Winter storm death toll tops 60 as crews in Buffalo work to clear 4 feet of snow

Read the Full Transcript

• Judy Woodruff:

  The casualties keep climbing tonight from a savage winter storm gripping much of the nation. The latest counts show at least 60 are dead, with more than half of those around Buffalo, New York. Roads there are still paralyzed, and air travel in many places is still a shambles.

  Nicole Ellis begins our coverage.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Emergency crews in Buffalo have been working around the clock to clear more than four feet of snow. But as fire department video shows, they face an obstacle course of abandoned cars littering the streets.

• Mark Poloncarz, Erie County, New York, Executive:

  It is ugly right now on many of the streets.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says State Troopers and military police are taking up positions citywide because too many drivers are ignoring an emergency travel ban.

• Mark Poloncarz:

  Please, please, please do not drive in the city of Buffalo unless you are emergency personnel, because there are some roads that are passable with two lanes. There are others that are only one lane and others that are — as we know, are completely impassable.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Blizzard conditions have also kept planes grounded at airports nationwide this week, with thousands more flights canceled today.

  Southwest Airlines is the focus of much of that anger after it canceled nearly three-quarters of Monday's flights. Today, it canceled roughly two-thirds of its flights, far more than other major airlines.

  One of the thousands of passengers affected was Kitty Jarmon, stuck at Chicago's Midway Airport.

• Kitty Jarmon, Air Traveler:

  It's just been frustrating, because I have — I'm a single parent. I have to get home. My children are there waiting for me. I'm supposed to be at work today. Now I have to call and say I can't be there.

• Nicole Ellis:

  Delays prompted chaotic scenes elsewhere, with masses of uncollected luggage overnight and weary passengers facing the possibility of days of more waiting.

• Kara Dyrek, Southwest Passenger:

  They said: "No one is getting on a flight, Southwest flight, for four days." And they said: "We can't help you. Go home."

• Nicole Ellis:

  Last night, the Department of Transportation said it will look into what it called Southwest's unacceptable rate of cancellations and reports of lack of prompt customer service.

  For its part, Southwest has blamed the storm's sheer size.

• Jay McVay, Southwest Airlines Spokesman:

  The fact that this one started West, swept East and impacted almost every single one of our largest airports that put us in a position where we struggled to recover, and we struggled to get our flight crews and airplanes where they needed to be.

• Nicole Ellis:

  The airline also warned that further cancellations are expected this week.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nicole Ellis.