Though the Christmas Day snowfall provided a warm holiday memory for many Limestone County residents, it proved to be disastrous for holiday travelers in other parts of the country.

Athens residents Paula Laurita and her husband Daniel felt the brunt of the storm thousands of miles away in New York, as blizzard conditions canceled 5,000 flights at all three New York-area airports and left the couple stranded on Sunday and Monday.

The storm, which dumped 20 inches of snow in Central Park Sunday, was New York City’s sixth-worst since record-keeping began in 1869, said Adrienne Leptich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. A February 2006 storm dropped 26.9 inches of snow on Central Park, breaking the previous record, set in 1947, by half an inch.

The Lauritas were in New York visiting relatives in New Jersey when the winter storm rolled in. Paula’s cell phone died, but she was able to relay via e-mail the couple’s experience of being stranded at LaGuardia Airport.

She said thousands of passengers were stranded at the same Delta Airlines terminal she and her husband were using. For the most part, she said, the passengers were cooperative and pleasant to each other. However, she expressed frustration with “decision making” on the part of Delta officials.

“Most flights were cancelled, but ours remained scheduled to go at 4:15 p.m. It wasn’t until we were in line to board that we were told by one agent that the flight was cancelled while the (public address) announcement was that it was delayed for two hours,” she said via e-mail. “By the time the decision was made to cancel and we were rebooked for the next day, there were no hotel rooms and it was too dangerous for our family to drive.”

No hotel rooms meant that the couple was forced to spend the night at the airport with thousands of other travelers. Laurita ran to the gift shop and picked up two travel pillows and two travel blankets, but passengers were not allowed to sleep in the gate area.

The couple set up camp near the front doors, which she said wouldn’t completely close.

“There was still airport security making rounds, so I don’t understand why the (Transportation Security Administration officials) wouldn’t allow us in an area that was warmer, (had) carpeted floors and better bathroom facilities,” she said. “One of the biggest complaints is that the music was never turned down, so people tried to sleep to a blaring 80’s sound track.”

A door located near the couple was continually blown open in the cold wind, she said, though they eventually located a security guard who latched it back. However, every 20 minutes, another security guard would come along and unlatch the door.

“It would blow open and we would have to discuss why it wasn’t good in a blizzard to have the door open,” she said. “This cycle continued all night.”

Cots were later set up in the American Airlines terminal, and passengers were ferried over, but by then the couple had found a corner with heaters behind a bank of pay phones and decided to stay put.

The Lauritas had the last meal served on Dec. 26 at the airport restaurant, but they were able to reclaim their bags, which contained home-baked Italian cookies. Other passengers were forced to use vending machines.

On Monday morning, the couple checked in after a lone Delta agent arrived at the terminal. She said even though he did a great job dealing with all of the passengers, TSA agents didn’t want to let passengers back into the gate area. Even worse, passengers were told there was only one food vendor and that only major credit cards would be accepted.

“Finally we were allowed back … where my husband could get some coffee,” she said. “After a few hours, our flight was again cancelled, but not until after the flight crew arrived.”

Laurita, who is the director of the Athens-Limestone Public Library, said she had plenty of reading material to help pass the time. She finished one book on Dec. 26 and downloaded an e-book the next morning from the library’s collection to her iPad. She also used her iPad to update her Facebook page and to keep in touch with library staff.

The couple finally secured a hotel room Monday night and planned to leave New York Tuesday afternoon. They were expected to fly into Nashville, where they would take a car service to return home. Laurita said the couple didn’t want a ride waiting at the Nashville airport if they were unable to get a flight back.

Overall, she was impressed with the “everyday” staff the couple encountered and enjoyed lunch on Monday at the airport Marriott, where they found friendly service. She said leaders of all areas — government and private business — should learn from the workers’ example.

“The manager, waitress and one cook did an amazing job feeding hungry, tired, cranky people and still smiled,” she said. “The cook came out of the kitchen and started serving food so that no one would have to wait. There were people who took the easy ‘no’ to our questions, but many others tried to make our lives easier.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this story