Vacation journey delays piling up as winter storm wreaks havoc

On the day earlier than Thanksgiving, a significant winter storm and a plunge in temperatures are wreaking havoc with many vacationers’ schedules. Temperatures will drop to twenty levels under regular in a lot of the central and jap elements of the nation, and flight delays are piling up. John Yang reviews.

Nick Schifrin:

In the day’s different information. On this present day earlier than Thanksgiving, a significant winter storm and a plunge in temperatures is wreaking havoc with many vacationers’ schedules. Flight delays are piling up.

And, as John Yang reviews, temperatures will drop to twenty levels under regular in a lot of the Central and Eastern elements of the nation.

John Yang:

In the Upper Midwest, a heaping Thanksgiving serving of snow. Overnight, blizzards blanketed the Great Lakes with greater than a foot-and-a-half of snow in some areas, making highways dangerously slick, like this one lined with tractor trailers in Western Minnesota.

It’s a part of a storm system hitting the Midwest and the Northeast with moist, windy climate as hundreds of thousands of Americans buckle up for vacation journey. AAA says about 90 % of Thanksgiving vacationers throughout the nation will drive. Traffic jams are all however sure.

Man:

Traffic grew to become a parking zone. It tacked on one other 4 hours.

John Yang:

Others will fly in what’s been a turbulent interval for air journey induced partly by the federal government shutdown. The FAA is anticipating the busiest day in 15 years, with greater than 360,000 flights scheduled all through the week.

According to FlightConscious, by late right this moment, about 4,000 home and worldwide flights had been delayed at U.S. airports. That’s nearly one in ten.

Sean Duffy, U.S. Transportation Secretary:

Let’s all be higher once we journey collectively.

John Yang:

The secret to a easy journey day? Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says it is a respectable outfit. He was interviewed by The Blaze about his new civility marketing campaign.

Sean Duffy:

I get being comfy. We like being — we’re in an period the place individuals do not put on fits as a lot anymore. They do not put on ties as a lot anymore. At some level, we won’t costume like we will mattress.

John Yang:

For many vacationers, flying good is essential. And ultimately, being with household is at all times well worth the chaos.

Walker Powell, Traveler:

Preparing for journey for Thanksgiving week actually involves long-term preparation of fascinated by when we will fly, what time of day is it going to be, what day is it going to be. With our household dwelling in Louisiana and us in Colorado, we do not get in to that many instances to see one another, particularly with the children seeing their grandparents. You have gotten to benefit from any alternative you get.

John Yang:

For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m John Yang.