MIAMI, Fla. – Before the chaos of winter weather sets in, South Florida airports are seeing a surge in travelers, some fleeing the cold and others flying straight into it.
Nearly 10,000 flights across the United States scheduled to take off over the weekend were canceled as a powerful storm began to wreak havoc saturday across much of the country, threatening to leave millions without power for days and severely complicate roads with perilous ice, The Associated Press reported.
Michael Evan Harder arrived at Miami International Airport on Saturday from Texas and said he “thought I would be a lot better here.”
While some seek warm temperatures, others head straight for frigid weather.
John Wilder, who was returning home to Boston with his wife Dottie after a Royal caribbean cruise, said: “When you go on a trip in January, you know that when you come home there is a good chance that there will be snow.”
Onc the storm hits, they will stay home for a couple of days.
The winter storm is expected to affect more than half of the country, with historic snowfall possible in the Northeast and ice accumulation from freezing rain in southern states. This has led to widespread flight cancellations and delays.
Airlines including American, Delta, Southwest and United have issued travel advisories and are allowing passengers to reschedule or cancel flights scheduled for the coming days.
Alex McHale,who flew from Texas with a friend,said: “I wouldn’t recommend flying into this. Better stay somewhere warm like this.”
John and Dottie Wilder said they plan to prepare at home for the storm.
“Just shovel snow little by little, enjoy it, watch football and hope there’s food in the house,” Dottie Wilder said.
John Wilder added: “what I think a lot of people don’t understand is that it’s not just the planes going to those areas,but the planes coming from there. They can’t get here to pick you up and take you back, so it’s going to be a disaster all over the East Coast.”
Travelers at airports from Charlotte to san Antonio reported confusion and delays as airlines scrambled to adjust schedules.
David Loy, who was traveling from Miami to Charlotte with his wife, said their flight was canceled, forcing them to change to an earlier flight.
“I can’t control it. It’s like, oh, I’ll have one or two or three more days in Miami,” he said, trying to stay positive.
In San Antonio, Robin Cason and friends were trying to return from a Bahamas cruise after their first flight was canceled.They were waiting to see if a flight from Baltimore would arrive on time.
“The flight coming in is from baltimore,so we’re wondering if it’s going to arrive or not,” cason said.
Passengers from Georgia arrived bundled up in coats and hats as they faced delays. Diane Olexa, traveling from Atlanta, said she expected worse conditions.
“We thought it would be horrible and we wouldn’t get out of Atlanta, but it hasn’t hit Atlanta yet,” he said.
Travel disruptions are expected to continue into the weekend. Lisa Cantrell, connecting from Chicago to kansas, said heavy snow in parts of the Midwest could leave her stranded.
“They’re only supposed to get two inches. Topeka and Kansas City are in the 11-inch range of snow, so we’ll probably be stuck in Chicago,” he said.
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