Severe weather causes travel chaos, with tornadoes and heavy snow disrupting flights and claiming a life
Severe weather events on December 28, 2024, wreaked havoc on holiday travel across the United States, as deadly tornadoes struck the southeastern states and intense snow and wind battered the West Coast. This caused widespread flight delays and cancellations, with more than 7,000 flights affected across the country.
Flight tracking service FlightAware reported that over 200 flights were cancelled, with a significant number of delays. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, about one-third of flights were delayed, while Dallas Fort Worth and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport experienced nearly 50% of flights delayed.
The storm system spawned at least 10 tornadoes in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The National Weather Service confirmed one fatality in Brazoria County, Texas, located about 72 km south of Houston. Four others were injured in the same area, and many homes and schools sustained severe damage. Images circulating on social media showed devastated neighborhoods, with uprooted trees and debris scattered across streets.
In addition to the tornadoes, the West Coast faced damaging winds, including gusts of up to 241 km/h in California’s high-altitude Tahoe Basin. The winds combined with heavy rainfall, leading to warnings of potential power outages due to downed trees and power lines. Forecasters predicted between 10 to 15 cm of rain before the year’s end, as well as up to 90 cm of snow in Lake Tahoe.
As of the latest reports, the weather service continues to issue warnings for both regions, and the full extent of the damage and flight disruptions is still being assessed.
