the city of bennington. just watch here: >> that car looks like it was made out of cork and it bobs and notes its way down that river, then underneath that concrete bridge, then out of sight from the folks standing on the river banks there. that gives you a sense of just how powerful the flood waters were late yesterday when the flash floods started kicking in. you had to be on higher ground in places like bennington. martha: incredible, incredible scenes in beautiful bennington, vermont. then we go back to new jersey that got hit so hard, a massive fire, might seem out of place in the middle of a flood but that is exactly what happened in new jersey and it is ongoing right now. this is just a bizarre scene. early this morning, there was an explosion at a home in pompton lake, it was so fierce, this explosion that, reportedly it just shook everyone out of bed. the firefighters on a boat now, trying to pump water into the home. ironically, it is almost surrounded by water on all sides but this gas leak is the

take a look at these raging watters out of bennington, vermont as the road is completely flooded. the state is seeing some of the worst flooding yet in the capital. officials are urging hundreds of people to leave their homes. they might have to flood that city on purpose. >> steve: look at that. >> alisyn: in order to save a nearby dam that's overflowing. they hope the rain let's up, of course and a disaster plan does not have to be activated. >> steve: those are really incredible pictures. all right. now we're going to bring you some of the latest numbers from irene. the death toll rising overnight to 21 people. the latest fatality is reported in new york, new jersey, and pennsylvania. falling debris and floodwaters have caused most of the deaths. many folks left stranded from their homes as rescue crews tried bringing them to safety. no word on how many injuries. >> brian: all right. this comes as much of the northeast is still without power. at least 6 million people from south carolina over to maine are living with the lights off and so much more. that includes about half of

take a look at these raging waters out of bennington, vermont. >> it looks like niagara falls. >> not a coastal city. as this road is completely flooded. the state is seeing some of ok, scene there. tell us what it looks like and what's been going on in benning ton, vermont because that has not gotten much publicity but the pictures are shocking. all right. we're looking at the pictures right there. >> yeah, they really are. you know, it's a scary thing and sometimes we don't realize how bad stuff is until you start to get the pictures out of a place and take a look at what's happened in bennington, vermont, this is southwestern vermont and the video is quite striking. a car, yeah, a car that's rushing down rivers, trees that are running down mainstream that have been knocked over and this town in a world of hurt, a lot of these areas that have been dealing with rainfall rates that were up to about 12 inches falling in a period of 10 hours and you get that kind of rain across hilly terrain and all that war has to run somewhere and it runs in towards these streams and, unfortunately, t

this woman in bennington, vermont, is so worried from being cut off from the outside world, she's hoarding water. water, water everywhere. and it's all contaminated. >> reporter: and it's easy to see what happened when floodwaters rush across roadways like this. the weight of the water was simply too much causing the roads to collapse. so, now the big concern is if you happen to live in a house like this. what do you do in the event of an emergency? >> absolutely remarkable stuff. again, linsey davis there on the scene in vermont bringing us pictures of that destruction brought by hurricane irene. >>> meanwhile, ten years after the september 11th attacks national security is full of gaps. the latest report card says failing grades to the tsa are deserving. saying the u.s. still has no reliable way to detect explosives powerful enough to bring down planes. commissioners also found communication breakdowns still exist between popoce and firefighters and other agencies. >>> and a shocking new study about the infant mortality rate in this country. researchers say babies born in 40 different fo