buffalo bayou, brays bayou, and sims bayou. it's important to understand that about houston in terms of understanding, you know, how houston's basic infrastructural commerce works and shipping, right, the utility of the whole ship channel. understanding the bayous is important for understanding the overall layout of the city and the way it works geographically. but those rivers, those bayous in houston are also incredibly important in terms of climate because houston is on low-lying ground. when there is an influx of rain, houston needs to drain out, it is those bayous that do that work. the bayous take on the extra water and funnel it out into groundwater and galveston bay and the gulf of mexico. the bayous do that heavy lifting for the low-lying city of houston. now, in recent years, texas and big parts of the whole southwest have had the opposite problem. they've been way too dry. texas has been coping with an extreme drought for the past few years. in the year 2011, 97% of the state of texas was rated as being under extreme

you can see the bayous and the water, how it rose so quickly.er area that saw major damage in texas, hayes county the san marcos river tore out trees and flooded homes with 2 to 4 feet of water. crews are using a bulldozer to rescue people stranded in their homes. >> also in hayes county the threat came from the blanco river. the record rainfall brought it from 5 1/2 feet to 40 feet. that's about 28 feet over its flood stage. and it happened so quickly. the raging water knocked down trees and washed away 400 homes. >> many of those homes were in the town of wimberley. it tore through, ripping bridges from their pier uprooting trees, wrecking cars. scores of riverside homes were torn off their supports and just carried away. officials say at least three people were killed in hayes county. 13 people still this morning are missing. >> among the missing 11 people who were enjoying the holiday weekend in a family cabin in wimberley. when the skies opened up the river tore the cabin from its foundation and it floated downriver. the cabin hit a bridge.

this is buffalo bayou.lly you have to walk up to the edge of the bayou and look down to see it. the bayou is out of its banks. it was bank full today. it flooded many many places, many underpasses were flooded here in houston today, making travel into the town today a nightmare. downtown houston looks ominous there, but actually the water is going around downtown houston there. the buildings there are not affected. two people drowned when they drove into the waters last night in the dark. their bodies were discovered at daylight today by rescuers. when the water got down low enough, they were able to get to the cars and find the bodies inside. three others are missing. they were apparently swept away after a fire department rescue boat overturned. the fors and several others were rescued. the others are missing. they were wearing life vests. and authorities hope that they somehow survived. ed back to you. >> well charles, are they evacuating people in the area? what's the game plan if they get this kind of

and many of our local bayous went over their banks. that took flooding into structures particularly in the brays biouy bayou and white oak. we know there was structural flooding in the galleria area of parking garages and commercial properties flooding also in cross timbers and smaller areas of flooding across the city. we also tragically know that there has been loss of life. we have three confirmed flood victims now, two that were recovered from vehicles one body recovered from brays bayou. and another person who apparent apparently had -- who may have had a heart attack while pushing his vehicle out of the flood waters. there are three people missing, there may be others. but those are the ones we know at this moment. we have begun a property by property assessment. but we are hampered by not being able to go into the areas until the waters recede. and these are visual inspections from the outside. until we can get enough structural experts to accompany our inspectors to see the full extent of the problem. we have 1,000 properties t

this is a bayou that cuts and winds its way normally quietly around downtown houston. as you can see, one embankment to the other, the water levels here rose dramatically. in fact at some point, to its worst point, reaching just to that bridge that you see behind me. and these waters spilled out everywhere. emergency officials here in houston say there are still a number of people that are considered to be missing. so search and rescue operations continue. waiting for these floodwaters to recede so they can get into some of the hardest hit neighborhoods and continue the search processes and homes and throughout neighborhoods. very dramatic efforts going on. we saw ingenious operations going on as well. fire rescue teams trying to get to people making 911 calls, abandon ambulances and lower lying cars traded them in for public works vehicles. these massive trucks and used those as makeshift ambulances to pull people out of some of the hardest hit neighborhoods. so a dramatic scene here. the good news for most of the day it did not rain. however in the coming days more r

we're told within this bayou here, behind me, there was a submerged vehicle that was just found. and the officials are trying to pull that vehicle out. and clearly if you go around the neighbors here, all you see 1 people's furniture bed spreads and their memories sitting out at the kush. >> pretty horrible, and there's still a pretty strong current there in the bayou behind you. >>> 10 one of the hardest-hit towns in texas 1 wimberley. the buy storm destroyed nine homes, and three were killed and nine more are missing. 10 many residents lost their homes, and how 1 the recovery going today? >> hey tony, recovery is a very big word when your house looks likes this. that's what happened when a 46-foot high wall of water knocks into your homes. we see trees that were once 50 feet call, torn with the roots attached as 23 they were weeds, and cars flip where there was a foundation of a home. people are trickling in, and it's a tough task. heart-warming thing in this little town, more than 500 people have stepped up as volunteers to help. a local ace hardware store has set up a station

this city is the bayou city. there are bayous like this running through the city and emptying into the gulf of mexico. the water here has been rising steadily since we got here a few hours ago. now, here is the worry. the water levels change very quickly. just 24 hours ago -- let me show you something. i stand probably just shy of six feet. take a look at where the debris is. this is debris from about 24 hours ago. that's where the water level was. now, imagine the power of this water, the surge and then look just over the banks of this bayou. that's where homes are. 200 feet from where we're standing families living. i talked to them inside and they told me got three feet of water. they got very little warning. all they could do was try to find high ground within their house, which meant literally sitting on their kitchen counters to stay dry. as for their dogs they have two dogs. they have so set their dineing table on dining chairs and had the dogs on top of that mountain makeshift table just to keep their dog

the shadow of downtown houston, this park looks like a fast moving river right now, after a nearby bayou flowed out of its banks due to the flooding, this is a type of flooding that houston has not seen in more than a decade, and tonight the mayor has declared a state of emergency. extreme danger in houston as record setting floodwaters swamped the city. more than 900 calls for help. firefighters could barely finish one high water rescue before racing to the next. >> pretty much one of the worst thunderstorms i've been through in houston >> reporter: interstates littered with abandoned cars. the houston galleria flooded. and with the storm raging during a playoff game, some fans sheltered in the toyota center overnight. schools closed, public transportation stopped running and thousands of businesses told workers to stay home. at just above sea level 11 inches of rain in only six hours, shut down the nation's fourth largest city. this is a high water rescue going on right now. on memorial drive, one of the major arteries into the city, an 18-wheeler under water. the fire department has j

and other bayous around houston are beginning to subside quite a bit.ere's not going to be the travel problem tomorrow that there was today. it was gridlock as you mentioned. freeways were under water. but now all the main lanes are open. houston is back open for business. school will be in session again tomorrow. and houston maybe can get back to normal tomorrow. back to you, chris. >> all right, nbc news reporter charles hadlock, appreciate it. thank you. joining us to talk about if the severe weather in texas is indicator of el nino, its return, radley horton, scientist at columbia university earth institute. so, i saw this news then i saw a bunch of people saying this is another indicator we may be in store for an el nino this year. i had seen people writing about a month or two ago saying we're getting some indications. what is el nino? and how do we know if it's coming? >> el nino is a global phenomenon, it's basically a situation where the upper ocean changes, the upper atmosphere changes all around the globe. it's almost like ringing a bell and

. >> reporter: the martins huddled together as watered from the nearby bayou poured into their home.you could not see. you can just imagine what's going on out there. >> reporter: every time the martins tried to leave more water would rush inch her husband german varon wasn't sure his family would make it out alive. >> one of the hardest things i've had to do in my life pray with them up there with my family. >> reporter: their neighborhood in meyerland was one of the hardest hit but officials tell us about 1,400 homes in the city have been damaged by floodwaters. today rescuers continue to pull people from their homes. since sunday, first responders have answered nearly 4,000 calls for help. high water flooded this treatment plant, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into nearby bayous. back at the martins the clean-up will take months, but getting over that night in the attic will take much longer. bayous like this one have been receding quickly but boy what a tragedy and mess they've left behind. charlie, six people have died, and one other is still missing.

. >> it's still a dangerous situation along the bayous, they're full of water. the water's moving very, very rapidly. and a lot of folks want to come down and look. a lot of kids particularly want to come and toss something in the by e.u., see what they can see, it's exciting. still a very dangerous place to be. so i would urge caution, and if you can, stay home, please stay home today. >> all these different water rescues underway. we talked to someone rescued by a black hawk helicopter this time yesterday. joining me is affiliate reporter jeff eling from ktrk in houston. and jeff i mean these stories -- tell me where you are, and how much damage to that snowman. >> reporter: it's an absolutely devastating day hare in houston. i'm in southwest houston. just one black south of the bayou where the 610 loop makes the turn from going south to east on that corner, southwest part of the city. the water cake up so quick people -- water came up so quick, people didn't have time for anything. you're looking at the water up to my kneecaps a foot and a half of water in th

. >> this is bayou water isn't it? >> yes, the water was just nasty. >> within that system and in that water 100,000 gallons of untreated waste water that spilled into this area. officials say they're working on trying to figure out how exactly that happened, and they're going to clean up when this has all subsided. but it's of no threat to residents and there is no boil order in place. houston fire commander deacon tittle was out saving residents and now his department is helping clean up the mess and answer questions. >> what concerns a lot of the residents now is the dirty water from the bayo ufertion that's bayou that's contaminated with feces and so on. >> as far as we're concerned our water is safe, went through multiple levels of testing and whatnot, monitored by our city officials and confirmed everything is good and safe. >> for the dennenburgs they will be living with relatives until shurches kicks in around they can restore the no. insurance kicks in and they can restore. >> it's just stuff. no one was hurt.

buffalo bayou just on the edge of downtown.t also spilled onto freeways and underpasses, trapping people in their cars. more than a thousand cars were stranded all across the city. the city has towed already 750 of them off the streets. two people, unfortunately, drowned in their vehicles. a third was plucked -- a body was plucked from a tree. and then a fourth victim was found downstream in brays bayou southwest of here. that was part of a rescue effort earlier today. houston fire and rescue sent out boats to more than 500 people rescuing them. unfortunately, on one of them, the rescue boat overturned spilling them into the water. a second rescue boat was able to capture the firefighters and some of the victims but three of them were swept downstream. at least one body has been found. they're still looking for two other people. an elderly couple ages 85 and 87. the bad news is that more rain is expected, but the good news is, the water that's already here in buffalo bayou and other bayous around houston are beginning to subsid

so they said obviously we know, we face the bayou that this could be a risk but they had lived there years and had never had water come into their home. their home was completely flooded. several feet of water. still standing water yesterday. another family that i talked to, they were several blocks away, not even within sight of the water, they had been in their home for 27 years they built their home elevated it about three feet offer the ground all brick. and it hadn't flooded in 27 years. and it flooded this time. they had about a foot of water. >> woodruff: it has to be a nightmare for folks in that situation. already there is some conversation around whether more should have been done by the city by the state to prepare for something like this i know we're still early in this. are you hearing anything about that from city or state officials? >> well i talked to residents about that. and there were some residents who were frustrated because they said like the family i mentioned to you who live on the bayou who said they called 891-- 911. they saw rescue boats but they felt like

that's how the surge has pushed the bayou water into neighborhoods.t know if it's going to happen again. but we're on notice and on call and we really do need that national declaration, and the governor's working with all of us. i'm working with him to ensure that we get the fema resources, and really throughout the state. wimberly has been hit very hard. austin has been hit. and we're all here together trying to make sure that we hit the people who have been devastated and who suffer a terrible loss of their loved ones. >> a dramatic series of events down in texas. congresswoman sheila jackson lee, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. i want to thank the red cross as well for the work it's doing. thank you. >> thank you. >>> coming up nebraska lawmakers are trying to become the first red state in four decades to ban the death penalty. only their governor stands in the way. that's next. and questions the same asking. but that only resulted in improvements small. so we've got some ideas new. garbage can create energy. light can talk. countrie

let me show you this tamron this is buffalo bayou as it passes through near downtown houston. this is one of the six rivers that defines the city of houston. they came out of the banks yesterday, buffalo bayou and swelled out of their banks after 11 inches of rain fell in the city in just six hours' time. no city can handle that especially a city like houston that's flat as a table top. the water has nowhere to go so it ponds until it slowly drains away. this stream goes around downtown houston and out to the ship channel, then into the gulf of mexico. even with today's rains, we're under another flash flood warning, they have not -- the water is still not rising. it is still going down. it's a very good sign here just on the edge of downtown houston as it's still raining, the water we had in the bayou is still draining away. that's the good news what people want to see here as they try to clean up and get back to business here in houston. tamron? >> thank you very much charles. joining us by phone from wimberley, texas nbc's jay gray. as mentioned by our colleague, many of th

along primarily ray's bayou and buffalo bayou in houston. >> mayor parker, is there any sense that the worst is over we're looking at pretty extraordinary photos and i sense there's more rain in the forecast ahead? >> we are concerned about the rain but the worst is over but we're not out of the woods yet. most of the roads -- people have to understand we're a big city and lots of the city has been functioning well but the areas that have been hit have been hit very very hard. and of course we have three confirmed fatalities. two of them were in vehicles that went under water last night during the rain. and then one person was pulled this morning. we don't know the circumstances of that. we are -- as soon as we can, and as waters recede we're going to areas that have been under water. >> it's tour'e one last question, you have infrastructure damage and thousands of people who have been displaced from their homes and not going to be able to go back to their homes, you have businesses damaged throughout the area of town. what is the long-term economic impact of this for houston? >> we're

i want to show you another thing, we're about 200 feet from the bayou, these are the bayous that run through houston that normally all they do is they flush out the water, which eventually dumps into the gulf of mexico. this particular rain event, there was too much water, too quickly. that is why those areas swelled and that is why these people are stuck with this type of damage wolf. >> and we have just confirmed where you are, rosa, a sixth death. i know you have been surveying the damage where you are. is there an image that really sticks out in your mind? >> reporter: you know i was able to get a fly-over yesterday, wolf with the sheriff's department. and just from looking at it from the air, and i used to work in houston, i used to work in tv here in houston. the most impacted area is where we are right here. so that is the southwest part of houston, the shopping center is just up the street here. and these bayous normally they do their job when it rains but this particular rain event, it was too much rain too quickly. and of course the fire department was out doing high water

this is how it looked from above, as bayous surged over their banks and into nearby homes. houston is the most flood prone city in the country. coastal and flat with clay soils that don't absorb water. >> there's a double threat for flooding rainfall from the sky, and saltwater surge base flooding from galveston bay. because it's so paved over such a large area the water has nowhere to run. >> families are ripping out drenched carpet and belongings tonight. >> some had four feet of water. >> that was a pretty helpless feeling when the water started coming through the walls. >> houston mayor in east parker says it's the worst flooding since tropical storm alison in 2001. >> doing drainage in houston is like trying to drain a pool table. when the water can't go down into the gulf there's no place for the water to go. >> the death toll here in houston stands at three people with three unaccounted for, and with more lightning and rain in the forecast lester the power company is telling people without it it could be a while before it's restored back to you. >> thank you. >>> tur

the way houston sit geographically is there are bayous throughout town.during time of heavy downpours like what we had, they overflow. so the regions are the part of town that are under water are the regions that are near those bayous. there are certain parts of town that are completely dry. people have no view of what is existing in other parts of there are areas of town that are near the by use that are completely under water. houses cars businesses, but the water will quickly recede and people will get back to the business of rebuilding their lives. >> i'm sure they will. if people are told to evacuate immediately, how do they know where to go? >> the first thing you do is you get as far away from the water as you can go. there are multiple areas where people will be able to locate to the red cross as well as other agencies in the greater houston area are there to help. we are going to have a press conference at 4:00 today where we will be providing more detailed information about where people can go, where they can evacuate to. but the main thing is t

all of these cars were destroyed in this particular area that i was in near the white oak bayou.r had been covered by water that was way over the hood of the car so the federal government has to stand ready, and i did write and join with the city and government officials to the president to ask for a natural disaster declaration, particularly for houston, to be able to help these people. >> thanks so much. u.s. congresswoman sheila jackson lee. according to the national climate assessment climate change contributes to harsh weather continues like the flooding in texas and the drought in california happening right now. experts predict changing extremes in precipitation are projected across all seasons, including higher like hoods of both increasing heavy rain and snow events and more intense droughts all at the same time. joining me now is the director of the earth institute at columbia institute dr. jeffrey sax. when you look at the two situations i'm going to free flow it in terms of information. what do you see in terms of the terrible drought, the terrible flooding down there?

if you look behind me you will start to see some debris and then you will start to look at the bayouow. the good news in all of this is waters have receded a lot. now, if you look at the bayou and that pipeline you are looking at right there it used to be up to that pipeline just hours ago. now it has receded at least 10 to 15 feet here in southwest houston. but hundreds, maybe thousands have been affected here. we know thousands of cars we have seen trapped on the highway. stalled, most not able to even start this morning, 24 hours this storm has been going on. now, finally we are seeing some water relief here. we aren't seeing the rains but we are expecting more rain and more flooding to come this evening. but we know that the fire department says that they have had 500 emergency rescue calls so we know that people have been trapped. we have three confirmed deaths here because of this flash flooding, according to police. we're just hoping that number continues not to rise. >> tell me, hillary, how long was this rain? how many hours did this go on? >> yeah, that's the interesting th

right down here jose, is buffalo bayou. houston is a city defined and shape bid bayous. there's six small rivers that run through town this is one of the largest. it looks like it runs into downtown. it curves to the north and into the ship channel then into the gulf of mexico. but on monday night and tuesday morning we got 11 inches of rain here. no city can handle anything like that. six inch fell in one hour. that made this bayou fill up. it covered this entire area full of water. >> almost all this green was underwater. >> so that was the iconic shot you saw tuesday morning. it looked like houston was inundated. informs it was this basin and part of the low-lying area of downtown. but other areas, brays bayou came out of its banks rushing through city streets. we have underpasses here where cars go under other railroad tracks. those were filling up with water in the nighttime and we had people drive into those without warn ing warning we had seven people drown because of that. another two people drowned when the fire rescue boat overturned and they were swept downstr

it went 30 feet higher than it should have been in that little bayou. it went up and people couldn't get out of the way. they had no place to go. water was already in their cars. the water was already in the street. they couldn't move and were stuck in these homes. >> i know anderson talked last night to the sister of a family who were in this home. the home went down the quick-moving water, hit something, the home separated. dad was okay the rest of the family wasn't. i want you to join me in this next conversation if you will. we're hearing all these different stories and other small towns devastated by the flash floods. martindale about seven miles from san marcos one of the harder hit areas. people also say their homes suffered a tremendous amount of damage. on the phone with me now is paula rodriguez, who lives in martindale. paula, thank you so much for taking the time to jump on the phone with me. i have chad myers with me as well one of our cnn meteorologists. can you just -- i know you were asleep when all of this was happening. tell me what ha

if you're a pedestrian walking bayous the 6th street tunnel. washington township, 42 a crash was the -- watson drive. a sinkhole is closing from route 30 to haddon avenue. >>> a man shot his friend who put a bullet proof vest. detectives believe he did not mean to kill his friend. however he is a convicted felon making it illegal for him to have a gun. >>> new this morning, a man exposed for telling lice on catfish is facing criminal charges. he is scheduled to face a judge later this morning. he made 11 threats on the washington d.c. metro system. he called 911 to report an attack on president obama's barack obama's motorcade. he threatened to bomb a metro bus unless he was paid $15 million. last year he was posing as a music producer to bilk a woman out of thousands of dollars. ray mcdonald has been arrested for the second time this week. the split said the san francisco defensive end violated a restraining order after his arrest monday on charges of domestic violence and child endanger. for allegedly assaulting a woman after she was holding

the homes and lives andams ofoustonians ushed literal by the power of the water sweeping through the bayou vidas y suenos de los residentes de houston han sido aplastados por la fuerza de las aguas" dijo el gobernador abbott... el martes cayo casi upide lluvia en solo seis horasdejando a cinco personas muertas en houston.... esta manana, miles de residentes aun evaluan sus danos... al norte del area, devastacion.... dos eos y trece desaparecidos en el poblado de wimberley, donde el rio blanco se desbordo el domingo llevandose todo a sua... tres integrantes de la familia que vivia en esta casa arrasada por las aguas estan desaparecidos.... y el peligro no ha terminado.... paola on cam y se esperan mas lluvias que desde ahora y hasta el sabado las cuales caeran sobre terrenos ya saturados... los rios tambien podrian continuar desbordados al viajar las crestas corriente abajo... cg: paola facebook lorena pregunta paola, habia preocupacion por una presa que estaria en riesgo de fallar... paola respuesta asi es, las autoridades de mid-lothian, en las afueras de dallas habian advertido sobre la

and here is the bayou i am showing you right now, down here at 8:00 at night it was eight feet deep, and later that night it was 36 feet deep in two hours. you can't imagine a river -- you are looking at it it goes up 28 feet in two hours? i don't care where you are, kentucky louisiana, houston, you get a river to go up 28 feet in two hours, people are going to be in the way, and they are still in the way, obviously. trucks not going anywhere and cars underwater. here is 3:00 there could be flooding here in the city i am talking to you from atlanta, georgia. two or three inches of rainfall coming down per hour in atlanta, and one more spot detroit, michigan cleveland cincinnati and there could be severe weather today up there. >> chad meyers thank you so much. >>> still to come protesters outside baltimore city hall. why? you might be surprised. we will take you there next. we all eat foods that are acidic... most of the time people are shocked when we show them where they're getting the acid and what those acids can do to the enamel. there's only so much enamel on a tooth, and every

this is one of the bayous that winds its way through mane parts of the city of houston. this is very common the floodwaters in the bayous that rose up so quickly when that rain fell so dramatically. here where we are, the floodwaters stretch said across the embankment and to the bridge you see. a dramatic amount of water causing problems. >> ed lavendera, thank you for that report. there are at least 13 people missing. of the 16 people missing from hayes county. we have daniel guerrero, the mayor of san marcos the largest city in that county. mayor, thanks so much for being with us. i know this is a really tough time for you and your residents there. really hard hit community with more than a dozen people still missing. give us an update on recovery efforts. >> we're still in the process of our search and our rescue efforts. as you mentioned, we're looking at about 13 people that are still unaccounted for. we have rescue groups that are searching and using every methodology available to work towards finding those missing people. >> what are they doing? what are the metho

it pushed many bayous over the banks. greg abbott eclair the state of emergency in at least 40 texas counties and deployed the national guard to help with recovery. >> my heart, my prayers go out to the families who have been impacted by this germanic flooding. >> live here in texas i can tell you that it is cloudy and the conditions are dreary and it has truly not dampened the spirit of so many people in this small texas town. these volunteers are coming from all parts of the state to help folks. this is a small resort campground here, 450 people staying here saturday into sunday when the water level started rising. they went door-to-door as the levels continued to rise. the families of at least 13 people are left wondering what exactly happened to their loved ones. the oldest at 81, the youngest only four. jummy: such a sad story. thank you. there is a risk for thunderstorms this afternoon at home as we take a live look out at the white house. chief meteorologist doug hill is in the weather center with a check on that f

this is buffalo bayou. 24 hours ago, it was well out of its banks. we thought it might increase a little bit today with the thundershowers, but it's done quite the opposite. it's come down, and it continues to go down. across houston, more than 4,000 businesses and homes were damaged by rising water all across town. the water is all receded now. all the streams are back in their banks. and most of the water has now drained away from the city streets. they're still pumping some underpasses out. that's where they found yet another body today. the death count here in houston, rather, is now seven. they found another body late this afternoon. it was one of the persons who was rescued from the raging waters yesterday by the houston fire department. that boat overturned spilling three people into the water. two of the bodies have been found. they're still searching for an 87-year-old man. take a look at this. yesterday ed when we joined you, this whole basin was filled with water. but look at it now. it's green, it's lawn, people are out riding their bikes

our daughter woke us and told us the bayou was rising. we started moving things higher and then a family stranded their car out front and they asked to come in. of course we let them in. the water is rising. first we told everybody, okay. get on the couches and then as water kept coming we put the family on the dining room table that's propped up over there. and then we realize that was going to be a problem too and we told them the plan was to come to the counters next if it would continue to rise. we were getting everybody out to get on the top of the flat bed cover of my husband's pickup truck. the plan was if got higher, we would use the truck to get on the roof. >> the water levels here you can see it right on the counters and so you are sitting on the counters for how many hours? >> it was probably four that we were on high ground. we stayed here from probably 3:00 in the morning and water went down around 10:00 the next morning. we probably really couldn't get down and walk until 9:00. >> so she called 911 so they're on these count

swollen bayous gulping down neighborhoods. >> we believe that there may be as many as 4,000 with significant daniel. >> overnight, dispatchers struggling to field more than 900 emergency calls, more than 500 of them water rescues. rescuers barely able to keep up. >> we have a female stranded on top of a car. >> this man's dash cam rolling as he drives through the floods. fans and players at the houston rockets game overnight stranded for hours. >> i can't go nowhere. >> daylight revealing the scope of the disaster. in submurgeed neighborhoods, rescuerslaunching boats. we saw the aftermath of the storms from above. now that all the water has started to recede, you see the mud, oil spilling out from stranded cars. the cleanup is going to take some time here. biblical in scope. this dam breached. a roll of water crashes through the road. the lake emptying out, the blanco river so full it surged 30 feet above flood stage sweeping away this bridge. dudsens dozens of homes in this area destroyed. including the home this family was vacationing in. >> she called me. she said i'm in a house, i'm floa

it is meant for use by large businesses and it is not yet considered practical bayous -- by use of consumers. they say anything is possible if people want it. >> when ms. sigh amounts of -- when massive amounts of audiences ask for it, people build it and people buy it. >> the plane, the plane is always spying on me. >> this scene captures the privacy concerns that people have about drones. >> something that can spy in afghanistan has the same capacity to spy on our neighbors when they are sun bathing. >> but there are already advanced ways to protect the public. >> we have technology where we can geo fence the location and blur out everything that is not within the area we care about. >> it is predicted some of the drone features could be in wide use starting in six months to two years. the f.a.a. proposed rules in the regulation of drones. i have a link at abc7news.com. check out 7 on your side. go pro on steroids is what i think of it as. >> interesting. >> a sonoma county man is accused of taking money from people who came to him for help. he calls himself a doctor and offers treatment s

in fact look behind me, the bayou where there's water normally. not to this magnitude. emergency management tell us that we saw about 8 inches in the past 24 hours and more than 80,000 people have been without power. you can see video that we've taken overnight and early this morning, things are not looking that great. so bad in fact governor greg abbott declared a state of disaster monday, 24 counties. the fire department also counted at least two water- related deaths because of this flooding. that number can jump to even five and six later today as they are assessing several deaths in the area. of course the biggest thing we've seen visually around here, the thousands of cars that are unusable essentially. they are ruined. people stranded. the situation doesn't look to be much better right now. skies have given us a little break right now but clouds are starting to come back this way. we're expecting more water. i want to show you too this park area normally used for runners, now it's pretty much just a pool. a pool of water, people are trying to drive through here o

they can do is basically take cover and make sure they are out of their homes in the places where bayousould rise and flood their homes once again. many staying with relatives or have left to go to hotels but people here clearly on edge as more storms await starting today and throughout the weekend. >>> officials are working to identify the body of a man recovered late last night from the blanco river in central texas. meanwhile the desperate search continues for members of two families missing after water ripped a home from its foundation in wimberley heidi zhou castro has more. >> reporter: the search continues for two families swept away by flood waters. the mccombs, had been vacations with the charbas. this is what is left of the house where they were staying. after the blanco river rose 30 feet in less than two hours early sunday morning and swept the home off of its foundation. laura's sister says laura called her as the house floated down the river telling her sister that she loved her. that was the last time the mother of two was heard from. >> i think recognizing what is happeni

rivers and bayous are still rising, and there is more rain in the forecast. near downtown dallas, one of the area's busiest traffic arteries will stay closed for up to a week so crews can pump out flood waters. >> let's get it going! >> reporter: and this volunteer crew is spreading sandbags, hoping to keep a rising lake from washing out the roadway in a rural suburb. that same lake has already taken over this golf course. >> it's unbelievable. i mean, there's so much water. it's just -- there's nothing we can do. >> reporter: at another nearby golf course, rain delayed third round play at the at&t byron nelson pga tournament in irving. the flooding in texas is the worst natural disaster in the u.s. so far this year. chris martinez, cbs news, lewisville, texas. >> the bad news just keeps coming. a strong thunderstorm temporarily stopped air traffic at dallas/fort worth airport this morning. >>> some washington redskins took time out to help children with disabilities today. the event was organized by local nonprofit dreams for kids dc and capital public relat

when he has downtime, he goes to the bayous and hunts ducks which he enjoyed doing. those four years, learning every inch of these two forts and learning the back by use of fort saint philip became the most important thing to launch his career in the military. weitzel gets another letter saying "your assignment to new orleans is over, and you are assigned as an assistant professor to west point,," so in august 1859, he takes a steamer up to west point. he meets a young girl, german girl, 17 years old the dot or of the owner of a beer house and coffeehouse in cincinnati. -- the daughter of the owner. luisa and godfrey married. two days after his 24th birthday. the couple spends their honeymoon briefly and makes their way up to best point where he is assigned as assistant professor. thanksgiving day, three weeks to the day of their wedding, luisa is fixing thanksgiving dinner for her young husband, the assistant professor, and a spark pops out of the fireplace and catches her hoop skirt on fire. we set is engulfed in flames and dies within an hour and her husband's arm

and it made the buffalo bayou down at the bottom of the screen swell out of its banks yesterday. houston was a mess with freeways under water, underpasses swallowed up with a lot of water, people couldn't go anywhere. there were people who drowned when they accidentally drove into the water. as you mentioned, five people have died in houston because of the weather. two others are still missing. they were part of a rescue effort downtown when the water swept them away from the fire rescue boat they were in. that is downtown houston. the buffalo bayou goes around downtown houston and into the ship channel and got the gulf of mexico. of the good news is the water is receding here. the bad news is, we could get more rain over the next few days andrea? >> of course the terribly sad story of lori mccomb who spoke to her sister julie shields. julie shields talking about her missing sister and the two children the husband of that family is hospitalized. listen to what julie had to say. >> there was nothing he could have done. he did everything he could possibly do. the blessing in all of

it is meant for use by large businesses and it is not yet considered practical bayous -- by use of consumers they say anything is possible if people want it. >> when ms. sigh amounts of -- when massive amounts of audiences ask for it, people build it and people buy it. >> the plane, the plane is always spying on me. >> this scene captures the privacy concerns that people have about drones. >> something that can spy in afghanistan has the same capacity to spy on our neighbors when they are sun bathing. >> but there are already advanced ways to protect the public. >> we have technology where we can geo fence the location and blur out everything that is not within the area we care about. >> it is predicted some of the drone features could be in wide use starting in six months to two years. the f.a.a. proposed rules in the regulation of drones. i have a link at abc7news.com. check out 7 on your side. go pro on steroids is what i think of it as. >> interesting. >> a sonoma county man is accused of taking money from people who came to him for help. he calls himself a doctor and offers treatment se