. right now on america this morning. the race to rescue. >> need help? >> the urgent efforts to help people trapped after hurricane ida. a new look at the catastrophic damage and the new threat after the storm. a deadly alligator attack in the floodwaters. also happening right now. the terrifying evacuation near lake tahoe, california. a massive wildfire takes aim. traffic jams stretch for miles as residents flee, smoke choking the region. a famous ski resort tries to hold back the flames. last man out. what we're learning about this man, the last u.s. service member to fly out of afghanistan. america's longest war now over. but a new indication the taliban

may be up to its old ways. caught on camera. the bank robbers who tied hostages to the get away cars. and a new limit to how long kids play video games. to a heartwarming good-bye to a beloved mailman. all the stories for your tuesday morning. from abc news in new york. this is "america this morning." >> good tuesday morning, everyone. we begin with the urgent search for people trapped in the floodwaters after hurricane ida. and the massive effort to restore power to louisiana and new orleans. >> the death toll is expected to rise. we learned overnight that a man was attacked and apparently killed by an alligator while walking in high water. we also obtained new images of the total devastation in some areas following the storm.

>> widespread power outages are a major concern. some people could be without electricity for weeks, and there are concerns about the water supply and sewage systems. >> and ida isn't done yet. 78 million americans are on alert for potential flooding as the storm charts a path to the northeast. >> reporter: this morning it's still unclear how many people in southern louisiana still need to be rescued. but thousands of national guard members now have been called in to help. this morning, an urgent search and rescue mission under way along louisiana's gulf coast where hurricane ida obliterated entire communities. >> this is one of the worst natural disasters i've ever seen in st. john. >> reporter: in one parish outside new orleans, officials say nearly 800 people have been rescued so far. >> we've been in our emergency operations center. i slept here. i will continue to sleep here.

my home's flooded. i lost my car. we're here to dot people's work. >> reporter: this new video showing homes destroys and buildings without roofs. rescuers are struggling to reach the barrier island where authorities say 40 people chose to ride out the storm. overnight, officials believing all of those people did survive. >> the great news is that he thinks everyone survived. he thinks that when it got bad people ran from their homes. they ran to stronger buildings. >> reporter: and new drone video over the town of laplace showing neighborhoods surrounded by water. >> the rain kept coming. it wouldn't stop coming. >> reporter: helicopters landed on the nearby interstate to airlift people to safety. matt gutman is there. >> it looks like a national guard helicopter, they're here. lots of cajun navy rescuing people from the hotel on the other side there. this place is completely,

completely destroyed. >> reporter: more than 5,000 members of the louisiana national guard are helping in the rescue effort, using 95 high-water vehicles, 79 boats and 34 helicopters. also helping in the mission, locals like vincent otello, responding to people by facebook and reaching them by boat after getting their address. it was the second strongest hurricane to hit louisiana, with wind gusts up to 172 miles per hour. >> kind of what my wife says about childbirth. you can explain it to people, but until you experience it you can't appreciate it. >> reporter: the representative of houma >> reporter: later today, homeland security alejandro

mayorkas will be surveying the damage with louisiana's governor. part of new orleans and louisiana could spend weeks without power. nearly 1 million customers are in the dark. that means no air conditioning in the sweltering heat. and it could mean long-term water and sewage treatment problems. some desperation is already be felt. >> the people that evacuated already have all the hotels occupied. you know, that left earlier. so where would you go? i mean, where would i go? but i know i can't stay in here three weeks without power. >> the power company in new orleans says more than 2,000 miles of transmission lines are out of service. all eight sources of outside power were lost during the storm. we turn now to the last flight out. america's longest war is over this morning. and we're learning more about the final moments before u.s.

troops left afghanistan overnight. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning, america's longest war ending with this haunting image. army major general chris donohue in a night vision photo boarding the final military flight out of kabul. donohue among the first to it deploy to afghanistan in 2001. now the last to leave 20 years later. >> every single u.s. service member is out of afghanistan. i can say that with 100% certainty. >> reporter: leaving afghan airspace one minute before the midnight deadline. hours later, taliban leaders walked across the runway and celebratory gunfire filled the air. forces evacuated more than 120,000 people from afghanistan, about 5500 of them american citizens. but the state department says about 100 to 200 americans who were trying to leave are still

in the country, despite a pledge from president biden saying he would not leave any americans behind. >> americans should understand that we're going to try to get it done before august 31st. >> if we don't, the troops will stay? >> if we don't, we'll determine at the time who's left. >> and? >> and if there's american citizens left we're going to stay till we get them all out. >> the administration says diplomatic efforts will continue in hopes of evacuating those americans. >> going forward, any engagement with the taliban-led government in kabul will be led by one thing only, our vital national interests. any legitimacy and any support will have to be earned. the taliban can do that by meeting commitments and obligations. >> reporter: but now new concern that the taliban is returning to its old ways, including cracking down on music. the son of a popular afghan singer says his father was dragged from his home and killed. the focus turning to what the u.s. military left behind,

including billions of dollars of operational hardware abandoned by of a began forces, including 600,000 weapons and thousands of rockets. one congressman warns it could turn into a terrorist safe haven. >> sometimes you need to have a peacekeeping presence to let them know that we're there. going forward without boots on the ground, we're having to have a real problem. >> reporter: this afternoon, president biden will address the nation to explain why he did not extend the withdrawal deadline to get more americans out. mona, andrew? >> the cdc and the white house appear to be clashing over the timeline for covid vaccine boosters. the biden administration wants americans to start getting the extra shots next month, but a cdc panel still isn't clear when initial vaccine effectiveness begins to diminish. meanwhile, new figures show a surge in covid infections among children, trouble beiing trend

as schools reopen. >> thankfully, most of these children were not hospitalized. but the concern is for the effect on their brain, heart, lungs. >> a civil rights investigation is being launched into five states that ban masks in schools, saying that it bans protects student rights. cristhian rivera was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering the 20 year old who vanished while jogging. a deadly lightning strike on a beach in new jersey. a young life guard was killed. seven others on the beach were injured and suffered from headaches, dizziness and hearing issues. time now for a look at your tuesday weather. >> good morning. we're tracking ida as it makes its way into the tennessee

valley on this tuesday. eventually into southern new england. it's going to bring flooding rains and the risk for tornados. there's going to be water over the roads, big issues here from nashville, tennessee to boston and new york as we progress through the next few days. watch future rainfall pile up the rain across pennsylvania into southern new england moving forward into thursday especially. also the threat for tornados on tuesday. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coskren. coming up, the dramatic bank robbery with hostages tied to the get pay way cars. also ahead, the fire emergency surrounding a resort town in northern california, the evacuations in the middle of the night. the worst conditions in a century. and new questions about why gas prices are so high. look at you! getting back to normal. or at least your 2021 version of what normal should be. and no matter what that is, walgreens is here to help you do it your way.

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back now with a gang of brazen bank robbers in brazil. after robbing the banks, they tied hostages at the get away cars to keep police from firing at their cars. new evacuations have been ordered and all national forests in the state of california are being closed due to fire danger. here's megan tevrizian. >> reporter: this morning the caldor fire intensifying. forcing locals to evacuate. they call it a nightmare scenario. >> we have 652 structures destroyed with over 18,000 threatened. >> reporter: the fire the worst

in the air why rea in 100 year, makes its way to the christmas lake area. >> please prepare to evacuate! >> we're doing an evacuation notice. >> reporter: law enforcement going door to door waking people in the middle of the night. >> this is just crazy. this is scary. this is my home you know. >> reporter: the flames jumping highway 50 as thousands of people rushed to get out. many stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. kayna whitworth is in south lake tahoe. >> reporter: essentially, we're surrounded by flames. it's burning at the top of the cliff here, and can you see the trees ignited over here, and the wind is sending embers down the mountain igniting spot fires. >> reporter: getting eerily close to the sierra ski resort where sonoma sheenow machines ag

used to spread water. a red flag warning is in effect through today. 17 fires are burning here in california due to the extreme drought and heavy winds. the governor has now expanded his emergency declaration. andrew, mona. >> megan, thank you. and hurricane ida is expected to drive up gas prices in the coming weeks after forcing the shutdown of oil and gas production in the gulf. meanwhile, the federal trade commission is taking a look into why gas prices have been going up for months. they're investigating to see if some companies are illegally colluding to raise prices. the train crash caught on camera with a wind turbine on the tracks. parents spending more than ever on is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes knocking you out of your zone? lowering your a1c with once-weekly ozempic® can help you get back in it. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®!

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showing no signs of easing. a shorter of computer chips has forced toyota to cut car production by 40%. metal parts and plastics also in short supply. still paying high prices for paints and lumber, and attention parents. better start your holiday shopping now. >> i've been doing toy business for 43 years. and i have never seen something like this. >> the toy industry is among those impacted by shipping and trucking problems related to covid cases overseas and worker shortages here at home. >> there is going to be shortage of toys. you cannot extend the calendar. if you want to buy toys for your kids for hanukkah, for christmas, go to stores as soon as possible. >> the price of moving goods from the u.s. to asia is ten times more expensive since the beginning of the pandemic. back to school supplies also pricier. the typical parent is expected

to spend more than $840 this year. becky worley has compiled some deals to help you save. first laptops. walmart is offering two deals. a lenovo touch screen, a 11-inch model for $199, also an pens, pencils can be found at the dollar store. back to those supply chain issues. the "new york times" summed it up this way. the world has gained a painful lesson in how interconnected we all are. >> coco gauff's win sets up a second round showdown against american sloane stephens. naomi osaka got hers started with a two-set victory.

how much exercise you need to make up for a whole day of sitting around. also a new way to limit how much time kids spend playing video games. the olympics and paralympics are back. and watching our athletes will once again give the impression that america is the healthiest country in the world. we aren't. but we can be. our collective health is too important to take for granted ever again. the health of our nation cannot just be measured by the victories of our champions, it must be measured by the health of all of us. ♪ ♪ ♪ it must be measured by the health of all of us. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ time to check the pulse, and we begin with the new crackdown on kids spending too much time playing video games online. >> china's government is limiting kids to no more than three hours per week. the goal is to reduce video game addiction in kids. companies will only be allowed to offer the service to kids for one hour a day on fridays, saturdays and sundays. >> they will get an extra hour of playtime on holidays. next to remedy those who spend too much time sitting

around. >> researchers have figured out how much exercise you need to balance sitting. you can balance it with 30 to 40 minutes of exercise, a brisk brk walk or cycling or gardening can benefit. a mailman who deliver add daily dose of sunshine along with letters is retiring. he always treated people with kindness and made everyone feel special. >> dozens of people turned out to offer well wishes to mr. james, as he's called. >> reporter: he passed down the mailbag to a little friend. >> and possibly the most expensive water gun. >> the refills in 12 seconds. refills in 12 seconds. >> but it will cost you certain hpv-related cancers?

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checking the top stories, some homes in southern louisiana look like islands after the flooding left behind by hurricane ida. some areas got nearly 16 inches of rain, and now two deaths are confirmed in mississippi after flooding caused a road to collapse. it could be weeks before power is fully restored in the region. president biden will address the nation today after u.s. troops withdrew from afghanistan leaving some american civilians behind. the taliban celebrated by walking across kabul airport and by shooting off guns. the federal government has issued a new warning about fake covid vaccination cards. the bogus cards leave victims in danger of having their identity stolen. some sell for up to $750 and promise anti-counterfeit technology. today's weather, ida's remnants bringing heavy rain to the southeast. storms are also expected in the plains and flooding rain in the

southwest. clear and windy again along the west coast. and finally the legendary miss piggy is helping broadway make a comeback. >> here's will ganss. >> reporter: a year and a half since the lights went down on broadway and the biggest stars are ready to get the show on the road. >> okay, you can go now. >> thanks. thank you. okay, bye. >> bye-bye. >> reporter: maybe. have you been starstruck at all tonight? i mean, there are a lot of big names here. >> you can tell him the truth. >> well, yes, i've been in my dressing room the whole night, and it's just been, you know, one interruption after the next. >> reporter: darren criss and the brightest stars of the stage getting together for elsie fest. >> tonight for me is about joy, joy, joy and broadway goodness, and just i want to see people's energy and i want to see people dancing and having a good time because we all need it. especially after we just went through. >> reporter: tony nominee adrian warren blowing the roof off of brooklyn. ♪

>> this should be a selfish night for everybody. they should enjoy that theater is coming back. we should treat this as what it is, which is a boatload of fun, and we should all have a really good time, and i'm saying that to remind myself. >> reporter: those with proof of vaccination ready to sing together for the first time in 18 months. ♪ >> creativity always finds its way to the top. and, again, we get to celebrate a small piece of that with the "bridgerton" musical that blew up on tiktok. >> reporter: and if broadway coming back isn't exciting enough, the one and only miss piggy has something else to share. >> muppets haunted mansion. >> yes. around the fall, the spooky time of the year and it's the muppets' first -- >> first halloween special. >> -- first halloween special. >> yep. >> so we got to be part of that. >> miss piggy and darren criss slated to hit disney plus this autumn. broadway, 35 shows to re-open before the end of the year, "wicked," "the lion king," "hamilton," "aladdin" and

"six" all opening this month. >> our thanks to will. as they say, the show must go on, and this has been a long time coming. . right now on america this morning. the race to rescue. >> need help? >> the urgent efforts to help people trapped after hurricane ida. a new look at the catastrophic damage and the new threat after the storm. a deadly alligator attack in the floodwaters. also happening right now. the terrifying evacuation near lake tahoe, california. a massive wildfire takes aim. traffic jams stretch for miles as residents flee, smoke choking the region. a famous ski resort tries to hold back the flames. last man out. what we're learning about this man, the last u.s. service member to fly out of afghanistan. america's longest war now over. but a new