at weathertech.com. even makes a nice holiday gift. >> at least 16 people are dead and 1 million without power in a once generation storm that sweeps to the u.s. bomb cyclones, down power lines threaten those on the road, man oman. anita: i'm anita vogel with

alexis mcadams with the latest on the flooding at the chicago o'hare international airport. we will start with lakawana, new york, hi, max. reporter: good afternoon, we are ways south of downtown buffalo and we are standing next to a gas station because this is one of the few places that people can go to to just warm up and get inside, get food, a lot of people actually spent the night at this gas station because they became stranded in blizzard conditions last night. we were one of those who got stranded in the blizzard conditions, completely white-out, you couldn't sigh in front of you. we had to honker down in the cars and spend the night in the cars, luckily we had full tanks and we were able to keep warm.

shelter are open and police officers have been shuttling those folks to warming shelters. meanwhile, though, some services aren't available in parts of western new york and some parts of buffalo, emergency services just simply can't get out to people and unfortunately we have the combination emergency services not able to get to them. so far more than 27 inches of snow have fallen here at the buffalo airport, 2 feet more is expected to fall today. gusts of up to 60 to 65 miles per hour still a very treacherous situation in western new york. back to you. anita: my goodness, max, you got evicted from your hotel and had to spend the night in your car, what was that like? reporter: yes. well, it wasn't pleasant, i can tell you that. it was just so dangerous, though, that at a certain point my photographer and i had made the decision we had to pull over and had to get safe and we had

to find just a place to rest up for the night. you know, it took us 2 and a half hours to go maybe 3 miles or just going very slowly creeping along. as you drove along what is busy road at 5 miles per hour, you can only see 20 feet in front of you and came across taillights of semitrucks and we only got a few hours of sleep but we are alive and still doing the news. anita: my goodness, thank goodness you are okay. you deserve nice hot meal and nice hotel room. i hope you get one tonight. yes, all right. reporter: thank you. bryan: people don't realize how hard it is to speak in cold weather, thank you, max. at least 16 people are dead from this powerful winter storm that's engulfing the u.s. and destructive winds are causing

power outages, flooding and dangerous driving conditions across the country. alexis mcadams is live with more. hey, alexis. alex: hey, bryan, cold day again in new york city but it's really not that bad when you compare to the other cities that are still under a severe windchill advisory. across the country we are talking about the heavy snow and strong winds creating dangerous travel conditions and black ice on the interstate. here is the coastal flooding. take a look at the screen. this is what we are looking in the past 24 hours. parts of island, calls to floods impacted parts of new york city and the jersey shore. new york's governor talk about how crews were talking around the clock to keep residents safe. >> to assess the damage that was occurring here as a result of

flooding upwards of 3 feet of water rushed to the streets, damaged some of the homes, chance to speak to some of the homeowners about the stresses they are under and working on the clean-up as well. alex: that's not an easy clean-up in some of those parts. midwest is a completely different story. slammed by winter mix. in ohio we are talking about a 50-car pileup that left at least 3 people dead and several others injured. those crashes left the turnpike in ohio closed for hours. the new video taken of i75 in michigan shows cars, trucks and even semis that slid off icy road into a ditch. millions of americans are dealing with cold temperatures and blizzard conditions. so far more than a dozen related weather deaths in the u.s.

back out here live in new york we can tell you they are still trying to restore power and all across the country, bryan. bryan: alexis, thank you. anita: holiday travelers standed by the winter storm are trying to make it back home for christmas, senior correspondent mike tobin live from chicago's o'hare international airport with the very latest there, mike, i hesitate to ask you, what is the mood there at the airport with all of the delays and cancellations? mike: things are starting to normalize as the storm is moving east of the country, east of o'hare airport. blue skies above you. line of people waiting to go through tsa behind me and frankly that's first line we have seen pile up today. that doesn't mean there aren't delays and cancellations as we look at the mayor carriers, american air lynns has had 89

cancellations. they are headquartered largely out of atlanta. southwest has had it rough throughout the process. misfortune of having most flight patterns the path of the storm. the difficult is for southwest right now, buffalo new york and cleveland where you have the lake-effect snow piling up. united is 212 cancellations, pretty light since yesterday. as we look across the nation, looking at domestic flights, 2,060 cancellations throughout the day. that's pretty rough but when you compare it to yesterday upwards of 5,000, in fact, almost 6,000 cancellations for all the people who made it home, they had a rough time getting there. >> i told my mom, mom, please pray for me. i said pray for me because i want to be home for christmas. >> we would love to be at home with our family at home. we are going to be stuck here. >> we are trying to make backup plans with the flights and

everything is soldout. if we can't make it out today, we will not be able to get there for the holidays. mike: spokesman for southwest airlines says a lot of what they are dealing with is residual impact of the bad weather, they have to get equipment in place, plan to supposed to fly out of airport x but didn't make to fly out yesterday to fly out today. you to deal with that. it's going the take time for the schedule to readjust after having such a major disruption. as far as the temperature out here, warmed up to 9 degrees plus, however, the windchill still drives it in negative territory. anita, back to you. anita: a lot of moving parts there for everything to go right but a little bit of good news, sounds like some people are going to get through travel to go chicago o'hare, thank you for the update, mike tobin, live in chicago. mike: you got it. bryan: wild winter weather storm is stranding holiday travels in airports all across the nation.

my next guest has tips and tricks to deal with the frustrating situation or help to avoid it altogether. joining me now brian, travel expert, you are popular today. people will listen to every word you say, brian, what are the top tips for travelers who are currently stranded at airports they don't want to be at? >> so my top tip is not give up. airline -- the situation is changing by the minute. even if you need to get home in the flight later today is sold-out, chances are there are connecting passengers on that flight that aren't going to make it. so always make sure to ask to get added to the standby list but a lot of expert travelers do we use expertflier.com and you can set an alert if any seat opens up on a flight they'll immediately e-mail you, you can call up the airline or go online and book the flight yourself. and, you know, if you're flying a certain airline and they have no other flights, take a refund on the flight that's been

canceled. keep checking because the situation changes by the minute and if you're savvy, you can snag a last-minute ticket to get home for the holidays. bribe brian triple a released a statement and this is highlights from the statement, airlines not required to do more, rebook passengers and review airlines contract, don't book more than one flight, keep medications, snacks in your carry on flight. when you feel powerful you try to download when others feel the same? >> i book a separate flight later in the day using frequent flyer mile. i have a backup on another airline. when you use your frequent flyer miles, most cancel free of

charge. if your original flight ends up going out fine, you can cancel it. it's kind of like an insurance policy and that's really -- i know it sounds advanced but these days when you're competing to get home for the holidays and the stakes are high, you have to be as savvy as possible. also just add the airlines don't owe compensation for weather delays but credit card might. a lot of credit card have flight delay and interruption coverage. they'll cover hotel costs, rebe- rental cars if you decide to drive. even if the airline says sorry we will not pay you anything, always ask your credit card reimbursement. bryan: i was going to ask you about knowing your rights. what else should we know about our rights when we are frustrated at airports like this in. >> unfortunately the u.s. passengers don't have a lot of rights. airlines hold a lot of cards. in europe there are passenger rights. the department of transportation has a website with all the

different airline policies, some airlines do have a policy to give you food or hotel but in general you are owed a refund and the original form of payment, the airlines may try to give you a voucher. if they cancel your flight, don't worry, you flight credit good for a year, never, ever take the flight credit, always get the refund because cash is always more valuable than an airline voucher. so that is your right by law and if the airline doesn't give you a a refund you should file a complaint with the dot. bryan: thank you so much, merry christmas to you and yours. thank you. anita: a lot of good tips, bryan. congress passing a massive $1.7 trillion spending bill in a last-ditch effort to avoid a government shutdown just days before the holidays despite

objection of gop lawmakers. chad: house sinked up with the senate, 9 republicans voted yes. only one democratic no. alexandria ocasio-cortez of new york. >> that doesn't strike me that odd coming from aoc because she supported completely defunding ice, border patrol and the entire federal prison system. she also objected to increases in defense spending as we deal with threats from russia, north korea and iran. chad: fellow alexandria ocasio-cortez squad member rashida tlaib voting present. 300 prep for flu pandemic and $7.5 million to study phenomena of radicalization and modernized the certification process of the electoral college.

>> the provision points out that no individual nor can or ought to be able to overturn the will of the american people. this precaution i tell my colleagues will ensure that we never see a repeat of the shameful and malicious attack on our democracy on january 6th last year. chad: that provision clarifies the role of the vice president when certifying the electoral college. it also raises the bar for lawmakers to challenge electoral votes from the states. the bill cost $1.7 trillion and most of the money about 55% goes to the military. anita. anita: all right, a lot interesting things in that bill. chad thank you so much for the live report. merry christmas. bryan: more on this let's bring in political panel joining us communication director tim hogan

and republican strategist noel nick, thank you both for being here. merry christmas to you and yours. let's bring up the omnibus bill. right now it seems that republicans are split on this. let's bring in this soundbite with -- well, actually we will start off here actually. a lot of pork in this. ly start with tim, there's a lot of pork in this. this is from rand paul's annual report of what's in this thing, $118,000 for a study thanos from marvel can snap fingers, $200,000 for expresso machine for the dod. $31 million for covid relief fund spent on luxury cars. i will start off with you, what do you make of this bill and a lot of stuff that doesn't seem like it belongs in there? >> look, no legislation is perfect but there's a lot in this bill that's really important, we are talking about funding for health care for veterans. we are talking about funding

more cops on the street, talking funding a variety that are really important. it's important to know that one fifth of earmarks in the omnibus was requested by republicans that at the end of the day voted against the bill and i guaranty they will say no and take the doe and rand paul will show up to a ribbon cutting and it's never going to be perfect legislation but it's extremely important legislation that makes investments that we need and huge legislative win for the biden administration. >> this happens every single year. we have discussion of how important the budget is, either party likes to use as ploy for negotiations. we are always on teetering on government shutdown. what do you make of the last minute $1.3 trillion bill? >> no one really in their right mind could have absolutely gone through all of the pages and everything that they needed to, you know, make a sound decision. the second thing is republicans,

it's on our platform, on republicans for fiscal responsibility, meaning we are doing everything that we can. with that said, bravo to rand paul for putting the things out to show the pork, the amount of pork that was just pushed through on -- on things that were absolutely unnecessary not important and the amount of money going towards them is just a free for all. now with that said, there were some things, you know, 4 veterans for, you know, other entities that, you know, i think that are much needed. but on the flip side of that, you know, you've got to look at why aren't republicans standing their ground and there were some republicans that actually, you know, were part of the problem by putting some pork through

that and the other thing is i want to know what's going to be the ramifications on, you know, voting for this as a republican with some big super pacs that fund some of these candidates that the sole purpose is low tax, less regulations and no pork in the bills. bryan: i wanted to bring this up. let's play the sound. it is senate house leader mccarthy and mitch mcconnell on whether or not the bill should have been passed. >> this is bloated. it should not move forward. >> compared to where the negotiators started, we have transferred huge sums money away from democrats spending wish list toward national defense and armed forces. bryan: question for both of you, tim, big deal or in the a big deal, the schism that appears to be in the republican party? >> kevin mccarthy is doing outrage theater right now because he does not have the votes to become speaker and

that's what he cares about and very quickly, being large bill, yes, this is a budget for the united states government. it is not a short story or essay for high school english class, there are professional staff in the senate, in the house that go through and comb through this and budgets have hit the 1 trillion-dollar since 1987. there were some republicans in the house that voted for this. i think the schism is about kevin mccarthy not having the votes to be speaker. bryan: noel. >> with that said, i think mitch mcconnell is one of the hard-working senators. i think he's right on track. i do believe that, you know, what mitch mcconnell said when he by working together that they pulled some of the things that could have been catastrophic from the democrats, so, you know, i do take what he says into consideration. but, you know, overall, you've got to remember what republicans basically say that they stand

for and it is fiscal responsibility and right now it doesn't look like they are practicing it. bryan: we are running out of time but i thank you both for talking back and forth on this important bill. i wish you all the best this christmas. tim hogan and noelle nikpour, appreciate it. >> thank you. bryan: tomorrow shannon bream will interview with archbishop of new york cardinal tim dolan. former white house press secretary fleischer and steve hilton for forward look at 2024 presidential election, the future, that form at 11:00 a.m. eastern. stay tuned. anita: brand new numbers from the border setting records for the month of november. an update on the border crisis coming up next. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts. saving you up to 60% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

bryan: you're looking at live images from fox flight team at the southern border, cbp revealing highest number of migrant encounters ever seen in november. christina coleman is tracking the latest, christina.

christina: hi, bryan, the federal government finally released the new border encounter numbers for the month of november last night in data dump as most of us were gearing for holiday week but, of course, we are still going to keep track of it. the news does not stop. take a look at the numbers, 233,700 border encounters last month alone. largest amount border encounters compared to last november. look at that, 30% increase. as for the timing of this data dump, retired acting ice director tom homan believes the federal government did not want to release the new numbers highlighting the ongoing crisis at the border until congress voted on the omnibus bill. take a listen. >> this is national security when it comes down to making a difference that they voted a bill and gave nothing to it. this bill does nothing to it. border patrol can't hire as it is. border patrol missed hiring

point last year and nobody wants the job because they've been thrown under the job, they are working 24/7, they can't do the job they were hired to do. christina: border agents clearly overwhelmed. take a look at new video that we got from a source this morning. this is brownsville, texas, dozens of migrants out in the cold with young children and no rest for border agents as they crack down. street value of $3.6 million and, again, unclear what's going to happen with title 42, pandemic that allowed quickly expel migrants said to lapse this week and still in effect as supreme court weighs whether to keep this policy in place, bryan. bryan: we shall see. christina, thank you. anita. anita: my next guest was one of the 19 republican attorneys

general who asked the supreme court to protect title 42. joining me now the attorney general of arizona mark bernavich. great to see you. >> hi, anita. anita: arizona, one of 19 states which asked the supreme court to put a hold on ending title 42 which allows the u.s. to expel migrants due to health condition -- concerns. that has happened, what happens next? >> i'm proud of the fact that cases arizona v mayorkas because we lead the charge. now we are trying to stop him in rescinding title 42. we filed pleadings this week, justice roberts issued temporary stay. we know that title 42 will stay in effect at least until december 28th but after that, it's an open question. if the supreme court doesn't

step in, we will see continued catastrophe at the southern border. there's crazy, there's insane and rescinding title 42 and what joe biden is doing shows secretary mayorkas is ready for a different type of asylum if you hear what i'm saying. anita: it's hard to imagine the numbers getting worse. i would like to put the november numbers that christina coleman just showed us. look at this, you can see the increase. people are worried if title 42 i understand these numbers are only going to get worse. you filed a number of lawsuits against the biden administration relating to border security. realistically, what can you change because it seems like the biden administration doesn't really want to change anything. they could stop catch and release, they could continue building sort of a barrier, wall, they are not doing that. >> what we are trying to do enforce the rule of law. i'm a first-generation american and what joe biden is doing is

encouraging illegal immigration and empowering cartels. that's the entire population of boise, idaho coming illegal to the country. the majority do not have health insurance, some are terror watch list. it is the height of absurdity and americans are paying the cost not only with their taxpayer dollars. arizona spends more than a billion dollars a year related to illegal immigration, hospital costs, education costs and, of course, there's a cost in increase crime and the cartels taking control of our border in a record amount of fentanyl overdoses. so joe biden by any objective measure, by any subjective measure has basically made america less safe and right now we are paying more, not only in taxpayer dollars but in the cost of american lives lost as a result of joe biden and secretary mayorkas' failed policies and that's why i will continue as long as to stop --

anita: i ask you a new book out by author chris that says the president was so angry of the lack of action at the border that he's been yelling and dropping f bombs all over the white house and everyone could hear him. do you really believe that because if he was so angry, wouldn't he go down to the border and look at it himself and quick answer here? >> yes, he should come down to the border and see what firsthand what damage his policies have brought to the border and i think the reality is, anita, that someone is talking to joe biden's ear piece. he's yelling and screaming that's because of one of his advisers telling him that's what he should do. we don't know what the biden administration is going to do except consistently shredding and eradicating our southern border. anthony: thank you for coming and merry christmas to you. >> merry christmas. anita: bryan. bryan: president volodymyr zelenksyy back in ukraine.

next guest talks about significance of his visit, staya tunesi.. tunesi.. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

anita: all right, this once in a generation storm wreck your holiday plans, meteorologist adam klotz has your fox weather forecast. adam, mike tobin things were looking better in chicago, what do you say? >> things are improving. the temperature is absolutely freezing and you're seeing everything here that has a color means that you're at freezing or below, 32 degrees or below. the winter system has lifted on out and now what we have the really cold temperatures and still some of that wind and that wind adding to what it feels like outside. suddenly the wind and temps that's when you get windchill temperatures down in teens and single digits across much of the country. yesterday we have negative 4's. goes into the south texas border with mexico all the way around the coast and getting over to

central florida where we have freeze watches and warnings. if you're in miami wanted a beach holiday, 55 degrees, cold almost everywhere and last at least for the next couple of days. anita: 55 is not beach weather but we will take any good piece of news. adam klotz, appreciate it. bribebryan: anita, after russia launched full-scale launch in ukraine, nate foy has latest from the ukrainian capital, what's the latest. >> you mentioned, 7 killed, 58 injured, 16 injured seriously. president zelenskyy posted disturbing images, i'm being told that my microphone is not working here.

microphone wasn't working. really disturbing pictures from today's attack in kherson. president zelenskyy said it's not military facility, in the central part of the city, he says putin is, quote, killing for sake of intimidation and pleasure. take a look at the next video. much more pleasant story on christmas eve, ukraine's east, nurse is saving ukrainian lives since may, her jim is jennifer, been deployed twice to afghanistan, two daughters back home but she felt the need to come and serve in this country. she has a message for president putin this christmas. >> every day we come out here and we see destruction and death and injuries that putin is causing but i'm confident that if he does not find justice in this life, he will be held accountable in his after life because jesus is pissed off at

him and he's coming, he's coming. >> christmas celebrations are happening in kharkiv, substation bomb shelter. power continues to be issue in kyiv. 50% of the city is having pow deficiencies. anita: joining me live is former u.s. ambassador to ukraine john hertz. thank you very much for joining us today. we saw high political drama on capitol hill last week with many are calling historic address to the u.s. congress by president zelenskyy. he came in not wearing a suit but a dark green sweatshirt

reminiscent of battle fatigues and reiterated by u.s. financial support is key to country's defense against russia. why what's did you make of his speech, did you think it was effective? >> it was very effective. he laid out both the moral reasons and the national reasons why the united states should support ukraine. putin policy to weaken our security and our prosperity. the smart place for zelenskyy said to fight putin is sending weapons and our financial aid to ukraine. anthony: he also really reminded the lawmakers of the valor of ukrainians and david versus goliath versus russia. take a look at what he said. >> against all odds and doom and gloom scenarios, ukraine didn't fall. ukraine is alive and keeping.

we defeated russia in the battle for minds of the war. anthony: his speech came right before the big vote in congress on the spending bill. $45 billion of $1.7 trillion is earmarked for ukraine and that includes the patriot missile system. do you think that had an effect on lawmakers? >> there's no doubt about it. it's only a fraction to have defense department budget. $50 billion like 6%, that $50 billion is destroying half of the russian's military. that's greatly increasing american security. i can understand why people might have reservations of the overall omnibus bill, extent of it, but the portion of ukraine is vital for u.s. interests. anita: finally, i want to ask you about something that

vladimir putin said recently, he said he's willing to negotiate for peace, of course, we haven't heard any details yet. if that is true, should ukraine entertain some sort of a peace deal to end the war, what do you think about that? >> if putin was willing to accept ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity that would be the basis for peace agreement, his idea of piece is at minimum russia keeps all the territory it has stolen from ukraine now which is over 20% of the country and we know his objective still to eventually establish political control of ukraine. anita: yeah, he probably has a different idea of a peace deal her people. >> peace in both senses. a--anita: thank you so much, ambassador. merry christmas. deadly shooting at kurdish cultural center killing 3 and sparking violence protests in paris, more on the horrific

attack right after the break. ♪ ♪co ♪ld

bryan: protestors clashing with paris police after 3 people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at a kurdish cultural center yesterday. the shooter is currently in custody. ryan has more on this tragic shooting and ensuing protests. ryan. reporter: yeah, bryan, second day of protests turned clashes in paris, absolute mayhem and started as mostly peaceful demonstrations but descended into as us often the case violent clashes as the evening approached. it all began with hundreds of kurdish activists and antiracism activists gathering to protest and to mourn those 3 people who just mentioned there who were killed friday in what was clearly racially motivated attack, but some of the protestors turned on the police

and turned to violence. the second day now protests and clashes in the french capital. man stormed into a cultural center and then a nearby restaurant killing the 3 and wounding 3 others before he was wounded and apprehended the police. police say assailant had been in prison for attack he committed on migrants last year and had just been released earlier this month. many of the protestors and people who showed up at a vigil last night say they just don't feel safe. race related attacks have been on the rise in the last couple of years. the french government says they will increase policing in that and clearly a lot more police on the street in paris in part because of riots and assurance there won't be attacks like this

and one took place in heart of the city. the police very mindful that it is christmas weekend in paris there are a lot of people out and about. they want to do everything they can in their power to make sure there are no copycats out there and no more incidents like this. bryan: thank you. anita. anita: honoring gold star families and fallen heros. what one organization is doing to bring america together and you don't want to miss it coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ i watched my mother go through being a single mom. at the end of the day, my mom raised three children, including myself. and so once the client knew that she was heard. we were able to help her move forward. your client won't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪ ♪ acoustic soul music throughout ♪

bryan: unite the usa is honoring fallen heros and veterans this christmas by sending special ornaments to gold-star families and hosting virtual parade. stacy and carrie stoltan, thank you very much for being here and for all that you do. let's start with what you guys are really doing this year which is concentrating on helping gold star families, those who lost a loved one in the line of duty. what is it that you are doing this year? >> well, we are really very passionate about reaching out with operation christmas star. we began unite usa in response

out of really our own experience of seeing someone perish in front of our eyes in a very violent accident and we prayed with him to receive christ and that really amped up everything in our lives to really share the lord's love, share the great news with everyone hurting and especially those who have lost loved ones such as gold star families and reach out to veterans who are seeing their buddies perish like that. so we are very, very passionate people about getting the word out and especially this time of year and, you know, greater love has no one than this than lay down live's for a friend. make sure families never

forgotten. we consider ourselves bless today have the opportunity to send special star ornaments to gold star families. anyone who sends us their mailing address at info at uniteusa.org free of charge as a way to honor you and remember your loved one who served, so it's -- it's been in our hearts this year. >> yes, it's been a tough year for so many. bryan: of course, it has, that's something that we should always think about this time of year. there's something else that you do for families that i find especially beautiful too. you have a virtual parade for veterans. this is something that i find g. it really is to help those who suffer from ptsd who may not want to go to a physical parade or just can't, right?

>> because crowds can be problematic and i'm currently getting my doctor in psychology and things like that. it's very real thing. for the virtual parade is something that allows any and every veteran to be included. >> veterans past and present. families or veterans themselves can send us pictures of them that will include in our christmas and new year's virtual parade for heros and they can send us pictures to the same e-mail address info@unitetheusa.org. bryan: wonderful. absolutely. >> everybody can be included. >> yeah. >> people are missing their loved ones at the table. and it's very important to share the light and love of jesus

christ on his birthday and i hope that everybody up there will join us as much as possible in prayer and in reaching out with something like this. bryan: well, we only have 20 seconds but i want to touch on pillows. >> yes, project pillows is a way, if you go to unitesheusa.org where pillows have been personalized and sent to those currently serving. it's a special source of comfort and we partner with them to make that happen. >> that's right, nights can be tough with post tram attic stress. bryan: unitetheusa.org. >>♪ merry christmas.] >>♪ merry christmas.] anita: i'm anita vogel.

>> at least a dozen people reportedly killed in what the national weather service calls a once in a generation storm. heavy snow, dangerous winds and life-threatening cold gripping more than 60% of the u.s. population coast to coast in this christmas eve. hello, everyone, i'm rich edson. eric shaun and arthel neville have some time off. welcome to "fox news live." this map shows what the frigid conditions really feel like. the storm making travel a true nightmare before christmas for passengers stuck in packed