Control tower evacuation at Newark Airport causes major flight delays

Winter weather disrupts holiday flights

The winter storm has caused travel issues in the sky and on the roads, with thousands of flights cancelled as thousands of people try to just get home for the holidays.

NEW JERSEY - The control tower at Newark Liberty Airport was evacuated Saturday due to an apparent water leak.

Dozens of flights were delayed and incoming flights were being held on the ground at their original airports until the matter was resolved.

"The FAA temporarily evacuated the Newark control tower due to a water leak," the FAA said in a statement.

According to the FAA's National Airspace System Status website, departures to Newark were being delayed by an average of 186 minutes.

The incident is just one of several travel holiday problems that hit the New York City region leading up to Christmas, causing thousands of travelers to be badly delayed in getting to their destination.