SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Hurricane Sandy is having a ripple effect on air travel as more than 7,000 flights have been cancelled nationwide.

While most flights are running on schedule, both East Coast direct flights were cancelled earlier Sunday, one arriving from Dulles International in D.C. and the other heading to JFK in New York City.

“I’m shaking. I’ll make it, I hope,” said one flyer.

There are stressful moments at Sacramento International Airport for passengers flying east, rushing to get out ahead of the storm.

“I’m trying to get in before (the storm). I don’t want to get stuck here for five days,” said a flyer.

Many of them were even flying out as soon as they could rather than waiting.

“I’m still gonna risk it, as long as I’m home by tomorrow,” said another flyer.

Some airports on the East Coast have already shut down.

Toby Phillips’ plane was on the runway, ready to leave Sacramento to Chicago, when he found out his connecting flight from Chicago to D.C. was cancelled.

He decided to get off the plane and stay in Sacramento.

“Dulles is closed until Tuesday afternoon, so nobody’s getting in. So either I’m stuck here or stuck there. It’s sunny here,” said Phillips.

“I would not have gone back east if I had thought about it, but I have to go back on business,” said one man.

Dozens of flights out of San Francisco back east have also been scrapped.

“We’re trying to figure it out. We’re gonna go to Chicago, then to North Carolina, and then by car to Washington D.C.,” said one woman planning an alternate route.

Some were lucky as other flights came in, full of passengers that just escaped the storm, but others weren’t so lucky.

“People were a little upset like “it hasn’t really started yet. We should have some more time. Why’d they close it so soon,” said Phillips.

At this point, none of them know what to expect once the storm hits.

A lot of folks are just trying to go with the flow right now. Expect a lot of other flight cancellations coming in the next couple of days as Hurricane Sandy barrels to shore.