Families travel early to dodge possible winter storm in Philly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Thursday and Friday are expected to be the busiest travel days of the holiday season. But that powerful winter storm is threatening to freeze a lot of people's plans.
Holiday travel is well underway. Many drivers CBS3 spoke with say they left early to beat the messy weather that's headed our way. AAA also has some tips if you are headed on the road.
"We are taking presents for everyone we are going to meet and there is more in the back of the car," Ajay Barma said.
Holiday travelers are hitting the road with some holiday tunes.
One family left a little bit earlier than expected to dodge the winter storm.
"That's the reason we are traveling tonight. We were supposed to travel tomorrow morning," Barma said.
AAA says roadways will be slick during peak holiday travel as the temperatures plummet. They say drivers should be prepared by checking their batteries and tires. They also recommend a winter emergency kit.
And in the air, just as busy.
"Between today [Wednesday] and Jan. 3, we could see about 980,000 passengers coming into and out of PHL," Heather Redfern, an airport spokesperson, said.
The Philadelphia International Airport is monitoring the storm and so are passengers.
"We moved our flying date up a day to avoid the storms," a woman said.
Despite the traffic and inconveniences of traveling.
"It's the holiday season of cheer and joy, go meet family and friends," Barma said.
AAA responded to nearly 125,000 emergency roadside calls just in the Philadelphia five-county area alone and almost 30% of those calls were for dead batteries.