holiday. freeze warnings still in effect in several states at this hour. blizzard conditions, at least 26 people have died in the actic blast, across eight state. in a hard-hit erie county, new york, roads remain impassable. still, a very dangerous situation. driving bans are still in place. this was the first time in buffalo fire history that they were unable to respond to calls. we want to remind everybody, there was a period hours straight in which we could not send out emergency service crews, because it was too dangerous. we will talk to that official in just a few minutes. plus, bitter-cold icing over the christmas celebrations in the midwest, east coast and southeast, even florida is feeling the chill, much of the state experiencing its coldest christmas since 1983. let s start in buffalo, new york. polo sandoval is braving is the cold temperatures there. merry christmas. reporter: merry christmas. it is in a recovery process right now, the sun finally came o
even when we get to the stub stations substations, we find there is structural damage and it is frozen. those are the biggest challenges. what is happening on treacherous roads, trying to clear them, getting people that are stranded in vehicles, we recovered many of them. also what is happening inside the homes, we have vulnerable senior citizens we re trying to get to. we restored power to 300,000 people. i do want to point to the successes. ho however, there are still 23,000 people in buffalo. we ve been trying to plow the way to the stations, help them manage the restoration of power. so we don t have an estimate. we did have power back on in a large part of the city. it went out again because the infrastructure was not able to withstand the storms around it. so that has been the challenge. so i am hoping in the next day, but we can make no guarantees because just when you think the day is getting brighter, mother nature comes back and hits us once again. we have enough
twilight s last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming . and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there . say does that star spangled banner yet wave o er the land of the free and the home of the brave . rachel: today the most festive and wonderful joyous day of the year. merry christmas, everybody. i hope everyone is looking forward to a great day with family and friends. we re also remembering the reason for the season which is the birth of jesus christ. i m lucky enough celebrating christmas on the couch with todd piro and griff jenkins. merry christmas to you, don t forget the little one inside of you. we ll share the holiday season with boy shimkus. this is thrill for me. i work with you every day. i can t wait to meet little one and meet griff. merry christmas, did santa come to the house. the cookie
cnn newsroom starts right now. good morning, it s saturday, december 24th. merry christmas eve. i m whitney wild in for amara walker. and i m martin savidge in for boris sanchez. and you re in the cnn newsroom. we begin with a frustrating start to a holiday weekend. more than 200 americans are under winter alert with an arctic blast with heavy snow and ice. the storm has placed enormous strains on america s energy infrastructure. this morning where more than 500,000 homes and businesses are without power. and authorities in tennessee have ordered 15-minute rolling blackouts to manage demands. now, officials in states are blaming the winter storm for 15 deaths. they re reminding drivers, if you don t need to travel, stay off the road. across the country, snow, ice and powerful winds have caused multivehicle crashes and left drivers stranded on roads and highways. many spent hours in freezing conditions but it is not just the snow and ice. in new jersey, in several co
liv golf. i m sara sidner in for fredricka whitfield. thanks for joining us on this christmas eve. a winter wholall up leaving millions out in the cold, some enduring their coldest christmas in decades. right now nomore than 100 milli people under windchill alerts. the arctic blast extending from montana all the way down to florida. some areas in the midwest are dipping into the negative 30s. yes, i said negative 30s. new york state police are warning people to stay off the roads amid white outconditions. they say search and rescue is moving extremely slovakia slowly due to the blizzard. the bitter cold proving dangerous. at least 15 people have lost their lives across the country so far. in ohio, icy roads are blamed for a 50-car pileup. you are looking at it there. devastating. in north carolina and a tennessee, places not used to this kind of cold, power companies are running short rolling blackouts to keep up with unusually high energy demand. more than 1.6 million custom