and they continued to provide de care for the patients that are there at ben taub. so some of the critical patients moved across to other hospitals as they continued to provide care to the patients, they havee not evacuated ben taub just some of the patients had to move across to some of the sister institutions. >>> o'brien: give us a littleg bit of perspective on that. any time you think about moving patientsing particularly those in greatest need of care that gets dicey >> with 23 hospitals in one campus, the move across to another building, many of our buildings are connected through tunnels or for above ground -- above ground ramps across to other hospitals, so it's actually done quite easily here on the texas medical center >>> o'brien: bill mckean thanks for being with us. >>> o'brien: >> o'brien: president trump's visit to texas put a spotlight on the coordination of federal and local resources. congress will play a key role in deciding how much help the u.s. government offers. congressman ted poe is ais republican from texas. his district covers the northern

are all fixing the situation at ben taub hospital. just to remind you one more time how truly haunting this situation is, let me show you a photo from a nursing home in dickinson, texas. several elderly people just sitting in waist deep water holding onto their belongings. i think we're going to get you that photo in a second. they are sitting there holding onto their belongings. that is water. that is water around them they are sitting in. it is a powerful photo. you'll be happy to find out the picture in that picture are okay. 15 elderly people saved just hours after it exploded online. emergency coordinator told galveston daily news, quote, we were airlifting grandmother's and grandfather's. for that grandmothers and grandfathers. the public information office for the texas military department that is helping the search and rescue operations. we have been talking about the firefighters, we have been talking about the coast guard, the texas military department also oversees the national guard, how many people have you got out there?

water flooded the basement of the ben taub general hospital, disrupting food, pharmacy and central supplyervices. working on moving the few patients who require ventilator support -- before getting the rest of the patients out. they expect the process to take several days. now let's head to veronica and eileen who are tracking harvey all morning long. - dry & cool for back to school today - potential for a tropical storm (irma) to develop off se coast later today (could impact us locally tomorrow with cool showers) - harvey continues to bring life-threatening flooding to east tx - dry start to labor day weekend; rain from harvey by sunday today: sunny start; increasing clouds. unseasonably cool and breezy. highs: 76-78 winds: e 5-10+ mph tonight: mostly cloudy. stray shower. lows: 58-67 winds: ene 5-10 mph tuesday: mostly cloudy. cool with showers. highs: 70-74 winds: ne 5-10+ mph a star player j-j watt get the latest updates o matter where you are. just download the stormwatch 7 weather app for the forecast at your fingertips. happening now.. tens of thousands of students..getting ready

ap the situation happening at ben taub right now, for example, where they're apparently running out of food at one point there and there was also some flooding concerns. what can something like that do to a hospital? >> if you start to run out of supplies and you can't feed people that's a big problem. >> reporter: while the hospital struggled neighbors turning to each other for help. this dramatic moment from abc affiliate ktrk shows one of their reporters trying to help a woman deliver her baby in northeast houston. the pregnant woman received help and was taken to a hospital. another incredible story of new life at this inundated apartment complex. neighbors forming a human chain to help a woman in labor through the rising waters. >> there were at least 15 people in our apartment at one point. all trying to help and lend a hand and bringing supplies and making phone calls and it was remarkable. >> reporter: and this picture of an elderly stroke victim, floodwaters up to her mattress before being rescued. what can they do if they're just standing in dirty water? >> the water is filth

they're evacuating the ben taub hospital here in downtown houston, and sending those patients to otherof course, starting with the most critical patients and then moving on to all of the patients. take a look around me. you'll see exactly why that is happening. the water continues to rise here. you can see a car is submerged on this street. the woman in that car was rescued by police, and you see some curious onlookers still walking aaron, taking pictures. we've seen many of them. of course, first responders recommending that people not do that. that people stay home. we've also seen people go through the rising water in their vehicles, which is not recommended, but we're still seeing it today. we've also seen first responders in high-water rescue vehicles through downtown houston which is a surreal image, presidenfre you think about the fourth largest city in this country and you see high-water vehicles, because those are the vehiclie ivehicles needed in these conditions. that water, a ragingiver emptying towards the gulf of mexico. and these bayous are supposed to work to drain the c

. >> reporter: at houston's ben taub hospital, they will trying to evacuate the most critical patients tonight. there's just enough to get them through dinner tomorrow. tonight the race to evacuate area nursing homes. the patients from this home in dickinson, texas, rescued after that heartbreaking photo was posted on twitter, the water rising around their chairs. >> the people that came in and have dementia and dehydration, they were scared, they were cold. >> reporter: tonight, dramatically different. those patients safe and sound. as for rescuers, another possible hidden danger. questions about what's seeping into the water on top of the wildlife. mounds of fire ants, snakes, even alligators. the rescuers pitching in to save many, just desperate to get out. tonight, bernadette sending us this video moments ago, showing her family rescued. thankful to make it out of their home. >> and eva, such good things about this one family. but what does this mean for the other families who have the medical emergency? >> reporter: well, tom, it's just really hard to get around right now. i'm sur

now, ben taub general hospital started taking on water in the basement and was ordered to evacuate.here are 350 patients inside. they did attempt to move patients on ventilators but it wasn't safe so they're waiting for the water to recede. the hospital still has power but they are running out of food. meanwhile teams deployed by health and human services have helped evacuate more than 180 patients from three hospitals in victoria, texas. they're also out delivering supplies and have activated the blood disaster task force to evaluate the need and replenish blood supplies. >>> and unfortunately outside the hospital, people with chronic medical needs such as those on dialysis could go without care for several days. unsanitary and standing water presents a huge problem. >>> in other medical news there may be another not so well known benefit to breast milk and it could help prevent gut problems like colitis and crohn's disease. researchers at the cleveland clinic collected breast milk samples from 40 women and isolated a compound commonly known as hyaluronic acid. the compound was tha

. >> and one hospital there, ben taub, canceled the evacuation of 200 patients because the roads are too difficult to travel there. we spoke on the phone with wendy waterman. she and two dozen other people are waiting for water to recede. >> we would see one helicopter fly by, another helicopter fly in another direction. we heard boats. but when we were outside, you would go in the front yard and the backyard, and you would see one or the other, a helicopter lowering someone down to save them. this was going on for a good couple hours. >> are you guys planning to leave the home or leave that area any time, are you waiting for people to come and rescue you? >> no, we're planning to stay until the water recedes. we don't have power. we do have plumbing right now, but we feel lucky, fortunate, that we're dry, and we have enough food and enough water and hopefully within the next 24, 48, 36 hours, the water will recede and people will be able to go to other places. >> reporter: do you feel as if you're in danger at all? >> yes. >> very, very much so. we have one of the houses that are hi

we have gotten reports that one hospital, ben taub general hospital has been ordered to evacuate by harrishey've attempted to remove safely 17 or 18 patients who were on ventilatory support yesterday with the first attempt. they had to stop temporarily and turn around because they could not safely do that. they will attempt again today. so to be clear, this is an all hands on deck circumstance in every single hospital in houston. >> that's inside the hospitals. what about the rest of the city? >> i think the major medical story here is that there will be a significant exacerbation of anyone in the surrounding area with a chronic medical condition. so people needing dialysis, people with heart failure, with chronic respiratory conditions, these are patients who need care on a daily basis who will not be able to get that care. then we have to remember the everyday medical emergencies. imagine what your average er looks like, how many people are in there every single day. those people with heart attacks, going in to labor, with seizures cannot get to hospitals and then we have to remember the

officials the ben taub hospital say more than 350 patients need to be moved after floodwaters and a burstewage pipe damaged food and supplies in the basement. in dickinson, texas, 15 senior citizens were rescued. after their nursing home flooded. several sat in waist-deep water before being airlifted to safety. back in houston, city leaders say emergency services are at capacity, with over 56,000 emergency calls being made to 911. now the mayor is defending their decision not to order an evacuation. >> if you think the situation right now is bad, you give an order to evacuate, you are creating a nightmare. >> reporter: harvey made landfall late friday as a category 4 hurricane. its high winds uprooting trees, tearing roofs off buildings. now, the fear is the heavy rain that will go on for days. texas governor greg abbott has activated 3,000 national guard troops. and tomorrow, president trump will travel to the hardest-hit areas. fema's administration telling nbc news the president is extremely concerned about the situation on the ground. >> he's given me all the authorities to amass the