me eat more fast food now that it is becoming more healthy. >> let's not talk about it -- >> i'll buy. >> thanks for joining us here at 5:00. disaster here in texas. a frantic search for the missing and a rising death toll. massive devastation as raging waters demolish homes. the nation's fourth largest city left paralyzed. also. no way out. two families swept away in one house, including a mother and her young children. and a father who started the car to escape ran back to help a never made it out. the feds move in. a major police overhaul and a city on edge as protesters take to the streets again demanding change. the hacking of america, stealing your private information right out of your phone. wait until you see what happened to us. and the simple thing you can do to protect yourself. and the love story behind the wedding

photo that so many people are sharing. "nightly news" begins right now. this is "nbc nightly news." reporting tonight from womenly texas, lester holt. good evening from central texas, the scene of utter devastation, and natural disaster of epic proportions after days of relentless historic rain triggered floods. the river swelling to 45 feet, rushing over its banks, demolishing homes and businesses right off their foundations. right now there are entire neighborhoods under feet of mud and water, including here in the tiny town of womenly. it's being called the epicenter. houston, the nation's fourth largest city. the death toll stands at 14 in texas and oklahoma. 13 more people are missing, including families swept away in floodwaters and there is a frantic around-the-clock search to find them. tonight from the ground here and in the air we're getting a new look at incredible scope of that catastrophe.

from above, you can see just how hard tiny wimberly was hit. a town of 2,700, people overwhelmed by water. trees that have stood through centuries of storms, no match for this one. >> the house had 13 feet total. >> scott wallace can't believe how quickly his house ended up under water. this happened in a matter of minutes? >> oh, yeah, it was unbelievably rapid. you know, rapid rise. >> to appreciate how much water was here, this house sits about 30 to 35 feet above the river itself. it got above the first floor. the river itself never this wide. in fact, it's usually so low you can wade across it and not get your knees wet. they are no strangers to flash flooding here but long time residents say this was different. >> this is the worst thing i've ever seen. >> county officials

say the river rose 12 to 14 feet in just half an hour. engulfing the blanco river and shattering a record set in 1929. throughout the day, the search continued for 13 people confirmed missing. the water is receding, but not quickly enough. crews had to suspend some operations yesterday but were eager to get back at it. >> it's tough work. we're going to go out and scour that area and find out what needs to be found. >> do we not have power in here? >> not in here. >> knowing more rain is possible, local crews and volunteers race to clean up as fast as possible. >> look at this mess, it's just -- it's got to dig in and feet on the ground and get it cleaned up. do the best you can and move forward. >> this just part of a terrible series of weather events in texas over the last few days. from the flooding in houston, to a tornado in lagrange. he may have lost his home, but scott wallace knows he and his family are among the lucky ones. how are you doing through all of this? to look at this. >> well, we have friends and family helping us so far,

and we're just doing, i mean, the best we can. >> as you walk along these riverbanks, you have to double take at some of those things you see. like those cabins over there, they used to be where i am and now they are across the road. the river blanco that really shows you where the water line was, 45 feet above its normal area. sweeping across this area i would have been under water here. amid all of this the fear for the missing, some of them were in a sickle vacation home the holiday turning to horror for two families, the rushing waters carrying the only home, the only shelter they had with them inside. gabe gutierrez is 300 yards upstream of where i am where the home once stood. gabe, good evening. >> reporter: the water's power was incredible. it swept this

two-story home off these concrete pillars. and sent it in that direction over those trees in down river. crews are searching for all but one of the nine people trapped inside. as the waters rose, the horrifying call. >> i knew something was very, very wrong. >> reporter: julie shields listened to her sister on the line. she was with her husband, her two children and another family on a memorial day weekend vacation when the blanco river began to swell. then came the stunning realization. >> we're in a house that is now floating down the river. call mom and dad. i love you, and pray. >> reporter: laura hung up when she saw a light, thinking she was about to be rescued. she and her two children are now missing. 6-year-old andrew who loved to play outside with his dad, and 4-year-old layton whose favorite activity was dressing up. her husband jonathan survived. also missing, sue and dan. the cabin was their longtime vacation home. >> they were dear people and very friendly.

>> reporter: neighbors say as the water rose ralph carrie ran out to start his suv, but raced back inside to save his family. he never made it back. the engine's still running the next day. >> my wife was standing out and heard what she thought were fireworks, popping, cracking, booming, and we assumed that was about the time the house came off its moorings and went down river. >> reporter: house perched on stilts came free and was september down river. laura said the families were inside the house holding hands. it soon collided with a bridge. >> the whole thing started coming apart, and that's when everybody just -- the water took the people in different directions. >> reporter: his family says jonathan floated down the river for 12 more miles where he was pulled from the water. he remains in the hospital with a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and cracked sternum. yesterday he called laura's mom and begged for forgiveness. >> there was nothing he could have done. the blessing in all of this is it she is with her children. she is with her babies and she will be with her babies always in heaven.

>> reporter: the search for these families has shaken this community. the mccomb's have been planning a family reunion next month. lester? >> all right, gabe gutierrez tonight, thanks. the catastrophic flooding has ravaged communities both big and small here in texas. its so widespread that houston, the fourth largest city in the country, a full three-hour drive from where we stand tonight, has been brought to a complete stand still. houston is where we find janet shamlian tonight. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. in the shadow of downtown houston, this park looks like a fast moving river right now, after a nearby bayou flowed out of its banks due to the flooding, this is a type of flooding that houston has not seen in more than a decade, and tonight the mayor has declared a state of emergency. extreme danger in houston as record setting floodwaters swamped the city. more than 900 calls for help. firefighters could barely finish one high water rescue before racing to the next. >> pretty much one of the worst

thunderstorms i've been through in houston >> reporter: interstates littered with abandoned cars. the houston galleria flooded. and with the storm raging during a playoff game, some fans sheltered in the toyota center overnight. schools closed, public transportation stopped running and thousands of businesses told workers to stay home. at just above sea level 11 inches of rain in only six hours, shut down the nation's fourth largest city. this is a high water rescue going on right now. on memorial drive, one of the major arteries into the city, an 18-wheeler under water. the fire department has just rescued the driver. this is how it looked from above, as bayous swollen from weeks of rain, surged over their banks and into nearby homes. houston is among the most flood-prone cities in the country, coastal and flat with clay soils that don't absorb water.

>> there is a double threat for flooding rainfall from the sky and saltwater surge-based flooding from galveston bay, and because it's so paved over such a large area the water has nowhere to run. >> reporter: families are ripping out drenched carpet and belongings tonight. some had four feet of water. >> it's a pretty helpless feeling when the water started just kind of coming through the walls. >> reporter: houston mayor annise parker says it's the worst flooding since tropical storm allison in 2001. >> doing drainage in houston is like trying to drain a pool table and when the water in the bayous can't go down into the gulf, there's no place for that water to go. >> reporter: the death toll here in houston stands at three people with three unaccounted for and with more lightning and rain in the forecast lester the power company is telling people without it that it could be a while before it's restored. back to you. >> janet shamlian tonight, thank you. turning from the devastation here in texas now to the anger in the streets in

cleveland, a city that saw more protests today, even as the police force there agreed to some of the nation's strictest rules on the use of force imposed by the federal government after the department was accused of a pattern of abuse. nbc's ron allen has the details. >> we want justice! we want it now. >> reporter: another day for calls for justice in cleveland today as the city agreed to overhaul from top to bottom its much criticized police department. a two-year federal investigation found an unconstitutional pattern of excessive force and abuse. officers shooting at suspects who pose no threat, kicking and punching others and failing to report officer misconduct. >> if you look at this the number of substantive real reforms that are in this agreement is just truly staggering. >> reporter: most notorious case just ended with officer michael brelo acquitted in the 2012 deaths of two unarmed motorists after some 100 officers chased them across the city and fired 137 times

into their car. the reason protesters have spent the weekend on the streets. >> i was out there to show support for the city of cleveland, to combat the police brutality that people have been facing all over the country. >> reporter: strict new oversight covers the way police are recruited, trained and disciplined. among the acts now prohibited, using force as punishment pistol whipping, firing warning shots. cleveland now among at least 32 departments in 18 states in that i the obama administration has either opened investigations or order reforms. >> i think that there is enough evidence out there that these are issues that are -- that many communities and law enforcement departments are struggling with. >> we don't want to hurt anybody. that's against our nature. >> reporter: well, some people think you do want to hurt them. >> well, those people are wrong. >> reporter: union president says some of the doj's report is offensive, like allegations police use tasers on mentally ill suspects suspects. the bottom line is they say you use excessive force too much here. >> they can't prove it. >> reporter: the

federal judge is in charge of this process and that's what makes this agreement tougher, all 105 pages of it. all details like when it's appropriate for an officer to take a weapon out of its holtzer. lester. >> all right, ron, thank you. in iran today a secret trial is now under way for an iranian-american reporter for "the washington post" accused of espionage. he's already been held for over ten months. the court proceedings there being held behind closed doors making it difficult for the outside world to find out what's happening. iranian authorities have released no details on the charges. his family "the post" and the u.s. government have all called the charges against him absurd calling for him to be released immediately. iraqi forces are now launching a major offensive to take back ramadi the key city that isis seized last week, but after the iraqi army ran away from the bath first time, there are serious reservations about whether they are ready to fight this time around. o. our chief foreign

correspondent richard engel has this report. >> reporter: baghdad is promising a victorious counteroffensive to retake ramadi a sunni-muslim stronghold that the iraqis lost to isis last week, but the charge will be led by shiite militias backed by iran. critics say it's like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. >> i think we're being very careful with air power and we should be. we're very reluctant to employ it in support of shiite militias on the ground. they are murderous people operating in a sunni muslim area. >> reporter: so what happened to the iraqi army? this is now the second time it's cut and run. after troops fled the city of mosul last year, we asked the last american general responsible for the training mission how this could happen. the u.s. spent about $25 billion on the iraqi security forces. >> right. >> reporter: was that money well spent? >> in hindsight, no. i mean how can you argue when it was money well spent when

the army disintegrated. >> reporter: after u.s. troops left iraq the iraqi army became corrupt, nepotism kickbacks, false payrolls and shiite favoritism became the norm. the will to fight gone. the u.s. is trying to send more weapons to prop up the iraqi army and to convince iraqis that they need to put their sectarian differences aside to confront isis but it's been almost one year since isis began to control significant amounts of territory and the group is still spreading. richard engel, nbc news, new york. still ahead tonight, the hacking of america. how easily thieves are getting inside your phone, stealing your information, your private messages and photos. we'll show you what happened to us and what you can do to reduce your risk. also some good news when we can really use some. the heartwarming story behind the wedding photo so many people are sharing.

late word tonight from the irs, thieves used an online service provided by the irs itself, to gain access to the personal tax information of more that 100,000 taxpayers. the system is called transcript. if you use this system or would like more information, put it all on our website. that brings us to a special series of reports we're calling the hacking of america. and tonight a warning from security, perts from the 97 million americans who own an android phone, how

thieves attempt to get inside your phone without you knowing making off with your private information. nbc's tom costello has this report. >> reporter: it was in hyperconnected, hyperpaced las vegas that we met up with sophos global cyber security expert. >> tom took a self and seconds later i have it. >> reporter: hacked into my phone and was tracking me down the vegas strip. >> i've got him right here on the street. >> reporter: hey, max, it's tom. listening to my phone conversations. >> download all of tom's contacts and a copy of all the calls that he's made. >> reporter: watching me surf the web and even hacking into the phone's microphone to hear me order a burger at mcdonald's. >> i've decided. can i get a small cheeseburger. >> reporter: for a determined hacker it's not that hard if they can convince you to download their software. >> we can send you a text message or link maybe telling you you've won a fantastic prize. >> reporter: to prove it he had me click on

a text message. >> are you four compromised. >> reporter: just like that. >> juste like that. >> reporter: and android phones are more prone to hacking because anyone can publish an app for android. google which owns android tells nbc news security is improving each month. to be sure you don't download a hacker's app only download an app from google play. don't download apps from sites you don't trust, and if you get a google warning about an app don't install it, the stakes could be very high. if somebody hacks into this, they have access to my digital life. >> they could have access to your personal information, your e-mail account, possibly even financial information in your bank account. >> reporter: problem is if you've been hacked you may not even realize, it google says fewer than 2% of android apps are believed to be malicious, far fewer than in in the google play app store. officials say keep your operating systems and security programs up to date. tom costello nbc news washington.

there's more to share with you about this. tomorrow night how hackers are targeting your medical records in doctors offices and hospitals and a stunning look and just how vulnerable they are. coming up next tonight, new developments in a shocking scene caught on camera, children in a bounce house blown away in front of horrified beach-goers.

>> reporter: tonight a 6-year-old girl hospital iced after a horrifying incident at the beach has been released. it happened yesterday in ft. lauderdale when a waterspout moved on shore, sending a bounce house with other kids inside into the air. officials called it a freak act of nature that was unpredictable. they do continue to investigate. new fallout tonight from the deadly derailment of the tracks in philadelphia. amtrak says it will install video cameras inside the trains to record the actions of

train engineers. the move comes as investigators are searching for clues into the train engineers actions just before that crash in philly. he suffered a head injury in the wreck, and told investigators he couldn't remember what happened. hillary clinton's only declared rival for the democratic nod for president, bernie sanders sought to jump start his campaign today with a rally in his home state. you might say this was the true kickoff after sanders announced he was in the weeks ago. sanders is an independent trying to mount a grassroots campaign on clinton's left. when we come back the moving moment shared between a bride and grooming right before they became husband and wife.

a hopeful note to end on tonight with a story behind a picture so many have shared with one another, showing a marine and his bride before they said i do. they found a way to share a touching moment without breaking a time time-honored tradition. here's harry smith. >> reporter: as the couple said their vows saturday near asheville, north carolina, there were tears in everyone's eyes. just before the wedding, caleb and maggie decided to pray together, because they wanted to uphold the

tradition of the groom not seeing his bride before the ceremony. caleb reached around a corner, his eyes averted. he took maggie's hand then he prayed. >> i just talked to god, i was thankful for the beautiful, suite intelligent woman he put in my life. we hoped he was trying to shine a light through us, so we can be an example to other marriages. >> maggie wept. >> at first i grabbed his hand and i felt shaky, so i knew that he was nervous, and i -- when he started praying, i started crying. >> the picture says so much about trust in god and faith in each other. it stands out in our cynical world. it's a picture about service and commitment and hope. and we, too, wish them all the best. harry smith, nbc news. look around, it's been a tough day. we're happy to be able to end the newscast on that note tonight. that's going to do it for us on a tuesday night. i'm lester holt reporting from

wimberley, texas. from all of us here at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. . we're talking about cameras, talking about game consoles things of that nature. mostly electronics as well. right now at 6:00 burglars busted accused of raiding homes at a south bay neighborhood stealing high-priced electronics and this is everything they could get their hands-on. to boot the burglars not even old enough to vote. good evening, thanks for joining uggs. i'm jessica aguirre. i'm raj mathai. a notable step forward.

police say three 17-year-old boys were terrorizing a neighborhood. those boys now in juvenile hall. damian trujillo is in the evergreen neighborhood. finally good news where you are. >> that's right. talk to anyone here in evergreen, they've been victims of a burglary or know someone would has been the victim. serving arrest warrants they've taken serial burglars off the streets. the crime tape is a familiar sight in san jose's evergreen community. burglaries are common here which is why police recently raided this home on bosh avenue in san jose. >> in the morning, probably around this time. i just saw four police cars lined up. i didn't see actual policemen or anything. i wondered why four policemen were on my street. >> this is one of two homes police raided late last week and they netted two carloads full of stolen goods. >> we're talking about cameras,