some dying in snow buried cars, others in homes with no power. conditions so bad rescuers needed rescuing. and the travel nightmare continues for thousands of americans, so far more than 3,000 flights have been canceled today, the majority are southwest flights. plus, how a toy and a car led police to find a kidnapped baby. welcome to the lead i m phil mattingly in today for jake tapper. we begin with the rising death toll from the vicious winter weather across the country. at least 49 people across nine states have died from storms, at least 27 of those deaths are centered in buffalo, new york, and surrounding erie county which were hit with a blizzard, winds so fierce they reached hurricane strength, rescuers had to be sent out to help stranded rescue crews facing, quote, some of the worst conditions that any of us have ever seen. many roads around buffalo remain impassable, driving bans still in place in some areas as crews try to clear the streets to restore power
of us have ever seen. many roads around buffalo remain impassable, driving bans still in place in some areas as crews try to clear the streets to restore power to the thousands of homes. we begin our coverage today with cnn s polo sandoval in buffalo as crews continue the heartbreaking work recovering the bodies of those who didn t survive. this is the worst that we have had. reporter: in buffalo, new york, it s being called the most devastating storm ever. we are in a war. this is a war with mother nature and she has been hitting us with everything she has. reporter: in a region that s used to harsh winter weather, this is worse. we deal with snow all the time, but the conditions were different because with the gusts of wind, i could tell you firsthand, zero visibility. i couldn t see two feet in front of my vehicle. reporter: up to 43 inches of snow, hurricane-force winds and hundreds of vehicles stuck. there s cars everywhere. everywhere. pointing the wrong direction o