Massive winter storm prompts weather alerts for over 75 million Americans

waterways are drying up. we will explore the new lows in the Venice canal. first, we begin with the lows in the weather temperatures. you've got this massive storm that has already hit parts of us' more than 75 million Americans are under a weather alert.  the storm is stretching the entire width of the continental us' 

as far west as California and as far east as Maine. for captors, the Minneapolis area could get more than 20 inches of snow today and more than two feet in total over the coming days.  hundreds of flights in and out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport has already been canceled today. those cancellations are impacting thousands of people including 

this young mother. I was supposed to go get my daughter in Dallas today. and we drove from grand rapids and because of the weather, it took us 7.5 hours. they said they can't give me a voucher or anything like that or food for my son. so we are kind of just stuck here.  joining us 

now from a very chilly Minneapolis is correspondent Christina, taking one for the team. Christina, good to be talking with you. forecasters are saying that Minneapolis may see more snow over the coming days than it has seen in three decades.  reporter: so far, it's been freezing but drivable. this is the result of one of the 800 snowplows 

that are out and about. I will try to get down without embarrassing myself on television. this is a region that is used to snow. so far, this is just winter but people are actually taking these warnings seriously. this could be the most snow they've seen in decades. the last time they got 17 inches in a matter of 

24 hours, it collapsed the roof of a stadium. so people are preparing. we talked to people when I was flying in. people were getting right from the airport to the stores to do their shopping and hunker down. the roads are empty and passable. the national weather service has said, it could be impassable tonight and early tomorrow morning. 

so the worst is yet to come. this is a part of the country used to this type of weather. they've got the clothes and the plan and your point about the roads being impassable here soon, and our credit to the snowplow workers who are up early making sure things are clear. how else are officials responding considering 

what is expected so far, it's a lot of weight and sees but it looks like they want to be prepared if they do get that they lose the blizzard that they are anticipating. the national guard is essentially on standby. they are working on communicating with the local officials. they've got snow tires on ambulances and they've got a sled 

so they will get to their patients however they need to. so we will have to see how everything goes. the other big issue is the airport. there are people in our hotel this morning who were already stranded. the young woman, trying to get to her daughter, that will affect this area for some time to come because remember 

all of those people who got kicked off their flights, there's a knockdown effect. so you could see ripples of that throughout the system for a couple of days to come. I love the sled detail and how dedicated those ems workers are but given that this is going to be a multi-day event, does that change the way 

that officials prepare? i don't think so. they are used to snow in this part of the country, just maybe not so much and so quick. but you know our crew here is local, they were making fun of me this morning and saying it's not that cold, it's just winter. clearly, my Colorado roots have left me and I've 

spent too much time in the sea. I think it's a matter of everybody being safe and heeding the warning from officials in there trying to establish those lines of communication. schools are closed not only here but in the Dakotas. there on online learning which is devastating when you think about school days when we were kids but this 

letting will have to wait because the good news is the electric power lines and wi-fi are still working. hopefully, everybody can get through this. I think of snow days with lizards like this. those poor kids.  and I'm so old I used to have to wait for it to go across the tv to see if my