Ribs of Beef landlord Roger Cawdron.Photo: Steve Adams

With the eye of Hurricane Sandy set to hit New York City in the next few hours a Norwich pub landlord is among millions of people around the world keeping a close eye on the so called “Frankenstorm”.

In New York City, thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes and evacuation shelters have been set up in 76 schools.

Public transport has been halted and the New York Stock Exchange closed while dozens of flight dozens of flights to and from the east coast of America have been cancelled due to the threat of Hurricane Sandy.

Roger Cawdron, landlord of the Ribs of Beef pub in Norwich, has been watching the dramatic pictures of the storm unfold on our screens as he waits for news of his son, James, who lives in the Big Apple with his wife and three-year-old son.

Mr Cawdron tweeted his concern for family and friends in a message on social networking site Twitter today which said: “Really worried about our son & family n friends who live in manhattan . Pray they will be safe @FOHPOS @joneswoodfoundry @NYCanaries.”

The pub landlord, whose 42-year-old son has lived in New York for about 12 or 13 years and runs a business supplying hotels and bars with equipment, said: “We spoke to him yesterday - we normally do over the weekend - and he said they were a bit concerned about it as they were expecting very high seas - waves of up to 30ft which could actually breach the walls downtown.”

Mr Cawdron said he was hoping to speak to his son, who lives in Midtown Manhattan, later today but was “keeping an eye” on the situation.

Meanwhile US-based Norwich City fans have also taken to Twitter to reveal how they are holding up with the storm set to hit.

New York Canaries ‏@NYCanaries tweeted: “Hatches battened down, pantry stocked. Devices charged. Flashlights ready.”

The vast hurricane, about 520 miles across, has been dubbed Frankenstorm as it is to hit just before Halloween. It is moving slowly north-west and could linger over as many as 12 states for 24-36 hours, bringing up to 25cm of rain, 60cm of snow, extreme storm surges and power cuts.

Forecasters fear Sandy will become a super-storm when it collides with cold weather fronts from the west and north.

Sandy has already killed 60 people after sweeping through the Caribbean in the past week.

Campaigning for the US presidential election has also been disrupted, eight days ahead of election day At 08:00 EDT (12:00 GMT), Sandy was churning about 310 miles (505km) south-east of New York City, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Forecasters said its maximum sustained winds were 85mph (140km/h) with higher gusts.

Hurricane force winds extended for 175 miles (280km) and tropical storm force winds for 485 miles (780km), the NHC added.

The US Coast Guard said more than a dozen people on board a replica of HMS Bounty - built for the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty - had abandoned ship off North Carolina in the face of the hurricane.

They had taken to two life-rafts and rescue aircraft were on their way to them, officials said.

The eye of the storm is expected to barrel across the coast of mid-Atlantic states by Monday night, the NHC said.

Have you been affected by Hurricane Sandy? Email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk and mark.shields@archant.co.uk