Thank you.
Judy: The great blizzard of 2022
is passing into the history
books, but its legacy lingers,
on the ground and in the air.
"Southwest airlines" scrubbed
another 2,500 flights today, and
the number of deaths nationwide
from snow and freezing
temperatures topped 60, with
more than half of those in
western New York state.
John yang begins our coverage.
John: Across Buffalo, mounds of
plowed snow are rising and after
days of frigid cold, so are
temperatures, and the potential
for more problems.
Officials warn that the thaw
could lead to the discovery of
more dead as snowbound homes
become accessible.
So they've National Guard troops
door-to-door.
City and county officials have
begun to other out.
>> Storm after storm, the city
unfortunately is the last one to
be open and that should not be
the case.
It is embarrassing, to tell the
truth.
John: Buffalo mayor Byron brown.
>> As tough and as strong as the
county executive could be in a
news briefing, he did not say
any of this to me on the phone
or face-to-face.
John: Across the country,
stranded air travelers spent
another long, frustrating day -
, especially on "Southwest
-- southwest airlines.
Plaques I think the worst part
was when they cancelled our
flights, they didn't give us our
luggage.
So, these clothes have been on
us for four days.
John: The airline again canceled
more than 60 percent of its
flights far more than any other
, carrier.
Last night, transportation
secretary Pete buttigieg told
Judy woodruff that the airline
can no longer blame all its
problems on the storm.
>> Right now, I would say
meltdown is the only word I can
use to describe what is
happening across southwest
airlines' operations.
John: Today, the head of the
southwest pilots union called
for major changes.
>> They are using processes and
I.T. From the 1990's when we
were an airline, less than a
quarter of the size.
>> I'm truly sorry.
John: In a video statement,
southwest CEO Bob Jordan
acknowledged his company's
failings.
>> The tools we use to recover
from disruption serve us well,
99 percent of the time; but
clearly, we need to double down
on our already existing plans to
upgrade systems for these tree circumstances so that we Ver again face what'
happening right now.
John: In Buffalo, officials say
long days of recovery and
mourning lie ahead.
The body of 26-year-old
congolese refugee Abdul sharifu
was found in a snow drift.
He'd been dubbed "911" for his
willingness to help those in
need.
>> Abdul sharifu went out to get
food and provisions for his
pregnant wife who's about to
give birth.
And he didn't make it back home.
John: And even as the thaw sets
in, thousands of people still
need help getting food, medicine
and transportation.
, Buffalo's death toll from this
storm is already the city's
highest ever from a weather
event, surpassing the blizzard
of 1977.
Don Paul is a longtime Buffalo
meteorologist, a respected voice
in the city who has covered the
city's weather for nearly four
decades.
We think of one question.
How could this happen in a city
like Buffalo?
Don: I don't think anyone has
the answer right now because the
blizzard of 1977, which was
almost entirely windblown snow,
was not well forecast.
It wasn't a total surprise.
This storm had days of advance
warning not just from someone
like me but certainly from the
national weather service, and we
assumed fewer people would try
to venture out into it.
And Buffalo is known for being
able to handle snow.
The city has fewer clouds per
capita than a city that gets
less snow like where I grew up
in the New York area.
New York sanitation department
per capita has far more and you
have so many abandoned cars.
Simply cannot get down the
street but apparently one of the
biggest problems has been so
many people wanted out and got
into their cars as well as
pedestrians and faced the worst
possible, most brutal conditions
I have personally experienced in
my long life.
I have never seen anything quite
like and as bad as it was here
in my house, it was worse in
Buffalo.
John: We have seen extreme
weather events get more extreme
in recent years.
Do you see any connection with
climate change in this storm?
Don: Probably.
There is growing evidence that
the market which is warming two
times to three times faster than
the rest of the globe, by
warming up, has caused the polar
jet stream episodically to
weaken.
A vortex keeps most of the polar
air bottled up over the polar
region but when that polar jet
weekends, it can allow episodic
stretching of the polar vortex
far to the south, generally east
of the rockies, and this can
happen in the midst of an
otherwise milder than average
winter.
It sounds counterintuitive,
especially to nonscientist deny
lists but we can see --
denialists, but we can see
extreme other events for short
periods and we are going to most
of the east into thirds of the
country, going to go back to
well above average temperatures
over the next three or four days
and into the next week.
A lot of the snow will melt but
it's not going to erase the
tragedy.
John: This has been described as
a once in a generation storm but
than what you just said, who
will be seeing these more
frequently?
Don: We could be.
There is not total agreement and
the scientific community between
physicists and climate
scientists and meteorologists
but some researchers such as Dr.
Judah: In the Boston area has
done in-depth research and
believes these episodes not only
will be happening more often but
have been happening more often
than prior to the accelerated
morning so we are seeing these
winter events.
What we have also seen is some
tropical events that appear to
be related to the change in the
jetstream and that appears to
be, but again, not conclusively,
tied to arctic warming.
In my estimation, we are seeing
these episodes more often but I
am not a researcher so I stand
on their shoulders when I say
that.
John: You told our producer
earlier today that you were
concerned about what this storm
would mean for Buffalo moving
forward.
What did you mean by that?
Don: I'm afraid that this
disaster, besides the horrific
human toll, is going to take a
toll on Buffalo's image and the
place where potential industries
locate when in fact, Buffalo
does not suffer risk of
mega-droughts, wildfires,
massive flooding and the other
events that are definitely tied
to a warming climate.
We had more refuge and of course
our water supply is virtually
inexhaustible from lake Erie and
the other great Lakes.
We are in a climate impact
refuge, but this setback, in
addition to the tragedy, I'm
afraid is going to hurt
Buffalo's economic well-being.
It's not going to be quickly
forgotten.
John: Don Paul, thank you very
much.
Our thoughts are with everybody
up there in the Buffalo region.
Don: Thank you, John.