Hurricane Irene hit the United States on Saturday, battering the Eastern Seaboard with winds as strong as 115 mph.
But while around two million people have been urged to evacuate areas expected to be in the path of the hurricane, one British family have so far been urged to stay put.
New Jersey resident Heather Chambers, who has lived in the United States with her husband Glen for two and a half years, told the Huffington Post UK on that she had never seen anything like it before.
"I'm here with my husband, our two children, one's three months one's 18 months, and a friend of ours who was going to go to New York but can't get there," she said.
"Nothing like this happened in the UK," she said. "Everyone on Facebook [in Britain] is whinging about drizzle over the bank holiday weekend!"
She added: "We've already had an earthquake this week and now we're having hurricanes as well."
"We get updates via email from the town council here and they've said to be prepared to be evacuated, but they are not planning to," she said.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged residents to leave the city as staying behind was "foolish". But one New Yorker awaiting Irene in a city bar told the Huffington Post UK that many people did not know how seriously to take the warnings.
"I would say it is just bizarre because you are not sure to take it seriously or not," she said. "Some store fronts are boarded up and lines at the grocery store are around the comer. Yet people are also out running and many bars are holding pre-hurricane parties.
She added: "Also my friend lives on the water and had a mandatory evacuation but she evacuated across the street to my place."