Dozens Of Florida Flights Cancelled, Delayed Over Blizzard
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Flights coming in and out of South Florida are being affected by a potentially paralyzing blizzard headed for parts of the east coast.
As of 3 p.m., 110 flights were delayed and 75 others were cancelled at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Delays are expected to be about 10 hours.
At Miami International Airport, as of 9:00 p.m. there were about 70 cancellations (20 arrivals and 50 departures) and 54 delays (42 arrivals and 12 departures) due to severe weather.
MIA officials also said flights from Charlotte Douglas International Airport have been cancelled for Friday.
All MIA flights to and from the following airports have been cancelled for Saturday:
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
- Baltimore–Washington International Airport
- Washington Dulles International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport
- LaGuardia Airport
- John F. Kennedy International Airport
- Newark Liberty International Airport
Maria Koppel will not get home to Charlotte, N.C.
"It's so weird. First time in my life that something like this has happened," said Koppel.
Chrissy Anderson is trying to make it back to Pennsylvania. It won't happen before Sunday.
"I'm going to stay an extra night until tomorrow," said Chrissy who added she didn't know where she would stay.
She wont be staying at the Miami International Airport Hotel.
"We're sold out. We don't have any rooms for tonight," said one of the attendants.
Surprisingly, the airport was not jammed with stranded travelers. The airlines did a good job of contacting travelers with texts and emails telling them not to come.
"We have taken a pro-active approach to let passengers know that their flight has been cancelled ahead of time,"said Alexis Coello with American Airlines.
Nationally, thousands of flights have been cancelled as others gear up for snowstorm Jonas. More than 77 million people will feel the effects of the historic storm -- set to cripple parts of the East Coast in just a few hours.
"I've lived in DC most of my life, and I don't know that I have lived through a forecast like this." said District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser.
In D.C., federal offices, as well as the nation's second-busiest subway system, will shut down this afternoon.
In, Maryland and Virginia, where blizzard conditions are also expected, crews began treating roads with salt hours ago. Hoping to avoid a repeat of yesterday's mess - when just an inch of snow caused accidents and delays throughout the area.
"What happened last night was not okay. That can't be repeated during the following days," said Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
In North Carolina -- power companies began cutting limbs hanging over the power lines Thursday.
As the weather system moves north, storm surge, coastal and inland flooding and beach erosion is a major concern.
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