new numbers on the unprecedented number of migrants along the u.s./mexico border. i ll talk to an official from one border city about what s going on and what they need. and new audio into outfront of putin s forces turning on each other as there are reports of a strike on a military base deep inside russia. let s go outfront. good evening. i m sara sidner in for erin burnett. outfront tonight, worst winter storm ever. that s from new york officials describing this christmas weekend blizzard that pummelled areas upstate. and the death toll is rising, at least 27 deaths across the region now being blamed on the storm, surpassing the death toll from a historic blizzard 45 years ago. it was just a horrible situation, the worst storm i ve ever seen. it s the first time any of us can remember situations where we felt truly helpless. the blizzard burying buffalo and other parts of upstate new york under more than 4 feet of snow. and the region still bracing for even m
deadly winter weather still wreaking havoc across the country. travel is still a nightmare. unless one of those passengers get a wild hair and decides with a group of other passengers to rent a car and drive 20 hours to their destination together. that s exactly what some of our guests tonight did. in a little while i ll introduce you to this group of intrep travellers, total strangers, who had quite the adventure. they recorded their trip, and it went viral. meanwhile, 10 million people across the south are under freeze alerts. and the death toll from this storm is rising. at least 49 people have died across the country. 27 of those are in the buffalo area. and authorities fear that they ll find more bodies in cars, as they begin to dig out from what s being called the worst storm in the region s history. you can see some of it there. and while police have their hands full with rescues, stores are being looted. so, i ll talk to a supermarket manager who spent christmas eve
decides with another group of passengers to rent a car drive 20 hours to their destination together. that is exactly what some of our guests tonight did. in a little while, i will introduce you to this group of total travel total strangers, who had a quite an adventure when they decided to drive from tampa to cleveland together and they reported their trip and it went viral. meanwhile, ten billion people across the south are under freeze alerts. and the death toll from the storm is dry saying. at least 49 people have died across the country. 27 of those are in the buffalo area. authorities fear that they will find more bodies in cars as they begin to dig out from what is being called the worst storm in the region s history. you can see some of it there. while police have their hands full with rescues, stores are being looted. i will talk to a supermarket messenger who spent christmas eve washing his store who got broken into. i want to bring in now cnn s miguel marquez, he s
southwest. of. 2800 u.s. flights already canceled today, 2500, about 90% are southwest. challenge for our flight crews being stuck in locations not where they need to be along with the aircraft. at this point we re working to accommodate our customers as best we can and offer the most options we can. cnn s lucy kafnov is in denver. i wasn t anticipating a nightmare but it is. reporter: christmas is over but for thousands of customers the travel nightmare goes on. they canceled our flight. they said they can t help us so we don t know what to do. reporter: southwest airlines at the top of the list for cancellations. the airlines ticketing counter at baltimore s bwi airport a zoo. denver s lines for the southwest ticket counter even longer. we had to wait in a line that was four hours and it was horrible. nobody is giving us a direction on what line to get in. it s a total you know what show here. reporter: for those tlieg to call to get through, good luck get
this is a war with mother nature, and she has been hitting us with everything she has. this will go down in history as the most devastating storm in buffalo s long storied history of having battled many battles, many major storms. well, good morning everyone. buffalo, they re waking up to a lot of snow, deadly snow. we re glad you re with us on cnn this morning. i m poppy harlow alongside sarah said near. it is monday, december 26th. you were listening to new york governor kathy hochul describe what has been unprecedented the terms of the pain suffered by the good people of buffalo. she calls this winter storm the most devastating in the city s history. we ll take you there live. this weather event is directly responsible for the deaths of at least 37 people overall across the entire country. now, in buffalo, search teams believe they re likely to find more victims who have been trapped in their cars for over two days in that. right now there is a state of emergency in