattan.

The former Catholic College Bendigo student said she had been on high-alert since yesterday.

“Earlier today I was at the Hudson River and it was rising and a friend just told me that it is now overflowing and flooding into the streets,” Miss McCarthy said.

“If I look out my window it is just darkness, it is surreal.” 

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Also in New York is White Hills woman Halina Hall who has bunkered down in a Soho hotel to wait out the storm.

Miss Hall told the Bendigo Advertiser her hotel had lost power and that winds had hit up to 170 kilometres an hour.

The Bendigo Wholefoods employee described the feeling in New York as like something out of the movies.

“It is so surreal. It is like a war zone,” the 35-year-old said.

“It is windy, rainy and cold. It is something I have never experienced before.”

Miss Hall, in New York for a conference, was due to fly home today but with flights cancelled said she now expected to leave on Thursday.