Holbrook Resident Stranded at JFK

Airports have been debilitated thanks to Sunday's blizzard.

Holbrook's Daniela Monti, 23, and her family, have been stranded at JFK for nearly 25 hours. They arrived three hours prior to their 5:45 p.m. Lufthansa flight to Italy Sunday, thinking they'd beat the storm.

"We hoped our flight would leave before the worst of it," she said via email. "Other flights were boarding, so as bad as it looked, it seemed like everything was running on time. We saw the flight crew board our plane and shortly after, were told priority boarding would start in about 20 minutes."

RELATED: Check out Sachem Patch's winter storm 2010 gallery

After that, it was a flurry of announcements that came raining down.

By that point, "we were behind two or three other planes that were de-icing," she said. "Twenty minutes turned into two hours. We ended up being bumped up in the de-icing line because the de-icer truck hit one of the planes in front of us."

While her jet was being pulled back to the gate to be checked for damages, it was stuck in the snow. After another hour, around 8 p.m., they were given the final announcement that the airport would be closing. They attempted to make hotel accommodations for the Monti family but couldn't, and she said officials were unsure about getting food and blankets, though they were eventually helped.

"It was a little upsetting, because it seemed very obvious to me that flying out would be impossible," she said. "I wish they would have taken the initiative to cancel the flight at a point in the night when it was still possible to find transportation home."

Shortly after the announcement, planes that were waiting on the runway were being emptied. Passengers must have been sitting on the plane for at least three hours, if not more, she said.

They were told their flight would be changed to 4:45 p.m. Monday, but the airport didn't open until 4 p.m., thus pushing everything back again.

As of 4:15 p.m., the family was unsure of when they would be able to leave.

"They have still been periodically handing out meals and vouchers," Monti said. "Everyone's been very calm, I suppose because there isn't much else to do, there's no way to leave."

UPDATE: According to an email from a family member, they eventually took off around 6:15 p.m. 

Others stuck at the airport

Ronkonkoma's Justin Babcock has also been stuck at JFK since 7:30 p.m. Sunday - over 24 hours now. He is part of a group of students going to Chile through SUNY Albany's Office of International Studies. Babcok is a SUNY Stony Brook student and Sachem North alum. The airline, LAN, keeps telling them they will be going and then nothing happens, according to his mother Dawn. The latest is that they will be leaving at 10 p.m. 

"Some food vouchers have been given out, but last my son was told, about 5:30 p.m., no more vouchers would be given," she said. "I wish someone or some organization would just step up and let us know what is going on at the airport.  We have gotten no information other than weather related delays. A truthful, real estimate of departure regardless of when, would also be appreciated.  It is very frustrating to leave your son at the airport for over 24 hours, not knowing if we should make the trip back or not."

UPDATE: Babcock eventually took flight at 2:16 a.m.

Have a similar story? Has the snow really messed up your week? Let us know. Email Sachem Patch at Chris@Patch.com.