the water was up to here. >> i walked out and i was just like screaming. i seen somebody leave -- they tried to put us on air mattresses it didn't work. they had to put the babies on air mattresses. people were carrying babies on their shoulders. >> from water evacuations of every sort, air lifting stranded people and their pets to safety, seeking help in makeshift shelters, and even herd of cattle making their way down a city street seeking higher ground. overnight daring rescues continued in debris laden streets with rescuers doing whatever necessary to reach victims. and there's 15 to 25 more inches of rain yet to fall in the area by

president trump tweeted all weekend about the storm. plans to visit texas tuesday, but that's not all he's been up to. and last night's mtv video music a weaawards had its share politics, eye popping performances and much more. "early today" starts right now. good monday morning to you. i'm frances ra very a. my co-anchor is in texas right now covering tropical storm harvey and the devastation following the record setting hurricane. he'll join us just in a moment. right now, the waterlogged city of houston is bracing for even more catastrophic flooding from harvey after the nation's fourth largest city was pummelled with up to 2 feet of rain. an unprecedented 50 inches of rain could hit several areas by storm's end. and the situation could not be more dire as the national weather service puts out several tornado and flash flood warnings overnight. five to ten more inches of rain could hit the area in just the next several hours. and right now the army corps of engineers has begun releasing the waters of two nearby dams in an effort to stem some of the

flooding. overnight voluntary evacuations have been ordered for some houston neighborhoods as police urged the public to stay safe. there have been over a thousand water rescues in the last 72 hours, with more rescues certain as the rain persists. bill karins forecast is just ahead. first let's to my co-anchor phillip mena who is in houston right now. what have you experienced so far? >> hey, frances, good morning. i was hoping to talk to you in front of a camera this morning, but the road closures from all of this flooding made that impossible to meet up with the crew. so, right now i am in the northwest part of town. i was coming from dallas taking the main freeway which is the i-45 and by the time we got to houston, roads were closed in all directions so essentially whatever part of houston you're in is quickly becoming an island as the waters continue to just wreak havoc on the roadways here. that is to speak nothing of like what you saw the

25 inches of rain in certain parts here, just over the weekend, has just completely drowned out the city. you mentioned the dams at the beginning of the show. that is the major concern right now. there are two major dams that protect the city of houston. they flow through the city. and the army corps of engineers has decided to release them, control release some of that water to alleviate the pressure because if that breaks that could leave half of houston under water and obviously they do not want that. so, they are going to release these waters, it's going to come at the expense of the several thousand homes that are right along those dams. but they're really left with no other choice right now. so, that is the main situation right now, trying to get some of those people evacuated as they start this controlled release of the dam. >> unbelievable to watch these images. all right, philip, we'll check back in with you in a little

victoria, texas is still reeling from tropical storm harvey. the city of 85,000 people was put under mandatory evacuation order when harvey first hit, slamming the area with extreme winds and rain. now residents are being warned not to return unless they bring enough food, water and gas to last three to four days. local officials call the damage devastating and said residents could be without electricity for several days or even weeks. nbc's kerry sanders is in victoria, texas this morning. what is the latest on the rescue and recovery efforts there? >> reporter: well, good morning, frances. as you can see over my shoulder, there are electrical trucks here. that means there are power crews that have made their way to this city now which is a good sign. the power crews have started work, in some cases the power has returned to a portion of downtown. primarily in an area where the authorities who are conducting now the direction of the recovery efforts have based themselves. the shelters that are

town are beginning to close. that's a good sign. it means things that people are going to have a sign of going home and maybe reestablishing what semblance of a normal life they can without power and without food. but in some cases as you can see here, when people left the shelters that are closing, they wound up finding that they had nowhere to go. and this is because of a fire that burned down an apartment complex. the apartment complex catching fire during the hurricane, the suspicion is that there was perhaps a lightning bolt that caused the fire. as you noted, the people are being told that if they return home, they need to have food. well, yesterday the largest grocery chain here in town, heb, that's across the state actually, decided they would try to do their best to get food to people. so, they brought in their disaster kitchen to start feeding people. at the same time, brought in 15 trucks from san antonio, texas where theye

a good portion of the grocery store. the power company has some power in there. they even had the credit card swipe machines working so people were able to get some food. but the real concern here is as you can note, it's still raining here and the river, that is the guadalupe river is still swelling and they believe by wednesday we may actually see what appears to be a flood along the guadalupe river. frances? >> wow, all right. kerry sanders for us with that update. kerry, thank you. the mandatory evacuation was never issued for several parts of texas so scenes like this were widely seen across the state as troops and helicopters pulled people from danger, lifting them to safety. overnight one traffic camera in katie texas saw this dramatic rescue a driver engulfed in their vehicle. thankfully they made it out alive. nbc's jacob rascone now brings us more. >> reporter: it is a colossal rescue effort. thousands stranded, taken by

>> water so high boats are going over the top of cars. >> reporter: saved using anything that floats. their faces tell the story of anguish, anxiety and fear. >> the water was up to here. i walked out and i was just like screaming. i seen somebody -- they tried to put us on air mattresses, it didn't work. they had to put babe ids on air mattresses. people were carrying babies on their shoulders. >> reporter: with emergency responders overwhelmed, the mayor is asking people to call 911 only if their life is in danger because he defended his decision not to issue a mandatory evacuation order. >> i want to thank those thousands, thousands, in fact, millions of houstonians who heeded the advice and did not get on the road. >> reporter: the city has now opened its convention center for evacuees as rescue teams plead for the public's help. >> those of you who have boats and high-water vehicles that can be

move people out of harms way, we need your help. >> reporter: and houstonians have responded en masse. >> if they need my help i'm going to do what i can. >> reporter: back in southeast houston, frank pena woke up surrounded by water. >> the beds, everything, trying to clear. all gone. >> all gone, everything is gone. >> reporter: he moved into this apartment just three days ago. his neighbor upstairs took him and three other families in. >> are you going to stay until the water goes away? >> might. proschably not if they come get us. we need help. whole bunch of families displaced. they've lost everything. >> reporter: the morales family lost everything, including their stove and much of their food. >> you can't eat your food? >> no. >> reporter: this bayou is usually nearly empty. within at matter of hours it's 30 feet over flowing into these apartments and all these people are trapped. il

from flood waters in a nearby city, samantha caught on a flooded interstate herself, climbing to safety. >> my ma said there is water going in there, 30 inches deep. i didn't think it was that deep. >> reporter: america's fourth largest city fighting to survive a still unfolding calamity. frances, the community here is incredible. you see people coming and going. they have been rescued from back in the neighborhoods by boats that belong to the residents. they believe they have rescued four, 5 or even 600 people since midnight last night. frances? >> all right, jacob, thank you. certainly it will be a scene in the days to come. want to check back in with philip mena who is in houston right now. so, philip, it's one thing to have this storm come and go, but with the rains expected, how is it out there right now? >> well, mercyfully the rain has slowed to a drizzle. it is such a welcome relief.

pouring all night. i'm talking about blinding rain at times. so, we are not expecting this lull to last very much longer, but for a look at how the rest of this region is looking let's go to meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> good morning to you, philip. that is exactly the case. in houston it poured for a short period of time. that has moved out and now towards the bow mont area. of course the flash flood warnings and the emergency flash flood emergency still continues through the region. from lake charles almost to san antonio under flash flood warnings and that heavy band around 10:00 p.m. last night right over the top of houston, now it has shifted over the bow mont area. unfortunately it is not moving. it is just sitting over the same location there. there's beau mont right there. you can see the thunderstorms coming in. those areas have had 20 inches of rain. 4 inches per hour. in some of these bands. if we're going to have horrific new flooding it's going in that band to the east. our short range computer model predicts it's going to stick around that area around beau mont just about all d

and miss showers around houston and galveston area. short term computer models as far as the rainfall in the next 36 hours has that 10 inches still around houston to galveston. look at the beau mont area, 10 to 20 inches in the area near louisiana, texas board. that will be the area of the greatest concern today. that is a look at the biggest weather story today. here's a closer look at your day ahead. you can see obviously throughout the region it's not going to pour everywhere. some of that rainfall will be making it towards louisiana, end up into arkansas. we do have our new tropical depression we are watching off the south carolina coast. we'll have more on that later in the show. of course we'll touch more on harvey and the storm system off the southeast coast coming up. >> bill, thank you. we've got some other stories to bring you this morning. uber now has a new ceo, the company's board chose dara. currently the chief executive of the online travel company speed i can't. he replaces

forced to step down in june. 14 people were arrested in demonstrations in berkeley, california. trump protesters clashed with count counter protesters. they beat out texas on sunday for the 5th inning with a score of 12 to 2. much more ahead on this special edition of "early today." light, transitions® lenses help protect from uv rays and harmful blue light. both indoors... and out. they seamlessly adapt. so you can live the good light™. find an eyecare professional at transitions.com. now, finance your glasses with no interest if paid in full within six months, and get up to $30 back when you combine select essilor® brand lenses. visit transitions.com for more details. oh, it's actually... sfx: (short balloon squeal) it's ver... sfx: (balloon squeals) ok can we... sfx: (balloon squeals) goodbye! oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasn't it? try lactaid, it's real milk, without that annoying lactose.

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details for the visit are still being finalized, this comes as the administration prepares to announce plans to resume the transfer of surplus military equipment to police departments across the country. a practice restricted by an obama era executive order. nbc's tracy potts joins us now with more. tracy, what do we know about the reversal? >> reporter: well, we are expecting attorney general jeff sessions will announce it at a fraternal order of police convention in nashville this morning. it is something the police union has pushed for and president trump promised during his campaign. some military equipment that had been given, essentially, to police departments, they only had to pay for the shipping, was restricted by the obama administration after the michael brown incident in ferguson where lots of military-type vehicles were pointed at protesters. armor also being used by those local police departments. but the president says there is evidence that it actually protects officers i

club shooting, and in san bernardino. so, it looks like they're going to revive that. the president also dealing with the response to hurricane harvey. his fema director and others saying that this is going to be a prolonged, a very quick response, but also a prolonged response that could take years. frances? >> all right, tracy potts, thank you. just ahead, a troubling new storm churning off the south carolina coast. and the most outrageous and inspiring moments from last night's video music awards. bies. ...we run marathons... ...companies... ...solve problems. how? we eat. we eat almonds... ...strawberries... ...quinoa. and yeah...we eat chocolate. ♪ we eat in sweatpants... ...in skirts. we eat alone... ...and together. women are strong. we eat, and we own it. special k.

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so many horrific scenes out of the greater houston area from harvey. we still expect 10 to 15, maybe 20 inches of additional rainfall in the region. all the destruction has not been done yet. there will be some new stuff. we are also watching the possibility of a tropical storm i remember irma the. this area will see some large waves, gusty winds and also heavy rainfall but we do not expect a lot of damage in from this storm. more of an inconvenience and danger only if you're right down by the water and the beeches. possibility of 2 to 3 inches on the coast. we'll give you more updates on that in the next 24 to 48 hours. we'll be right back here. stay tuned, "early today." peopl.

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the 2017 mtv video music awards, the night's big winner was kendrick lamarr who took home six moon people including one for video of the year. ed sheeran won the first ever artist of the year a war created when mtv eliminated character this year. pink was presented with this year's vanguard award. she opened up being bullied for her looks, something her 6-year-old daughter faces as well. >> do you see me changing my body? no, mama. do you see me changing the way i present myself to the world? no, mama. do you see me selling out arenas all over the world? yes, mama. [cheering and applauding] >> okay. so, baby girl, we don't change. we take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl and you, my darling girl, are beautiful. and i love you. [cheering and applauding] >> that also got political, six transgender military service members walked the red

days after president trump's controversial ban. they sent a message anyone willing and able should be able to join the arld forces. a descend ant of general ehle spoke before introducing the mother of heather heyer who died in the violence in charlottesville. the hegtser hiather heyer found will help those with social justice issues. everyone at the awards sends their love and prayers. we'll have more ahead on tropical storm harvey. we'll go back to houston for the very last -- latest on the devastating floods. you're watching "early today." shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day

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in just 90 seconds, the latest this morning where it is day four of dealing with the -- yes, indeed. harvey causing big troubles along the gulf coast. we'll not have a huge impact from harvey any time soon. corm team 4 radar is alllear

now on "news4 today," a floodwaters continue

>> please come and rescue my husband and my kids. >> we are covering all angles of harvey this morning as people brace for another round of rain. we do want to take you straight to some live pictures of our radar this morning it's covering the houston area. it's been raining on and off overnight. more rain is expected too. what is in the air right now to -- i believe we have a live look. the national weather service says by the time everything is over, some areas could see 50 inches of rain. i know, chuck, between you and our whole team, we'll be covering harvey this morning and what is still ahead. still a whole lot ahead. we're also covering back to school for two huge counties in our area, fairfax and princ