tonight on "nightline" -- washed away. historic flooding causing havoc and threatening lives over hundreds of miles. tonight, the epic destruction still unfolding in the wake of hurricane irene. plus, baby for beyonce. she reveals big news at the mtv video music awards. so what did she tell me about becoming a mother? >> this is how i ate when i was

pregnant. anything you want to tell us? then, britney spears and catty perry score big. tonight, we meet the hit-making producer behind them. happy feet. tonight, after incredible team work by an army of human helpers, he's headed home. good evening. i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin with the results of hurricane irene. a natural disaster that has many americans in deep distress tonight. the floods are devastating from north carolina to vermont, virginia to upstate new york. roads impassable. houses under water. livelihoods washed away. in many place, the hurricane dropped raininor two days straight, into earth that was already saturated.

the results are fearsome to behold. here's abc's dan harris. >> reporter: hurricane irene may have finally disintegrated and left the scene, b b she has still left her mark. >> here it comes. >> reporter: in vermont of all places she was unexpectedly devastating. they haven't seen floods like this in over half a century. the waters tearing through homes and bringing down those old historical bridges. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: the floodwaters even got into local fire departments here. >> the water level got right here. >> reporter: in some areas here in the catskills mountains of new york, flooding was truly out of control. >t's starting to come up high on the porch. >> things are r rlly bad. >> reporter: then there's the philadelphia/new jersey area where i spent the last 24 hours. a creek that runs through the middle of town jumped its bank, overran these railroad tracks and created this water fall right into these two cars. this, by the way, is an auto

repair shop that has taken some serious damage. then the water runs right down this residential neighborhoodd and the most serious damage it did, to this house right there. it undermined the foundation. the whole side of the house collapsed. you could see right inside of it. late today, i was in little falls, new jersey, going boating with joe, through his neighborhood. we intended to row ourselves but the currents were so strong we had to take turns getting out and pulling the thing. the passaic river,hich runs right through joe's neighborhood, is going to crest at 5:00 in the morning at a record level. nobody knows how bad it's going to get here. joe, have you ever seen it like this before? >> no, this is the worst. >> reporter: there's no question irene is making life hellish for joe here and for so many other people. but for most of the 60 million-plus people in irene's path, she wasn't really much more than a big rain storm. a lot of water yes, but so much more was anticipated. her arrival days out was greeted

with so much fear and also heralded with an enormous amount of what a lot of people have called hype and hyperbole. >> this could be the worst hurricane in decades. >> this is where it gets scary. >> this looks like a potential for the hurricane of our lifetimes. >> reporter: state and city officials up and down the east coast prepared for the worst. >> i cannot urge people strongly enough. maybe i can. stay inside. >> reporter: the mayor of new york, michael bloombmbg, took some extreme steps, ordering mandatory evacuations. and for the firstime ever, shutting down the largest subway system on earth. >> this is a very dangerous storm. >> reporter: the reason he did all of that of course was because the forecast was so dire. in the days before the storm, i was doing stories where experts were telling me that the manhattan sky scrapers windows could be blown out. >> you start to s seeze wind in between the skyscraper, it goes faster and it sucks the windows

over. >> reporter: on saturday morning, as the storm was bearing down on the northeast, i interviewed the head of the national hurricane center, live on "good morning america." >> i want to put a fine point on this. if anybody is watching this intended to not take it so seriously because it's been downgraded, what would you say to those people? >> prepare to stay indoors. ride the storm out. hope you've got your food and water in place. >> reporter: and early the next morning as i reported for duty in new york's times square, the crossroads of the world was on lockdown. you know, for this 24-hour mcdonald's, only in manhattan do they have 24-sure mcdonald's, normally these doors are open. they never shut them because people are coming here at all hours. today, nobody. but as the morning played out on live television it became pretty obvious the storm was not going to be so bad. at this point, it mostly feels like a rain event at this point as opposed to a powerful wind hurricane. and so today there is a whole lot of arm chair quarterbacking

going on. the forecasters did get the path of the storm right but they were, they admit, wrong about the storm's strength. >> if you don't get the wind and the track right, you're not going to get the storm surge right and therefore, likely, always have some overevacuations. >> reporter: all this has also put people like the mayor of new york on the defensive. >> we can't just when a hurricane's coming get out of the way and hope for the best. that's not responsible. >> reporter: though new york city and the other major cities in the northeast were largely spared, there's no question that irene did land some real punches. at least 3 people died. and then there's the economic impact. when it's all l id and done, the total damages could be up to $45 billion and beneath those numbers the undeniable human impact. remember that house i showed you where the whole side had simply collapsed? ile i was there today, the family who lived there showed up. >> it's my bedroom, second floor. >> reporter: turns out, they had no flood insurance at all.

>> my house for 22 years and now -- >> reporter: irene may have been less powerful than originally feared but for this family and many others, she will never be forgotten. this is dan harris for "nightline" in trenton, new jersey. >> all kinds of losses. a story that we will of course continue to follow closely. just ahead, what do britney spears and catty perry have no common? not just their wins over the weeke weekend. every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts

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pop superstar beyonce made a

splash at this weekend's video music awards with a win for best choreography and a performance that featured her new baby bump. last year i talked to beyonce about having a baby and she said she wasn't quite ready. then. i know how close you are to your mother and i'm wondering if you've given any thought to the kind of mother you'd like to be one day. >> definitely. my mother -- i mean, it's one of the reasons why i haven't had a child yet because i feel like, you know, there's certain things i wanted to do before i had a child so i can really, really focus on being a mother. and i'm getting closer to that point. congratulates to her and her it. husband jay-z. katy perry and britney spears won statues too. you might be surprised to hear they share a man in their lives. here's abc's chris connelly.

♪ oh oh oh oh oh oh >> reporter: "til the world ends" a big winner last night for britney at mtv's video music awards. and here at conway studios in hollywood, this man is one of the principal architects of that song. >> that little tented area there, that's where you record vocals, is that the idea? >> that's where, you know, today britney would be. she sounds good fast, you know. she's a lot busier than i am. she comes in and gets it done and she's out. >> reporter: with 23 number one singles to his credit, he is 37-year-old producer and songwriter lucas goswald. the most sought after hitmaker in pop music today. ♪ here i am once again ♪ torn into pieces >> reporter: he's shaped the "american idol"-bred vocal

barrage of kelly clarkson. ♪ california girls katy perry's candy-coated confections. ♪ dancing like we're >> reporter: and the too many martinis tipsy doodle of kesha. >> it's so catchy and hooky. ♪ pa, pa, pa, pa ♪ party ♪ just like the world is ours >> stuttering always works. >> reporter: it's the "king's speech" theory of pop music. >> repeat it, repeat the same thing. ♪ we'll be forever young young young young ♪ >> reporter: time and again showing a knack for what teens like. >> i do have threeee sisters. i think that's something to do with it. one of my sisters now is 15. >> reporter: when you make this music, are you thinking 13-year-old girls will really like it or are you thinking i really like it?

>> no, i like to like it. i have to like it. otherwise, it would be weird. >> reporter: luke spent ten years playing guitar in the "saturday night live" band and became fascinated by the mechanics of pop songs. >> sometimes the hardest thing and the most difficult thing is to do the most simple thing. i kind of feel like that about a good pop song too. when it's right, it's perfect, you know? >> reporter: while deejaying at new york city club, luke met max martin, the swedish pop producer known for his work with britney spears. ♪ hit me baby one more time the pair collaborated on "since u been gone" kelly clarkson's megahit. ♪ since u been gone >> i have a lot of a & r people i'm friends with to this day who are like, yeah, you know, i passed on that song. i think one of the things that made the song special is her voice on that song. ♪ yeah yeah >> reporter: that song's radio

friendly chorus would come to typify dr. luck's sound. with max martin as his mentor, luke quit "snl" to focus on producing. >> i'm looking for voices that are distinctive. that's the most important thing to me.e. ♪ ♪ you think i'm pretty ♪ without any makeup on >> reporter: one such voice, katy perry. her song "teenage dream" sounds like the simplest of pop songs. a hit brought into being here at hollywood's conway studios, thanks to an astonishing 182 different tracks. as dr. luke showed us. >> the first thing that it started with was the guitars. ♪ she does all her backgrounds. she does all them. so the lead is just -- ♪ you think i'm pretty without any makeup ♪ when you do a chorus, there's three right here, give it -- ♪ you make me feel like i'm living

a teenage ♪ then later there's harmonies. ♪ don't ever look back ♪ don't ever look back ♪ no ♪ my heart >> we had a crowd of people. >> reporter: sure. >> you brought everybody into the studio and just said let it rock. ♪ my heart stops ♪ just one there it is. >> reporter: that's cool. when it's all put together, the product is pure pop bliss. ♪ we can dance until we die ♪ you and i ♪ we'll be young forever ♪ you make me feel like i'm living ♪ ♪ a teenage dream >> reporter: what is it that's so much fun about making pop music? >> you mention that the songs were all happy and they're about feeling good and all that kind of stuff. you know, honestly in my stage of my life right now, i want to feel that way. i feel like if you can make

music and -- and get people to, you know, evoke that feeling out of other people through songs, that's a pretty cool thing to do. ♪ oh oh oh oh oh >> reporter: i'm chris connelly for "nightline" in los angeles. >> mm, he's got the touch. next up, an international man of mystery wearing a tuxedo and looking for a way home. the triumphant return of happy feet. [ man ] behind every business is a "what if." what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com.

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beacacten weekek ago, hungry, tired, and alone. the lost emperor penguin would have died without a helping hand and lucky for him a lot of helpers were on hand from the local zoo to a stomach surgeon to a whole lot of people for a serious soft spot for waddling birds. here's abc's david wright with the saga of happy feet. >> reporter: new zealand's favorite flightless bird finally got his wings today. the emperor penguin nicknamed happy feet belly flopped that a refrigerated crate and was carted off for the first leg of his long voyage home. >> we have a bittersweet moment i think for the zoo because we

are a bit sad to see happy feet go. >> reporter: he was the first emperor penguin in 44 years to make his way to the kiwi capital. happy feet washed up on the beach in june, tired and apparently confused. >> i just wanted to rescue it. poor little thing. >> reporter: as curious kiwis watched from a distance, happy feet gulped down wet sand by the bucketful, apparently thinking it was snow. the wellington zoo came to the rescue. >> there's no guarantee. he's pretty sick and it's quoit serious having that much sand. >> reporter: constructed a makeshift penguin oxygen mask, even held his little foot as the doctor went to work. >> i'm not a penguin expert. >> reporter: the doctor did what he'd do for one of his human patients, inserting a tiny camera and carefully lassoing bits of debris. his peanut gallery watched his

every move. >> we don't normally have tv cameras in the room. >> reporter: fans around the world could follow his recovery. happy feet became an international celebrity. >> the ratings minute by minute of news show a sharp spike when we run a story about happy feet. >> reporter: ten weeks on, happy feet now weighs more than 60 pounds and he's pretty chilled out. >> it's very exciting for me that we've managed to get him to this point where we can really lease him. >> reporter: the new zealand research vessel will take him part of the way on his 2,000-mile trek back to the south pole. in four days time, they'll drop him at 51 degrees south where the currents are favorable and where he's likely to meet other emperor penguins migrating home. saying good-bye wasn't easy for all his new friends. more than 1700 peoplpl turned u at the zoo this weekendo say good-bye. >> i will miss him. >> we love you. >> reporter: happy feet has been fitted with a gps tracker so his friends can follow his progress.