a massive storm surge there pummelli inling large swaths le thousands without power. entire beings reportuildings re collapsed. president trump declared hurricane harvey a federal disaster late into the evening. he is tweeting from camp david with his national security team and the veep. leaders in texas, meanwhile, urge residents to evacuate. warning those who remain roob subjected to the storm's wrath for days. here's governor greg abbott. >> we are concerned that not enough people have evacuated, and we are still urging people if at all possible if you are in low-lying areas, if you are in zones where evacuation orders have been in place, there may still be time for you to get out.

>> now we're focussing in on the rainfall and also the potential for some severe weather. really rainfall being the number one entity here. let's make a few maneuvers here. a couple of pockets of heavy rain for you right now. this is what's left of the eye wall. now, the storm system still holding itself together here. it is in a weaker fashion. winds are now 90 miles per hour. this is new information at the top of the hour. a category one hurricane. still enough wind to topple trees. still enough to bring in the water, but, again, the main threat now will start to focus into the flood threat, and that's probably the hardest thing to wrap your mind around. the flood threat lasting through much of the upcoming week. it's kind of maneuvering around here. you can see it's not just the point, though. we had these bands of thunderstorms pivoting around the center of circulation, so this is where the weather

changes very quickly, and you can get severe weather in a matter of minutes, and then in another matter of minutes it's over. this is what we need to watch out for here for the next couple of hours. you can get a lot of rainfall in those bands, but, again, this is the variation of the track. these little wobbles that you see here, that's causing the rainfall amounts around it to be quite expabs insexpansive. you can see by the time you go et to monday, the storm has looped around, and not really moved all that much. we're still dealing with the storm as we move into monday evening. there's a potential that this system basically dips and hits the northern part of the gulf of mexico. it's not a slam dunk possibility just yet, but it's in proximity to the gulf, which means it can gather that moisture again, and the problem with that is it dumps more rain. already in the last, let's say, six to 12 hours, these are the rainfall amounts we've put down. over ten inches in some spots and what you'll see over the next couple of days is this just blossom as this storm system

wobbles and rotates around here dumping copyus amounts of rain. still sticking to the 40 inch predictions here. again, that is through wednesday or thursday of next week. we have reynolds wolf out there. he is getting drenched right now. winds at 90 miles per hour. the story is now focussing from the storm surge and the wind to the flooding. as you can see here on this image behind me, the eye is starting to shrink. the storm system will remain large, but not quite as intense as the wind speeds. >> that's the concern here. the flooding especially with this system expected to linger, to stall. >> really not on the table right now. >> unfortunately, it's what you call the brown water effect. this system is basically sitting

over a swamp. this area could be inundated by rainfall and flooding and it's enough to keep the tropical storm alive. while it won't strengthen, it keeps it intact. that circulation is around to the first part of next weekend. >> hey, maybe this thing will fizzle out and maybe we'll get a chance. >> it's a wobbler. that's why the models have he a hard time with it. >> we'll check back in in a little bit. >> joining me now is steve sims. he works in rock port, texas, just north of corpus christi where flooding and damage is preventing rescues right now. what are the calls you're getting in mostly? we thank you for taking the time, first of all, but what are those calls that you are getting in primarily now? >> biggest thing we're dealing with right now, of course, is still dark outside yet. we're unable to get out on the

streets, but we have multiple calls of collapsed roofs, people trapped in homes, high water. we're waiting on daylight. >> sir, how does this work as far as prioritization? when you get all these calls coming in, roofs collapse, people stranded, how is it that you work with all of your crews out there to figure out which ones you are going to get to first? >> well, right now we have 22 firefighters here at the station, and one ems medical unit, and as soon as daylight breaks and we feel it's safe to get outside and start making our rounds, we're going to jump on it and see what we can get done.

we're trying to prioritize what we feel is first come. >> there has to be a -- the sunrises at 6:55 local time, which is a little less than two hours from now. what is it that you can tell these residents who are in need of most help right now knowing that you can't reach out to them for another hour or so or even more? >> yes. it's heart breaking. you know, we're all sitting here wanting to do it, but we can't do it. we will be there as soon as we can possibly get there. >> all right. what is it that you can tell residents? i know the number one priority is to make sure that they don't leave their homes, downed power lines, the overall threat of their safety. what is it you can tell them right now? >> shelter in place. just stay where you are at.

we've got a lot of high water, and we're still, you know, at 70, 80-mile-an-hour winds right now. >> just hang tight, as you, i'm sure, will get to them as soon as you can. >> yes, ma'am. >> steve sims, fire chief, says thank you for your time. stay safe out there. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> let's go to kerry sanders who is in victoria, texas. how is it looking there? it seems pretty rough there with those winds, kerry. snoo it's a mess out here, as you can imagine. it's hard to determine how bad the damage is because of the darkness, but we certainly know we're getting gusts here upwards of 100, 110 miles per hour. as you can see in the foreground here and if you look, that rain is the real problem here because it looks like harvey is going to stall over this area. they're predicting upwards of 37, maybe even 40 inches of rain

here. they're already talking about the guadalupe river here possibly being 32 feet above et cetera normal flood stage, which means that there's going to be a lot of problems for homes and neighborhoods along the river. sorry. it's a little hard to talk with this wind. it's really blowing right now. this morning the fire department reports that they responded to several fires here in victoria overnight. unfortunately, at one of the fires, which residents nearby say they thought may have been sparked by lightning. by the time the fire department got to the apartment complex, it was blaze, and they were unable to put it out. it was eventually put out, but that's not before the entire apartment complex burned to the ground. another home caught fire. why? undetermined at this point. may also have been a lightning strike. the good news is that those two

fires, there were no reports of injuries. very difficult for the fire department. those first respond ares to get out in the middle of this type of weather to try to deal with the fire. the other good news is that we have reports that both of the shelters here have so far been able to maintain their integrity. there's no indication of any problems, and no reports of any injuries at either of the two shelters that opened up here. i can tell you that they were opened at very quickly feld to capacity, and those folks who could not get into the shelters were turned away and had to go either back home or flee the area. the problem is so many people waited until the last minute fleeing the area, and it was really not an option. >> you got wind and rain and flooding that you have right there, but, yet, you have these structures burning to the

ground. i'm curious also with the first responders how they're getting out there. especially in those conditions. i imagine they're getting calls already now with people who are stranded or are in need of help. >> you know, francis, they make it very clear as the hurricane is coming ashore that at some point there's going to be a drop dead point where dialing 911 is unlikely to get the sort of response that they're used to. the fire department, the police department all already working on double shifts. some of the firefighters and some of the police officers that we've had started at 6:00 a.m. before we even saw this rain or any other weather. it was mostly a traffic situation. victoria is a city of 67,000. with the oefrt of first responders, it can bust the city's budget. the president did respond to the governor of texas's request for the declaration of an emergency

and signing an order that will release federal money, and the release of that federal money will help pay for the overtime. there's not any concern right now of somebody saying, well, how are we going to be able to afford this? it's really more a matter of how are we going to be able to handle it? >> you talk about the double overtime there. and the resources that are stretched. i want to ask you, kerry, we understand there's been at least 16.43 inches much rain so far fallen there in victoria. how are you literally holding up? are you having a tough time? obviously the wind behind you, but how is that feeling for you? struggling there just to stand up? >> right now it's mostly a steady wind, so i'm able to position myself in a way here where the wind is just coming

from behind me. >> the droplets sting. that's why i have my back turned. the wind is blowing this direction, and so i'm not standing out in the worst of it, but i'm here slightly a few feet off from the building where you can see where the wind is certainly kicking up here. that's a gust right there. that's -- there we go. i'm able to hold my balance at least so far. this is -- remember, we're talking about 100, 110-mile-per-hour gusts. we had winds at one point with this hurricane around the eye wall that were 140 to 145 miles per hour, and when you ramp it

up, there's a big difference in those final 20, 30, 40-mile-per-hour winds. >> we know in victoria it's been over a decade since a storm like this has hit around there. you have lifers who basically say, yes, we've been through so many of these storms. we know how to do this, but you may have some people new to the community as well. what were you gathering from some of the people you spoke with as far as their preparings and how they were taking in the storm? >> i just lost a lot of the question in the noise of the rain. try it one more time. i'm going to see if i can listen a little closer. >> with the people who you spoke with before the height of this storm, knowing that it's been over a decade since the storm like this hit texas. what were you hearing? you have lifers who know and maybe news -- after 10, 12 years of seeing a hurricane like this

hit the coast of texas, people's lives have changed. people have had children, children who have grown up into adults, and things are very different. even though this is not the most a lot of fear going into this, and if folks are in their safe spots and their safe homes and their shelters and surrounded by others, even right inside the building that we're in here, folks are finding one another and in a crisis like this with mother nature where it's one of those situations where you are completely perilous other than to hopefully stay in a safe location, people find a little bit of strength by looking in the eyes of each other and realizing if you are okay, i'm okay. i think that's what we're seeing here this morning. again, i haven't ventured over

to the shelters just because it's too dangerous to be out here on the road. there are power lines down. even though you can see it's pitch brack out here and the power is out. that doesn't mean the power lines don't have power and, of course, trees are down. just the idea of driving in this hurricane is just a little too dangerous. >> which is certainly why law enforcement are urging people to just stay where you are no matter what you need. essentials. if you can, just stay where you are right now, especially with daylight expected in less than two hours there. kerry sanders. for now let's go to joe fryer who is in galveston, texas, a little northeast and not looking nearly as bad as the situation. kerry was facing joe, but definitely those winds are picking up. we can tell. >> yeah. the wind and rain have spikd up just here in the last couple of minutes. more than we've been experiencing so far this morning. you're right. it's not nearly as bad as where kerry is, and it wasn't supposed to be as bad. this was an area that was under a tropical storm warning the last few days.

not a hurricane warning. because of that, a lot of people decided not to evacuate. they decided they could wait it out here because the gusts of wind weren't going to be as strong because the storm surge wasn't expected to be as high. the other reason is they know the major concern here is going to be the flooding in the coming days because this area will get a lot of flooding, much like a lot of areas up the coast. possibly 15 to 20 inches between yesterday and tuesday or wednesday. a lot of people don't want to leave their homes yet. especially in low-lying areas. they want to kind of wait and see if they can try and fend off any floodwaters safely, that is, so they've been shuddering up their homes and hunkering down with water. some people have generateors. we can tell you once the winds started last night, our hotel's power going in and out before it went out for two hours. we had no power here, and that was the scene up and down the coast here in galveston. right now they're still dealing with some rain. a lot of people decided to stay put. it was sort of different from

what we were seeing in the corpus christi area yesterday where it was sort of like a ghost town as the storm was moving in. people were out and about in galveston. some walking along the shore because they felt it was safer. even though it's still a dangerous situation. we know here just east of here is boliver peninsula. there was a bad fire there. at least three homes burned, and imagine trying to fight a fire in these wind-whipped planes that have been reaching 75 miles per hour here. we know at least three homes there, and we don't know what sparked that fire, but once it starts trying to fight a fire in a situation like this, can't be easy. francis. >> it's interesting. i did notice that where those people with less urgency, i guess, is the way you could put it there with it being a tropical storm in that area. there is that sense of a fascination when it comes to a phenomenon like this to be able to see nature in its fury and those spectators who went out there on the beach to see these waves. i'm sure you saw that even late in the evening last night. >> yeah. the other thing to keep in mind here is galveston was hit really

hard by hurricane ike nine years ago in 2008. what you hear from some people is they were told to evacuate then, which was likely a smart move. then it took a long time before they were allowed back in, and there were people who really wanted to try to get back to their homes, but it wasn't a safe situation because of the flooding, because of the sanitary situation. that frustrated a lot of people. you do hear reports from some people who decided this time around, even though the hurricane was not nearly as powerful here to sort of stick it out because they wanted to see if they could take care of their home, and they were afraid if they left, they weren't sure how quickly they would be able to get back in. >> hopefully the situation there, again, with the rain lingering and more of the rain accumulates, and the flooding becomes an issue, that people will be safe in those conditions as well. joe fryer for us in galveston. joe, thank you. we thank you for being with us here on msnbc. as we continue our coverage of this historic storm, hurricane harvey. keep it right here. we'll be back after the break. don't let dust and allergens get between you

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>> you can see is it for yourself. we're being hit by a significant band from harvey, as it is making landfall here. about 50 miles, as you mentioned, south of where we are. we're here in port lavocca. there is the bay just if front of me here. that storm surge from harvey is pushing water from the bay this way. >> once day break comes, it will be about the cleanup and

recovery. we're now joined by anthony, spokesperson for the american red cross. anthony, i appreciate your being with us here early this morning. talk to us a little bit about the efforts out there. the efforts you had to help the people in need the most and what those concerns are right now. >> yeah. one of the biggest concerns we have for the people being impacted by the storm is to use commonsense. you know, it's been reiterated throughout the morning on your program just that stay safe. if you haven't already evacuated, stay in your safe area and be safe. we have more than 50 shelters either open or on standby. i know we have over 1,000 residents already in our shelters seeking a safe place to stay. we have hundreds of red cross volunteers that have come in to the region to help those that have been impacted and we really want the people being impacted by the storm to know that it's a tough situation right now. it's not something you can ever

really prepare for. we want them to know the red cross is going to be there for them as we work through the storm as it starts to subside over the next days, and we'll be there to help them with the recovery efforts. >> i'm sure there are many scenarios out there when people inside their homes who said, all right, i think i can do it. i have done this before. i'm going to ride this out. then there comes a point where you say it gets serious for them. they say maybe it's time to go. what is your best bet about the best time to do so. would it be day break or when there's a lull? what would you tell them? >> listen to the weather channel. watch msnbc. listen for breaks in the weather. also, listen to local government officials where, when they say it's safe to travel, listen p to them. it really will keep you safe during these times of emergencies, and so, you know, if the government says community

officials say it's time, it's okay to move, then consider moving immediately. or hunker down and just make the best of the situation knowing that as day break comes, emergency response teams will be able to get out a little bit more and let them come to you. the important thing is if you haven't evacuated already and you are in a safe place, stay there. >> right. anthony, i want to ask you, it would be one thing if it was just this storm making landfall, but we're talking about this system just lingering, stalling over with flooding being an issue in the next few days, into next week. talk to me about how the red cross is prepared for that. >> yeah, this is not a quick-moving storm, as you articulated. it's also not a quick recovery process. we're going to be in the community. we're going to be there with those that have been impacted every day that they need us. we're going to help them with the recovery process. we already have 40 plus emergency vehicles in the area with supplies to help start the recovery process once that's

clear and safe to do so. we have hundreds of volunteers that are trained and will be in the region. you know, anyone that's listening, anyone that's watching, you want to help the red cross help these people that have been impacted by this storm by hurricane harvey. you can pick up a phone, call the red cross. the best thing you can do to help us make this start this recovery process to make a financial contribution, you can do that by visiting red cross.org. >> if i understood this correctly, you have around 50 shelters in the areas in most need with 1,000 people already there. certainly the resources to accommodate even more. >> absolutely. yes. >> anthony with the red cross. thank you for your time here and all the help that you're providing the people who need it out there. thank you. >> thank you. >> when we come back, how the president is handling the storm and the political firestorm. he is unleashing it as well. keep it here on msnbc. special coverage of hurricane harvey down by one. championship on the line. erin "the sharpshooter" shanahan fakes left.

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. hurricane harvey unleashes an assault of rain. let's turn to msnbc meteorologist steve for more on this storm. slowly, steve, it's been downgraded, but certainly doesn't mean the threat isn't there. >> yeah, essential the threat is evolving here. we've gone through some changes. there's a category four when it made landfall earlier this morning near rock port. now the storm is down to a one, but it's going to give you perspective. they say everything is big in

texas. the state is huge. you can see it here. we'll kind of pivot down here and show you how massive the storm is. this thing is huge, and, again, it's evolving into the rain threat here. we had storm surge come through earlier, and still the waters coming in here. places across areas like houston and galveston. the water is coming in across southwestern louisiana. the storm is not quite as intense. we're not seeing that category four winds, and so, therefore, the surge won't be as high. it's now the flooding. you see this expansive area of rainfall, and that's really the concern. some of the wind gusts, as this storm system came ashore port aransas, 132 miles per hour

capano village, 125. this is category three, borderline category four strength. lamar 110-mile-per-hour wind gusts. the wind becomes less of a story, but it doesn't take as much wind to cause damage here now. we're throwing down so much rain. we've already seen reports of over 14 inches of rain from buft mesonet observations there near victoria. the rain will continue to pummel as we go through the clock. again, we have the brief spin-ups we need to watch for. especially around the houston and galveston area through 1:00 this afternoon, which is where the tornado watch is in effect for. one thing i wanted to show you quickly, this is the evolving story here. this is our european model. this is the blob, this is the heavy rain, and i'm walking you through the clock. this is sunday, 7:00 in the morning. we go into monday, 9:00 in the morning. it sits over the same spot. now, the storm system may dip back towards the gulf of mexico, pool up more moisture, and then

just wobble around here in texas. this is where the concern comes in over the next few days. you are getting these prolific rainfall amounts in a short amount of time. 14 inches of rain already in less than 12 hours of victoria. it's those type of amounts over the next several days that pile up. that's why you are seeing the 40 inch numbers, francis, with the storm system. >> that's interesting. i heard your explanation of it earlier when it comes to the storm surge reaching up over there normally in any other storm, they're able to wash back in. this is also what's going to contributed to the flooding along the coastline as well the next few days. >> you're going to hear this brown water effect. it happened during tropical storm allison. instead of petering out, it keeps it alive so the rainfall

amounts continue, and the water gets piled up. it can't flow down the rivers like it normally does. it's going to be a real mess, and it's only beginning, unfortunately. >> it is astounding to me along with the wind, the storm surge, the rain, the flooding, also the threat of tornadoes and then lightning strikes that we heard, not confirmed yet, may be responsible for some structure fires out there as well. there was barrier islands. that was priority number one. priority number two came right behind it, and that's the flooding, and that's going to be ongoing along with the tornado threat. keeping these in order is difficult, but it's important to remain orderly, to remain calm just so you can digest all these details, and, of course, listening to agencies like fema and the local red cross to help give you that information, but it's important to keep your cell phone charged up because if you lose power, it's your connection to getting good and valuable information. >> something that certainly will

be provided in people when day breaks at 6:55 you were telling me local time in texas. that definitely will change as people start to come out. they assess the damage. the rescue efforts can start to begin again when the sun comes up. as hurricane harvey hammers texas the white house was busy creating major news on multiple fronts. some might even call the storm a front tore what many in the industry call an overnight news dump. it began with the white house nountsing a presidential pardon for sheriff joe arpaio. remember him? the self-titled toughest sheriff in america. he was a long-time top law official for maricopa county in arizona. last month he was convicted of criminal contempt of court for ignoring a judge's order to stop rounding up people he suspected of being undocumented immigrants. the white house said in part jeff joe arpaio, and after more than 50 years of admiral service to our nation, he is a worthy candidate for a presidential pardon.

well, here was arpaio reacting to the news when speaking to nbc. >> very appreciative of what the president has done. right now i have to thank the president for standing by me and standing by law enforcement. i'm very humbled. >> do you feel like you've been vindicated by the president? >> yes. , and i think he understands my situation. >> while the senate's highest ranking democrat, new york's chuck schumer, unleashed a tweet storm alleging mr. trump used the hurricane as political cover to pardon arpaio. the president has made the ban on transgender troops official. signing an order that directs the pentagon to move forward on the ban. then it remains unclear what will happen to transgender personnel durnl serving.

the ban also prevents it the -- to top it all off there's the ousting of sebastian gorca, a deputy advisor to the president who had ties to far right political groups and called islam an inherently violent religion. he says the exit is not a resignation, per se. however, yahoo is reporting white house chief of staff john kelly allegedly revoked his security clearance almost forcing gorca to resign and even doing so while he was on vacation. gorca was set to be back in the white house on monday. nbc news has learned robert mueller has issued grand jury subpoenas to public relations executives who worked with former trump campaign chairman paul manafort. 16 firms received supds. mueller's team is focussing on an international lobbying campaign which ran between 2012 and 2014. the subpoena is the first publication that the investigation into russian interference in the presidential election is beginning to compel witnesses to testify before a grand jury.

all right. turning now to hurricane harvey and the impact here as people all along the gulf coast are bracing themselves especially in the community of victoria, tension text. kerry sanders is there, and he is really trying to brace himself there as the whipping winds and rains are coming right at you, kerry. >> it's been a miserable night for foels here in victoria, texas, and this morning anxious hours as wait for a little bit of light maybe to break through the cloud cover of hurricane harvey here to see how bad the damage is. we do know that most of the city has lost power. wind gusts, as you can see, are still strong. some of them have been upwards of 100, 110 miles per hour. even though right now harvey is a category one, it doesn't mean that this community is breathing a sigh of relief. that's because it appears that harvey is going to park itself over this region for some time. for days possibly. that means that we're looking in the foreground here and all this rain.

that means that it could be upwards of 37, maybe 40 inches of rain, and with the 40 inches of rain comes floods. the guadalupe river as they call it here locally is estimated on wednesday to possibly have 32 feet above flood stage. that would be close to a record that they've kept since the 1930s. this morning we can report that those who evacuated into.city's two shelters here appear to have made a good decision because there are no reports of any problems in the shelters, that the integrity of the buildings has held, and that people there are either sleeping or holding each other's hands. in many cases praying for this to be over sooner rather than later. even though it looks like it's going to take a little longer than most hurricanes. meantime, the fire department overnight had to respond to several fires here. one was a fire at an apartment complex, which it appears according to witnesses may have been sparked by a lightning strike, and that lightning

strike hit the apartment building and then it caught fire. the fire department got there. by the time they got there, it was -- it was a huge blaze. the fire department was unable to get it out. it burned to the ground. the good news, if there is any in all of that, was that nobody was there. everybody in that apartment complex had evacuated to a safer location. another home in the community here also caught fire, so it's been a brutal night for the fire department in the middle of a hurricane trying to respond to fires, and the fire department working with the other first responders, the police, who have been working around the clock, but francis, at this point, you know, trees are down. power is out. life is miserable. people would like to see this over, but it's not going to be gone that quickly. >> yeah, fortunately, thatunfor not the reality. you said it's been tough for the first responders, firefighters, and emergency personnel already spread thin throughout the

night. a lot of their work will be when day breaks. 6:55 is when sunrise is there, when they start going out and responding to these calls. talk about the resources they have because this is a small community. there's 67,000 people in victoria? >> it's a small community, but the fire department and the police department here just to show you the dedication, some of the officers live more than an hour ago. they left their families to go on shift and start working and work around the clock. some of them catching cat naps. they've had patrols out on the street until they got as bad as it is right now. just to make sure that the few cars that were out there had a reason to be out there and not just looky lous driving around. one of the biggest problems that happens here is after a hurricane or in this case during what's going to be a prolonged hurricane, people have a tendency to get sort of couped up in their homes, and they decide to, like, well, i have a big enough pickup truck. let's go out and take a look. the real danger there is downed

power lines. even though it looks like because we have a power outage that all the power lines are dead. that is not the case. very often the injuries, the death that follow a hurricane are because of stupid mistakes because people are just curious, and the real desire from the first responders is to get the message out to people that despite your curiosity, the city needs to have the roads and everybody basically stay home. leave the roads clear so that they can do what they need to do. report to the power company and get those power lines turned off. again, a tree can look like, well, the hurricane has come through, and the tree is pretty much okay, but it may have been weakened, and the tree can even come down. just a lot of anxious moments that can follow a hurricane, but in this particular case, it seems so weird. this is not going to be a case where the hurricane is gone quickly. this thing is going to ling are, and i know you have been looking at the radar about how this thick is going to loop around

and dump so much rain and so much wind continuing right here in victoria. francis. >> more reason for people to stay in. just hunker down. stay safe. prioritize before heading out and let law enforcement and first responders do their thing when they can. kerry sanders, good to have you and getting your perspective of how it is in victoria, texas. thank you. >> sure. we head back to text technical as hurricane harvey enters the record books as a bohemath of a storm. this time it's his turn.

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catastrophic flooding in the area with over 200,000 people now without power. let's turn to galveston. the coastal community there. joe fryer joins us. not looking nearly as bad as other areas like in victoria. certainly a lot of people still concerned with the rain and flooding. still a threat in the days to come. while the winds, still strong here, are not nearly as strong as what we saw down the coast, and that was what it was supposed to be. not a hurricane warning. a lot of people here decided to stay here, hunker down. there were only a few voluntary va evacuations in low-lying areas. most people decided to stay. it was sort of the opposite of what people were seeing in the corpus christi area yesterday as the hurricane was moving in. it almost looked like a ghost town. no one was outside.

you can see people walking up and down the beach taking pictures. they weren't as worried about the surge. debris can blow around, and that can be a troubling situation. even though the winds weren't as strong here, there was still some issues to deal with. power being one of them. our hotel lost power for a couple of hours. looking off in the distance, our crew could see some sparks flying. there were definitely power outages. it they would have to take a ferry to get there quickly, and the ferry service was closed last night because of the strong winds. francis. >> certainly the people in

galveston that know what it's like to ride out this hurricane. there was ike. you were talking to me about it in 2008. what was the mindset of a lot of residents there knowing that, no, this is not necessarily the same kind of threat as further south in the coast, but when it comes to the flooding that may come in the next couple of days with this system stalling, how are they approaching that? >>. >> they have an understanding of what is going on here. they knew this wasn't going to be as strong as hurricane ike. they weren't as worried about the winds in the storm surge. you can see water marks and businesses that talk about just how high the floodwaters got. homeowners that we talk with say especially those in low-lying areas that know they're prone to flooding say that that's what they're keeping an eye on. there are a lot of sand bags put out. in fact, it was hard to find sand bags yesterday.

they were putting down their shudders whe shudders. they have generators ready. they know that flooding could be a major issue. because a lot of people experienced hurricane ike and the damage from that, they actually had evacuated for hurricane ike because they were so worried about the actual hurricane striking, but then it took a but then it took a while for them to be able to get back into town because of the flood waters because of the sanitary situation. that was frustrating for some people, even though they knew it wasn't maybe totally safe. they wanted to get back home. for some people, that's the reason why they've decided to stay here so they can keep an eye on their home and see if there's anything they can prevent. once those flood waters start up, people have to be incredibly cautious. >> that's where they get that full sense of confidence there when they start to head out thinking, they can do it, you know? flood waters are there, they've done it before, but it is deceiving when it comes to those waters and the damage and the danger they can pose. joe friar in galveston, thank you. we'll check back in with you a little later on. stay with us here on msnbc for

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welcome back. hurricane harvey is the strongest storm to hit texas in about 50 years and the strongest hurricane to hit the u.s. mainland in almost 12 years. and we continue to follow it here on msnbc. to give you some perspective, here are the wind gusts that we're talking about here in the past 12 hours. peak wind gusts around port arkansas around 132. lamar, 110. rockport, 108. all throughout 2 night, we are talking about the threat of wind gusts, rain, storm surge. but now, there's there appears to be more of a threat with tornados here with this storm massively flooding with the threat of this system stalling over the area into next week even as late as thursday with as much as 40 inches of rain expected possibly even more.

we know federal states of emergency have been declared in the area with schools, businesses closed and mandatory and voluntary evacuations. a lot of the people, law enforcement, are telling them to hunker down, stay inside, don't venture outside. if you need essentials, if you're changing your mind and now want to go seek shelter, wait until they can help you. that will happen mostly when these law enforcement and emergency personnel can head out when daybreaks. the sun is expected to rise local time. it's 6:55, about an hour from now. of course that will change significantly the way that law enforcement and these first responders can go out and do their job. but for now, everybody is being told that in that area, along the coast of texas, to stay in. of course, we'll hear from bill karens in our next hour, but for now, that will do it for us. stay tuned for continuing coverage of hurricane harvey as it hammers texas and the coast. ♪

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in texas. the eye of the storm hitting the ought eastern tip of texas just before midnight eastern time. it continued to strengthen and has since been downgraded to a category one. an entire building reportedly collapsed, trapping residents and sending others to nearby hospitals. president trump declared hurricane harvey a federal disaster late into the evening. we'll have a live report on that later in the hour. back in texas, lawmakers are urging resident toes evacuate, warning those who remain will be subjected to the storms around for days.