Much of the Midwest is digging out after the first major snowstorm of the season dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas. Meanwhile, cancellations and delays are causing problems for travelers heading home for the holiday. NBC's John Yang reports.
A winter storm headed east Friday after?pounding the Plains and Midwest with more than a foot of snow, causing holiday travel chaos in the skies and on the roads.
The storm, which has been blamed for at least six deaths in five states,?was carrying heavy rain and high winds into the Northeast, making for a messy day of travel.
The combination of low clouds, rain and winds up to 60 mph could trigger significant delays at major airports, with those delays possibly continuing into Saturday.
Full coverage at Weather.com
Airlines already have been forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights during the storm's trek east, and whiteout conditions have made for dangerous driving on many roads from western New York through Ohio.?
Flood and high-wind warnings have been issued for parts of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Snow belts around the Great Lakes and Appalachians are likely to continue to see wind-whipped snow that could top 1 foot in many areas, Weather.com reported, and the storm already dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Most of the canceled flights were in Chicago, where aviation officials said more than 350 flights were called off at O'Hare International Airport and more than 150 at Midway International Airport on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Operations were expected to get back to normal on Friday for flyers out of Chicago.
Tom Lynn / Getty Images
People shovel snow out their cars Thursday in Madison, Wisconsin.
Erin Henderson was among the people hoping to get out of O'Hare Friday morning.
The 20-year-old college student was trying to return home to Kansas City after five months of studying abroad in Italy when she arrived in Chicago early Thursday evening to learn the last leg of her flight had been canceled, The Associated Press said.
Exhausted and teary-eyed, Henderson said she planned to get some sleep in a nearby hotel before trying to catch a flight to St Louis early Friday. She said her father planned to drive across Missouri to get her.
"It was the closest I can get," Henderson told the AP.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Snow, whipped by 50 mph wind gusts, have been causing white outs and leaving residents in the dark. The Weather Channel's Mike Seidel reports.
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