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Reporter: Now that winter weather emergency we've been talking about with just
three days ago until Christmas with more than 180 million Americans hit with (1)
subzero temperatures, blizzard conditions and dangerously high winds. 45
States are under storm alerts now and President Biden is warning that Americans
take these storms seriously. This storm is already creating a holiday travel
nightmare for much of the country, thousands of flights have been canceled for
today and tomorrow, and Chicago is one of those cities actually taking on the (2)
brunt of the crippling storm system. Let's talk about this and bring in our
ordinary producer for the transportation unit Sam Sweeney - he's been following
everything from travel to weather. Sam, let's just talk about how this storm is
wreaking havoc across all parts of the country. It's been doing so all week so let's
talk about first the nation's airports, how are they looking right now? Because
we've been reporting on the thousands of flights that have already been canceled or
delayed.
Sam Sweeny: Oh Cara, you just mentioned Chicago taking the brunt of this storm
24 of the departures in Chicago both at O'Hare and Midway have already been
canceled today. Denver also saw roughly 25 percent of its departures canceled
today and their (3) major hubs for American and United in Southwest. Southwest
alone has canceled more than 20 percent of its flights today across the country -
that's more than 830 flights for just Southwest alone and people have been really
trying to (4) rebook their flights to get out on earlier planes before this storm
moves in. But right now we're getting to that point where it's a little bit too late and
it's very difficult to find seats.
Reporter: So if you're here on the east coast and you haven't hit the road yet or
started to fly out is it too late to just (5) hunker down and ride this thing out?
Sam Sweeny: Look, the storm isn't going to move in until late tonight in much of
the Northeast and into tomorrow when we could see those temperatures drop (7)
below freezing range when we see freezing rain and snow in parts of the area,
especially in the Northern parts. So leave as soon as you can and if it's too late then
you want to leave of course after the storm moves through possibly on Christmas
Eve but remember if you are driving, make sure you have (6) a full tank of gas.
How can we forget those issues on 95 here in the Virginia area last year when
people were trapped for more than 24 hours? Some people didn't have gas, they
were cold and they didn't have food so make sure if you are headed out on the road
that you are prepared because the conditions can change quickly. The roads in a lot
of areas aren't able to be pre-treated because the rain is coming down now which
(8) washes that pretreatment away. So crews are going to have to rush out there
and begin salting. You don't want to get stuck unprepared.
Reporter: That is so true. Well, a lot of people are already rushing to rebook their
flights which is difficult because airlines are nearly (9) at capacity now so if
you're in that situation you know, what can you do? Are there even options Sam?
Sam Sweeny: It's tough right now. The airlines are running about 90 to 95z which
means 90 to 95 percent of the seats on all planes are booked. So if there's a
cancellation, you really want to be able to be one of those first people to grab any
seat that you can to get to your destination; you may have to make a connection but
you're gonna have to do what you're gonna do what you have to do and the best
way to do that - don't call the airlines because you're going to be waiting on hold
sometimes up to hours - is to get on the Airlines app and try to find your own flight
and make your change right there on the app by yourself without any assistance
from the airlines. If that doesn't work for you you can also tweet at the airlines or
(10) direct-message them, sometimes they can help there as well.