this is al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey in new york. these are the top stories. stranded in colorado, rising flood waters leave three towns under water and desperate for help. rebuilding again, nearly a year after hurricane sandy fire devastates part of the jersey shore. and the un says its inspectors will likely confirm chemical weapons were used in syria. ♪ the situation in colorado has gone from bad to worse.

massive flooding for several days, several days of rain has turned three mountain towns basically into islands, as rescuers struggle to reach people, rivers and creeks are still overflowing their banks. tamara banks is in boulder county, colorado. tamara what efforts are underway to get to these people that are so isolated in these cut off towns? >> reporter: i do have some good us in for you. the rain has subsided, so that is great news, and some good news for those folks in lyons, that community north of boulder. you have some video of those folks trying to be evacuated yesterday, but because the flood waters were so dangerous, they were told to stay put, and that's what they did. we learned just now that the national guard is sending in

about 100 guardsmen to help out. we just saw a national guard helicopter fly over us a short time ago. so those folks should be moving and be able to get out of those flood waters soon. >> so you are getting a bit of a break, but clearly the danger is far from over. tell us what else everyone is still dealing with. >> h >> reporter: that's right. it is still very much dangerous. about 200 miles of the front range have been effected by the flooding. the big thompson has caused i-25 to close north of denver all the way to the wyoming border. that is unprecedented. we are used to having the interstate closed off of snow but not because of flooding. and the cache la poudre is expected to breech and go to

about 14 feet. >> thanks tamara. people are looking for relief from this record rain, so here is more on that. >> by the end of the week a lot of drier air will be pushing in to the west, but in the meantime folks are urged to stay on alert. we're looking at light showers around the denver area. as for denver the rain has come to a stop. however, we're not in the clear just yet. we're going to see plentiful amounts of moisture streaming in from the south, and a renewed threat of flash flooding. it extends really all the way down into albuquerque, new mexico, that's i-25 territory. folks are highly urged to stay off of the roads. richelle back to you. the fire that averaged part

of the jersey shore yesterday is now mostly contained. more than 80

[ technical difficulties ] >> yes, richelle, today is a little bit breezy but yesterday was very windy, and that was one reason why the fire spread so quickly. behind me you can see some of these damaged buildings. firefighters have been working on the buildings since yesterday. what helped them to stop the fire from spreading was the boardwalk which was just on the other side of these buildings, they took some chunks out of that boardwalk and filled the spots with sand. new jersey governor looked shaken and was typically blunt. >> i feel like i want to throw up, and that's me. after all of the effort, and time and resources that we have put in to help the folks in

seaside park and seaside heights rebuild, to see this going on is unthinkable. >> reporter: the fire starts at a frozen custard shop. hundreds of firefighters fought to control the flames. several businesses were destroyed. the fire comes days after the end of the summer tourist season, and almost 11 months after hurricane sandy slammed into the jersey shore, causing billions of dollars in damages. the season was slow former chants, fewer tourists came with fewer dollars to spend. >> oh, no. >> reporter: now this. >> we are seeing businesses had rebuilt themselves during the summer, destroyed. and it's really sad. >> reporter: governor christie says the investigation into the

cause of the fire is just beginning, and that investigation could take days. richelle. >> thank you so much. secretary of state john kerry met with sergey lavrov again today both men said that until an agreement is made about chemical weapons, peace talks cannot begin. >> basically to discuss the issue of chemical weapons in syria now that the assad government joined the chemical weapons convention. >> and we are committed to try to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world.

>> kerry and lavrov will meet in new york later this month, and hope to set a date for resumed peace talks in syria. so they are talk about setting dates for a syrian peace conference, but there is so much that has to be dealt with in the next few days phil. and people wonder how realistic is it if syria says they are willing to turn over their chemical weapons. how realistic is that? >> yeah, that is being addressed at these talks, and that is a major issue. even syria agrees to give up its chemical weapons and follows through on actually doing that as it said it will do, how do you do it in the middle of a civil war. we do know the delegations have separated into two camps, the

diplomatic camp and the chemical weapons experts camp. and those experts are discussing the reality of how this could be done, how it could be done safely, scientifically, logistically, all of those things. so it is being discussed here, ailt does look as though something is happening behind closed doors. there's no announce amount that has been made yet, richelle, and there are still major issues between the americans and the russians when it comes to matters of the continued threat of possible us-lead mill stair strikes. but we have seen a number of things today that indicate that maneuvering is going on. richelle? >> is there a sfeeling that this is just the beginning and there would be more meetings after this, or that they will determined to get something significant done here?

>> reporter: well, i think one of the most significant things that we have heard today is the announcement that there would be a larger issue, plan here. that there would be talks on how to actually get a peace, a lasting peace in the syrian civil war, beyond this current crisis that was sparked by the use of chemical weapons on august 21st, there seems to be now talk of how to move this on to actually ending this bloody civil war. richel? >> phil, thank you so much. investigators in un found overwhelming evidence that chemical weapons were used in syria. the secretary general's comments came during what he thought he was a private meeting. james bayes is live at the un

building in new york. james put this in some perspective for us. >> this i think shows us what the un and the un secretary general really think, ban ki-moon addressing a forum meeting in a committee room at the united nations. the electronic sign said it was a closed meeting. he did not think that he was being broadcast. he didn't think his comments were public, and he thought, i think, his comments were off of the record, yet those comments were broadcast around the un, so everyone could hear those comments. and ban ki-moon is always very, very measured when he talks about these things. because the un has to be an honest broker. so ban ki-moon has to be even

handed, and yet now he has said in these comments we believes the assad regime is responsible for crimes against humanity, and he is also saying that the report, which he hasn't received yet from the un weapons inspector, he says that report will overwhelmingly show that chemical weapons were used. i think an embarrassing day for the united nations. we'll have to see in the coming hours, how they put this -- these comments into some context. >> absolutely. because in fact the un had been insisting they would not put any blame on any particular party. the day of the 12th anniversary of september 11th, the al qaeda leader called for more attacks on the us. he told muslims to make the u.s. bleed financially. he has been the leader of al

qaeda since osama bin laden was skilled in 2011. he is thought to be hiding somewhere along the afghan pakistani border. 19 people were killed during an attack on the u.s. consulate in afghanistan. the taliban is claiming responsibility. >> reporter: the attack began with an explosion and gunfire, taliban fighters attempted to enter the u.s. console late in the far western part of the country. >> translator: an explosion took place, and then a number of insurgents entered the gate. we don't know how many there were. >> reporter: the attack included a car bomb, civilians and security forces were among the casual advertise and were quickly rushed to the hospital. guards from the compound quickly

took the blast. >> translator: but rother was injured as a result of today's attack and is now in the hospital. >> reporter: the taliban said the consulate had been an intended target for sometime. the consulate strategically borders iran and harat city has been largely considered secure. james cunningham issued a statement saying . . . no areas in afghanistan are completely secure from taliban attacks. the group still control large areas of the country. the u.s. military will pull out most of their troops by the end of next year, and it's unlikely they will leave behind a defeated taliban. jane ferguson, al jazeera kabul,

afghanistan. coming up on al jazeera. >> these people do not have voices. that's why they are an easy target. >> florida is under investigation by the department of justice. the charge housing hundreds of disabled children in nursing homes for profit.

♪ the department of justice is suing the state of florida over the state's handling of its most fragile disabled children. hundreds of medically fragile children are being housed in nursing homes instead of other critical care facilities. this is a tampa father fighting

to get better care for his son. >> reporter: it was the start of a new life for the 15-year-old. the native egyptian had just moved here and was in a car accident. and so began an unexpected life for he and his family. for the last two years he has been living in this nursing home in tampa. it is one of a handful in the state that care for medically fragile and complex children. he says initially it was excellent care, but then the therapy stopped. >> i felt very bad. i was in a state of lost, really. i didn't know what to do. i was looking for solution anywhere. >> reporter: the department of justice, or doj is stepping in

to assist families like this. it's suing the state of florida for discriminating against the kids and violating the americans with disabilities act. there are 186 children requiring intense medical care housed in nursing homes. it's a result in the reduction in community-based services. >> these people do not have voices. that's why they are an easy target. >> reporter: matt represents the gassers and nine other families. he is suing the state as well. he says it cost more to house children in nursing homes than to provide them with at-home or group-home care. the state paid almost $95,000 on average in a community based setting. the average cost for care in a

nursing home was $112,000. >> for the past 15 years, more and more older people, seniors, have been leaving nursing homes, and more and more nursing home beds have been opening up. what better type of person to put in a nursing home bed than a medically fragile child who is never going to complain about be thering. >> reporter: in astatement the state says . . . >> reporter: thanks to this lawsuit, he believes he was able to get the state's attention. in early august he moved his son out of the nursing home and into a group home. >> if he had been given the proper service on time, he would

have been today in much better shape. >> reporter: and that's the concern of families. while their children wait to get out of nursing homes, their conditions may deteriorate. aging trees are dying by the thousands in montana. ahead, how one town is dealing with the problem one planting at a time. ♪

recapping our top stories, rescuers are trying to reach people in three colorado towns cut off by massive flooding. several days of rain have sent rivers and creeks over their banks. two seaside towns devastated by last year's hurricane sandy have to rebuild again after a devastating fire. dozens of businesses were destroyed along the boardwalk in seaside park and see said heights, new jersey. bonn -- ban ki-moon said there is overwhelming result that the assad regime used

chemical weapons against his people. montana is legendary for the rivers that run through it, wide open spaces and forests full of towering trees, but the trees in the city of mazula are aging and ailing. paul has more. >> reporter: it's a tall order taking the vital statistics of a tree. >> 44. >> reporter: but that's exactly what teams have been doing all summer long in mazula, montana, craning their necks, counting and cataloging every tree along the city's public biways. we had great people who had wonderful foresight when they were developing mazula. and they knew they wanted a beautiful city with tree-lined trees and shaded parkways and things like to. we do take this for granted until we start losing them. >> reporter: they may one major

mistake. they planted almost entirely just one species, norway maples, 80 years later they are all becoming senior citizens all at one time. the forest is aging and ailing. by some estimates 95% of the stately sentinals are in bad shape. the old fashioned tape measure is still an important tool, but tree doctoring has gone high-tech. >> it's not just counting them. it's getting all of the information on these trees. we'll know what species it is. we'll know its condition. we'll be able to recommending a management plan for everything from planting additional trees to removing stumps to pruning. >> reporter: while you can't put a price on beauty there is real

value in an urban forest. >> it will clean the air from traffic, and people are more likely to walk or bike on tree-lined streets than non-tree-lined streets. >> reporter: when the census wraps up in mid-september, the total count is expected to come in somewhere between 30 to 50,000 urban trees. >> the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago or today. >> reporter: the nickname is the garden city. the goal of the tree census, keep it that way for the next 100 years. ♪ good afternoon east coasters. well it's definitely a much cooler day across the northeast from new york city to our nation's capital all the way through boston. we had a cold front push through yesterday, unfortunately it is

stalled out -- the tail end of it is stalled out across portions of colorado. we have a on the of moisture in the atmosphere. right now the rain has settled across denver, but look at this rain really pushing across i-25 just south of albuquerque right now. it is going to continue to travel north and across the east, and make its way around denver and aurora. i want to show you footage we have from the last 24 hours. rescues underway. these are live pictures coming in out of aurora, colorado. and it is just a dire situation right now. roadways are flooded, inundated by river water and all of the heavy rain, as much as 15 inches of rain has faenl during the last 24 hours. and this patch of rain as we're looking across albuquerque right now is going to make its way toward the north and east. and that heavy rainfall is going

to be a problem. take a look at the warnings that we have right now for denver, colorado, the footage that you just saw, we are going to have to continue to deal with this threat until 7:30 tonight. but again, tomorrow, showers and thunderstorms remain in the forecast all the way through monday. that's when we expect to see drier air pushing in out of the west. a busy day even across the gulf coast. a tropical depression has become tropical storm ingrid. this is going to bring saturating rainfall to portions of southwestern mexico, and even some rain into southeastern portions of texas. they really are dealing with a lot of drought in that area. i do have some good news in the northeast we have that frontal boundary that has pushed

offshore, although we will looking at lingering showers. in maine showers are very scattered across the northeast, and the main weather story that we're all very happy and appreciative of is the cool-down. philadelphia at 76, and our nation's capitol at 78. >> who says you can't play cheaply anymore? for a short time thursday, united airlines was giving away tickets for free, or basically free. passengers reported buying tickets for five to ten books. united eventually shut down its bookings, it said it accidentally filed some fairs for zero money. apparently united is not obligated to honor the tickets but are trying to figure out what in the world to do about them. up next, people in power life at any price, you can check out our website any time, aljazeera.com.

don't go anywhere. ♪ >> a rally in san salvador, capital of central america's smallest and most densely populated state. on the streets the chants are about the onward march of social justice, in a country that's seen bitter civil war and the transformation of former left wing guerillas into a li