Holiday travelers venture out, despite extreme storm's impact
(CBS News) The day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year and millions of people may feel the impact of superstorm Sandy when they hit the road Wednesday.
For the fourth year in a row, more Americans are heading out of town for Thanksgiving. The motor club AAA predicts more than 43 million people will travel 50 miles or more. And the aftermath of Sandy could make the usual Thanksgiving travel crunch even worse.
Sandy rocked the nation's most populated and busiest travel corridor less than a month ago. Now, it's forced millions to rethink and reevaluate their holiday travel plans.
"The economic impact could be substantial," said AAA spokesperson Robert Sinclair. "People travel -- they spend money."
Sandy damaged or destroyed a quarter of a million vehicles. Personal and commercial cars and trucks were flooded, along with car dealerships and rental lots. The result is a rental car shortage during the busiest travel period of the year.
"The rental car agencies are saying that they're bringing more vehicles into the region, but when you're talking about a loss of a quarter million vehicles, we're talking about an awful lot of vehicles that have to come into to this region to make up the difference," Sinclair said.
In New York City, fuel rationing from Sandy will continue the rest of this week despite the holiday. And drivers nationwide will have to dig deeper this year to fill up. The national average price of gas is around $3.40 a gallon -- a drop of nearly 40 cents per gallon since early October. But it is still on track to set an all-time Thanksgiving high.
The airline industry took a major hit from Sandy, too. More than 20,000 flights were cancelled and airports closed for days. That industry was quick to bounce back as three million travelers are expected to fly this week
Jami Counter, of the travel website TripAdvisor, said, "You shouldn't see any lingering side effects or after effects of the airlines, either operationally or financially. Everything should be all systems go for this weekend."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57552905/holiday-travelers-venture-out-despite-extreme-storms-impact/
Sandy victims cheered by NYC's Thanksgiving parade
The popular Macy's parade, attended by more than 3 million people and watched by 50 million on TV, included such giant balloons as Elf on a Shelf and Papa Smurf, a new version of Hello Kitty, Buzz Lightyear, Sailor Mickey Mouse and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Real-life stars included singer Carly Rae Jepsen and Rachel Crow of "The X Factor."
The young, and the young at heart, were delighted by the sight and sound of marching bands, performers and, of course, the giant balloons. The sunny weather quickly surpassed 50 degrees. Alan Batt and his 11-year-old twins, Kyto and Elina, took in the parade at the end of the route, well away from the crowd and seemingly too far away for a good view. But they had an advantage: Two tall stepladders they hauled over from their apartment eight blocks away — one for each twin.
"We're New Yorkers," the 65-year-old Batt said. "We know what we're doing." With the height advantage, "I get to see everything!" Kyto said. At nearby Greeley Square, social worker Lowell Herschberger, 40, of Brooklyn, sought in vain to tear his sons, 8-year-old Logan and 6-year-old Liam, from a foosball table set up in the tiny park as the balloons crept by on the near horizon.
"Hey, guys — there's Charlie Brown," he said, pointing at the old standby balloon. The boys didn't look up. "I guess they're over it," the father said with a shrug. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was reflective Thursday as he praised police, firefighters, armed services personnel, sanitation workers and volunteers involved in the storm response. His office was coordinating the distribution of 26,500 meals at 30 sites in neighborhoods affected by Sandy, and other organizations also were pitching in.
The disaster zones on Staten Island were flooded — this time with food and volunteers from Glen Rock, N.J. organized using social media. "We had three carloads of food," said volunteer Beth Fernandez. "The whole town of Glen Rock pitched in. ... It's really cool. It's my best, my favorite Thanksgiving ever."
On Long Island, the Long Beach nonprofit Surf For All hosted a Thanksgiving event that fed 1,200 people. Carol Gross, 72, a Long Beach native, said she went to volunteer but was turned away because of a surplus of helpers.
"A lot of people like me, old-timers, we've never seen anything like this horror," she said, recalling the destruction. Gross' brother, Jerry, who moved to Arizona in the 1960s, was stunned by what he saw when he returned for Thanksgiving.
