NEW YORK – A powerful East Coast blizzard menaced would-be travelers by air, rail and highway Monday, leaving thousands without a way to get home after the holidays and shutting down major airports and rail lines for a second day.
Buses were stranded on snowed-in highways and passengers in New York City spent a cold night stuck in an unheated subway train.
Officials urged anyone who did not have to drive to stay off roads in the region, where high winds pushed snow into deep drifts across streets, railroads and runways. More than two feet of snow had fallen in some areas by Monday morning.
Eric Schorr, 22, was trying to get from New York City to Tel AvivSunday night, but ended up spending about 9 hours stuck on the tarmac at Kennedy Airport.
The junior at Columbia University said he and fellow passengers were "as comfortable as you can be on a plane," adding the crew was "phenomenal" and passed out drinks and served dinner to keep spirits up.
"It wasn't as tense as you might have thought," Schorr said by phone from the airport.
He said passengers boarded the El-Al flight around 5:30 p.m., and wound up back inside the airport around 3 a.m. Monday, where people set up camp on the floor and others slept on chairs.
"People are exhausted ... they want to get home," he said. His flight was rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.