The major storm making its way across the U.S. is now officially blamed for 11 deaths as it bears down on the East Coast in sync with Thanksgiving travel times.

Over half the deaths are in Texas with most released to ice covered roads. One woman was killed when a tree weighed down by ice fell onto her car.

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for large parts of the eastern United States through Wednesday afternoon. Forecasters predict big delays at some of the nation’s largest airports – New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston and Charlotte, North Carolina – are very likely.

Thanksgiving is one of the peak travel times of the year. Airlines for America, the industry’s lobbying group, say this year could see the most air travellers since 2007 with an estimated 2.56 million passengers. AAA estimates as many as 39 million people will be traveling by car Wednesday and Thursday.

The storm is expected to bring heavy rain to the south that could cause delays at southern airports like Atlanta.