-- get on the phone to the 1K or PE or EP line, and protect yourself on other flights
Good idea only if everyone else on the continent hasn't figured it out first. BTW, when confronted with the automated answering systems or the dreaded perversion of Gershwin, keep trying all the numbers you have, up to and including one above the one you're entitled to.
-- bypass long lines with other passengers and head to ANY counter or gate that's got agents willing to help you
I'd never get into an elite or FC line if I didn't belong there (even if I might consider using a phone number I didn't deserve), but were I not entitled to use an airline club or a status concierge (who, tending towards strictness at the best of times would most likely be doubly so in troubled hours), I'd figure out what flight would suit me and then go directly to the gate in question. Gate agents can often do stuff that others can't or won't.
-- check other airlines for similar delays, if not, get over there quick!
If it's really weather, would that do much good?