A WEDDING party from Abertillery is trapped in New York due to Hurricane Sandy, which has already claimed 67 lives.

All 28 guests, including the bride Stacey Beecham and groom Dai Richards, flew over from Heathrow last Wednesday, October 24, for the nuptials on Friday, which best man Lee Richards described as "amazing".

However, the city that never sleeps is now deserted as it is braced for the hurricane to make landfall on the US eastern seaboard tonight followed by a surge of up to 3.5m in New York harbour, and local residents are worried, he said.

The party was due to fly home today but fear their departure will be delayed until Friday, November 2.

Mr Richards, younger brother of the groom, told the Argus: "The most worrying thing is to hear the locals saying how bad it is. The shopkeepers were literally nailing boards to their shops.

"It has gone really quiet over the last couple of days. We were in Time Square yesterday and to see the contrast now is quite strange."

The group organised their trip with a travel counsellor, who has taken care of the flights.

"None of our phones have signal so we have had no communication with the other guys from the wedding party," said Mr Richards, 29, who is staying near the Hudson river with his partner Kally, 23, and five-year-old son Ieuan.

"The wind and rain is starting to build up now and it has gone dark. We've packed our bags in case we get moved.

"For me it does add to the excitement of the holiday," he said. "We all said we'd like to stay longer, but maybe not under these circumstances."