Airlines began to unwind the mess Tuesday that was left behind in the wake of the weekend East Coast winter storm, as thousands of stranded travelers began to leave airports where they had been stranded -- in some cases for days.
"I don't know if I ever want to go on vacation again, honestly," said 28-year-old Tiffany Bunton, who was heading through security at New York's LaGuardia Airport with her 8-year-old daughter, Trystan, on their way back to Fort Worth, Texas.
Travelers were stranded at airports, train stations and bus stations, but although transportation started moving again, the outcome isn't bright for some of those who remain stranded.
For example, Adriana Siqueira, 38, was rapidly running of money Tuesday with no end in sight to her travel nightmare at LaGuardia. The housekeeper from Ft. Lauderdale has been told she and her 10-year-old daughter cannot get home until New Year's Day. They have already spent one night in the terminal and can't afford a hotel.
"I have no idea what I'm going to do," Siqueira said. "My voice is not good. I don't feel good."
All three major New York airports are accepting flights again following the blizzard, as airplanes started arriving at Newark Liberty Tuesday morning. LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International began to receive inbound flights on Monday night. Nearly 1,500 total flights were canceled at all three airports.
Air travel in the nation's busiest, most crowded airspace nearly shut down, and thousands of stranded passengers turned terminals into open-air hotels while they waited for planes to take off and land on plowed runways.
For bedraggled passengers who were finally about to board flights home, there was a sense of exhaustion that overwhelmed any excitement they might have felt.
But some airline passengers could be stuck for days. Many planes are booked solid because of the busy holiday season, and airlines are operating fewer flights because of the economic downturn.
Amtrak resumed its New York to Boston service, and localized rail service in the New York metro area was also picking up.
But many New Yorkers complained of a sluggish response by snow plow crews who still hadn't finished clearing the streets. State Sen. Carl Kruger, a Democrat who represents Brooklyn, called the city's response a "colossal failure." Fire officials said the unplowed streets and abandoned cars made it harder to respond to emergencies, including a five-alarm, wind-whipped blaze at a Queens apartment building Monday night.
A testy Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city's cleanup effort.
"There's no reason for everybody to panic," he said. "Our city is doing exactly what you'd want it to do."
The city is still working to clear some 6,000 miles of secondary streets.
As for the roadways, at least a dozen fatalities were reported across several states at the height of the storm. The situation was similar in the suburbs, where smaller roads were still waiting for the snow plows.
The hurricane-strength wind gusts in some areas knocked out power to thousands. Utilities are working to restore power to more than 22,000 customers in Connecticut. But by Tuesday, electricity was being restored to thousands of people across several states that were cut off due to falling trees that brought down lines.
In Philadelphia, pedestrians dodged chunks of ice blown off skyscrapers. New York taxi driver Shafqat Hayat struggled to get his car moving Monday after spending the night trapped on an unplowed street.
"I've seen a lot of snow before, but on the roads, I've never seen so many cars stuck in 22 years," Hayat said.
Waitress Sara Carlone in Collingswood, N.J., expressed a sentiment echoing up and down the east coast as residents were digging out of a massive snowstorm.
"I love it and I hate it," she said as she shoveled her car out. "I've got to go to work. Everyone's got to go to work, right?"
Other motorists were less fortunate. On New Jersey's Garden State Parkway, one struggled to find the shoulder of the road after his wife went into labor, causing a traffic jam that eventually stranded 30 vehicles, state trooper Chris Menello said.
Across the region, the storm's aftermath was punctuated by surreal moments, like the sight of Adrian Traylor, 29, roaming the Newark airport terminal in a Scottish kilt and bare legs as subfreezing winds howled outside.
Traylor, who lives in Scotland, was on his way to visit relatives in Las Vegas and said he wore the kilt to impress his family.
"I didn't think I'd be wearing it this long," he said.
In Newport, Maine, 81-year-old Marguerite Fowler and her husband were asleep when an 18-wheeler full of tree bark lost control on an icy road at 2:10 a.m. and obliterated their home's sun room.
"I thought it was a bomb," Fowler said. "We don't need all that excitement at our age."
In Philadelphia, pedestrians dodged chunks of ice blown off skyscrapers. New York taxi driver Shafqat Hayat struggled to get his car moving Monday after spending the night trapped on an unplowed street.
"I've seen a lot of snow before, but on the roads, I've never seen so many cars stuck in 22 years," Hayat said.
The storm was New York City's sixth worst since 1869, when records began, said Adrienne Leptich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
A Feb. 11-12, 2006, storm dropped 26.9 inches of snow on Central Park, breaking the previous record, set in 1947, by half an inch. The storm that hit the city Sunday left 20 inches of snow in Central Park.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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