the country. maine to michigan down to south carolina. and take a look at some pictures we just got in from philadelphia. the northeast is expected to take the major punch from this storm. in fact, there are so many snow emergencies up and down the northeast that there are too many counties for us to list. suffice to say, if you live in the northeast, you are under a snow emergency. the biggest problem is always getting from place to place. they re saying now, if you are planning to drive by car, you need to take with you some food, water and flashlights in case you get stuck. now, if you are flying, take a look at this, and the major snow hasn t started yet. la guardia, reporting a 5-hour delay. reporter: the major part of this snowstorm has yet to arrive. the trains will also expect
snow. they re pretty much in the clear. and not 42 below. exactly. time to check our top stories at half past the hour. there are snow emergencies in towns and cities across the northeast right now. this storm is stretching from new jersey all the way up to maine. they say it s going to be over for the mid-morning hours. there will be some snow totals, though, piling up in some of those years. some places could see several inches before it s all over. in a matter of hours, congresswoman gabrielle giffords will be checking out of the hospital that has cared for her since she was shot. she will be heading to a rehab facility in houston. you re seeing a picture, one of the few we have seen, that they ve released, but that s her husband, mark kelly, standing on the left of her hospital bed that was rolled outside for her to take a look at the mountains in arizona and also just to get some fresh air. but her progress continues. amazing. also, she was taken when just 19 days old,
called rahway, new jersey, they got 32 inches of snow and they have no idea how much this is going to cost them. they re hoping to get federal aid because no matter how much snow falls or how little money they have, they have no choice, they have to clean up the snow and pay people to do that. this isn t just happening along the northeast. of course it is from the snow but minnesota, since november, 40 inches of snow, six snow emergencies in the past two months. they budget $2 million a year, and they have already spent $1 million over that budget, and it is only december. it snows in minnesota until april. uh-oh. everybody is scrambling to pay for their health care plans and 401(k) plans.
people right now are actually sleeping. but for the first few hours, people were going in and out of sort of, you know, they re on their laptops, they were reading, listening to music, and then people got up and started talking, you know, conversations. i ve got to tell you, the crew has been absolutely fantastic. the captain has kept us appra e appraised up until now about updates. there hasn t been one in the last few hours because of the conditions. but the crew they ve served us dinner and people are in good spirits. we should point out that the plane is not still out on the tarmac. made its way back to the gate about three hours ago. and then they also said they were to report to the gate to reboard now at 7:00. i m sure they were like, yeah right. he also said that the flight was just seconds from taking off when the airport shut down. murphy s law there. they could not have been more unlucky on that one. well, snow emergencies are in place across the northeast this m
morning. 30 inches of snow already on the ground in some areas, 30 inches. thousands of holiday travelers are stuck, airlines canceled flights throughout the northeast. all the way to chicago, the carolinas, even the west coast. and more misery unfortunately is on the way. yes, we feel your pain. many people are camping out at the airports this morning. and there are no guarantees they ll be taking off today or tomorrow. so what can you do if your travel plans get scrapped? we have more on that coming up. also, if you live in the northeast, you re probably feeling the effects of the blizzard today. it was not all bad news for businesses. some retailers actually hit the jackpot when the monster storm headed up the east coast. we have the stores that saw green when everybody else saw white. and the businesses that will be paying for the blizzard for weeks to come. up first, it is an absolute holiday travel mess, it has nothing to do with whether you were naughty or nice. thousands