Holiday Travel; Hi Winds Could Ground Balloons
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Brace yourself. More than 40 million people traveling for thanksgiving could be bombarded with heavy rain, strong wind, snow and possibly flooding. You're looking live at Buffalo. It looks mighty cold there, doesn't it? This powerful storm is slamming the East Coast right now causing a ripple effect of travel problems. It's already delayed more than 6,000 flights and canceled hundreds more. And for millions of people driving home, the roads are slick and dangerous. This is what Pittsburgh looks like right now. By tomorrow, every state in the United States except Hawaii will reach below freezing temperatures, and up to a foot of snow could fall in some areas, like Buffalo, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. CNN's team of correspondents and meteorologists are all over the place this morning. We're in cities up and down the East Coast to get you up on the latest potential travel nightmare. But let's start in Buffalo. That's where George Howell is. And I bet that's where it's the coldest, too. Good morning, George.</s>GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning. You mentioned Hawaii. It sounds kind of good than where we are now because here in Buffalo so we are flirting with the freezing mark right now and you see the snow here behind me, plenty of it on the ground. No big deal for Buffalo residents. But again, for people who are traveling, you know, it could be treacherous because, again, on the roads you can find black ice. Also it's a wet, slushy snow. It's hard to shovel and move out of the way. And we do know of some power outages. People that are being restored after this storm came through. Now I want to go to my colleague Alexandra Field live in New York at Penn Station to talk about, you know, what she's seeing with the travel situation there.</s>ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, George, holiday travelers are usually prepared for the worst, but if they're arriving at Penn Station right now, they will be pleasantly surprised. There are no major delays to report. Just one train delayed here in the northeast Amtrak says system wide. Also, no major delays there. But, if you are taking a train, be prepared for a big crowd. About 140,000 people are expected to ride the train today. That's double the volume of a normal Wednesday. Every available train in the system will be in service. Extra seats have been added along some routes to accommodate all of those holiday travelers. Still, if you're looking for a way to make it to your holiday feast, Amtrak says it has a few seats available. We'll send it out now to Chicago to Ted Rowlands. Ted.</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we are in the United Command Center. What an awesome operation here. If you're traveling by air, you're not alone. This is all of the United flights up in the air right now. Talk a look at this. This is a taxi monitor. These are people that are trapped on the tarmac. You think, oh my gosh, they've forgotten about us. They haven't. People in Atlanta have been there 95 minutes trying to get to Houston. There's some deicing problems. They're figuring it out. Alex Marin (ph) is the senior vice president. Bottom line it. Will people get home for Thanksgiving?</s>ALEX MARIN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: You bet, Ted. We're in really great shape despite a little bit of weather from mother nature. We are looking good to get our 400,000 travelers home for Thanksgiving.</s>ROWLANDS: Big problems, obviously, Carol, on the East Coast, but you heard it from Alex, they're getting home for Thanksgiving.</s>COSTELLO: She has a lot of hope. I like that, glass half full. Let's hope she's right. Ted, thanks so much. Even if you plan on just staying at home and kicking back on the couch, this nasty weather system could muck things up. Strong winds across the northeast could mean grounded balloons for tomorrow's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which is bound to disappoint the millions of fans who will be watching it on television and, of course, all of those hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets of New York freezing waiting to see those balloons. Jason Carroll is in New York standing along the parade route and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of fingers are crossed. You know, it -- basically what it comes down to is this, Carol, it's going to be a close call. If the weather forecasts turn out to be true, it could be very close to some of these balloons being grounded. But for now, everything is a go.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): Up, up and away. Maybe.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Along the I-95 corridor.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very powerful winds.</s>CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And this is the wind that could affect those balloons.</s>CARROLL: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's giant balloons, will they fly or won't they? Jose Ramirez (ph) and his family are hoping to see them soar.</s>JOSE RAMIREZ: We came all the way from Puerto Rico to see the parade. So it will be a disappointment if, you know, if we can't see the balloons.</s>CARROLL: Same sentiments from the Mastandona (ph) family.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have to fly. Somebody's got to make them fly.</s>CARROLL: Parade organizers aren't concerned about rain or snow, it's wind. Giant balloons like the all new Toothless from "How to Train Your Dragon" measuring 72 feet long and 36 feet wide, could be grounded. That is if some forecasts are true and sustained winds reach at least 23 miles per hour Thursday, or wind gusts top 34 miles per hour. Macy's saying, "regarding the giant balloons, a determination is made on their inclusion based on real time weather data parade morning and not forecasts, so it's not helpful to discuss it now." It was a topic of discussion and concern for New York City Police.</s>RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: So we've had several meetings. I have a meeting today on it. We have instruments that give us the cross-wind measurements. We've done a lot of training on this.</s>CARROLL: Both city and parade officials have learned from past wind related balloon accidents. In 1997, a woman spent more than three weeks in a coma after the Cat in the Hat balloon struck a light pole which hit her. In 2005, two more were hurt in a similar accident involving the M&M;'s balloon. Now improved weather monitoring devices are along the parade route, and a police sergeant assigned to each balloon. Protocols are in place and balloons like Snoopy and Woodstock and an updated SpongeBob are ready to fly. But even if they don't, the Finley (ph) family will not be disappointed.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The balloons aren't about Thanksgiving. It's about fellowship and family and just being thankful.</s>CARROLL: And, Carol, we're told that some of those smaller balloons still might make it into the parade, even if some of the larger balloons end up becoming grounded. A final decision will not be made by parade organizers until tomorrow morning. Until then, as you say, fingers are crossed. Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Oh, toes, too. Jason Carroll, thanks so much. I love those little elves at the end of your story. They made me smile. Whether you're watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, or maybe after a drive to grandma's house, you can get your local weather and airport conditions on the low part of your screen all day long. I'm back after a break.