Snow Strands Travelers At Local Airports
MIAMI (CBS4) - As the northeast woke up to another wintry mess, hundreds travelers in South Florida who had flights booked to Boston, Newark and Washington D.C. found that they'd be enjoying another wonderful day in paradise.
On Thursday Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport reported that 35 arrivals and 13 departures had canceled. Miami International Airport's live flight tracker reported 26 departures and 11 arrivals had been canceled. Most of the flights canceled were to Newark, Hartford, Philadelphia, Boston and New York. Across the northeast hundreds of flights have been canceled
At MIA, Eva arrived bound for Brooklyn "What's doing in New York"? Have you heard anything?" Then she saw the departure board with canceled next to her flight. "That is not exciting news."
Eva, like a number of other travelers at MIA, is in travel limbo as flights to the northeast are canceled due to the weather. This latest storm to hit the northeast is the sixth storm in six weeks and most folks from that region are over it.
"We were iced in, we were snowed in, we were miserable," said 'Judy'.
"So why would you want to go back," asked CBS4's David Sutta.
"That's a good question," replied 'Judy', "Because I'm a New Yorker."
Bob and Karen Genalo just returned to Miami from cruise. They said they got a weather update from their daughter in New York and it left them cold.
"Twelve inches of snow and nobody is going to shovel my driveway for me," chuckled Karen Genalo.
"Last week I was out in Chicago," said Lynn Ware, "Last Monday, I was delayed getting home for 18 hours.
Ware said she played it smart this time and called ahead. The airline said her flight was scheduled to leave on time so she went to the airport.
"I got here, checked in and they said my flight is tomorrow," said Ware.
Shari and Tom Nocter's flight out wasn't canceled, but it wasn't what they were hoping for when they arrived at the airport.
"They could get us to Cleveland but they couldn't get us anywhere else. They could get us to Atlanta, but couldn't get us up to the Northeast. The Northeast is shutdown," said Shari Nocter.
The Nocters said they thought about it and come up with a Plan C - as in C-U Later.
"They rescheduled us for 8 o'clock Saturday morning so we are going to try to get back on the Emerald Princess and take another 10 days cruise instead of going back and fiddling with snow," said Tom Nocter.
Overnight wild weather dumped up to a foot of snow in some places in New York and in Washington D.C. hundreds of thousands of residents were left without power. Even the Commander in Chief was affected. Wednesday night President Barack Obama's motorcade was stuck in traffic for an hour on its way back to the White House for a trip that usually takes 20 minutes.
While many of the morning flights to and from the northeast were canceled, airlines are optimistic about afternoon flights. Passengers are urged to check with their carrier before heading out to the airport.
