Cold weather brings chaos, delays and cancellations to travelers at South Florida airports: "It's a big mess"

People flying out of Miami International Airport knew there were going to be significant delays and cancellations due to the winter storm, but they didn't know they would also be waiting in long lines before even heading inside to catch their flight.

"I mean, I get it, weather is weather. But I mean, if you look at this place, bags aren't going to make the flights," said traveler Logan Toby, who is heading to Dallas. "Hopefully, we make the flights."

People flying out of MIA on Sunday were met by long lines. Already facing the fear that their flight would be impacted by winter weather, their nightmare started in the bag drop-off with a line stretching across the American Airlines ticketing area. 

"It's a big mess," said Desiree Cedgwick, who is traveling to Salt Lake City. 

Cedgwick had her sunny vacation impacted last week. 

"Our flight got canceled from Phoenix to Charlotte. So they rerouted us a few different times," she told CBS News Miami. "We finally made it to Charlotte a day later. Had to get on the cruise that day. We sat on the tarmac for four hours, missed our cruise by three minutes."

When she got to MIA with her family and saw the baggage line, it was like reliving a nightmare all over again.

"My kids are very nervous to travel back — they keep asking me if their flight's cancelled or if they're going to get home," Cedgwich said. "We'll get home eventually." 

Passengers were eventually told that if their bag was tagged to be left in a designated area near the ticketing counter. Bags eventually piled up and sat as travelers made their way to another long line: TSA. 

Marybel Ellen Killburn, who is traveling back home to Tennessee, decided to arrive hours before her flight

"We knew it was going to be impacted, so we went to Joe Stone Crab — an iconic meal. We just got here and we're going with the flow," she told CBS News Miami.

Cold weather is causing delays and cancellations at South Florida airports

A spokesperson for MIA told CBS News Miami that due to cancellations and low temperatures, there would be delays with bag processing. 

At MIA, there was a total of 263 delays and 25 cancellations on Sunday. 

At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, there were 267 delays and 51 cancellations.