a special edition of "early today" is ahead. we are tracking ida's path of destruction from ripping the roof off of a louisiana hospital to knocking out power to all of new orleans. now, over a million people with no electricity in the area we'll tell you where ida is headed now we're just hours from the final u.s. withdrawal out of afghanistan. tensions remain high, and officials are on high alert. plus, we'lhe 13 men and women who died at the hands of terrorists. we've got the latest on the covid pandemic including the surging numbers of new patients

filling hospitals, and the message on vaccines from sir charles barkley. even if i was being a selfish adult saying i don't trust it, i don't want the vaccine, i would get it because i would hate to see my kids or somebody's kids get sick >> a busy monday ahead as "early today" starts right now. >> thanks for starting your week with us. i'm lindsey reiser >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera relentless, devastating and historic that's how hurricane ida is being described this morning as it still slams the southeast the entire city of new orleans lost power after a catastrophic transmission damage. more than a million outages have been reported throughout louisiana. overnight president biden approved a major disaster declaration for the state. at least one death has been confirmed. a 60-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on his home because of extensive damage, at least two hospitals are planning to evacuate their patients as soon as it's safe to do so

over the last few hours, and that's where nbc's miguel almaguer is there this morning miguel, what have you been seeing there >> reporter: well, fortunately, we've seen the weather get better over the last few hours the wind speeds were upwards of 70 miles an hour and of course they were really concerned about localized flooding that doesn't seem to materialize, at least in this direct neighborhood where we're at, although the area certainly is low-lying in other regions so we'll have to see what that looks like at sunrise. and at sunrise we know first responders will be out on the ground, and also in the air surveying the damage trying to figure out exactly what lies ahead in the next couple of days in terms of rescues, in terms of power outages. more than a million people here in louisiana are without power that number could rise as power crews get out there and assess the damage how long that'll take them really depends on the extensiveness of the damage. so we hope to have those answers

over the next day or so. and for the folks who suffering flooding damage, that report also remains unclear. we won't know the true number of those people who were in those type of situations until sunrise here in just a few hours, guys >> we're holding our breath for that miguel, as we and especially the residents know all too well, this is the biggest test of levees after katrina from 16 years ago. >> reporter: we hope that the flooding will start to recede over the next couple of days we still are expecting rain in the forecast there were several inches of rain dumped by the initial hurricane as it passed over many areas. but we expect more rain over the next couple of days so that's certainly not going to alleviate the problem. but over the next couple of days officials are hoping the flood levels drop dramatically >> and certainly we hope the weather will cooperate for that

as well. so, louisiana, is facing a dual crisis with covid. how are the hospitals weathering this storm >> reporter: well, hospitals all across this region were stressed some hospitals had windows blown out. one even had a roof peeled back. so we know that the hospitals here also took a very powerful blow from this hurricane but they're also dealing with very little room in their icus and very little capacity as they deal with covid patients they were hoping to not be inundated with hurricane victims. so far that does not appear to be the case. but of course it's still very early in this hurricane. >> it is still early for all of these aspects that we're watching let's go ahead and get the latest track of the storm with nbc meteorologist janessa webb janessa, what are you looking out for? >> ladies, you know, it's pretty bad in new orleans and baton rouge, but it could've been a lot worse. it's the parishes in between where we saw the storm run

parallel now, look how big this system is, and it's 13 hours later since landfall this is a broad area that this system is taking over almost eight states right now, and it's going to continue its track. right now we still have a cat 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour the problem is this one was very speedy as it was across the gulf but it slowed down dramatically. now it's dragging on out of the north to 9 miles per hour. and that has allowed the moisture flow to really cause a problem across southeastern louisiana. now it's making its way into mississippi. we're watching the severe weather threat now the national hurricane center, you can see the latest forecast i do think this turns into a tropical storm for early-morning hours. but that's not the issue the category with this one does not matter it's the torrential rain it's the moisture content of this storm system that now going to go through the tennessee

valley and if you are across the northeast by late week, we are going to be dealing with ida's rain also these feeder bands are starting to make their way into central mississippi. we have a wide area of power outages across this area into hattiesburg and biloxi as well they are making their way across i-10 now we're going to be dealing with major flooding on the roadways also alabama you're starting to get in on the mix and the florida panhandle where severe weather will continue to be a threat hurricane warnings are still in place across southeast louisiana, but now it's the tropical storm warnings. i'm really concerned they will start to expand into alabama, mississippi as well, and even parts of tennessee now that the category is down to a cat 1, still, ladies, we have a long way to go >> all right, janessa, thank you. we'll catch up with you soon as hurricane ida tears across louisiana, we've seen

toppling powerlines and the ripping off of roofs many residents did leave the area, but some weren't able to evacuate before the storm hit. >> reporter: ida blasting southern louisiana, striking morgan city and houma, both just feet above sealevel. we arrived just hours before landfall to find some unable to get out. >> a lot of people got out of town why did you stay >> because we got off late and the traffic, it took people like 12 hours to get to houston that's where we wanted to go >> reporter: others racing the clock. this family grabbing whatever possessions and pets they could to seek higher ground. >> we're going to hunker down, ride it out as a family, and hopefully we'll get through it >> reporter: and then it came. ida didn't waste time, tearing into buildings and homes, knocking down powerlines, and proving itself as the strongest

storm to hit the state in more than a hundred years ida's worst may be starting to fade, but its impact is only beginning. >> our thanks to morgan for that report and now to a mississippi city that was devastated by hurricane katrina 16 years ago hurricane ida has already brought significant flooding to gulfport more heavy winds and rain are set to descend across the state. nbc's shaquille brewster is on the ground with more >> reporter: heavy rains and winds more than 50 miles per hour battering gulfport. >> my level of concern has definitely gone up >> reporter: as officials beg those who stayed behind to seek shilter. >> we're on the dirty side of the storm so there's propensity for a lot greater damage >> reporter: with the governor declaring a state of emergency,

tornado watches are in effect. >> hunker down it's too late to get out now >> reporter: first responders bracing for significant flooding gulfport has not seen a storm this strong since hurricane katrina. where i'm standing now, 16 years ago it was completely washed out. katrina destroyed thousands of homes here in one day, killing more than 100 people in this county alone an aftermath that now haunts those fleeing to emergency shelters >> nobody wants to lose anybody. i don't think nobody that lost somebody during hurricane katrina thought that they wouldn't be here afterwards. >> shaq for that report let's go ahead and go back to meteorologist janessa webb. janessa, what are you looking for in these next few hour >> the winds are still going to be cranking. i have a million people in the

dark in louisiana. so that's a huge problem and, you know what, it is very hot, it's humid. definitely need to get the power back on as the storm system starts to pull out, they're going to lose the rain, but that muggy meter is really in place now it's starting to make its way into mississippi jackson, mississippi, up to 50 miles per hour as this category starts to go back down to a tropical system, finally we'll lose the winds, but the flash flooding, it's still going to be a major concern. and we're going to watch this all the way into about tuesday for the tennessee valley but look how some of these flood watches are starting to creep into the mid-atlantic, also for the northeast.s area even for s

antonio, going to watch a few storms all the way to houston. and then we have some rivers that are rising, the storm surge, many more impacts we'll talk about that coming up. >> not out of it just yet. still a ways to go let's take a look at hurricane ida's impact in louisiana. this is before and after security camera video from a fire station in a parish east of new orleans. it's only an hour time span between the before and after shots. ida caused a serious amount of flooding in just a short amount of time. >> we've got plenty more ahead on the storm plus the latest on wildfires in california >> and remembering the 13 d women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the race to evacuate afghanistan is having healthy gums. keep yours healthy with crest advanced gum restore. it's clinically proven

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lady joined the families of those service members at dover air force base for the somber, dignified transfer service those 13 brave men and women include -- we are now entering the final stretch of evacuations in afghanistan. yesterday u.s. military forces carried out another drone strike, this time targeting a car with an isis-k fighter inside pentagon officials believe the car may have been filled with explosives and headed toward the kabul airport. the situation is growing increasingly dire. we also know the white house is confirming another rocket attack

at the kabul airports where operations went uninterrupted. what can you tell us >> reporter: that's right. good morning well, this morning there were early reports of five rockets being intercepted by a missile defense system, rockets that were aimed at kabul's airport once again well, now the white house this morning issued a statement saying that president biden was briefed about the alleged attack, but the operations there went on. and this is only part of an escalation of violence, as you were mentioning, as we approach the deadline tomorrow for the full withdrawal of u.s. troops you mentioned yesterday's drone attack yesterday the u.s. blew up a vehicle near the airport of kabul. today the u.s. military also said that the fact that there proves what

they suspected, that that vehicle was laden with explosives and potentially could carry out another attack after the devastating bombing last thursday but as the clock is ticking ahead of tomorrow's deadline when all troops will be -- all u.s. troops will be withdrawn, there's also a growing concern for the fate of the thousands of afghans who have been cooperating with the u.s. and other nations in the last 20 years who did not manage to get out of afghanistan the u.s. said that it's among 197 stations that signed a deal with the taliban to ensure that those afghan nationals who have got legal travel documents that could potentially travel out of afghanistan will be still allowed to do so by the taliban even after the deadline. this really will be a life line for the thousands of afghans who feel like they will be left

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>> the loss of a tv legend who is best known as the gruff but loveable boss on the mary tyler moore show he won yet another after appearing in the landmark mini series "roots. younger generations know him as santa in "elf" and in the pixar movie "up. he has over 300 acting credits that span five decades off screen he fought for artists' rights while serving two terms as presidents of the screen actors guild. he was 91 years old and passed away peacefully. "elf" is a fixture in our household during the holidays. we'll be thinking of him and having so many amazing memories. >> that line is so iconic, i hate spunk love the way he delivered that all right, janessa webb is continuing to track hurricane ida next and as the gulf is flooded by hurricane rains, california

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mr. clean clean freak ...what is that? it's a boban bag. gimme some. no. you get tobi bag. it's adorable. just like you. i wanted to point out to our viewers who say what do you put yourself in this danger for. i'm completely blocked from the elements by a wall and by a hotel in front of me and this is still what i'm getting. >> that was our ali velshi reporting as hurricane ida made

landfall >> let's go ahead and check in again with meteorologist janessa webb that was just incredible winds and rains there, but we are still not out of the woods with this storm >> yeah, as storm chasers, we love to be in the storm, but what we don't like is to see the aftermath. as the sun starts to come up, that's exactly what we're going to be looking at across southeast louisiana. now this storm system is really starting to make its way into mississippi. over 60,000 people currently without power. the winds are still roaring sustained of 75 miles per hour i do think this becomes a tropical storm for your early morning hours. the problem is it's now going to go across the tennessee valley really concerned for tennessee to the nashville area. could dump a good 5 inches of rain, and then it makes its way into the northeast next on "early today," the little league world champs

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secret in today's top stories, the u.s. is seeing an influx of covid hospitalizations just as the delta variant summer surge continues. according to the "new york times," the nation is now topping more nan 100,000 average daily covid hospitalizations that's higher than any previous covid surge except last winter's southern states are seeing the biggest number of patients florida has the most hospitalizations of any state with over 16,000 texas follows with 14,000 receiving care nba legend charles barkley is using his celebrity to urge people to get vaccinated against covid-19 he made an appearance at a

vaccine drive-event called "geth chuck" featured drive-through and walk-up vaccinations >> even if i was being a selfish adult saying i don't want the vaccine, i would get it because i would hate to see my kids or somebody's kids get sick >> more than 100 people got vaccinated at the event. the entire lake tahoe basin area has now been placed under evacuation warnings as california's caldor fire rapidly spreads. the blaze has burnt more than 168,000 acres. patients are being evacuated from hospitals and transferred to regional transport facilities a red flag warning for critical fire conditions has been issued across the northern sierra until tuesday, and extreme heat is expected to last several days, threatening to worsen the man paralyzed in the

kenosha police shooting was able to take his first steps at his son's birthday party he's been through months of physical rehabilitation. he was shot seven times by a kenosha, wisconsin, police officer last year. his shooting was part of a firestorm of protests against police brutality a group of kids from michigan are waking up world champions this morning this ball driven to center it's playable. there it is in his glove and the little leaguers are world series champions >> they got it done. the taylor north little league beat the squad from hamilton, ohio 5-2 they are the first michigan team to win the title since 1959. no international teams competed this year because of the pandemic, though the little league champs also got big league props they got the detroit tigers tweeting out a huge congratulations for them, and

what a way to end the weekend and start the week too >> big congrats to them. >> and thank you for starting your monday with us. i'm frances rivera >> i'm lindsey reiser. coverage continues on the "today" show after this.

as it heads north with torrential rain, flash floodg and damaging winds we've got multiple live reporters with the latest. america honors the 13 lost men and women who were brought home yesterday after being killed in afghanistan last week. now the countdown to tomorrow's withdrawal deadline. and we'll remember lou grant himself. the great ed asner