Delays and cancelled flights due to storm left thousands of unhappy travelers at SFO

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KGO) -- It's been a busy day at SFO on Wednesday. Forty percent of flights were delayed, up to two hours on average.

Forty-five flights were outright canceled. All because of the pouring rain and heavy winds.

James Medina and his wife flew out of SFO Wednesday after delays forced them to cancel their original flight Tuesday. "We go to the airport and now, we are two hours delayed, again," Medina said.

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They say two hours isn't a big deal, except now they won't have a car when they get to their final destination.

"We don't have a rental car when we get to the airport. It will be closed. So we will have to Uber 70 miles to Ventura," Medina said.

The Medina family were among the thousands of passengers who were waiting in long lines for tickets, long lines for check-in and long lines at security - all because of flight delays.

Five hundred flight were delayed, mostly due to bad weather. Rain made visibility a problem while erratic winds forced planes to be diverted, creating even more delays.

Frantic passengers scrambled to book new flights, while others waited it out the best they could.

Francisco Barraja played it smart, getting to the airport six hours early. "I prefer to be seated here waiting for the flight than if you get stuck on the freeway and get late for my flight," he said.

This is one of the busiest travel times of the year. But if passengers thought Wednesday was bad, airport officials expect Sunday to be worse.