Wildfires and Disaster Response

A sprawling, erratic storm system — producing blizzard‑force snow in the Upper Midwest, high winds and tornado threats in the mid‑Atlantic, large wildfires in Nebraska, heavy rain in Hawaii and an early Western heat wave — has snarled U.S. air travel, triggering thousands of cancellations and delays (more than 4,800 cancellations and 12,800 delays reported Monday and 1,000+ cancellations with ~4,200 delays Tuesday), with major disruption at Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta and New York area airports. Compounding the chaos, a partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown that began Feb. 14 has left TSA employees working without pay, prompting over 300 resignations, sharply higher call‑out rates and missed paychecks, and officials warn of increasingly long security lines and further travel disruptions.