Free from the United States' killer storm, Bermuda was the greatest place on earth yesterday to hundreds.

With hours of frustration still etched on their faces, they flew into the Island with tales of a winter horror story.

For many the US East Coast's worst blizzard this century had thrown travel plans into turmoil.

The last 48 hours had been endured holed up in snowbound hotels and airports.

And for most the abiding memory was of near-zero temperatures, traffic jams, several feet of snow, and a country virtually paralysed.

"I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen such snow,'' exclaimed Mr.

Ben Smith, from Southampton.

The young student was among those on the Northwest flight from Boston, which arrived late yesterday.

Another was 19-year-old Simone Maranzana, a photography student from Massachusetts.

Both were fiercely critical of Delta, the airline they had originally booked with.

They lashed out at airline staff in the US for being rude and appearing unconcerned about their plight.

Mr. Smith, an elementary education student, had planned to return to Bermuda on Saturday.

The flight cancellation forced him to switch airlines, and cough out for hotel, taxi, and bus expenses.

"Delta told me the delay was an act of God, and they could not help me. They were very rude about it,'' said Mr. Smith.

"Their attitude basically was we go home, we can't help you. To make matters worse the taxi driver tried to rip us off.'' Mr. Smith felt Delta should have offered to pay some of the extra expense.

Travelling companion Mr. Maranzana, from Smiths, told how he took a limousine from Connecticut to Boston in the thick of the blizzard.

The nightmare four-hour journey risked the skid-pan highway.

"It was a risk, and cost about $150 but I chanced it,'' said Mr. Maranzana.

Bible studies student Nicole Smith was on the earlier Delta flight from Boston.

The plane flew in more than an hour late after its tyres became frozen on the runway.

Engineers were called on to blow hot air on the ice, and unfreeze the aircraft.

For Miss Smith it was another hitch in a problem-plagued trip from New York.

"I did not think I was meant to come home,'' she said.

The 19-year-old was supposed to arrive here on Saturday from snowbound Philadelphia.

But after her plane circled Philadelphia for two hours, the captain decided to fly to Vermont.

"All I could see out of the window was white. It was really scary. The plane was jerking and we just could not land,'' said Miss Smith.

At Vermont she whiled away the time in a hotel before leaving for Boston and the final leg of her journey.

"The weather was terrible. It was freezing and there was snow and ice everywhere,'' she added.

Similar tales were told by other passengers.

Mrs. Helen Baxter and her family had gone to Boston, accompanying a friend to hospital.

"All flights were cancelled over the weekend, and even today only one runway was open at Boston.

"It was very hazardous, and you could not walk about or drive anywhere. The airport was packed with people.'' She added: "I saw a few road accidents, although no one was killed.'' For English businessman Mr. Chris Donnachie the joy and relief of coming home to his wife and children were written on his face.

Mr. Donnachie had returned here from Miami via Atlanta.

"It's just great to be back,'' he beamed, hugging his youngsters, 16-month-old John and four-year-old Jenna.

Although most of the East Coast ground to a standstill, some stores remained open.

Among those who braved the storm yesterday was Mrs. Marcia Wilkinson, from Warwick.

Mrs. Wilkinson, who flew in on the Northwest flight, recalled how Sunday shopping had been thwarted when the car got stuck in a snowdrift.

"We had to get friends to shovel us out, and then go back.'' Twenty-year-old history student Mr. Henry Wellesley, who is visiting his friend Nicholas, told how he had left a New York virtually paralysed by snow.

"The snow was a foot and three quarters deep, although everybody had been prepared for it.''