good morning. it's monday, august 28th, 2017. welcome to "cbs this morning." the catastrophe escalates overnight in texas. nora o'donnell is there. >> that's right. an oh noormous rescue effort is unfolding here. rising water is trapping people in their homes. many were rescued overnight. but more trouble lies ahead. some areas could get more than 4 feet of rain. we will get up-to-date information on the disaster from texas governor greg abbott, a top coast guard comermand and president trump's health and human services secretary tom price. >> plus a reporter for our

houston affiliate steps in to save a life. her dramatic effort to get help for a trucker stranded in several feet of water. >> but we begin this morning with a look at today's eyeopener. your world in 90 seconds. if you are venturing out on the roads for any reason, you are going to run into high water. that is a certainty at this point. >> cat strosk flooding deaf states texas. >> it's pretty terrifying watching that water come up, come in. >> so many people needed to be rescued that emergency crews could not keep up. >> volunteers joining first responders helping tol pul neighbors and total strangers to safety. >> i'm not even thinking about myself. people need help. i'm going to do my part. >> the national weather service unlls the understooding precedented and,e,quot beyond anything experienced before. >> fema is going to be there for years.

a landmark event. >> president trump has convened an all agency meetings to make sure all agencies are doing evything to support texas. >> i've got to tell you the trump administration has froid us everything that we need. >> you might see the most rain ever from a tropical system. >> just tormenting areas of southeast texas. >> this is just one of those events that just doesn't happen. >> all that, some of music's biggest stars hit the stage at the m tv video music awards. host katy perry also took a moment -- >> we stand with you as you rebuilt because we're all in this together. >> and all that matters houston texas star j.j. watt. donating $100,000 himself. >> we're going to come out of this stronger than ever. >> on "cbs this morning." >> i am terrified

>> a reporter with our houston affiliate and it played out on live tv. reporter brandy smith noticed a driver trapped and not a moment too soon. >> i just thank god that you guys was right here to get me, put me back on land and i appreciate you. >> can i hug you? i'm so happy you're okay. >> this morning's eyeopener is presented by toyota. let's go places. welcome to "cbs this morning." nor will join us from houston in just a moment. welcome to you both. we'll begin with a story that no doubt you've been following all weekend the historic flood disaster in southeast texas is likely to continue for days and even weeks. the news is not good there this morning.

long in houston, pulling stranded people out of vehicles and homes. >> most of america's fourth largest city is now underwater. radar shows no end to the rain from tropical storm harvey which made landfall as a category 4 hurricane more than 48 hours ago. >> the newest threat comes from a pair of flood control reservoirs that started releasing water overnight. that water is flowing down buffalo bayou straight into downtown houston as we speak. nora o'donnell is next to the bayou. >> good morning and as you can tell it is raining pretty hard here this morning and the army corps of engineers said it had to let the water out of those reservoirs essentially to save downtown because they were filling up too fast, but that water is heading this way. it is actually going to in this buffalo bayou behind me it's rising about 6 inches, half a foot every hour. and that's expected to flood hundreds of homes adding to the misery

this additional flooding, as well as the rain, meaning more mandatory evacuations. so far two deaths and 14 injuries are directly blamed on the flooding from harvey. and according to the most recent report, there have been up to 2,000 rescues, and there's no way to know how many people are still stranded by flood waters. our correspondents are all over this area following the extent of the disaster and the emergency response. let's first bring in mark strauss man. he's been following the emergency response overnight. good morning. >> you mentioned the 2,000 rescues already and there's nothing but rain in the forecast for days. local officials are very blunt about it. they do not have the resources to answer every call for help. so lots of folks have begun to complain why weren't they told to get out of harm's way while they still could instead of being snuck asking for help.

rescues continue throughout the night. the rising water is everywhere, pushing into homes and crippling a metro area packed with nearly 7 million people the u.s. coast gart plucked the stranded off roof tops. many of them blienld sided by an historic amount of rain. >> i wish we could send out assets to a neighborhood and say we're here to get you out of harm's way but we don't know what neighborhood to send them to. >> rnl streets flooded with both water and people trying to get to safety. >> okay. we'll try to get a boat out here. >> harris county rls could you crews are going door to door helping as many people as we can. >> we have more boats in the water. we've almost doubled our ability to respond. and we will get to you. >> we have nothing -- >> but some people in houston are still waiting for help. engineer vasa juan zbleen told us she has been stuck in the waters alongside a

man since yesterday morning. >> we need help out here because it's starting to rain and thunder again, and we can't take any more rain. >> overwhelmed rescue crews are getting help from anyone willing to lend a hand. good sam ar tans in boats are banding together to pull people from danger. >> we're going to go hook up to the bed and we're going to go save some more lives, help some more people until this all blow over. >> but harvey is not expected to blow over anytime soon. >> what i'm saying to houston yans, let's be very patient. >> houston's mayor sylvester turner is standing by his decision not to order a mandatory evacuation. he said many people would have been trapped in a massive and dangerous traffic jam. >> it was the right decision in terms of their safety, and always we must put the interest of the city of houston and houston yans first. >> houston is mostly flat. it is also highly developed.

this water to run except into buildings and homes. very tough challenge. >> very tough challenge as some of the u.s. coast guard officials said tonight. the resources don't meet the demand for help here. >> it's overwhelming. >> we have seen some of these russ could you see that have been going on throughout this area are simply amazing. emergency crews have brought thousands of people to safety and volunteers from all over are helping with boats and high-water vehicles. david beg notice is in bel air. that's a hard hit area just southwest of houston. >> here in bel air you see the high water truck hyped me. they're icing that right now to go into flooded areas where you can only have that kind of a truck or boat. firefighters that they are about to deploy. the power has gone out in this section of bel air. and this morning the houston police department is putting out another call. if you've got a boat and you've got time, come and help us. people have been coming from all overment the good folks of south louisiana mobilized

navy it's just good people with a good heart trying to do the right thing. anybody with a boat who wanted to help showed up here and they have been working throughout the night. >> okay. we'll try to get a boat out here. >> around the clock search and rescue teams have been working to get stranlded victims to safety. more than 50,911 calls have come in, overwhelm first responders. the coast guard has only responded to a fraction of those requests. on sunday local officials pleaded for help. >> i ask for volunteers to come forward with boats and high-water vehicles. there are a lot of people, of course, who just did it on their own. >> enter jeff chase. >> if everyone did this we'd have a lot less to worry about. >> he and his friend helped a family of four evacuate their flooded home sunday night. the family had been calling 9:11 since 6:00 a.m. >> putting yourself in harm's way to help others is awesome. >> chase is just o o

to help when this big rig drifted into danger, civilian sam ar tans grabbed some rope and pulled the driver to safety. >> spirit of texas. that's what it's all about. >> we found denise lucille holding her six-month-old son wading through waist high water. >> do you have somewhere to go? >> to my inlaw's house. >> watch the water, ma'am. lift the baby. >> sue madison has four feet of 40 in her home. when we found her, shelves just looking for a place to sleep. >> so my house is totaled. all my furpt is totaled. >> but what's the smile? >> could be worse. you're here. right? >> good luck. >> such great perspective in a disaster zone. it won't stop. the rain just will not let up. if you're in your home and you have power and you're watching this right now or if you're talking to somebody who is in their home, let them know that the coast guard is

saying if the om way to get you out is on your rooftop, you are asked to put something on the roof that will attract the attention of the pilots as they fly over. it is virtually impossible this morning to know how many people are still in their home. we have heard from folks who have said i called 911 and i was basically told you're on the list. we will get to you as soon as we can. >> i know, david, and with these mandatory evacuations this morning, i think there's going to be more of that, david. thank you so much. now, some of the people who were rescued were taken to a number of shelters around the houston area. now, the city's main shelter is at the george r. brown convention center in downtown houston. that's where we were just yesterday where people are being brought in on foot and on truckload. these massive city dump trucks served as rescue vehicles, delivering people plucked from flooded homes and roadways. >> and how did they get you on to these trucks? >> ladders. >> with er

drove you through the flood waters here. >> right. exactly. >> this is at least the fourth dump truck here, and as you can see, people are just coming out, being led down ladders and even carried off. >> once inside the red cross helps them get situated with a hot meal and dry clothes. >> i lost everything, cars, i lost a couple vehicles. my whole apartment is flooded. >> the people who have been coming are coming with small trash bags, sometimes wrapped with a towel. >> more are coming and we just really want to make sure thoo everybody here has what they need. >> the patel family spent the night here after being rescued from their flooded neighborhood by a coast guard helicopter. >> how did the coast guard know where to find you? >> well, i had an umbrella and a white t-shirt. i was just flagging them. >> she and her sister who were nine months

to safety by the coast guard too before being brought to the shelter. >> the coast guard is amazing. they're like -- the coast guard, i don't know. >> i know. true heroes. >> true heroes. >> gayle, it was really unbelievable to talk to some of the people brought in. they were wet, cold, glad to be indoors. the red cross really doing an amazing job. they're setting up a mega shelter in dallas because there are thousands of people who need a place to stay. their homes have been flooded. they have nothing left. the sun is going to rise here in about 45 minutes, and i think that's going to bring a new wave of understanding about the destruction that harvey has brought to people here and also more need for more rescues. we'll have more coming up, but gayle, i'll send it back to you. >> i know we are a texas girl. listen, it's the spirit of fk coming out and it's clear you're seeing a lot of that spirit j

been there. >> i'm glad you've mentioned that, gayle, because it is friends helping friend. while you may think people are helpless, they're actually helping one another every chance they can get. >> thanks a lot, nora, we'll seal you in a couple seconds. chief weather forecastest. >> the problem with this storm is it's just not moving. the center of circulation right now it's right here around port lavaca. that's the there is of circulation. now, remember, this thing, it's a tropical storm right now. they all circulate the air in a counter clock wise rotation. so what that means is the arms of this thing are basically a ladle that's scooped into the fwufl of mexico and just pulling these copious amounts of water and just dump it. unfortunately, in about the same place. and that's the problem. as i said, it's just not moving. let's take a look at where the storm has been and where it's going. you're going to find

hasn't traveled too far at all. here is where it made landfall. less than 50 mills difference. but always staying in the same general vicinity. so where is it going from this point? we believe it's going to be, you know, pushing back into the gulf of mexico. does it possibly strengthen back to a hurricane? we don't think so. nd the reason is because when it came onshore it was so big, so trong, it was churning that water up and pulling the keerl water up from the surface. it will hold on to tropical storm strength as it makes another landfall in texas. way up there. it's not going to be until 1:00 a.m. thursday that its forecast to exit the state of texas. i'm telling you, the amount of rain has been crazy. outside of houston bay town has picked up -- watch this number emench. look for the yellow to pop up. eais is crazy.

potential for another 2 feet of rain on top of what they've already picked up. some areas and this is not a crazy number could see 4 to 5 feet of rain by the time this is done. >> rockport texas is in ruins after taking a direct hit when the hurricane made landfall. evac weez are being told not to come back. one person has died there. the storm shredded buildings and caused widespread damage in the coastal community. parts of the high school and a church were blown away. homes collapsed right into the weather and nearly every police vehicle in the department has been damaged. >> the white house says president trump will visit the texas flood zone tomorrow. from camp david over the weekend the president sent nearly 20 tweets relate to the unfolding disaster. we tweeted last night, quote, historic rainfall in houston and all over texas. floods are unprecedented and more rain coming. spirit of the people is incredible.

major, good morning. >> good morning. president trump will hold a press conditioners this afternoon here at the white house with the president of finland and if had that schedule hoelz it will be the first opportunity for the president to describe the federal response to the on going ka stroef. he was certainly active on twitter. there was a tell conference sunday with cabinet officials and fema representatives and the white house homeland security adviser tom bossert told me on face the nation the president called him at least a dozen times in a 12-hour period checking on the federal response. ts it main landfall the president signed a very important disaster -- that wasn't the only presidential move on friday night the president two hours before coiday made landfall pardoned

copam county, arizona. arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt for racial profiling. that's what a federal court said in the most pop house county in arizona. now, the arpaio pardon was taken in the midst of all the news coverage of hurricane harvey. democrats said the president tried to bury it among all that news coverage. his own legal team advised him to wait until arpaio was scheduled for sentencing in october, but the president pressed ahead p. back to you. >> major, thank you. significant news on friday, but because of this storm, so much of this is getting put to the sidelines. but there is just so much work happening in washington on that front. >> you bet. >> well, the flooding is by no means only in the city of houston. reservoirs and rivers are bursting all over southeast texas. there's serious concerns that levee failures could make the flooding even

its highest levels. hundreds of people have been ordered to evacuate. man we will, good morning to you. >> good morning. you may think i'm actually standing in the river but this is the main highway, highway 71 and you can now see it is now part of the colorado river. what officials say is a life-threatening flood. rapds developing in the middle of toup. the lights back there are the businesses that are right now being flooded. the national weather service says this could crest above 53 feet, that is more than 25 feet above flood stage. the last time for perspective that this rows above 50 feet was in 1935. three shelters open in this county for people who have needed to evacuate. more than 100 roads are closed. you can just see it's rising as we speak. >> thank you. be safe. an extraordinary image shows the dire conditions inside a flooded nursing home. ahead, we'll show you how

women shown in this troubling picture were being pulled to safety. stay with us.

our cbs affiliate in houston was forced to evacuate when flood water rushed into the building during a live broadcast. >> just ahead, how one reporter stayed on the air by herself and helped to save a life. >> you're watching "cbs this morning." ... like you do sometimes, grandpa? well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day.

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no, you're not alobby. that's a perfect song to describe what's happening in houston today. flood waters are surging dramatically in that city today. nearly half a million people will be in need of assistance. he calls the flooding a landmark event. >> right now this is still an on going situation. we're not at recovery yet. we're thinking and planning for recovery. we have recovery teams down in texas, but right now this mission, it's very important. this is a life safety, life sustaining mission. we're trying to help bolster

efforts to do swift water rescue, search and rescue over a huge county jurisdiction. over 30 to 50 counties possibilities impacted in texas. this shelter mission is going to be a very heavy lift. we're anticipating over 30,000 people being placed in shelters temporarily to basically stale eyes the situation and plan for their care. >> they can't think about recovery yet because it's still -- >> it's still survival. >> just getting started, really. >> heavy rain is falling across southeast texas and crews just started releasing water from reservoirs overwhelmed by the storm. the decision is aimed at protecting the city's downtown, but that controlled release will send water streaming toward downtown and is likely to worsen flooding in neighborhoods already underwater. let's return now to nora o'donnell reporting live from houston.

nora, good morning. >> yeah, good morning to you. as you're talking about those reservoirs and that extra release of water, where is it going to show up? it's going to show p you in buy yuz like this one behind me which is now raising about half a foot every hour. in fact, the gajz they say are even broken here. so we can see even the water has risen as we've been here a couple hours this morning. the understooding here in the houston area, it's expected to last days, they even say weeks. some areas in southeast texas could see up to 50 inches of rain before the threat from harvey is over. now, at least two deaths are blamed on the storm. we don't know how many people are trapped in their homes. the flooding is being called one of the worst disasters in history. the national service weather service says peak flooding

think about that. it's going to get worse than it is now. did he marco morgan is in houston, texas where he watched hundreds of people being rescued. >> nora, good morning to you. we're about 30 miles east from where you are and not too far from the particular inson bayou. the water is starting to recede and it's doing so at a fast pace, but we are not in the clear just yet. you can now see the markers there actually in the streets. you talked about the rescues. we saw nothing but boat traffic yesterday in and out rescue after rescue. from just above the highway you could see the flooding's devastating toll. people were driving trucks, riding jet skis and even paddled through the rising water to rescue others. those without a ride waited along the interstate in neck deep water. early on we saw two coast guard helicopters swoop in to help those stranded. one desperate family member

media showing several elderly women trapped in a nursing home. as the morning continued, we saw firefighters lift what we believe to be three of those women into the back of this truck. all 15 women at la bella vee da nursing home were saved. want all rescue efforts went smoothly. a small boat carrying two people and their dog cap sized as another one tried to drag it to safety. this family rushed to particular inson to rescue their grandkids after the house was over run with water. >> why was it important to get here right away. >> because this is my family. this is all i have, and i just didn't want to happen to us like this in this weather. >> another family we spoke with said they were trapped with nowhere to go when someone showed up to save them. >> we were in water up to here and yelling and we flagged them down and they rescued us. >> so thank god for strangers. >> yeah. >> that picture at the nursing home justs

there's a jet ski, about two of them out there. there are still rescues taking place right now as we speak. many of the people who live in this earlier waunging out because the waters are starting to recede so they're trying to get to a much dryer area. we've also learned that most of this location, this neighborhood right here is filled with low-income and elderly residents. many that we got a chance to speak with who said they had no place to go. they were buzzed to a nearby church. >> wow, did he marco morgan there and that's why we're hearing fema about the need to put 30,000 people in shelters. i know that our shot here, it's hard to see me it's because it's actually raining so hard here in downtown houston. there are reports that there have been 11 trillion gallons of water have fallen on the houston dwrar. and that's what's accounting for that. we've also got waters rising here on the buffalo bayou. we are actually going to move ca

gayle, we're going to check back in with you as soon as we can, but for now i'm going to send is back to you until we can get to a different area. >> all right. nora, we look forward to hearing from you. be careful. >> can't even get your head around those numbers right now. harvey's catastrophic, devastating flooding is just the lating chapter in houston's long history of floods. tropical storm allison back in 2001 caused nearly $5 billion in damage. the memorial day floods of 2015 dumped almost 12 inches of rain in ten hours. and last year 1,200 people were rescued after a flood on tax day. chief weather caster joins us once again to explain why flooding is such a big problem down in houston. good morning. >> look, there are just so many factors at play here. none of them good. the first thing you've got to look at is the elevation of houston. the city, it's rel til flat and it's barely above sea level. downtown houston is only 50 feet abse

so that means when rain falls it has nowhere to go. and it takes a long time to drain out. now, some experts are also pointing a finger at houston's big building boom as a potential factor here in exacerbating the factor. the development has decreased the amount of wetlands in the city by 50% over the last 25 years. so the more pavement you have, that means there's less land to soak up a rain. and the number of downpours, downpours of at least 10 inches or more have doubled, have doubled over the last 30 years. so when a slow-moving storm hits the city, flooding can and as you can see here is intense. the bayou system holds the key. reached a record crest in one area yesterday. they handle two ifrmgds of rain per hour, but on saturday the rain rate was up to 8 inches an hour. and where more heavy rain over

is i hate to say it, unfortunately very likely. it's going to happen. so that means houston's flooding concerns are far from over. margaret. >> thank you. a houston reporter jumped into action to help save a driver in some serious danger. >> i am terrified for him, so i can't imagine the level of fear he has here. but kudos, incredible kudos to these two sheriff's deputies who are risking themselves on this boat in very deep water to pull this driver to safety. >> he made it out. ahead, how she handled the broadcast by herself when her station was forced to evacuate. plus, we'll check on some of is this morning's other big stories. you're watching "cbs this morning."

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welcome back to "cbs this morning." in just a moment we will take you back to texas for the

on the terrible flooding there, but first, here is a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines today. the "washington post" reports that while he was running for president donald trump's company pursued a deal in moscow. suggested that he could get russia president vladimir putin to say great things about donald trump. the project was abandoned in 2016, just before the presidential primaries began. >> the "usa today" reports all victims have been recovered. the destroyer collided with an oil tanker near singapore last week. the incident is under investigation. >> the san francisco kron kel reports masked anarchists stormed a right wing demonstration in bushingly. they gathered there yesterday and they were vastly outnumbered by counter demonstrators. hundreds of police wer

but anarchists or antifa protesters chagsd away some of the right wingers. police arrested a total of 13 people. >> and "the los angeles times" says that uber has picked a new ceo. he was the head of expedia since 20005. he's headed to the skbalgtsed company. travis cal in this case who was pressured to resign earlier this year. >> and "the wall street journal" reports energy companies are bracing for the fallout from harvey. the storm's path cuts through right of the heart of the u.s. oil industry and it knocked almost 15% of u.s. refinery capacity out of commission. to naturally gas future prices rows sharply overnight and experts are now predicting that gas prices at the pump will increase 5 to 15 cents per gallon. >> mandatory evacuation orders have been issued a

owes river. the army corps of engineers last night released water from reservoirs that have been overwhelmed by the storms. they want to prevent a levee failure, but the release along with harvey's continued downpours could cause all kinds of new flooding. jamie, good morning. >> good morning, maurice. now, take a look. it is still raining and that is bad news for people inside this gated community because the waters heroes about 9 inches overnight. it now makes it impossible to leave this neighborhood by car. i'm told by con stab eltrevor nails that yesterday they were able to rescue about 50 people but they did that by air boat. that air boat captain is now having to evacuate his own family and will not be able to get here today to help out in the efforts. and 18-wheel tractor-trailer is supposed to be coming in here as well but yesterday that posed a

are elderly or have small children to hoist them up into that truck. the only way out is if people want to leave their homes and try to walk through these waters and what we know is that they are filled with alligators and snakes because of a lake that has now overflowed within this neighborhood. so some people may try to make their way out but that's what they're going to have to contend with. there are several neighborhoods just like this one that are going to have this problem especially today trying to get out. and get this. this area just had a hundred dollar year flood less than 18 months ago. they never expected to be in in position again so soon, gayle. >> oh, boy. none of those options sound good. you can leave and walk, but don't worry, there's alligators in the water. tough. thank you, jamie. the before and after pictures showing the extent of harvey's destruction.

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a houston police officer carried a mother and her 13-month-old son through flood waters after rescuing them. this same spot is normally a busy eight-lane highway. before and after pictures like these provide a startling look at the catastrophic flooding and we don't use that term lightly. look at that. that is nothing if not catastrophic. >> they back up the word catastrophic. >> startling after startling all the images this morning. elderly people being rescued, pulled out of the water one after another. >> they're calling it the worst flood disaster in u.s. history and those pictures certainly

disappeared and water has reached tree tops as you're seeing. these photos show flood water filling downtown streets. this is a look at interstate 610 taken from a traffic camera last year, and this is what it looked like after the historic flood tg in the area. >> our coverage with this growing disaster will continue in just a moment. we'll go back to nora and our correspondents in houston and we'll also talk with texas governor greg abbott about the flooding and the relief efforts. we'll be right back. ♪ now give up half of 'em. do i have to? this is a tough financial choice we could face when we retire. but, if we start saving even just 1% more of our annual income... we could keep doing all the things we love. prudential. bring your challenges. 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?

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it is monday, august 28th, 2017. welcome back to "cbs this morning." as you heard, houston reeling from an historic flooding catastrophic. we'll check on areas in the region. first, here is the eyeopener this hour. >> this is a bibic lk cal of proportions. this is normally a downtown street in houston. >> we'reic antinipatgr ove 30,000 people being placed in shelters temporarily to basically stabilize the situation. >> whee n thmstor game ashore, rockport a couple towns where it just got evis rated by this storm. >> the center of harve

of tf tohe southwest of the houston area but there are still some showers developing in and around the city, and that's going to continue to cause problems throughout the day. >> we're going to go save some more lives, help some more people until this hour blow over. spirit of texas, that's what it's all about. >> i hope to make it home soon. fuhopewelly can get back to ourselves -- most of it got wiped out, but going to try to survive. >> texans are the best. these first responders who are making life and death decisions, who are helping so many people live and rescue these people and i'm so very proud of them and what they're doing. and i want our houstonness and fellow texans to know that we will continue that effort until we get to every single person. >> i'm gayle king with margaret brennan and maurice. that's w cbs. welcome

nora had to move location because of the intensity of the storm and we could no longer see her on camera. and officials now say the worst of the flooding in houston is still two or three days away. oh, no. the country's fourth largest city is already facing what could be one of the worst flooding disasters in american history. >> and at least two deaths are blamed are hurricane harvey and its aftermath. hundreds of streets and highways can only be naf gated by boat. thousands of people stranded in their homes have been rescued. authorities have had trouble, though, identifying the hardest hit areas. >> the national weather service says some parts of the houston area could get 50 inches of rain. that's more than four feet before the storm is finished. nora o'donnell is now across from the convention center in downtown, houston. good morning once again. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you. night.e actually here last - there were about 700 people inside that shelter. we just c

cross. they now say there are 2,500 people inside of that shelter there. what's noteworthy about that, we got some of the first look at some of the cots they set up. they set up 2,500 cots. they maximumed out. that's all they have in terms of the beds, so that means half of the people did not have beds last night. largely just camping out on the ground. they weren't, quite frankly, prepared. they didn't have -- they weren't set up yesterday morning. the red cross did the best job they could all day long to set up the 1,200 cots they did and provide for them. so they are maximuming out in capacity here. the sun is just rising here so we're going to get our first look at some of the devastation this morning 6789 there was a lot of rain last night and we know that this catastrophic situation is going only to get worse. hooer is the update from the national weather service. they said that this is beyond anything it has ever experienced. the head of fema said just

short time ago this morning that the houston area will probably get another 13 to 20 inches of rain over the next several days. to me that's justin comprehensible to think about where that water is going to go. and the flooding will max out on wednesday or thursday and then it will finally start to recede very slowly. the fema administer also predicts more than 30,000 people will need temporary shelter. we've seen just here, though, it's more than they expected just at this one location. now, the army corps of engineers started a controlled release of water overnight from reservoirs that usually protect downtown houston from tlooding. now, that will make the flooding worse for neighborhoods around those reservoirs. specificlly along the buffalo bayou which is where i was just a short time ago in which we had to leave that area. now, the army says that releasing pressure on those reservoirs will prevent an

uncontrollable wall of water that would be heading for the heart of the city. so they're trying to save downtown, essentially, but that's going to result in flooding of some other homes. texas governor greg abbott talked with local officials around the state about an hour ago. he has issued a state disaster declaration for 54 texas counties. the governor has also requested and received federal disaster declarations for 18 counties. and he plans to send another 1,000 national guard troops to houston today. governor abbott is with us from houston. governor, good morning. thank you so much for joining us. >> good morning. thank you. >> does houston have what it needs? >> well, listen, this is an enormous challenge and we are making sure that we continue to provide houston all that it needs, as well as fema is assisting tremendously. i want you to know that today we are delivering another 150 boats as well as

program, understanding that our first and for most priority right now is toe ensure that we continue to save every life we can. secondarily, of course, you were talking about the vac wees. we are providing more resources for vaek he's as well as the city of dallas is opening up an vaek ecenter that will be able to house 5,000. we will actually have air lift operations out of galveston today to begin to remove some of the vaek wees to other locations to make sure that they will all be accommodated in ways they need for this temporary basis. >> governor, i have to ask you because i spent some time with some of the rescue he's last night who arrived on dump trucks. they didn't have shoes on. they were soaking wet, some with pets, with babies with them. and they were really scared. the mayor of houp, as you know, is defending his decision not to call for a mandatory evacuation of the

do you still think that was a wise idea? >> listen, the time for making that determination has passed. no need for us to relitigate that issue right now. what we have to focus on again is making sure we continue this evacuation process, get people out of harm's way, get them relocate and then begin the rebuilding process. >> i want to bring in gayle king my colleague who is in new york. gayle. >> thanks, nora. governor, the president has said i will be traveling to texas as soon as a trip can be made without causing disruption in the wake of this hurricane. right now he's scheduled to come tomorrow. is that the best time for him to come? >> the place he will be going to will not be houston, so it will not be getting into harm's way or interrupting the evacuations or the emergency response in the houston area. he most likely will be going closer to where the hurricane hit land, and that's where i will be going today to meet with

we will be surveying the corpus christi area as well as areas like rockport that were hardest hit by the hurricane. these are areas where we have already begun the cleanup process. but it just goes to show the magnitude of the storm where the focus for the past few days has been the torrential rain in houston, people have already forgotten the horrific way that the corpus christi area got hit by this hurricane just a few days ago. >> governor, i imagine you've spoken to the president a number of times. are you satisfied with his engagement and his response thus far? >> the engagement and response by the president, the white house, by his cabinet and by fema have been actually remarkable. we began working with them a week or two in advance of this, and i've been in constant contact with either the white house or fema on a daily basis. and they have provided texas everything that we need. whenever texas asks for anything, the answer was yes. and so we've

with their collaborative response. but also as brock long the fema administer has made abundantly clear publicly as well as to me, this is just the beginning of what will be a very long process. people can remember the long time it took for people to recover from katrina. listen, this area in houston, texas, that was subject to this understooding is going to take a very long time for us to be able to overcome. >> governor, the houston police chief said, listen, the scenes breaks your heart, but it's texas and we will get through it. >> exactly. and one thing he was talking about that you all were talking about earlier, and that is not only the way that first responders were able to help out, but you've seen countless stories about the way our fellow texans have come together bringing out their own boats helping to -- typical texans helping each other. we rally behind each other at times like this and i cannot be

about the way they've helped their neighbors respond to this challenge. >> the images are so gut wrefrming. what do you tell ordinary americans and people around the world whopt to help? what should they do in terms of donations and giving and so forth? >> well, the best way to make sure that we can coordinate donations to a single source and get it to the emergency needs that are most dire right now would be through the red cross. and people can go online to red cross dot og or call 1800 red cross and that perhaps is one of the best ways that people can help out. i know there's so many people who want to help out and there's so many needs that we need to have addressed. these people going into shelters, they need cots, blankets, towels, things like that. i want you to know also that we are benefiting from grocery stores like heb and walmart that are providing critical food that are needed by these vaek wees. >> all right, governor, thank you very much for jog

a reporter at our houston affiliate khou kraerd a broadcast all by herself when her station was forced to evacuate. ahead, how her fast actions helped save a life wh

other cities are stepping up because of har ar's historic flooding. ahead, how san antonio is ploig beds and meals for the evacuees that are arching each day. you're watching "cbs this morning." ust a bathroom disease. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks.

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the number of homes and businesses damaged by harvey could be in the thousands, including our cbs houston affiliate khou. water gushd into the first floor in the studio in the middle of yesterday's live broadcast. employees were forced to evacuate, but one of the reporters stayed on the air, and what she went did went viral and she has already been seen all around the world. thanks to being in the right place at the right same, brandi smith was able to help save a life.

can you get to the top of your vehicle? >> brandi smith was reporting live when she saw this semi truck stranded on the roadway below her. the cab was quickly filling up with water. the driver still inside. >> the waur here is about -- it's going on 10 feet deep. do not climb into the water. >> my first thought was just that we had to figure out a way to get him out. i couldn't walk away knowing that there was someone in that truck. >> suddenly she spot a rescue vehicle on the highway. >> we have a boat coming. we have a boat coming. i'm going to flag -- i'm going to flag these guys down. >> as the freeway off ramp became a boat ramp, smith tried to reassure the truckdriver. >> they're all on their way. >> okay. >> i was terrified. i was absolutely terrified from the moment we saw him. i had promised him that help was on the way, and i wasn't -- i wasn't going to break that promise. >> she continued reporting while her own newsroom had begun to flood. >> that's the water level on the glass. >>

their cameras upstairs to brachtd from a conference room. >> the decision was made to evacuate, leaving smith and her photographer mario sandoval as the only people broadcasting for one of houston's largest stations. >> those are the kind of circumstances we're dealing with. catastrophic, dire, life-threatening. >> smith remained on the air for almost 30 minutes by herself. her camera was rolling as rescuers pulled the truckdriver out through a window. >> i feel like i can finally breathe. kind of a sigh of relief. >> i don't know if i could have lived with any other outcome, so i am so grateful that the sheriff's deputies came along when they did. >> i thank god that you guys was right here to get me and put me back on land state of. i appreciate you. >> can i hug you. >> for smith it was like nothing she had ever experienced when

live shot may have actually helped save a life. >> so really brandi did such an incredible job trying to report the situation here in houston but first and for most concerned about the lives of other houstonians and able to get him the help that he needed. >> nora, what an amazing story. >> i don't think that was weird at all. they were on the air with facebook live. that's why she was able to say. that's not weird at all. it's human to human connection. >> heart pounding. >> go brandi smith. >> i have a feel they'll stay in touch. >> gosh. >> houston texas an star j.j. watt is stepping up to help fellow residents of his city. up next, what he told us about his efforts to raise money for flood victims. and how he increased his target. you're watching "cbs this morning."

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houston, texan football star has started a crowd funding site to raise money for disaster relief. j.j. watt has reached his $2 hundred,000 goal. he did it in less than two hours. he told us via skype that he

storm in dallas while his hometown of houston suffers. >> it's very difficult to see it on tv and not be able to help. it's just very difficult. the people of houston are very resilient. people are always willing to help each other and that's why we started the fund racer so that we can get the help that these people need. there's going to be families that need to be put back together. there's going to be communities that need help rebelieve their homes, their parks, everything, and that's what we're going to try to do is help those situations out. >> and watt has now raised his goal from 20,000 to $500,000. >> i think it's hard when you don't have a personal connection to houston. you know these streets, this area. it's got to be very painful to watch. kevin hart is also calling on his celebrity friends to step up. harvey is triggering desperate posts for help on facebook

twitter. ahead, the role of social media for storm victims and those offering a h

this is the only way you can get around a lot of houston this morning. a boat, the only effective means of transportation. flood waters are rising and the crisis in southeast texas has intensified. and believe it or not, after all this the worst is still ahead. more than 30 inches of rain have fallen in houston. the storm is stalled over the gulf coast right now of the the national weather service says the peak of the flooding expected wednesday and thursday. >> they put out a call the other day, all people with boats, if you can help, please show up. they really need you today. welcome back to "cbs this morning." charlie is off. nora is in houston as you know. let's get back to her right now forhe

disaster. good morning. >> hey, good morning to you, gayle. that's right. we are actually across from the convention center right here in downtown houston which has been set up as a shelter for the storm vils. we were here last night. the red cross saying there were 700 people there. when we showed up this morning, they say there are 2,500 people here. that's how many people came in like just the last 12 hours. in fact, when i was there they had only 1,200 cots. so half of the people did not have beds last night. fema is telling us that 450,000 people are potential disaster victims. more than 30,000 people will need temporary shelter. and about 270,000 families this morning are without power. did he marco morgan witnessed hundreds of dramatic rescues yesterday from a bridge over a flooded highway in particular inson and he is on a truck driving through the flood

waters. did he marco, good morning. >> good morning to you, nora. we're taactually on the back of truck. called to sort of assist with many of the rescues here in this area. we're in the town of particular inson which is 30 miles east of houston. he's going to drive us safely through here so we can give you this vantage point of what we're seeing. the water has started to recede. it's down now by about a foot i would say since yesterday. this bridge, that's where we were standing yesterday. that was the only safe spot for all of us. they were evacuating residents and people at the local businesses. now look underneath this overpass. you see some of the trucks that were parked that were trying to make it through, those pickup trucks. they couldn't do it because the water was just that high and the current so strong. look completely down the street there. you can make out the cars that were left in the road. and also when we talk about this area, there were people who were

maurice talked about it. people who were using boats yesterday. that was the only way that you could get through this area was by boat. we're going to try to drive and see just how far we can go without getting into a dangerous area. if you look this way, we saw that picture that went viral with the elderly women in the nursing home. that's all the way down this street to your left where those cars are parked. it was heartbreaking just to see those women being loaded up into a sanitation truck. one had an oxygen tank attached to her. the other had to be lifted up by blankets. this area completely still underwater, but parts of it is starting to sort of recede. as we said, you can now see the markers in the street here. if we could get that shot for the people. it was walkable at one point rs but i don't suggest trying that because the current is still pretty strong. you see this boat to the left, this was one of the boats, i think, they were using to try to rescue some of the people. it cap sized and then split in half.

poll there. when you look at these pictures, you captain help -- your heart just breaks for the people and you can't help but feel sorry for the people that called this place home. low income elderly rjts here. they had to be taken to the bridge and then passed to a nearby church to then be taken to shelter. and glen, thanks a lot for just being a truckdriver. he's just one of the many volunteers that was called by some of the companies around town to say, hey, just fill your truck up with gas and get here and just try to help in any way possible. we had a number of strangers, most of the time we didn't see a lot of law enforcement out here and firefighters trying to help with the rescue because they were so busy. they were out manned pretty much with this sorm system. but you had a lot of strangers who were here just trying to help, trying to help people get out of their homes, attics. there was an elderly company on the other side of this title max title loans building. we talked to their son not sure if they were abl

were stuck in the attic because their home was completely filled with water. you had just strangers out here, just trying to pull people to safety. we also spotted the coast guard and many helicopters here. whenever you would see them hovering over one specific area for a long pirt, that's when we knew they were taking part in a less could you. so, again, we are grateful for glen for just giving us this view. we weren't able to even get down here. you can see the lights are still on. that's the one good thing about this area. the hour hasn't gone out which is meerk house. i'm just surprised that we're still able to keep driving. now you can see that the roads here are pretty clear as the water continues to recede. the particular inson bayou is not far from where we are right now at this location. so that's why most of the water pretty much has sort of filled this area, but we were talking to some of the residents who have been living here for quite sometime now. they said they haven't seen anything this bad since 1979.

worse. we're going to keep trying to give you tours and give you a better perspective, but we are certainly making sure that we don't see anyone who needs help, and we'll keep you posted with the very latest. nora, we'll send things back to you. >> reporter: de marco, thank you. i keep thinking about those elderly women in the nursing home who were in their wheelchairs and the water was all the way up to their wastes. had they had to spend the night like that, thank goodness that someone got to them yesterday and in the town that you're at. >> reporter: that is a good thing right there because it was just heartbreaking, like i said, just to see those women be loaded into a sanitation truck. that was someone's grandmother, mother, and you'd hate to see that and know if that was one of your relatives. >> all right. thank you so much. wernd also note president trump's disaster declaration sent the federal emergency management agency known as fema into action. the cost of responding to a storm like harvey is quite steep.

following hurricane katrina in 2005, but right now fema only has about $3.8 billion on hand. so to increase funding congress needs to act. nancy cords is on capitol hill. good morning. >> good morning, nora. congress has discussed adding to fema's budget but not until october. and even then the numbers that have been thrown around aren't nearly enough to cover the destruction that we're seeing from harvey. already on the ground in texas you have 5,000 federal employees, including more than 1,800 members of fema's staff. they were there ahead of the storm working with local authorities, and that's just one of the changes that the agency made after what everyone agrees was a pretty dysfunctional response to hurricane katrina. however, we spoke with a former head of fema who says there still isn't enough focus on building practices and infrastructure that would prevent some of the devastation we'rein

for the president to change our philosophy of how we're dealing with disasters and start doing more preparation, more mitigation on the front side so when the storm does come through or a flood does come through, we put those mitigation plans in place to stop the damage. and then it doesn't cost so much to respond to the disasters. >> reporter: the trump administration had previously proposed cuts to fema's budget, but that could change now. and we're also seeing a shift from texas senators ted cruz and john cornyn. back in 2013 they opposed a $15 billion sandy relief bill, but now they are asking for aid for their state. the latest estimate, nora, for rebuilding after hurricane harvey, $50 billion and counting. >> reporter: wow. that's quite a price tag, nancy. thank you so much. the secretary of health and human services, tom price, is with us this morning. and he declared a

emergency in response to harvey. the department cents an extra 53,000 pounds of medical equipment and supplies to the affected area. it has more than 500 people on the ground helping those in need. secretary tom price joins us from fema headquarters in washington, d.c. secretary, good morning. >> good morning, nora. >> what does this declaration do in terms of being able to get the right kind of medical and health treatment to those here in houston? >> the declaration is incredibly important because it allows us the flexibility to respond when the locally, city, county and state officials need assistance. so whether it's in assisting transporting patients, whether it's in making certain that we have the pharmaceutical cash az snes to restock the pharmacies in the area, all the kinds of things that make it so that we can attend to the health and well being of individuals in this incredibly historic disaster. ta

seeing right now. >> harris county's public hospital had to evacuate, shut down. a lot of the evacuees that came in here that i talked to last night, one of their concerns was i didn't have tiechl to get my diabetes medicine. how do you address those health concerns? >> yeah. they're addressed locally initially and there are -- there are about a number of farm eases that are closed rngts but there are over 2,000 pharmacies in the area that are indeed open, and the vast majority of those continue to have power. so if it's a chain pharmacy, then those individuals ought to be working through the chain. otherwise they'll be contacting the local officials, the emergency officials there if they're not able to get their medication. this is incredibly important for people to be able to have access to the kind of medication that they need and to try to increase the cash a that they have on hand so that they're able to weather the storm. >> reporter: secretary, i'm here in houston, but my colleagues are up in nyo

going to bring in margaret question for you.i know has a - >> thanks, nora. mr. secretary, would you urge congress when they come back not to cut funds to fema and to actually look at boosting emergency funding? >> well, thanks so much. we continue to be in the rescue phase, the life-saving phase of this. i think that the sense of congress when they return will be to focus their attention on this, obviously. but right now we're concentrated on the individuals on the ground. there continue to be folks that need to be saved, assisted in their health needs and their human services needs, and that's where we're focused right now. the good news is that we predeployed threw health and human services more individuals prior to this disaster than ever in the history of hhs. that means that we're ready and able to be able to respond to the needs based upon what the local, city, county and state of the officials need. >> okay. health and human services secretary tom price. thank you very much this morning from washington. >> thank you. >> just ahead here, we will

you to one flooded part of houston where neighbors jumped into action to help to save their fello

first responders have already rescued thousands of people stranded in

catastrophic flooding. here's a look at their extraordinary efforts and some of the people who have lost everything that they own in this historic storm. >> it just came up. it was like a tsunami almost. >> this area i'm told is normally a playground, and right over here a baseball field. >> 45 minutes the water was just gushing in. >> we're facing a catastrophe that we haven't faced before. >> there's a truckdriver stuck here in about ten feet of water. there's a boat here. >> all right. >> we still have a lot of people who are unaccounted for. >> there's a man hanging on to a poll and he's yelling for help. >> all the furniture is just floating. mattresses, all. >> it's got to be a 500 year flood or thousand year flood. it's ridiculous. >> everything gone. >> i didn't think it was that

couldn't do nothing. >> as soon as i woke up, my kid, my daughter right here, she was screaming hey, hey, help because she was downstairs. >> something you don't expect, but i mean, it's all just materialistic stuff. >> just saying a lot of prayers for everyone. it's surreal and scary. >> a lot of people saying a lot of prayers for houston today. >> it's really devastating to look at, but it's always in these stories you always see the best in people. i like brock long saying we're asking all citizens to help here. this is really a very catastrophic devastating time for a lot of people. you see everybody wants to help. >> answering the call. >> yeah. >> but then again, the worst isn't over yet too. more rain coming this week, which is so hard to get your head around. >> interesting what secretary price said. we're still in res

and it is going to be a long one. ahead, we will take you back to houston for the very latest on the flooding. our nora o'donnell is there. you're watching "cbs this morning." fety

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the dangerous flooding and rising water has put countless texans in harm's way. drone video here shows how meyer land, a neighborhood southwest of houston has been inundated with water. our crew found a family who called 911 multiple times, but help never came. david, good morning to you. >> good morning. so if you're trying to get out of meyer land, this is what you've got to do. if you have hip waders you can get your way out or if you have

so. but the people who are stuck in here have, you know, sed answer and are unable to get out. as we pan if you look around, as far as the eye can see, every street is flooded in every area of this neighborhood. you have vehicles that are stuck. some vehicles are actually sub mernld as you getser to the bayou which is about seven ternts of a mile from where i am. just looking down the street there's at least two cars stuck there. the rain keeps coming. we probably got about two hours of sleep last night. it hasn't stopped for the most part. it's just continuous. you mentioned those rescuers, maurice. we were with a group of people probably a mile from here and a young man flagged down a group of people and said, hey, can you help us get to our fiancee and they did. i'm going to show you that story coming up at the top of the next hour. we'll send it back for now. >> all right, david. no one is going to turn you down. we need help. thank you very much. cbs news coverage of hurricane harvil

stations. we'll be back with more from

♪ monday, august 28th, 2017. welcome to "cbs this morning." ahmed, we'll go back to norah in houston today, as the city tackles one of its worst disasters in history. many people are still waiting to be rescued at this hour. we'll see how neighbors are jumping in to help other neighbors. first, the eye opener for many hour. >> it's going to be graeeater tn fem coordinating the government. we need citizens involved. hi>> ts region is very much paralyzed and the flooding is only expected to get worse. >> just look at the level of destruction you see here in this storefront. magnify that across an entire un