eric: a fox news alert on what the national weather service is calling an unprecedented natural disaster. its ultimate impact unknown, beyond anything experienced. so says that agency. tropical storm harvey, as we have been reporting, continues to batter houston and the surrounding areas, overwhelming rescuers as forecasters warning the city could end up being buried under a record 50 inches of rain. in some spots now more than 10 feet of water deep. thank you for staying with us, this is "america's news headquarterses," i'm eric shawn. arthel: and i'm arthel nfl. emergency -- arthel neville.

authorities urging some families to climb to their rooftops as they wait and pray for help to arrive. caroline shively is reporting live from houston and, caroline, how is it looking right now? >> reporter: it's looking rough, arthel. and you talked about those warnings. what they're telling folks, i have never read tweets coming out where they say don't get in your attic unless you have an axe, we don't want you to drown in your home. but if you do need another reason to stay in your house in houston right now, i've got it for you. check it out, this is 610 north right before the i-10 split. it is an absolute river. check out the southbound side of the interstate. people are managing to get through in some spots. we've seen a tractor without a trailer able to push through, other cars have been stalled out. if you pan over to the left, you'll see who was unable to move. there's a bmw over there, there's also a truck on almost to the top of a cab and a semi. is if you think you can get

through these streets in a toyota corolla where we've seen them trying, you probably can't. they are high and dry at the top of that hill, but we are coming to another valley over there, and that is why emergency folks are saying stay home, this is what it's like on the roads. now, we are in a bit of a lull weather wise. you see the clouds over our heads. it's just barely springling, but the models who warned us last night about that terrible, terrible rain, they're telling us it's going to be coming down again hard and fast tonight. there are two things working against us, arthel. one, these roads. this is what's already happening. i don't even know what that is. i think that's a bayou that's overtopped and has taken over the road. harvey just won't go away. usually they hit you, they go. this should be to north dakota by now, but it has stalled over the city. the other problem is the basic makeup. you're talking about a swamp with miles and miles of concrete, and it cannot absorb this water, and that's when you wind up with scenes like this

all over the city. so stay home if you're in houston if there's any way possible. arthel: if that's not bad enough, someone sent me a photo of a sinkhole, so lots of problems that they're dealing with right now in houston and much of southeast texas. thanks so much, caroline shively. eric: eric for more on what the people are going through in houston, senator ted cruz. our thoughts and prayers are with you and your state at this moment. what are you thoughts on the overwhelming magnitude of this disaster, and what can you tell the people of your state? >> well, eric, it's good to be with you. the state of texas is hurting right now. my hometown of houston, we've got flooding. we've got about 2,000 high-water rescues that have been ongoing. we've been seeing resources pouring into the region both from the state of texas and at the federal level, but this is, this is a 500-year flood, and harvey is predicted to stay here and keep dumping a significant

amount of water on the region. that's going to put even greater pressure. you know, the message i would say to folks in and around houston and in affected areas is listen to your local officials, monitor the news but stay safe and don't go out on the roads if you don't have to. the roads are very dangerous, and every time we have an cement like this, the -- an incident like this, the most frequent cause of loss of life is people that go out on the roads in a car, and they think they can make it across water, and they can't. you and your family's life could be put in jeopardy very quickly. stay in your home, stay safe, stay high if you can if water is rising. but don't risk the roads unless it's absolutely an emergency. eric: the mayor did not order an evacuation. two and a half million people, that would have been a mess, potentially, while other coastal areas were evacuated. do you think authorities have been and were sufficiently prepared for the magnitude of this disastersome. >> well, the magnitude is significant, and there'll be

time when all is said and done to review if different steps should have been taken. i can tell you that i have been visiting with the mayor, with the county judges, with local officials throughout not just the houston area, but throughout south texas that was hit by the initial landfall of the hurricane -- [audio difficulty] extensively with both. i just got off the phone with the governor a few minutes ago and also with the president, vice president -- eric: and what did you tell them? what did you tell the president, what did you tell the governor? >> well, what i'm hearing in and around houston is we need yet additional assets to do high-water rescues. the governor told me the state has mobilized about 60 boats to houston, about 20 helicopters. they've sent about 500 dps troopers and about 3,000 national guard. so those are very significant state assets. when i hung up with fema about a half hour ago, i was pressing the request from the mayor and county judges here for yet more

flat-bottomed boats, high-water trucks and helicopters just because the magnitude of the number of people needing rescues is really significant, and the federal government is -- we are leaning hard, and we're getting enthusiastic cooperation. it's just a logistical challenge moving even more high-water rescue vehicles into the region. eric: are you satisfied with that cooperation? there are 3,000 national guard or so, 5,000 fema workers on the ground but, clearly, you've got, you know, volunteer folks, people at the american spirit helping each other, neighbor versus neighbor or with neighbor getting the boats out, their own boats and rescuing and keeping track of neighbors. >> well, that's right. and i will say that is always an incredible thing to see when in facing a natural disaster. sadly, texas is a big enough place that we have more than our fair share of natural disasters, and when they hit, you know, i've visited with a number of communities in the wake of a disaster whether it's tornadoes or flooding or fire, and

inevitably the community comes together, texans come together to help each other. you know, one of the things the governor just told me is we've got resources coming in from ten different states. he's signing an agreement right now with the federal government to create a dual-status command to avoid lack of coordination that can happen in other instances and have the federal resources and state resources working hand in hand. and then there's always the red cross which does a phenomenal job. and for those who are not in texas who want to help out, i would certainly encourage you the red cross, their web site gives you abilities to volunteer and participate and help out, and it's incredible how we see texans helping other texans. arthel: of course, senator cruz, the nation is on the side there with you in texas. you mentioned those ten states, we're talking about nebraska, tennessee, utah, california, missouri, arizona, ohio and new york. and i wanted to talk to you a little bit more about some reports that we're getting there

in houston that harris county's public hospital had been evacuated around noon due to flooding in the basement disrupting the power there. can you tell me more about that, sirsome. >> -- sir? >> well,s that is a real threat, and we're working with state and local official toss make sure those who are hospitalized are safe and secure and there are backup treatment facilities available, but it is a challenge. it is a challenge that we've got flood water that is covering a significant part of the city. and often when that happens once the flood occurs, it starts to recede and you can go in and start cleaning up. what makes this an even greater challenge is that harvey is expected to sit here and keep dumping rain for the next couple of days. so the projections we're getting is we may be less than halfway through this, that there may be at least as much more rain coming. that has the potential to really pack capacity including, for example, the 911 call center

which is not currently -- [audio difficulty] substantial additional flooding, there could be -- that was something i raised directly with the governor and the state is working to set up backup communication centers so that we have emergency response, we have ability to care for those who are threatened. but this is an historic level of flooding that, you know, i grew up, spent my whole life many houston, and i've never seen anything like what we're seeing right now. arthel: yeah. the images are definitely difficult to watch. we feel for you there in houston. and i know, senator cruz, that you are being very localizedded, as you should in taking care of the community immediately around you. i do want to ask you, though, a little bit about the airports there in houston. of course, both of the major airports have been closed, so you probably have people stranded there at the airports there in town. do you have any idea in terms of accommodations for those folks who cannot get out of the area right away, what's being

provided for them stuck at the airport? >> you know, both airports, as you noted, are shut down. i saw just a few minutes ago a picture on social media of the runways at hobby, at least one of the runways completely underwater. it looked like a lake. i've never seen anything like it. just showed it to my daughters who couldn't believe what they were looking at. and it's not clear how long the airports will remain shut down. certainly, as long as we've got catastrophic flooding. for people who are displaced and those numbers are only growing, there is shelter at the george r. brown convention center downtown that the city has stood up. the red cross is standing up shelters, and a great many people are also just staying with friends. one of the things we see often is friends and family and neighbors taking each other in. i mean, i'll, you know, say heidi and i have been texted by a number of friends of ours saying, okay, our house is dry, is yours okay? and i think you see that a lot,

texans trying to help each other out. and that's really manifesting in these high-water rescues where you've got individuals with flat-bottomed boats. if you're in a home right now and the water is rising, a caution. do not go up into your at attic without an axe or other equipment to get through the roof. one of the most dangerous circumstances you can find yourself in is to be in the attic with water rising and trapped and no way out. so if you're faced with that, stay if you can indoors, or the roof is safer than the attic if you don't have an axe or a way to break through the roof. arthel: senator cruz, you mentioned, of course, the spirit of texas is definitely on full display there. i want to talk to you a little bit about, i know you're dealing with what's at hand, but, of course, you have to try to work in advance of this as well. any plans from your office in terms of the days and weeks to come to help out the folks there in houston and southwest -- southeast texas? >> well, sure.

i mean, obviously, our immediate focus right now is on the preservation of life, and we are still in an active disaster situation. and so i've spent much of the day in communication with local officials, with state officials and federal officials trying to really make sure that the resources are deployed, that the different arms of our government are communicating together. priority number one is saving lives, getting people out of life-threatening situations. once that happens, we will move to the next step which is rebuilding. and the property damage from this will be very, very significant. a number of people have lost their homes, have lost their cars, have lost, lost their belongings. and that's going to be a long process of rebuilding. and texans will come together and work to do that. but there are many families, many communities in crisis right now. so, you know, i'm so thankful for people all across the country, the prayers that texans are receiving right now, and we are being lifted up by those

prayers and the support and the help and volunteers from all across the country. eric: senator, the united states and our fellow americans are rallying on your state's behalf. we are with you, we are thinking about you. this country will give generously as we do, the nypd is on its way to houston also, and we thank you for your time. and your house, you're okay? >> our house is fine. we have not had flooding at our home, you know, many others have. i just saw a local elect official here in houston who's a friend of mine who tweeted out his parents' house was flooded out entirely, and that -- it's just some parts of the city are getting flooding, others are not. but we've got more to come so, obviously, we're watching it all across houston and all across the gulf coast as there are other regions, victoria, corpus have been hit very hard, and there may be more coming there as well. eric: more to come, perhaps four feet of rain.

something we've never seen before, says the government. texas senator cruz, thank you for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you. god bless. eric: god bless, god bless you and god bless the people of the lone star state. arthel? arthel: share those sentiments. and the relentless rain in texas expected to last for several days, washing out major highways. casey steegal is live near dickenson, texas, and i-45 where half the road is flooded. the other half being put to good use though, right? >> reporter: yeah, arthel, you're or a new orleans girl. you know -- arthel: yes, i do. >> reporter: -- this all too well. it's painful, but i want you to meet some people who are pretty special. this is rusty, chuck and brian, and they've been literally going around all from community to community, and you've been pulling people from safety. >> that's right. a lot of this is all, i mean, 100% high water, old people and stuff like that, people that

were not able to get out. >> reporter: so today you're sitting at your home, you live about 17 miles up the road. you saw something on social media. they put out an alert asking for people who had boats -- >> anything. >> reporter: to come help. >> got that get 'em out. nobody wants to be in a house with rising water in the middle of the night. not good. >> reporter: tell me about some of the people that you've met today that you've plucked from their homes. >> yeah. the first couple we pulled into this morning, a neighbor and i pulled into, an elderly couple. the man was upstairs in the attic. he actually had parkinson's disease, we had to lift him from stair to stair. two people had to grab him, put him in the boat. i mean, he could barely walk, so it felt good to help them out. not knowing what you get into every time, so that's kind of the scary part. i mean, we're volunteers, don't do this for a living. >> reporter: that's what we've seen all over the place. they put out a call for help, and you answer it, and you don't really think twice about it, do you? >> no. i mean, they put it up on social

media that we were helping out, whatever, and for the last two hours he's had nothing but phone call after phone call after phone call, people needing help. we're actually headed to a place right now, there's five elderly people in wheelchairs, so we actually have to take off and help to get these people out -- >> reporter: we're going to let you do that. chuck and five or six -- chuck and brian, you guys are amazing, and thank you for what you're doing out here, and i know the people that you're going to help thank you too. >> [inaudible] >> reporter: so people helping their fellow man. this is interstate 45, a major artery that runs through the whole state of texas. this is the northbound side, and the southbound side is completely inundated with water. so you have traffic going in both directions. you can see folks headed north,

that white truck is in the direction of houston. houston city limits only about 15, 16 miles straight up that road. the folks coming in the red truck, the folks coming in the red truck with a boat are going southbound, so it's very congested, it's very crazy, and let's come over here. folks -- are you guys doing okay? we're with fox. >> yeah. >> reporter: bless you guys. how is -- [laughter] >> reporter: she's -- >> she's good. we were in seabrook, and he got stranded. >> reporter: what happened? >> the roads were flooded. i left midnight last night to get on the freeway, and it was flooded out. sat there all day. >> reporter: you know, it happens really fast and, you know, people watching at home in other part obviously the country, we're going out live all over the world right now. people watching, they don't understand how fast it happens. people are asking questions

online, why didn't they get out, why didn't they listen to the warnings? do you want to tell those people -- >> there weren't that many warnings about this. and it didn't rain at all almost all day yesterday, so i wasn't concerned about it. >> reporter: but it happens really fast, your point being. >> i guess. it did this time. >> reporter: are your homes okay? >> both of ours are. my aunt lives right in dickenson, and her house is completely underwater. >> >> reporter: how's she doing? >> she's good, she's fine. >> reporter: god bless you. >> thank you. >> reporter: take care of yourselves. so, you know, there's an argument here whether there was enough warning or whether there wasn't, and there was, there was quite a bit of warning, as i said in the last hour we have been broadcasting live from galveston since thursday morning, and the initial reports that we were reading on thursday warned of catastrophic flooding, and it warned of life-threatening conditions.

and these people are not to blame because it happened so fast. and i don't think that we can really stress that enough. let me give you an example. about four hours ago we were over in a different part just about 15, 20 miles from here, and we were told that there was a person deceased in a walmart parking lot. we went over to the walmart parking lot, and it's completely dry almost, but it was littered with debris. and we were confused because we didn't understand how could someone have possibly drowned here if there's no water. and it went down in a matter of hours. and it goes up in a matter of hours. and we watched as the police covered up a body that was holding onto a shopping cart carousel where you return your carts in the parking lot of that walmart. one of many fatalities that we're going to hear about in the

coming days and weeks. but right now the focus is search and rescue. this isn't search and recovery, this is search and rescue. and that is why the good people out here who have seen this and they've answered the call to help and they've hitched up their boats to their trucks, and they have come out here, and they've gotten in the water, they're risking their lives and they're pulling people out of their homes, people who tell us that they went to bed last night, there wasn't any flood water in their yard, and they woke up with it rushing into their homes. and some of them ran out in their boxer shorts with a raincoat on. so there's no blame game here. right now we've got to get people to safety, and we have to try to save as many lives as we can. arthel, we cannot stress that enough. arthel: yeah. it's very good to see the volunteers coming together. they represent the spirit of texas, the spirit of our country. this is who we are as a people.

we help each other out, we stick together. >> reporter: that is right. arthel: absolutely. casey, thank you very much for that poignant report there in dickenson, texas, and we'll have more coverage after this break. beyond is a natural pet food that goes beyond assuming ingredients are safe... to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food. walter? hmm? is that the rest of our food? what? no. how come you have cheese in your beard? because switching to geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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arthel: fox news alert, we're

just getting word that president trump will travel to texas on tuesday. they are now working with logistics with state and local officials. once they have that sorted out, we'll get more details about that. meantime, they're telling us from the white house that the president and his family are still praying for the folks in texas. meanwhile, rain afall totals have reached about 25 inches in houston, which is where the president will likely turn down. since thursday night, that's happening. and with harvey stalled over the city, the national weather service says those totals could go much higher and exceed a state record in some spots. meteorologist adam klotz is live in the fox extreme weather center where he has been tracking this storm and, adam, what's the latest and what's to come? >> reporter: with well, the latest is more of the same, and what's to come is more of the same. we've seen a lot of rain in the last couple of days, it's not ending anytime soon. right now this is the houston area, maybe the only dry sliver is down through the galveston area but still a lot of heavy thunderstorms. this particular warning box

there, that is a tornado watch which means me -- excuse me, a tornado warning which means a storm was indicated right there. that's been popping up. the conditions are still there. a lot of heat, a lot of moisture running off the gulf of mexico, some of these areas still dropping very heavy showers as we speak. yes, we've already seen a lot of rain. this is radar-estimated precipitation so far. since thursday you're getting areas easily getting from 15 up to 25 inches in a very widespread area, and we're still only about halfway through this. bringing you in a little tighter, much of the houston metro area and a lot of these surrounding communities all within that range of 15 up to 25, in some cases even higher taillights than that, and that's -- totals than that, and that's just so far. you see the last 24 hours just bringing all that moisture right up alongside the eastern side of this storm. the storm continues to spin north of corpus christi towards the victoria area, but all of this activity continues to fall here on the eastern half of it and will continue to do so here

overnight tonight, eventually into tomorrow. so here is our future radar for you taking you into monday morning, and is you just see this activity continuing. yes, there's going to occasionally be breaks in this, but it just spins, so there's no sign of it stopping or slowing down here for our sun or for our -- sunday or monday. our winds might back down, but it's all about that rain. how much more rain could we see? this is additional to what we've already gotten. you're looking at some of these numbers climbing up to maybe another 30 inches, 25 inches anyway, bringing you in a little tighter, 20-25 inches added to what we've already seen. and all those images we've seen out there so far, those have been around 25 inches or so. so i'm expecting we are going to double the amount of rainfall that we're already looking at. from these pictures, guys, we know how damaging it's already been. imagine that all over again. arthel: adam, how's the weather

looking come tuesday when the president is hoping to visit next. >> reporter: this system is still going to be spinning at that point. actually, here's tropical storm harvey. you're seeing the movement, so here we are around the victoria area. this is only going to be lifting that direction, eventually talking you into the middle of the -- taking you into the middle of the week. ing i'm not expecting big, severe rains, but the wind will not have stopped by tuesday. arthel: we'll be checking with you again. thanks, adam. eric: and the president has been at camp david can basically dealing and orchestrating the federal response, and he is now returning from camp david to the white house. we're just getting video of marine one coming into the white house. as you can see, we have it -- there it is, the president about to disembark from marine one. kind of astounding, the contrast between all the video and the pictures live with the hurricane and the tropical storm in houston versus the sunny weather

on the east coast of the united states, but you know that this weekend he has been deeply involved in this. especially with the fema response. at the news conference with texas governor greg abbott, one of the reporters asked could this be katrina ii, the governor said certainly far too early to say anything about that. he gave the president and fema an amrs. + in terms of the fedel response. they've prepositioned assets, food, medical supplies and other vehicles throughout the area. as soon as the storm has passed, and there are calls, of course, for more air assets, as we've heard. the president in his usa cap returning to the white house. he will certainly stay on top of the situation, as you see barron coming down and the first lady, melania trump. the president, as we have reported, traveling to texas on tuesday. certainly wanted to delay that not just because of the weather. you may not even be able to land there because the two airports

are closed, but the president clearly not wanting to be a problem dealing with any of the local emergency first responders as they are dealing with the crisis in texas and houston now. arthel: and tropical storm harvey already causing historic devastation, and the worst may be yet to come as the storm sits over the houston area possibly for days. more of the massive rescue efforts and a live report from one of the hardest hit areas. americans - 83% try to eat healthy. yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day 50+ a complete multi-vitamin with 100% daily value of more than 15 key nutrients. one a day 50+. booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go...

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arthel: this is a fox news alert. the national weather service calling tropical storm harvey an unprecedented natural disaster, and with the monster storm just sitting over the houston area possibly for days, we may not have seen the worst of it yet. among the hardest hit areas, corpus christi and nearby rockport where harvey came

ashore as a category four hurricane. homes and buildings are destroyed, roads turned into rivers, hundreds of thousands of people without power likely for days if not longer. steve harrigan joins us live now from corpus christi in front of a very horrific-looking scene there. >> reporter: arthel, we've been back and forth between corpus christi and rockport today, and all along that route, all along the coast you have small towns, some with just a few thousand people, and there are scene after scene of devastation; crushed houses, flattened cars, apartment complexes with their roofs gone, some businesses like a laundromat simply disappeared, just bricks left remaining. so really some startling scenes of just how powerful this category four hurricane with 130 mile-an-hour winds are. officials still don't know how bad things are. initially in the early morning hours of yesterday, the first rescues were begun, often by

ill-equippedded first responders. there's no power, no communications, hard to get gas and very hard to drive also. a lot of downed power lines across the road and flooding as well. they were joined by volunteers, but now the rescue force is getting more professional. we have seen convoys of military vehicles arrive, so a very low death toll so far in that area perhaps because of those mandatory evacuations. when you see the destruction, you can certainly appreciate why it was good news for those evacuations. people still being told to stay away from the area especially around rockport, but they're still going back little by little to visit those ruined houses to try and find what remains of the lives that have been crushed. back to you, arthel. arthel: and that is when the devastation continues. steve harrigan, thank you so much. eric? eric: well, the cavalry is coming, so says texas governor greg abbott. president trump responding to the deadly weather event from camp david -- he just has returned to the white house.

and moments ago the white house announcing he will visit the storm-ravaged areas on tuesday. this while former governor of arkansas mike huckabee who's dealt with natural disasters says the white house was ready before the hurricane even touched down in texas. >> the president declared the disaster in advance so that they could have assets ready to go, already staged. the governor of texas did the same thing. so what you've seen is a good preparation for this. but no matter what you prepare for, what they're experiencing now is something that there is no textbook for, there is no necessarily, you know, a playbook to follow. they're going to have to just be creative and react in realtime. and that's exactly what they're doing. and i think from all indications at every level -- local, state and federal -- they're doing everything humanly possible and not missing any of the opportunities to pull resources into place. eric: so how is the government response? don wallway joins us -- callway

joins us and evan seeing freed, a gop strategist. evan, it's very early. critics saying this'll be a test of the trump administration and fema and not to have another katrina ii, which was a question asked of greg abbott during the news conference. is that fair? considering the fact that in these type of cases usually the first response, the immediate response are state and local officials? >> i think there is some fairness, but let's look at whatsoever has happened. the president and fema, with director long, have absolutely been on top of this from day one. they understood the severity of harvey, and they knew that they should be there and be willing to assist at any point. the state, local and federal response, they've all been working together which is what normally cripples responses and happened in katrina where all sides weren't even talking to one another. i think president trump is also acutely aware that katrina absolutely crippled president bush's legacy or administration

in 2005 because we bungled how we responded to that. and so far the president does deserve major problems for how he's handled himself and has been on top of the situation. eric: do you agree? do you think he gets major props? you've got volunteers with boats, you've got the texas railroad commissioner saying there's not enough resources, they need more. stuff has been prepositioned. what do you think? >> i absolutely agree with my friend evan, for once. this is a topic that should not be politicized. every administration, unfortunately, is going to have to deal with natural disasters, and to their response. i do somewhat disagree with governor huckabee who said there's no playbook. he's right to some degree in that you're going to have to improvise and make up things along the way. however, we do have the history of responses to previous natural disasters which can somewhat guide the trump administration. this is one test, this is the president's first natural disaster. this is one test that the citizens of houston cannot afford for him to fail. i certainly am rooting for him,

and all indications are thus far he's doing the right things. eric: at the news conference earlier, let me play that sound bite in which a reporter talked about katrina to governor abbott. here it is. >> is this going to be katrina part two, instead of new orleans, houston? >> well, as far as the evacuation, now is not the time to second guess the decisions that were made. what's important is that everybody work together to insure that we are going to, first, save lives and then, second, help people across the state rebuild. and because of the effort that we've been able to put together, i think and believe we will be very successful at both. eric: evan, the governor says now's not the time. the purity is saving lives. >> absolutely is. at point in time it's not about politics. it is about americans and helping one another even if you're just helping your neighbor or if you're a police officer who's coming to rescue a stranded resident. i think that everybody recognizes the severity of the

storm and how the rain could still come through wednesday or even thursday and how they're predicting record level flooding in houston. right now parts of the city is literally underwater. so i think that everybody is on the same page, governor abbott, president trump. they've all been doing a strong and solid job. and hopefully that will continue throughout. eric: don, a final word. it's just an overwhelming experience that we're going through. >> it's overwhelming. it's a flood of epic proportions, and that's something that all of us should keep houston and the texas area in our prayers for. it's important to point out that they do have some important strategic assets, there's a dynamic woman who manages the floodplain authority for the city of houston, governor perry is sitting in the white house in the administration these days, so he has the president's ear right now, and we just hope the president will work with the state and local authorities as he's shown for the last 48 hours and we can bring a swift resolution to this. it's not entirely fair to call it katrina because the disaster was on the back end, and we hope

that does not happen here. so for once i'm proud to say i'm rooting for president trump here. eric: and the federal judge found that was the army corps of engineers in katrina with the levees. >> right. eric: you're right, our thoughts and prayers are with the good folkses of houston season and that whole area down there on the gulf coast. it could be a very tough night as we watch. don and evan, thank you so much. >> thank you. arthel: yeah. and stay tuned for more continuing coverage of tropical storm harvey. the latest images from the houston area and why the head of fema says the recovery from this storm will take years. ♪ ♪ shopping for groceries, unclogging the sink, setting updentist appointments and planning birthday parties, nobody does it better. she's also in a rock band. look at her shred. but when it comes to mortgages, she's less confident. fortunately for maria, there's rocket mortgage by quicken loans. it's simple, so she can understand the details and be sure she's getting the right mortgage.

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the rain is expected to continue for days. authorities say the impact will last much longer. >> fema's going to be there for years, sir. this disaster recovery, this disaster's going to be a landmark event, and is we're already in the -- and we're already in the stages while we're focused on response right now and helping texas respond, we're already pushing forward recovery housing teams, we're already pushing forward forces to be on the ground to implement the national flood insurance program policies as well, doing the inspections that we need. so we're setting up and gearing up for the next couple years. arthel: let's bring in now david paulson, former fema chief and senior partner at global emergency solutions. joining me by phone. i'm going to get to that fema question in a moment in terms of how long they're going to be staying there, but at first if you could explain to us how involved, how complex is the coordination right now between federal authorities and local

and state officials, and without the right coordination how does that hamper efforts on the ground? >> oh, you're asking a great question. first of all, what i'm seeing so far is coordination is excellent. it's just what we're looking for. what we train for, how we revamped fema, that whole federal side of the system to work with the state and local government. and i'm very pleased at what i'm seeing. and it is so critical, because if it doesn't work, you see what happens when you have a katrina where that relationship simply was not there. and through the whole system, from the local to the state and state to the federal government. so what i'm seeing in this disaster, which is a tough one, this is going to be a difficult, difficult recovery and a difficult response. so i'm very pleased to see what's happening so far. i just hope that it continues as this whole thing plays out. arthel: yeah. definitely the residents there need this, the coordination to

continue to run smoothly. we've got fema saying they're going to be there for years to come. how long do you think this might be and what will fema be involved in during that time? >> well, the reason he's saying for years is because all of these infrastructure issues that fema supports through the disaster relief fund takes years to rebuild. i mean, you're talking roads and bridges and sewer systems and water systems, and if the electric company is publicly owned, that falls under fema's purview also. so brock long is correct, it is going to take a long, long time to recover. i mean, we saw it in andrew, you know, years down there. and we saw it in katrina. arthel: quickly, you know, a lot of people are going to be depending on money from fema afterwards. is there any way to the make that easy? it's really difficult to get through fema and to get those funds to the people who need them. >> well, what they will be doing as soon as they can find the right places is they'll be

setting up offices to put everybody in the same room, the red cross, insurance companies, fema, need relief people -- flood relief people. almost like a one-stop shop. and we started that, actually, after katrina. and it's been carried on. and so you'll see those sites being set up, and there'll be computers there for people to self-register, there'll be people that can help them, and those will be set up in a couple days. so, you know, within -- the storm is still going on. [laughter] it's still raining. and the flood waters are still rising. so they're still in a response mode right now. and, but the recovery piece will happen very shortly. arthel: yeah. i hope they're able to get the assistance that they need, because that is very, very tricky, very, very important to those families and residents and building businesses down there. david, former fema chief and partner of global emergency solutions. eric: you know, some of the most incredible images of the devastation from the storm have been coming through social media from people who are right in the

middle of it. ♪ ♪

eric: as texas battles the devastating impact of tropical storm harvey, the once-category four hurricane has unleashed some 25 inches of rain so far, and forecasters are

saying that number could double to 50 inches or more than four feet of rain just in the next two days. arthel: yeah. they're not out of the danger zone yet. the storm hovering over texas. it has sent thousands of people fleeing to their roofs to escape the rising floodwaters and wait for rescue. texas deploying helicopters, boats and activating 3,000 national and state guard members in those rescue efforts. stay with us here as our live coverage of tropical storm harvey continues throughout the day and night. we will be here for the next couple of hours -- eric: yep, next two hours. and, you know, what's amazing, the most inspiring scenes this afternoon, neighbor helping neighbor, americans coming out to help. don't go anywhere, we'll be right back. arthel: and also, eric, before we go, i love the idea that not only is it a situation of neighbor helping neighbor, you have the country helping texas as well. you've got ten states helping -- nebraska, tennessee, utah, california, missouri, arizona, ohio and new york, and i'm sure that number continue if it's

needed. eric: and the president will be there on tuesday. he, of course, not wanting to be there sooner, of course, because of the conditions. and some saying this'll be a test of the trump administration response or the emergency response. governor greg abbott has given the white house an an+ he said, although there are concerns that not enough assets were prepositioned in time, but they're trying to get those in right now, this afternoon, before they have nightfall in houston season and in the surrounding areas. arthel: we'll take a short break, and we'll be back in a moment. please stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ music edible arrangements for summer. order in store or online. g new cars. you're smart. you already knew that.

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and 26 vitamins and minerals. for when you need a little extra. boost® the number one high protein complete nutritional drink. be up for it arthel: a fox news alert, houston under siege from the torrential rains of tropical storm harvey as catastrophic flooding swamps the city, forcing residents to scramble to higher ground, even their roofs. now officials warning that with at least 24 more hours of rain ahead, the worst may be yet to come. welcome to a brand new hour inside ""america's newsroom,"" i'm arthel neville. eric: thank you for staying with us with our continuing coverage on the fox news channel. so far reports say there have been five deaths, but that seems like a low number. the national weather service is describing the situation as, quote, unprecedented and beyond anything experienced.