The United States is slowly emerging from the storm... Unrest at airports continues

The United States is slowly emerging, Wednesday, from a historic storm that killed at least 56 people, while its impact continues in the Buffalo area and at airports, where hundreds of thousands of passengers have canceled flights.

In recent days, the United States has witnessed heavy snowfall and a sudden drop in temperature.

The bad weather wreaked so much havoc, even in areas accustomed to harsh winters, that rescue teams sometimes found themselves stranded.

According to a new toll released on Wednesday, Erie County, New York, where Buffalo is located near the border with Canada, has seen at least 34 deaths out of 56 deaths related to the storm.

The bodies of people were found in their cars or on the street, some of whom died after waiting hours to be rescued.

Frost was felt to varying degrees in most parts of the country, including in Texas and Florida, which are not used to such weather conditions.

Despite the improvement in the situation in Florida on Wednesday with the rise in temperatures, the authorities stressed that this does not mean that the population is out of danger.

"As temperatures rise, we can expect melting snow and potential flooding due to the rapid thawing," Erie County Sheriff Mark Polonkarz warned.

Meanwhile, the driving ban remained in effect Wednesday in Buffalo.

The official said on Twitter that the National Guard will go door to door in areas that have not yet restored electricity, to ensure the safety of residents.

At airports, especially in Denver, Chicago and Baltimore, disruptions continued in light of the cancellation of successive flights over the Christmas holidays.

While most airlines have returned to normal, Southwest Airlines has continued to deal with its own service disaster in recent days.

Of the nearly 2,800 flights that were canceled Wednesday morning, Southwest was supposed to operate more than 2,500, according to FlightAware.

On Tuesday evening, CEO Bob Jordan apologized in a video message for the matter.

"We are doing everything we can to get (things) back to normal. I'm really sorry," he said.

Mike Santoro, vice president of the Southwest Pilots Association, expressed his frustration on CNN, explaining that the company has long been operating on a "pretty outdated" computer system, which makes organizing flights complicated.

"We're sick of apologizing on behalf of Southwest," he said, calling on the company to invest in updating its system.

"This is the biggest upset I've had in my 16 years (working) with the company. It's embarrassing," he said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he would closely investigate "what happened to the system" of the company.

"While we understand that it is impossible to control the weather, what is clear in this case is that the line between an uncontrollable weather situation and a situation that stems from the direct responsibility of the company has been crossed," he told NBC.

On Wednesday morning, hundreds of bags were still stacked at Baltimore Airport in Maryland, waiting to be returned to their owners, according to an AFP journalist.

A Southwest customer, Donald Snyder, was standing with about 40 other people outside the company's baggage counter.

"I had a flight Sunday to Indianapolis, but it was canceled after my bags were checked," he said.

"I didn't try to come earlier this week, it looked like a mess. But I hope to get my bags back today," he added.

At this time, others were trying to retrieve their luggage with the help of the company's employees, among the hundreds of bags piled up and classified according to the flight.

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