It's hurry up and wait for TIA passengers waiting to go north

Hailey Gomez has been trying to get home to New York City for two days, and she might have to wait several more days to get there.

Carolyn Davis wishes she was back in Boston.

And Gabby and Felix Bou and their family members were supposed to fly into Newark but can't get there by airplane. So they're flying to Cleveland, hopping in a car and then driving there.

Those are just a few of the ways that passengers at Tampa International Airport were affected this morning by the monstrous snowstorm in the Northeast.

Simply put, many of them can't get there from here.

And some people - such as the performers for the Fisher-Price Little People Shows at Lowry Park Zoo - can't get here from there. The zoo had to cancel shows Tuesday and Wednesday because the stars are snowed in and can't get to Tampa.

The flight board at Tampa International remained lit with red this morning -- the color of cancellations -- for eight flights bound for New York City area airports, but the three major airports could resume operations later today, according to the Federal Aviation administration.

Operations were expected to resume by 6 p.m. at John F. Kennedy International amid predictions of 20 inches of snowfall by tonight, officials said.

Earlier reports stated LaGuardia and Newark airports would reopen by 4 p.m., but the latest FAA report said it was not known when the airports would return to service.

Despite efforts to reopen airports, the cascading effect of canceled flights on aircraft schedules could have an impact on later flights to other destinations so travelers were advised to keep abreast of possible schedule changes involving Tampa flights.

The major problem travelers could face today and tomorrow would be making connecting flights from Northeast U.S. airports to elsewhere throughout the country and overseas, as major airlines canceled hundreds of flights.

"They're saying they don't have anything available until the 31st," said Hailey, who's 12 years old and was visiting her father in Spring Hill. "I just want to go home to see my mom."

She and her father and other relatives had traveled from Hernando County on Sunday, when she originally was scheduled to fly home on an American Airlines flight. So they drove down again today, but that flight on Jet Blue was canceled too.

Now she is trying to get home to Queens on American or any other airline.

"This is stressful," she said.

"You guys are stranded," said her aunt, Diana Lombardi of Brandon. "But at least it's not snowing.''

It was snowing plenty in New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast.

Subway passengers were stranded aboard two New York City trains this morning near Kennedy airport and a rescue subway got stuck as well, wire reports stated.

Airports at Atlantic City, N.J., and Islip, N.Y., were expected to reopen by noon and 1 p.m. today respectively, while the airport at Newburgh, N.Y., was expected to reopen by 7 p.m.

Boston's Logan International Airport was open, but it was nearly abandoned, without flights coming in or out.

Davis sat inside Tampa International this morning while her husband tried to find a flight home for them. They had been in the area visiting relatives in Tampa and Lakeland.

"They're in conference and they think they are going to cancel the flight," she said.

The two had already checked out of their hotel and turned in their rental car. When she checked the flight status online before leaving the hotel, it appeared to be a go.

"It's very frustrating," Davis said. "I'd rather be in the hotel and in bed asleep."

Surrounded by a sea of luggage, the Bous were taking the delays in stride.

The two Academy of Holy Names students were sitting while their parents worked to switch their flight plan from Newark to Cleveland.

"We don't have any other options," Gabby Bou said. "I'd rather do the drive than not go at all. We've been planning this trip for a while."

And what about the foot or two of snow that awaits them when they finally do arrive in New York City?

"It's a little excessive," she said.

No weather delays were reported today for flights serving St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Passengers at Tampa International were frustrated by delays and flight cancellations, but only a few appeared to be stranded at the airport this morning.

Tampa International posts online schedules at tampaairport.com/flights/evids/search_evids.asp, but travelers wishing to speak with officials over the telephone are advised to call airlines rather than the airport.

The treacherous East Coast storm brought lashing winds and heavy snow that complicated worker plans to return to their post-Christmas routines today.

The blizzard-like conditions wreaked havoc on travelers from the Carolinas to Maine, forced the suspension of operations at some of the nation's busiest airports and marooned a passenger bus carrying about 50 people, some with diabetes, on a New Jersey highway. The conditions also were blamed for a fatal car crash in Maine.

Philadelphia cab driver Farid Senoussaoui, 33, described the slippery driving conditions as "like a video game."

"You've got to be more careful," he said.

Amtrak canceled train service from New York to Maine after doing the same earlier for several trains in Virginia.

The Silver Star from New York was expected to be nearly two hours late in arriving at Tampa at 2:28 p.m. Monday.

The nation's largest commuter rail system, New York's Long Island Rail Road, also suspended service. Bus companies canceled routes up and down the East Coast, and drivers faced hazardous travel conditions - sometimes with close to zero visibility.

A blizzard warning, which is issued when snow is accompanied by sustained winds or gusts over 35 mph for three hours, was in effect early Monday from Delaware to the far northern tip of Maine. The storm was expected to bring its heaviest snowfall in the pre-dawn hours Monday, sometimes dumping 2 to 4 inches an hour. A total of 12 to 16 inches was expected across nearly all of Rhode Island, Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts, though forecasters said winds of 50 mph could create much deeper snow drifts.

States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Maine and Massachusetts, where Gov. Deval Patrick urged people who did not have to be on the roads to stay home, to ensure their safety and that of work crews. Nonessential state workers were told to stay home Monday.

The monster storm is the result of a low pressure system off the North Carolina coast and strengthened as it moved northeast, the National Weather Service said. Because of it, parts of the South had their first white Christmas since records have been kept.

Wind gusts of up to 80 mph knocked out power to thousands. Utilities reported about 30,000 customers were out in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, mostly on Cape Cod and south of Boston.

In Wells, Maine, police say Richard Folsom, 59, of Wells, died several hours after his pickup crashed into a tree during whiteout conditions Sunday night.

Peter Iarossi, a train conductor for MBCR, which operates commuter rail trains for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, saw his normal 15-minute commute stretch to an hour because of the blizzard conditions.

He woke up extra early and was sitting in his idling car at the railyard an hour before his 6:45 a.m. train was to leave to start its run to Boston.

"You're here to bring the people to Boston," Iarossi said. "You don't have an option. People count on you - especially in bad weather."

In Monmouth County, N.J., snow drifts of up to five feet contributed to stalling a passenger bus on the Garden State Parkway, where snow plows were having a difficult time cleaning because there were so many stranded cars cluttering the ramps, state police spokesman Steve Jones said. Ambulances couldn't reach the bus, and state troopers were carrying their own water and food to the bus to give to people who were feeling ill, he said.

Emergency room nurse Tiffany Lema, at Newport Hospital in Rhode Island, said her normally 45-minute commute from Cranston, just south of Providence, was an awful two hours, made all the more harrowing when her husband's truck couldn't get up and over the Newport Bridge. They made a U-turn and parked near an E-ZPass electronic toll payment office, where her father-in-law picked her up and drove her the rest of the way.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.