Travel chaos has erupted across the US as a historic “bomb cyclone” brought blizzards and freezing temperatures to much of the country. Snow, ice and rain pummelled the East Coast and Midwest during one of the busiest periods of holiday travel.
More than 1,000 flights had reportedly been cancelled across the country and the FAA warned of flight delays in Minneapolis. Hundreds of flights were expected to be cancelled Thursday out of the travel hubs of Chicago and Denver.
“A festive Terminal A at La Guardia Airport this morning. New Yorkers trying to get to their holiday destinations ahead of the storm system moving in to the area. So far today more than 1,100 flight cancellations and nearly 6,800 delays across the country,” said NY1 reporter Alyssa Paolicelli on Twitter.
Delta, American Airlines, United, Frontier, Alaska, Southwest and other airlines have waived change fees for passengers choosing other flights to avoid the bad weather.
Jean-Paul Blancq got to Boston’s Logan Airport a day early for his Thursday flight home to New Orleans. Blancq had to take a bus to Logan from his seasonal job in New Hampshire and was unsure of the storm’s path.
“I hope that my flight doesn’t get cancelled because I don’t know what I’ll do,” Blancq said.
Bianca Thrasher-Starobin, a consultant and lobbyist in Atlanta, flew into New York Wednesday morning for an event and planned to fly out the same night.
“I’m trying to get out of this weather. I would have stayed longer but I just can’t take that chance,” she said as she raced through LaGuardia Airport.
Bus and train travellers were also bracing for cancellations and delays.
As of late Wednesday, Amtrak had cancelled train service on around 30 routes, some through December 25. Greyhound cancelled bus service on 25 routes for Wednesday and Thursday, including service from Las Vegas to Denver, Denver to St. Louis and Chicago to Minneapolis, Memphis and Nashville.
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“If you don’t have to be out driving, especially on Friday, we ask that you don’t be out there,” said Ron Brundidge, Detroit’s public works director. Brundidge said 50 trucks will be out salting major roads on around-the-clock shifts once expected rain turns to snow on Friday.
The storm would affect about two thirds of the country with around 200 million affected.
Pretty much everyone east of the Rockies will see extreme weather in the coming days, said Ryan Maue, a private meteorologist in the Atlanta area.
The severe weather was expected to reach as far south as the Gulf Coast with hard-freeze warnings in parts of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi.
