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
out on seeing their loved ones at all this holiday season. we had to wait in a line that was four hours and still in line. and nobody s giving us any direction what tline to get in. a total you know what show here. according to southwest, nowhere to be found. hung up on multiple times. and southwest, they don t give any answer. they don t answer the phone. there s no option to rebook anything online. oh, also been on hold for 5 hours and 43 minutes. 5 hours and 43 minutes on hold. that logjam starting with the powerful winter storm that battered western new york. look at that in particular. this morning people in buffalo struggling to get food, water, medicine. basic necessities, after days of driving bans and closed stores. live to buffalo in a moment but want to start with the thousands of southwest airline cancellations this morning. cnn s adrieene broaddus is live at chicago s midwear airport and nick valencia at atlanta s airport. we see bags behind you.
hello, i am sara sidner in for mr. blackwell. we begin with the travel nightmare that won t seem to end. nearly 3,000 flights across the united states grounded again today, almost all of them, however, more than 90% of them are one airline, southwest airlines. you can see the lines for southwest passengers at ticket counters today in raleigh, denver, you name it. passengers, some of whom have spent hours or even days waiting in airports are fuming. i am beyond frustrated and hurt. i can t see my dad. my mom is in the hospital and i wanted to be there for her once she got discharged, and unfortunately because of the situation, they are saying the closest flight is the 29th. are you going to make it home today? no, likely not. i heard somebody say over the intercom not to expect to get a flight within the next four days, and that s not what i wanted to hear. within the next four days? goodness. with new year s eve days away, nearly 2,500 flights have already been canc
followening dangerous conditions in new york as night falls and the governor is appealing for federal help. miguel marquez is joining us not far from buffalo. miguel, what is happening on the ground? reporter: just a nightmare. buffalo is a city used to big storms. this is something they have never seen before. 27 people inn erie county new york dead from this storm and authorities are concerned going through homes and cars abandoned and start to clear the snow. massive amounts of snow they will find more people who are dead. the airport is shut down. they re not expected to open until wednesday. it is just an absolute disaster that officials there are only beginning to grapple with. the ability to clear the roads, this is a no drive zone in buffalo in many surrounding communities. thousands of people without power and the governors of new york say it is not over yet. the storm is coming back. we re expecting another six to 12 inches and in the south towns of southern par
the handshake. that one i will treasure. jerry, may we all be like jerry in 2023. thank you very much. thank you. thanks all of you for watching. thanks for getting up early. yes. you re fun. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. cnn newsroom starts now. good morning, everyone. i m jessica dean in washington. jim sciutto is off today. we are going to begin this morning with parts of the country trying to dig out from what s been both a dangerous and historic snowstorm. 200 additional national guard soldiers deploying to western new york today as the blizzard has now led to the deaths of at least 17 people there. we now have what will be talked about not just today but for generations, the blizzard of 22. we are still in the throes of this very dangerous life-threatening situation. nationwide more than 1,500 flights already canceled this morning, about the same amount delayed. that s only adding to the backlog from the holiday weekend, but we do have p