Ice Storm Remnants Still Snarling Traffic; Power Outages Persist
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Snow and bitter cold snarled traffic and prompted another 1,650 U.S. flight cancellations nationwide on Monday, and thousands of North Texans were still without power after January-like weather barged in a month early.
The storm covered parts of North Texas in ice over the weekend and then moved East. Below-zero temperatures crowned the top of the U.S. from Idaho to Minnesota, where many roads still had an inch-thick plate of ice, polished smooth by traffic and impervious to ice-melting chemicals, making intersections an adventure.
Many travelers wished they were home, and people in homes without power wished they were somewhere else.
Some of the most difficult conditions were here in North Texas. More than 15,000 Dallas-area homes and businesses were still without power on Monday, according to electric utility Oncor. That was down from 270,000 on Friday. Dallas and Fort Worth students got a snow day.
More than half of the nation's flight cancellations on Monday were at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, dominated by American Airlines. About 650 travelers were stranded there Sunday night.
Nationally, there have been more than 6,100 flight cancellations since Saturday, according to FlightStats.com, including more than 2,800 by American or its American Eagle regional airline. American emerged from bankruptcy protection and merged with US Airways on Monday.
A flight cancellation meant that Fred and Brenda Mull of Oklahoma City spent Sunday night in a Dallas hotel instead of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. American canceled their Monday morning flight, too, and they weren't happy as they sat in the international lobby. They'd spent three hours on hold with American, which told them not to go to the airport or search for a new reservation — advice they ignored.
"Am I supposed to sit at the hotel and wait for them to call? And pay for the hotel?" Brenda Mull said. "They wouldn't have gone through bankruptcy if they ran it like a business." The couple was scheduled on another flight Monday night.
Half of the high school band from Norman, Okla. landed at DFW Airport on Monday after playing in a Pearl Harbor Day parade in Hawaii. But the flight for the other half of the band was canceled because of the ice, leaving them stranded for an extra day in Hawaii.
"Tough break for them, huh?" joked parent chaperone Tami Meyer.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
- Cowboys Fan Attacked, Beaten After Thanksgiving Day Game
- Texas Gov. Perry Signs "Merry Christmas" Bill
- Icy Weather Cancels Flights At DFW Airport
- Before Drug Sentencing Former Cowboy Sends Letter To CBS 11
- 4th Abduction Attempt In Tarrant County
- PHOTOS: Your Pet Pictures
