sandbags in bossier city. crews added more bags in the low-lying vulnerable areas along a levee which protect protects t 3500 homes. the red chute bayou rose seven inches overnight. the house of chris smith and his wife laura backs up to the levee. they were ordered to evacuate but they decided not to. it was a very personal decision. >> i had surgery on monday, to have a hysterectomy to get rid of cervical cancer and i was sales ared not to travel and we made the decision if it got high enough we'd leave but right now we'll stay put. >> reporter: west of here, the lake is expected to rise to 179 feet, flooding not seen in nearly 50 years. sheriff steve prayeder: >> sometimes it's too late to act, so just get your stuff and get gone. >> reporter: across louisiana there is moderate to major flooding on 50% of the state's s bayous and rivers. in fulsome, laurie barrow's family spent most of friday trying to reach her. they found her trapped in her own home. she lost everything during hurricane katrina. >> it's h

sandbags in bossier city. crews added more bags in the low-lying vulnerable areas along a levee which protects about 3500 homes. the home of chris smith and his wife laura backs up to the levee. they were ordered to evacuate, but decided not to. >> i had surgery on monday. i had a hysterectomy to get rid of cervical cancer and advised not to travel. >> reporter: west of here in cattle parish, cattle lake is expected to rise to 179 feet. flooding not seen in nearly 50 years. across louisiana, there is moderate to major flooding on 50% of the state's bayous and rivers right now. north of new orleans, in the city of folsom, lori bar roy's trying to reach her and found her trapped in her own home. she lost everything during hurricane katrina. >> heart breaking. deja vu. >> back in louisiana in bossier city, the smith family is ready it sandbags. >> the red cross called me yesterday, asking if i could help with the disaster in the area and i told them i have to worry about my own home before i help others. >> i am

the levee is already overflowing in this bossier city subdivision. officials worry, if it breaks, it could be catastrophic. more than 3,000 families here under mandatory evacuations. sara and her father, jim, taking her 5-year-old son, tucker, to safety. he has special needs. ambulance back there. >> reporter: bossier city fire chief stacy mad don says he's never seen anything like this. >> the water comes up, you lose power, you're in the dark, your house is wet, you'd rather be somewhere else. >> reporter: the national guard here, too, using trucks that can drive in high water, rescuing nearly 400 people in the last 24 hours. tonight, a warning. flash floods can swamp your car in seconds. just 18 inches of water is enough to lift an suv. of the three people who have died, two were in their vehicles. the flooding stretches for hundreds of miles. from texas to arkansas and beyond. david, this is far from over they're expecting another foot of rain in the coming days. and officials expect the flooding to continue into next week. david? >> phillip mena

. >> reporter: bossier city is underwatt tire night. this woman seen floating down street on an air mattress one of dozens of evacuees in the area. 3,500 homes are under mandatory evacuation. but some residents are unable to get out. >> we can put some more in here if we need. >> rescue crews are searching this area helping families get to higher ground. neighbors are pitching in. bringing sandbags to homes that yet. across the red river from shreveport, over 20 inches of rain has fall in in this area. washing away sections of highway. prompting assistance of the national guard. captain mike carmen. >> 30 years i have been here. probably epic. probably the worst. and, with what we have coming in, probably going to be more. >> reporter: among those rescued. young, old and fur-legged. swepten from the rivers, these large carp could be seen swimming all over sidewalks. it is all part of an historic weather pattern. pushing tropical moisture into louisiana, arkansas, tennessee and texas. it is causing severe thunderstorms and excessive rain

. >> reporter: bossier city is under water tonight. this woman can be seen floating down the street on an air mattress, one of dozens of evacuees in the area. 3500 homes are under mandatory evacuation, but some residents are unable to get out. >> we can fit some more in here if we need. >> reporter: rescue crews are searching this area, helping families get to higher ground. neighbors are pitching in, bringing sandbags to homes that are not flooded yet. across the red river from shreveport, over 20 inches of rain has fallen in this area, washing away sections of highway, and prompting the assistance of the national captain mike carman: >> in the 30 years i have been here, it's probably epic, probably the worst. with what we have coming in, there's probably going to be more. >> reporter: among those rescued it's young, the old, and the four-legged. swept in from the rivers, these large carp could be seen swimming all over sidewalks. it is all part of a historic weather pattern pushing tropical moisture into louisiana, arkansas, tennesse

torrential rains are spilling over into a fifth day, and david begnaud is in bossier city, louisiana.reporter: as of late this afternoon, the red chute bayou level was 25 feet and rising. the water rushing downstream from two lakes to the north has made bossier city ground zero. 3,500 homes are at risk of flooding to the west and south of the bayou. because of recent heavy rains, approximately 30,000 gallons of n ter is flowing downstream every second, seven to 10 times the normal flow. sandbags being dropped to ifotect the levee from eroding if water tops it. mike peterson is with the u.s. army corps of engineers. >> this is a choke point where ntl of that water has to come through a relatively narrow area. that's why it's jumping up so fast. ten feet in three days, two feet in the last day alone. >> reporter: how far is the levee from your back-yard line? th it's probably 300 to 400 yards. >> reporter: firefighter josh wolverton has been rescuing people for two days. now his home is at risk. >> we've lived here for six jars, and i've never seen water standing in the street, ever. >>

. >> reporter: bossier city fire chief stacy mad don says he's never seen anything like this. >> the water comes up, you lose power, you're in the dark, your house is wet, you'd rather be somewhere else. >> reporter: the national guard here, too, using trucks that can drive in high water, rescuing nearly 400 people in the last 24 hours. tonight, a warning. flash floods can swamp your car in seconds. just 18 inches of water is enough to lift an suv. of the three people who have vehicles. the flooding stretches for hundreds of miles. from texas to arkansas and beyond. david, this is far from over they're expecting another foot of rain in the coming days. flooding to continue into next david? us again tonight. phillip, thank you. let's get wright to rob marciano, tracking the storm tonight. >> reporter: david, this is extending to the eastern pacific where the record el nino water is adding fuel to the fire. this is stretching from new orleans, all the way up into the northeast. but that record warmth deflecting most of that rain. we are looking for flooding and plaid flooch flash flood

families near bossier city are under mandatory evacuation right now. >>> farmers in worried about their crops. ice helps insulate the crops. there is no ice meaning it could be vulnerable to a cold snap. >> the objective is to produce abundant and high quality crop as possible. so, you are at the mercy of the weather. >> it doesn't look like the temperatures will return to the optimal levels for the farmers. [no audio]. >> they are fast times. you are afraid the legs will get hurt. >> beautiful. >> i'm glad to be outside, mommy. >> i think humans do that, too. they get excited. finally warm weather and it's sticking around for a while. we will see a bit of a cool down over the weekend. above average temperatures. >> 80 and 70, we are okay with that. >> absolutely. >> low humidity, too. >> yeah, it's nice. >> our lowest temperatures will be in the 60s. so, as far as our lowest high temperatures during the afternoon. so, not bad at all at how we are starting off is 61, above the average highs for this time of year. we are talking may, june-like conditions today. record temperatures possib

david begnow, cbs news, along the red chute bayou in bossier city, louisiana. >> when bad weather hits, we have you covered with the wusa 9 app. live radar. breaking news alerts. get the app. it is free. on both apple and android devices. >>> okay, as we look ahead to the weekend forecast, remember, we spring forward this weekend. right? >> yes. >> and then also, it is a good idea to check the alarms and your smoke detectors and your co2 detectors and stuff like that, too, replace the batteries. >> always good to do that. i like to spring ahead. i don't like losing an hour of sleep. but i love the longer days. >> yes. that's right. >> grill outside much later. >> i'm usually a little tired at work because due want to go to bet when -- you don't want to go to bed when it is so nice out. we started off skies. a couple of areas of light rain. we expected that to come on through. in and out. very fast. now we are back to some sunshine and some pleasant temperatures. man, it is nice today. we do have a pretty nice weekend in store. however, there are a few changes. we are going to cool off

. >> reporter: back in bossier city, stephen hamm worries about what comes next. >> everyone's pretty much prepared for a complete and total loss at this point. and not many of us on this street even have flood insurance because it's-- this is-- this never happens in this neighborhood. never. >> reporter: more rain is expected, but here's the good news-- it's only about an inch, forecasters say. the threat of rain is starting to diminish. so now the concern turns towards the rivers. the floodwaters have to go somewhere, so from tennessee to the gulf of mexico, scott, we're told the rivers will rise and it will be record-setting. >> pelley: david begnaud for us tonight. david, thanks. the republican presidential candidates are holding their latest debate tonight in miami. florida primary, the latest poll shows front-runner donald trump with a nine-point lead over florida senator marco rubio with ted cruz and john kasich far back. from miami, here's major garrett. >> reporter: campaigning in north carolina last night, donald trump dismissed both marco rubio and ted cruz. >> little marco

it's a catastrophe. >> reporter: back at bossier city, the work will continue throughout this weekend to keep the rising water away from those homes. >> that's the reason i'm out here, trying to save homes. i could have stayed home in bed but trying to help. >> reporter: you may be wondering why aren't they using sandbags to line up against this levee to protect the 1,600 homes west of here? because engineers say they rain fell too much, too fast and they couldn't line up 3,000 sandbags so they say it is inevitable. the water will rush over the levee. when it's going to happen? we were told this morning and may be later today. on top of the water flowing over the levee, they say more rain is expected this afternoon. >> not a fun waiting game. david begnaud, thank you. >>> let's get more on these storms expected today from meteorologist ed curran from wbb tv. >> good morning. we continue to watch the rains moving in through louisiana and into mississippi as well. and we are going to see more of this as we go through today and into tomorrow. the flood threat continues with the runoff an

the levee is already overflowing in this bossier city subdivision. could be catastrophic. more than 3,000 families here under mandatory evacuations. sarah and her father jim taking her 5-year-old tucker to safety. he has special needs. >> you have to have access to an ambulance. and they can't get an ambulance back there. >> the fire chief stacy madden says he's never seen anything like this. >> if the water comes up, you lose power and you're in the dark and your house is wet, you'd rather be somewhere else. >> reporter: the national guard here too using trucks that can drive in high water rescuing nearly 400 people in the last 24 hours. a warning, flash floods can swamp your car in seconds. just 18 inches of water is enough to lift an suv. two were in their vehicles. the flooding stretches for hundreds of miles from texas to arkansas and beyond. this is far from over. they're expecting about another foot of rain in the coming days. and officials expect the flooding to continue into next week. phillip mena, abc news, bossier city, louisiana. >> it's going to be a long cle

residents in bossier city, louisiana hitch their only ride out of a flooded neighborhood. >> the water so quick. people don't understand that. i learned. >> reporter: for those who have been there before they aren't taking chances. prepping sandbags for temporary barricades in the event water once again heads their way. small towns around memphis have been swallowed by water. residents and furry friends evacuated by boat. at least 10 people were rescued from homes when a river near memphis spilled over banks including this 87-year-old. >> any time people have to be evacuated from their homes it's not a good situation. >> reporter: some are taking the situation in stride. >> can't argue with mother nature. you rain for four days, if it keeps up four more days we may have to build a boat. >> reporter: or gather valuables and head to higher ground with more weather on the way. >>> here are some of the other stories. time's running out to reach a deal to keep new jersey transit rail lines running. negotiators for nj transit and rail workers unions back at the bargaining table trying to com

david begnaud is in bossier city, louisiana, at a left vie that levee that could be in trouble. >>> goodning. let me show you where the water is coming from. you see the bridge right there? it's acting as the choke. but the water is still flowing underneath as it has risen two feet within the last 24 hours. the deadly storm unleashed another round of torrential rain overnight. thousands 0 people have been forced from their home in northern louisiana. more than 20 inches of rain has fallen here this week. >> you need sandbags, right? okay, we are going to go get them. >> reporter: we rode along with national guard staff sergeant genevieve tollar in this parish. they were delivering sandbags and by the time we found them, they had already rescued 100 people. last night in the rescues were voluntary in angela's neighborhood. the national guard helped to get angela and her two daughters to but her 22-year-old son jimmy decided to stay behind. fears grew that the levees would breach. >> this is a mandatory evacuation. >> they went back in to get angela's sub born stubborn son. more people joi

david begnaud is in bossier city, louisiana, where hundreds had to be rescued. >> reporter: good morning. overnight there was a mandatory evacuations of the neighborhoods including the one we are right now. this is golden meadows. 12 hours ago, people were told get out, it's a recommendation. as of midnight, they were told, you got to go. the rain has stopped but the rivers and the lakes are rising and there's a concern that water will son overtop a nearby levee. the deadly storm punishing the south unleashed another round of torrential rain overnight. thousands forced from their homes in northern louisiana and more than 20 inches of rain has fallen here this week. >> you need sandbags, right? them. >> reporter: we rode along with parrish. they were delivering sandbags people. last night in the rescues were neighborhood. the national guard helped to get angela and her two daughters to safety but her brother jimmy decided to stay behind. evacuation. >> they went back in to get angela's son. more people joined them as this area braces for potentially life-threatening flooding. flooding thi