Holiday flights scrapped as massive winter storm sweeps US
Tens of millions of Americans endured bone-chilling temperatures, blizzard conditions, power outages, flash flooding and canceled holiday plans Friday (Dec 23) from a winter storm that forecasters said was nearly unprecedented in its scope, exposing about 60pc of the U.S. population to some sort of winter weather advisory or warning.
Nearly 4,800 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Friday (Dec 23) and more than 7,700 flights were delayed, according to the tracking site FlightAware, causing more mayhem as travelers try to make it home for the holidays.
"We've just got to stay positive. Anger is not going to help us at all," said Wendell Davis, who plays basketball with a team in France and was waiting at O'Hare in Chicago on Friday after a series of flight cancellations. After his flight to Cincinnati was canceled Friday afternoon, Davis was considering renting a car and driving to Columbus, since train service was suspended. But first he was trying to locate his luggage.
More than 200 million people were under an advisory or warning on Friday, the National Weather Service said. The weather service's map "depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever," forecasters said.
The huge storm stretched from border to border. In Canada, WestJet canceled all flights Friday at Toronto Pearson International Airport, beginning at 9 a.m.
Forecasters said a bomb cyclone -- when atmospheric pressure drops very quickly in a strong storm -- had developed near the Great Lakes, stirring up blizzard conditions, including heavy winds and snow.
Even though fleets of snow plows and salt trucks have been deployed, driving was hazardous and sometimes deadly. The Kansas Highway Patrol said three people were killed in separate vehicle collisions in northern Kansas this week. The collisions occurred Wednesday evening as bitter cold and snow was moving through the region. The drivers involved in the collisions lost control of their vehicles on icy roads.
In Kansas City, Missouri, a driver died Thursday after skidding into a creek. Meanwhile, state police in Michigan said reported multiple crashes Friday, including a pileup involving nine semitrailers.
All bus service was suspended in the greater Seattle area Friday morning. And DoorDash suspended delivery service because of hazardous conditions in parts of several states, including Minnesota and Iowa.
In Maine, gusts approaching 70 mph (113 kph) were reported along the coast Friday morning. Atop New Hampshire's Mount Washington, the tallest peak in the Northeast, the wind topped 150 mph (2410 kph). The governor closed state offices, ferry service to Casco Bay islands was suspended and flooding was leading to some water rescues.
In Boston, rain combined with a high tide, sent waves over the seawall at Long Wharf in Boston and flooded some downtown streets.
It was so bad in Vermont that Amtrak canceled service for the day, and nonessential state offices were closing early.
"I'm hearing from crews who are seeing grown trees ripped out by the roots," Mari McClure, president of Green Mountain Power, the state's largest utility, said at a news conference.
Calling it a "kitchen sink storm," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday as wintry weather heads into the state.
In far northern Indiana, lake-effect snow rolling off Lake Michigan could boost storm totals to well over a foot in some areas by Sunday, said Mark Steinwedel, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Syracuse, Indiana.
"It's really going to add up," he said, predicting "pretty awful travel."
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