Actress Denise Richards has urged fans to donate to the American Red Cross in the wake of Hurricane Sandy after watching the superstorm devastate New York City.

The former Bond girl is currently in the Big Apple filming a new project, and she was forced to retreat to her hotel room on Monday as heavy wind and rain battered the city.

Richards ventured outside to check out the threatening weather and she was horrified by the city's empty streets - in a post on Twitter.com, she wrote, "NYC looks very eerie...restaurants are closed & stores closed early..very desolate outside."

And on Tuesday the actress reached out to her followers, asking them to donate to charity in a bid to help the victims of the storm.

She tweets, "love & prayers to those devastated by the hurricane... please help by texting REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to disaster relief Sandy."