KANSAS CITY, Mo.--The Sunday after Thanksgiving is notoriously known as the busiest travel day for the holiday, but the snow and wind caused several delays and cancellations.
"We got an alert around noon and our flight was at 2:45 so we switched to another flight that got canceled and now we’re trying to figure out what we’re going to do. We need to get home," Brittany Weaver, who was visiting from Atlanta, said
She was the same predicament that hundreds of other travelers at KCI Airport found themselves in as the blizzard beared down this Sunday afternoon.
"This is a big storm; the visibility is the biggest problem," Justin Meyer, deputy director of the Kansas City Aviation Department said.
The whiteout conditions prompted airport managers to shut down its runways at 2:30 p.m.
"It’s an unlikely situation that we’re in right now," Meyer said.
At Zona Rosa, it was a ghost town at the height of the storm.
Stores chose whether to stay open or not.
"Mall security came by and told us that if decided to close there wouldn’t be fines cause usually if you’re not open during your regular hours you could be fined," Morgan Hocking, who works at Zona Rosa, said.
On the road, it was a dicey journey to KCI.
While Delta and United worked to get planes in and out when the runways opened four hours later, Southwest canceled its remaining flights.
The move forced Weaver and her family to spend another night in Kansas City instead of going to their home in Atlanta.
"If we decide we’re just going to drive, get a car and drive tomorrow then they’re not going to refund us our flight," Babara Blaschke, a member of Weaver's family, said.
Others took it in stride like Sarah Kirse from Lee's Summit, who is attending college in Nashville.
"Honestly it’s just going to be more time for me to get my homework done," Kirse said. "So, I’m ok with waiting around if we have to. There’s nothing you can do about the weather anyways."
For flight information visit https://www.flykci.com/flight-information/flight-status/
