we're closing in on four feet of rain to the southeast of downtown houston. south houston almost to 42 inches in downtown. we're almost at three feet of rain. these rainfall totals are just incredible. we have now had three of the rainiest days in houston history just in the last four days. think about that. this storm has produced -- these records go back for thousands of days and three of the wettest days have just a been in the last ten. it's crazy. as far as a lot of the extreme flooding that continues throughout the region, the worst of it, again, is from about catty toward beaumont and toward areas around lake charles. the river gauge is the next tour. the bayous flooded over the weekend. now we'll be watching rivers. some of these will crash. there were record values unheard of. as we look at the buffalo bayou, this one crested at 67 feet. we're looking at this tuesday through saturday. holding in the 64 foot range. the old record was 61 feet before the storm. the water through downtown houston is not going to recede and go down any time soon. unfortuna

yeah, we are -- the goal is to head down to the brown convention center in downtown houston where they are holding thousands of these evacuees. that's also where -- houston just held super bowl a few months ago and that was the hub. that was the center of the whole experience. so now it's being used to house these thousands of evacuees that are coming in in droves. >> all right. what are -- i don't know if you heard the press conference but they are saying 185 critical rescues pending. they have flat bottom boats out there to respect could you. they have got helicopters. how are most people who need to get out of their houses getting out of their houses? >> well, just anecdotal evidence i have, i did hear the portion of the press conference where there was 2,000 rescues. those were the ones documented, from search and rescue teams. those were from uniformed, trained responders. my experience with these sort of rescues, the majority of them come from neighbors. you heard that call yesterday for anybody who has a boat that can help, please do so. so any time this is happening, you don't

two reservoirs that protect downtown houston now spilling over even as emergency workers continue to release water. houston police announcing the loss of one of their own. >> he was a sweet, gentle public servant. >> sergeant steve perez, who drowned in his patrol car on the way to report for duty. his wife, devastated. >> and she tells me, i told him not to go to work. and his response was -- we've got work to do. president donald trump offered reassurances to texans during his visit to corpus christi tuesday. >> this is historic, it's epic what happened. but you know what? it happened in texas, and texas can handle anything. >> while there have been some arrests for looting, officials say overall things have been orderly. rescues continue around the clock. strangers coming from far and wide to support a region battered, but not beaten. >> sarah, thank you, you know each and every person who has come through here has their own unique harrowing story about being rushed from their home, with pure uncertainty and sent to the unknown and they're having to wait to find out what's going to

i'm walking in downtown houston, you can see i'm surrounded by water.to start on this street here because you can see there's a submerged vehicle. we talked to the police, they said they rescued individual in that track. take a look at the harris county courthouse. within the hour there were five to ten people rescued inside that building. one of the gentlemen i spoke to said the water began to rise quickly. one of the gentlemen had a sick toe so he wrapped his toe in as ago and one of the rescuers carried him so they could get him to safety. we have more submerged vehicles as we see these rising waters continue to go. a manhole over there that looks like it's still erupting with waters. you see first responders beyond there. moments ago, and i believe we have the video, a high water vehicle. it's surreal to see high water vehicles here. these are resources that were sent to houston to make sure they rescue people wherever that is needed. you know, many people thought it wasn't going to get to this. it wasn't going to be this flooded in downtown houston

just southwest of downtown houston. very, you know, highly concentrated residential area, but what are we looking at right now, palo, where are you? >> reporter: some residences you'll see in a minute. first, i want to show you the bayou in houston right off the interstate. usually a small creek. you can see what it looks like today. this is really what is fueling concerns of flooding, and off in the distance you're able to see a coast guard helicopter we've seen circling the area and hovering above this bayou for the last 15, 20 minutes or so. a little while ago lowering a cable with a hook and came right back attached to nothing. so we're not quite sure what kind of efforts are happening here but obviously these are the, the kind of air craft ouchb used for rescues. we've seen them take place here in houston quite a bit and will try to find out exactly what's happening there. this has certainly drawn quite a few people on the interstate. you can see. then they're met, met by -- [ no audio ] >> goodness. lost that sena

. >> reporter: everywhere you look in this community 15 minutes from downtown houston, you see signs of despair and anguish. one common factor among those being rescued from the elderly to the children. >> it is rough. we got my 88-year-old mother out. >> we'll be okay. thank you. >> this is is unreal. it feels like a dream. >> the sawer family spent yesterday helping others. today they needed to be rescued along with their three children. >> two feet of water on the first floor and they all had some tears. >> reporter: tonight, they are shaken but safe. >> watch your feet, please. the armada of volunteers. there are first responders out here and federal agents. we caught dea afwenlts and u.s. marshals here patrolling this area. make sure that the looting is not occurring here. as far as a curfew, a number of arrests, zero. the mayor says everybody seems to be cooperating. we are live in houston, texas. damian trujillo. >> thank you. damian has been working tirelessly on social media. earlier today he was periscoping from the streets of houston. you can see the big trucks, the milita

i was trying to get hooked up with the crew in downtown houston and i got stuck in northwest houston because as the roads started to close because of the flooding, it basically turned into the island wherever you're at. again, rescue crews they need to spend their time and resources saving those that are on rooftops or trapped inside their home. but today those rescues and evacuations, those are -- we're going to see a lot of those today. we could potentially see hundreds of thousands of people along the rising brazos river seeking higher ground and perhaps even more impactful is that decision to do a controlled release of the two major dams that protect this entire houston area. they're essentially putting thousands at risk of immediate flooding in favor of possibly a dam failure that could threaten millions including downtown houston. there are no good choices here. it's a necessary but drastic measure taken at a drastic time. >> we'll see more rescues throughout the day and that dam release and more rain on the way. >>> in fact, more rain is on the way up to 26 inches expected bef

downtown houston, these bands of rains continue. our meteorologists say rain is going to continue until friday. what is the case now. >> you know, information just into the cnn newsroom, that the houston independent public school district has closed for the next week, it's completely closed. no classes will be going on next week because of the inclement weather. you can see around me, it's very clear the reason why, because roads in houston have turned to rivers. beau yews have turned to raging rivers, it's not safe for children to be going to school in these conditions. we have video from earlier today, it was a live shot we did from 7:00 a.m. this morning, we were in the same location, but much closer to the intersection that you're taking a look at, which is commerce and travis here in downtown houston. if you look at those two pictures, you can see the comparison of the amount of water, that gives you an idea of the magnitude of the storm, as you mentioned, we are still getting drerjed at this hour we're expecting more rain as we

this is downtown houston. it's the historic district. i'm not sure if you're able to see because it's dark, but the intersection that's behind me, commerce and travis streets. for people familiar, this is where spaghetti warehouse is. and you see that the sign that takes you north on i-45 toward dallas is under water. and you can't see the ramp to i-45, but the ramp is under water. 24 hours ago we were doing live shots from where the intersection is. right now it is too dangerous. it is way too deep for us to get any closer to that location. now, houston has been pounded with water. we've seen these bands of rain in the last 24 to 36 hours. and it continues to come down. and the latest guidance from local authorities is that they're expecting six to ten more inches of rain. now we're also hearing about the incredible stories, the rescues that are going on all around the metro area. i just got off the phone with the red cross coordinator here in downtown houston. they have 2,500 people right now at the convention center in downtown housto

the buffalo bayou overflowing, taking over downtown houston.hese were shot by a resident there from his apartment. >> and you see them side by siderite there. actually i've jogged along that trail on the buffalo bayou. it's an impressive trail. >> all you can see are the tops of the trees and the buildings. >> another interesting image from a busy overpass. look at that. a mack truck, a beautiful approach to the downtown area there. those are overpasses. >> and a beautiful skyline a pretty high up there. try to find your exit. take a look at that mack truck that's barely visible in the background. and we show you there the side by side. >> you can see the fog blocking out the skyline as well. taking a look at tidwell road. one of the main staging grounds for that recovery effort. this is a northeast region of houston, and a part where the cajun navy has been using it as a main artery. but water everywhere. take a look at, you see the gas station pumps almost completely submerged in water. >> and it's that image that you see on the right that ha

in downtown houston our experience, just trying to get out of downtown houston, we ran into so many barrierss looking more like rivers just in the past couple hours it's even difficult to figure out how you can get your way around anywhere which is why authorities have pressed people to stay in their homes if possible. we can also tell you, i also just spoke with police officers who told me they just got a call for a burglary in this neighborho neighborhood. that is a fear that some people have is about looting should they abandon their homes. we saw people in the last 12 hours who did not want to leave their homes. some boaters in the rescue team offering to give them a ride to higher ground but them wanting to stay. >> to julia's point, with the rain being a factor, we may not get a sense of how widespread this devastation and destruction is until the rain stops and the water recedes. julia bagg, thank you. >> i will say to julia's point, when i was covering hurricane sandy and my family experiencing flooding during hurricane irene. when people are watching, people are saying get out. but

downtown houston is only 50 feet abse so that means when rain falls it has nowhere to go. 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.

to take shelter because of harvey. 2500 people already camped out at a convention center in downtown houstonon the phone with us, houston area congresswoman lee. thank you so much for being with us. first, can i go to you as a reporter, not a member of congress. give us a sense of the situation this morning. how do things look to you right now? >> to stay stable, last night at the convention center in early morning there was a steady stream, a flow of people and more yet to come. the main issue is we have so many people that have to be rescued, so many people that will be out of their homes and in some parts of the county, tarrent county, in particular, the floods are rising and may be at least the image they are receding, but it's not accurate. we had to do a major, i say, unusual releasing of our reservoir. we have not felt the full impact of that, but the human crisis is there are still so many of my constituents and others who are still home bound, floods coming not to their door, but in their house and we have got to get them out. that's my priority and to make sure they get to safety.

and that will prevent more catastrophic flooding in the downtown houston area.the communities close to the reservoirs are going to include -- are going to be impacted by additional flooding. >> this rain is going nowhere, right? they are in it for the next few days. even though where you are doesn't look so bad now but still coming. >> you know, we've got a temporary break in the rain fall, natalie. but not about letting our guard down. we know feeder bands are coming in from the gulf and you just look at radar. listen to meteorologist on cnn. and this system is not going anywhere any time soon. and we do expect the rain to pop up at any moment in time. especially where we're at east of the city of houston as well then focus our attention on louisiana p. because they are getting hit hard with 10 to 20 inches of rain quite easily over the next coming days. >> so derek, by the time this is over, there could be twice as much water as we see now in the houston area? >> we have seen reports of 30 plus ichblgs in t inches in hou area. to double that would be mind-bogg

a historic hotel in downtown houston. it now has water leaking into its lobby. that people around here can find spots of dry land, but getting around houston is nearly impossible. we only found one thoroughfare to come in, and at the convention center they are opening their arms wide. 1,000 cots ready to accept people. we saw busloads of families coming in yesterday to drop them. by the way, just getting into houston at this point. we had to go around a herd of cows that were being driven through the center of dayton, texas, to higher ground. it was an incredible sight. back to you. >> contessa brewer for us live in houston. thank you. >> joining us once again from live from victoria, texas, nbc correspondent kerry sanders. a two-pronged operation. >> you know, what you see over my shoulder here is part of that. the electrical crews have come, and they're starting to restore some electricity in parts of town. primarily in the downtown area so far. that's, being, where the command and control is set up to try to return this community to some sort of accesemblance

. >> reporter: good afternoon, to you from downtown houston. as you can see, the rain has not let up for days. i'm standing in the middle of what is usually a downtown parkway, which is still flooded, three days after this all began at this point there's no end in sight. unrelenting rain from tropical storm harvey, is falling in houston, pushing flood waters higher and higher. >> we almost died. i've been in deplorable conditions. >> reporter: rescue teams worked all night, helping stranded people, and good samaritans like jeff chase are using their own boats to reach victims. >> if everyone did this, we'd have a lot less to worry about. >> putting yourself in harm's way to help others is awesome. >> reporter: crews have re there's no way to no how many more are still trapped in their homes. >> we intend to get to every one of them. >> reporter: adding to the catastrophic flooding, officials had to release water from several reservoirs that are overflowing. they hope the move protects downtown houston, but it could make flooding even worse. >>

north of downtown houston, the rising flood waters forced saint like's saint vincent hospital to evacuate 29 patients using boats and trucks. about 40 nurses and staff are stranded inside that hospital. >> their houses have been destroyed and they're not able to return home. >> most hospitals are still open, some of them have limited access to medicine, food and power. many hospitals made improvements after tropical storm allison 16 years ago. and as t rooms region wide are bracing for an influx of new patients. >>> they're accustoms to taking kids to school, but these buses have -- they're being used to help evacuees with shelters. five buses are helping to rescue people and one of the drivers says that she volunteered because it's the right thing to do. >> we got good people. we got caring people that's driving for the day and we're trying to give back to community and show the love. >> one of the stops included helping people evacuate a senior living center. bus drivers will be out helping for the rest of the week. >>> a college professor is out of a job tonight because of a series of

behind me is the consensual center which is serving as the largest evacuation shelter in downtown houston. cbs news has learned there are now nearly 5,000 people inside here tonight. that is almost full capacity. early in this disaster, and there are still so many days of catastrophic flooding ahead. we have also seen dramatic rescues, all day long in flooded neighborhoods, some by civilians. >> mason: i'm anthony mason in new york. harvey barreled ashore friday night as a category four hurricane. since then 40 inches of rain have fallen in dayton, texas. now a tropical storm harvey is forecast to drop another ten to 20 inches by friday. the official death toll is two, but authorities fear that will rise dramatically. texas governor greg abbott has mobilized the state's entire national guard, 12,000 strong to help in the rescue and recovery. president trump has declared states of emergency in texas and louisiana, making them eligible for federal disaster relief. he visits the region tomorrow. before and after pictures tell the grim story of harvey's wrath. >> o'donnell: it is incredibly g

an explosion started a fire in a building in downtown houston. this is at the lone star legal aid offices. no word on what caused that explosion or if it has any connection to the hurricane damage. we'll stay on top of it for you and bring you any new developments. right now some new developments the remains of all 10 missing sailors have now been recovered. among the victims, kevin of gaithersburg and timothy eackles of manchester, maryland. the destroyer collided with an oil tanker a week ago off the coast of singapore. divers searched the flooded compartments for days looking for those missing service members. and this is the fourth accident involving a navy war ship this year. a woodbridge is in court. ronald hamilton allegedly killed his wife and then shot three police officers who responded. one of the officers, ashley was killed. the others wounded. police say hamilton admitted to the crimes immediately after the officers stormed his house. his lawyers say he may have been mentally unstable. they want the judge to suppress his confession.

. >> this was the scene this morning in downtown houston. there was no major flooding in the area but this is where thousands of evacuees who were forced out of their homes came to get help. a lot of these folks now have no place else to go so they will be sleeping inside the convention center in downtown houston and they are also getting fed and clothing if they need it, even medical care if they need that. we talked to the american red cross about how the operation is working. >> to an outsider, this looked like chaos. to those of us who deal in disaster services, we are used to this and there is some method to what we are doing. >> the water started going high. >> you grabbed everything you could and put them in these banks? too i have close and stuff that people donated and that is the only thing we can use. >> it's all you have quick >> it's all we have. >> there you go. that is all he has. a couple of bags with clothing. that is it. you can see behind me that there are vehicles that are still swamped out there in the floodwaters. we ta

and those evacuees are coming here is the main shelter that in downtown houston. there are now 10,000 people here. they needed to open new shelters. there are dozens now open right next door to the toyota secente where the houston rockets play. and last night they announced that nrg center is also going to be open for the influx of evacuees that they are expecting because of the flooding. now, each and every person that comes through here has their own unique and incredible story of survival and rescue. this is a day they'll never forget, the day they had to leave their homes and leave behind and not know what they were going to return to. speaking to them has just been moving. let's hear from a young mother and her rescue story. >> and we were like waving them down for help so they couldn't truck is so loud. so we went inside and laid down for the fight and figured we would try to get rescued in the morning. the next morning, they brought us to the campbell center. and from there, they put us on metro buss and took us here. water was up to our necks. our -- water

i'm at the buffalo bayou here, runs right through downtown houston. efore and after pictures. this area was one of the most coveted areas of real estate in all of houston. beautiful strip of land with parks and it was set right in front of the houston skyline. and now, it's all just covered, just e immersed in water and it's just astounding to see the stark difference between the way it was and the way it is now. one of the most costly disasters in texas' history, or at least one of them. it will take years to rebuild. we can get it back to looking the way it was at some point, frances. >> a long way to go before that, phillip, thank you. >>> as more and more people become victims of harvey, we have a list of charitable organizations linked own our facebook page. the way to donate to food banks, diaper banks. and the salvation army is accepting donations and the red cross is collecting donations online by cell and via text. all that information there on your screen. we thank you for being with us. stay with nbc news and your nbc stations throughout the

we're in the greater heights neighborhood near downtown houston. this area, i'm told, is normally a playground and right over here; a baseball field but as you can see the water has taken over, the floodwater is very serious.ople in this neighborhoe also, i'm told there is a bayou near by and there are a lot of bayous in this area, that is also a big concern with the amount of rain that is coming, those bayous overflowing, coming into these neighborhoods. and you can see this is just one example of just how dangerous these floodwaters are, and how significant the water levels are at this time aside from seeing scenes like this, we have see cars abandoned, we have see people struggling to get help in some instances, but all in all, people know that they need to stay inside, it is very dangerous out here. and of course, we already know this is just the beginning, houston is expected to receive even more rain, so we can imagine what this will look like when it's all said and done. >> strassman: jericka, thanks. scott padgett is chief meteorologist at

>> reporter: we're in downtown houston. some of the gas stations are now open and some of the restaurants are begin doing open up shop for business. some other areas in the hughes stoj vicinity still remain with a lot of uncertainty. this is what downtown houston has been waiting to see, shops open for business again. merchants are slowly weathering the effects of hurricane harvey but in other parts of this metropolis. >> this is pretty bad. >> reporter: the devastation lingers. >> drive around. we'll be okay. >> reporter: the community of memorial thought they were spared the wrath of hurricane harvey but the buffalo bayou gave way and this is what happened. the sawyer family in the community of lakeside steals was forced to guide their children to safety. >> two feet of water on first floor and they all had some tears. >> reporter: thousands of families affluent and not remain displaced by harvey's aftermath. but the good will of strangers is showing the true spirit of texas. >> thank you so much. >> no problem. >> you're

in the greater heights neighborhood near downtown houston. this area i'm told is normally a playground. right over here, a baseball field. but as the you can see, the water has taken over the floodwaters very serious. people in this neighborhood are not coming in here unless they have waders on. but for the most part it is really preventing people from getting from point a to point b. now i am also told there its a bayou nearby. and there are a lot of bayous in the area. that is also a big concern. with the amount of rain that its coming, those overflowing. coming into the neighborhoods, and as you can see this is just one example of just how dangerous these floodwaters are, and how significant the water levels are at this time. aside from seeing scenes like this, we have seen cars abandoned. we have seen people struggling. to get help in some instances. but all and all, people know that they need to stay inside, it its very dangerous out here. and of course, we already know that this is just the beginning, houston is expecked to receive even

getting them inside downtown houston. also today, mark strassmann had sharp questions for houston's mayor about how the city prepared for harvey. >> reporter: water rescues have created daily drama in a city that has found hell and high water. but houston's mayor stands by his decision not to evacuate america's fourth largest city. mayor sylvester turner: >> you cannot evacuate 6.5 million people. within two days. you cannot. that would be chaotic. >> reporter: it was chaotic and deadly in september 2005. 3.7 million people in the houston area evacuated from hurricane rita. in the gridlock, more than 60 evacuees died, many from heatstroke. with harvey, people here stayed put. thousands have had to save themselves and ended up in crowded shelters. have you done enough to take care of the folks who were told to stay put? >> the city of houston has been impacted by an inordinate amount of rain that fell on the city of houston. >> reporter: but then what is the plan for those six million- plus people? >> we've asked people to

pair of reservoir dams that protect downtown houston and a houston subdivision when the crews are on perform your rescues, obviously there is a huge amount of danger not just for the people there, but for your cruise. -- crews. >> in new orleans they shut the whole thing down for gunfire and people being shot. some people -- some of that's out to be true. process, if we have a shooting in one part of the sitting and i'm sure oakland would say the same, #presenting we don't shut down everything else. where is the risk. what is it and how do you manage it. to compromise other operations because of it. i hope that when i happen this time. that might be a problem for certain areas. how big of a problem is it? it is hard to say but part of what we do requires a risk. we have people that are willing to take the risks. they balance the ever not trying to sacrifice themselves. with people in harms way and this is why we have to step up. >> thank you for joining us. we appreciate your calling us. stay with us and we will have much more coverage of hurricane harvey. we will bring you the presi

they're about three to five miles outside of downtown houston. he works for the american red cross in the national capital region that's in fairfax, virginia. he was sent down this past thursday in anticipation of harvey to assist with fundraising teams. now, he showed us the national guard trucks that will bring volunteers to the shelters at the american red cross has set up. he also showed us other trucks that will bring supplies and explained to us the difficulty of harvey not just in and of itself, but the fact that there are people in this region that are still recovering from other weather-related incidents at this time and then being hit by harvey in addition to it. take a listen. it's very serious and these people going to be struggling for a long time. i talked to some local people who said they still lad nt quite recovered from the april 15 tax day storm and flood last year and now their house is flooded again. it's a very serious situation. reporting live at the merp red american red cross flt headquarters. ron ronica cleary. >> the tr

>> reporter: about 2,500 people taking shelter in downtown houston at the convention center. i'm just on the other side of town by buffalo bayou, john. you heard first responders and city leaders talking about how water from that reservoir just west of us is getting released. well, that water is going to be coming down buffalo bayou, what you see behind me. now, here is the incredible, amazing thing about how water flows and how water rises and recedes and how quickly here in the city of houston. just yesterday i would have been completely submerged underwater if i were standing at this exact location, because this entire area, all the way to the street, was completely submerged in water, and right now you can see, this buffalo bayou is a raging river. it's way over its banks. but it is flowing in the right direction, john. in the way it's supposed to flow, towards the gulf of mexico. of course, the flow of this bayou, hope for people, the rain that's falling, not so much. because like you mentioned. we're expecting another 15 to 20 inches of rain. the ground is completely sa

back in downtown houston, still dazed, but at least they're dry. people of this city do now have a chance to take stock and they know there are struggles ahead. make some room. thank you, guys. rodman young is now homeless in his own city after his house was flooded when two reservoirs spilt over. it's sad. it is sad and you feel a little bit hopeless because you're losing all your stuff and they only gave us, from the point we woke up, a couple of hours‘ sleep and we were fighting the waters at our house. here people formed a chain to help an elderly man trapped in his car. the human touch that has brought people together plain to see. as it moves across the southern united states the wake of this storm is widening and so is the damage. the bleak legacy of hurricane harvey will be felt for years to come. james cook, bbc news, houston. president trump has said talking is not the answer to the north korea missile crisis. pyongyang warned yesterday's missile test overjapan was the first step of military operations in the pacific. despite the presiden

here's a submerged car in downtown houston. no escaping it. we just got this in. the last hour. i want to show you what the this will be. all time houston. these are texas time, central time. this is about 7:00 p.m. on thursday. this will take us through the radar loop. now getting into early morning hours of friday. this is friday at noon. you can see the circulation here. and then the storm coming ashore. you'll see it come up here. i touched on the spot there. there we go. this is just about 8:00 p.m. on friday. and on shore comes the storm. there's a high pressure center here and over here. the storm mostly on land now. this is early yesterday morning. about midnight now texas time. you can see it's largely over land. watch it move back towards the gulf of mexico. you can see the center of circulation. here we are coming up on noon, the next image will be noon central time today. there it is. largely the circulation has made its way offshore. the thinking is this storm will make its way back out to sea and then come back ashore tomorrow, into tomorrow night. no stronger. stil

nora is outside of the convention center in downtown houston. od morning to you. this catastrophic situation is only going to get worse. we just heard from houston's mayor and fire chief, the fire department has handled more than 5,500 calls they say in just the last 24 hours. think about that. officials are still trying to get 185 critical rescue requests and people should stay on the line they say when they call 911. the mayor says the fire department has rescued nearly 300 people since midnight last night and the national weather service says this is beyond anything it has ever experienced. now the head of fema said this morning as well that houston area will probably get another 13 to 20 inches of rain. that's in the next several days. i just don't know where that water is going to go. the flooding is going to max out on wednesday and thursday they say and then they say will finally start to recede but very slowly. the fema administrator also predicts that more than 30,000 people are going to need temporary shelter. now last night we visited

those dams break, and all the water in those reservoirs which are at full capacity go in to downtown houstonpoint, guys? >> what about the people in your neighborhood where you are when they are saying we are going to protect downtown but we are going to flood your neighborhood even more. how do they feel about it? rightfully so they feel frightened and sacrificed for the greater good and i'm sure because of the spirit and tremendous heart of the folks in houston, they would be willing to accept that tough decision. but, they don't have a lot of options to move around. you have seen how difficult moving is in many respects the city is paralyzed. we have trouble getting through. i can't go down the road that i wanted to go because i was going to actually get a little closer to the reservoirs where that water is. people come out and grab their belongings and get in their car. that is exactly what they have warned people to not do for the last three days don't drive. stay put. people have to make tough decisions. the evacuations that you are hearing about, many of the mandatory ones are a littl

that is right down the middle of downtown houston. alleviate that, there is the potential of having, god forbid, the dam breaking and then you have half of houston, you know, that could be under water. it was not a good -- there's no easy decision when it comes to that. they are putting those homes near that dam in risk of immediate flooding but for the greater good based on this dire situation. >> philip, thank you for your coverage. we much appreciate it. we just learned by the way that the first lady will travel to texas with the president tomorrow. that information coming from her communication's director who just tweeted it out. >>> we'll be right back with the economic impact of all this. so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there? he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why? because he's gary. (phone ringing) what? keep going! yeah... (laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of w

is going over the dam what does that mean for downtown houston. >> reporter: it is not the worst caseecap our viewers they have a system of levees and by yous to get the water away. they are half a foot from slowing down. what would be catastrophic and change this story would be if that levy gave or if the dam gave and you are talking about millions of gallons of water flooding and at that point it would be a situation everyone in this area would have to seek refuge immediately. you are talking about neighborhoods that will face months and years of devastation. of those dams give we are in a real crisis was officials not saying that but monitoring local radio, the fact that the harris county flood control is on the radio saying they are half a foot away, people in the immediate area are going to face a significant impact because they don't know, they have an uncontrolled water situation and may have to stop the release because the water going back into the reservoir. >> we will go to janice. how much more rain could they get today? >> they could get another 6 inches, another half a fo

>> we're in the historic part of downtown houston. brian, earlier today we were doing our live shots from that intersection where you see the red traffic light. right now you can see it's completely sub mermerged in wat. we were next to the railing next to this building that has the spaghetti warehouse. as you can see now it's a raging river. moving towards the gulf of mexico at a good clip. i want to pan over a little bit so you can see how this water is testing the infrastructure. take a look at the cracks that are on the side of the building. it appears to be buckling. we have been monitoring this for the past hour or so. it hasn't opened much wider than it is right now, as you see it. initially, we could definitely see those gaps widening. what you are looking at right now is actually a parking lot underneath all of this water. it's a hill that rolls down to the banks of buffalo bayou. right now all you see is a raging river. yesterday, brian, we were actually doing live shots at the bottom of those trees. now i can only show you

i want to go west of downtown houston. the river there is rising. we heard chad myers touch on this. the sheriff of the county joins me now by phone. sheriff, thanks for coming on. several neighborhoods in your county are under mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders. what is the situation. >> caller: that is correct. we have had an enormous amount of rain. we have evacuated more than 5,000 people from their homes. for the next 24-48 hours, even 72 hours, we are extremely concerned about these water ways running through the county, exceeding their banks, then even further, exceeding the levees protecting the neighborhoods. >> i know, sheriff, you, yourself, have helped to carry some of these residents to higher ground. tell us what you have been seeing. >> caller: i have access to an airboat. i have been on it the last 24 hours just removing people from their homes that are asking to be rescued. it's a daunting task. something about ft. bend county and texans, we are all working together. we have had individuals coming from freeport and rockport a

that is more than what downtown houston got with those storms. that's why we're hearing about all that bad stuff. when the sheriff deputies and the police officer was telling us about how many other deputies and sheriff have water in their homes. i think the concentration of houses that are flooded will be much greater when we get the pictures in of beaumont and port arthur. harris county which is all the greater houston area. they estimated 20%, 5% of the homes got water in them. i think it's 50%, 70% in areas when we get those images in. show you some of the other maps. track where we are with those storms. the storm total went from the houston area to beaumont. we continue to update these numbers and, of course, we had that one spot that was about 51 inches. just to keep it in perspective. 21 trillion gallons that's how much they estimate fell in the greater area and that's the volume of water over niagara falls in one year. have you ever been to niagara falls and how much water is flowing over that. that is an incredible amount of water that

would estimate about half of l the people in my congressional district, which stretches from downtown houston to the suburbs are flooded and many of them have left their homes. never have had this type of disaster in the houston area. i grew up here. i went through hurricane carla a in 61. the amount of people and homes and property affected is hard to grasp. it is massive. the houston area is very spread out and the entire area and parts are affected by the constant rain and flooding. houston is flat. all the water in houston has to flow southeast out of the bios and river and gulf of mexico and that is not happening because of the terrain, more water is coming in, flooding is coming from up river, so to speak, that's how we see the flood waters rising. and the rain we think will stop probably tomorrow. >>> o'brien: what are constituents telling you you ou >> many are being rescued and they need a place to go, they're being evacuated first george r brown convention center, but if there's over 10,000 people there and so they're being put in other red cross shelters still on dry land throughou

this comparison by the "new york times" shows how deep the water is just west of downtown houston. on the left is a normal day, and on the right is the flooding now. flooding will only worsen in the coming days, forecasters say. about 25 inches more rain could fall in addition to about 25 inches that has already come down. more than 6,000 victims have already been evacuated to centers in houston and friendswood, and authorities are bracing for that to reach up to 30,000 as flooding worsens under the continuing rain. >> we're going to have to leave because it's just too much water. >> reporter: overnight authorities made an excruciating choice, intentionally releasing water from two dams in west houston because they're so full. >> if they don't do it, they hold back the water and it builds up, then it will go around addicks and the situation would be exponentially worse. >> reporter: but that means even more floodwaters will hit residents down strestream. residents downstream force tod evacuate even though it hasn't hit their homes. yet. we're showing you live pictures of folks who

they protect the downtown city of houston. we lost the gauge on that and that was only 4 feet away from overtopping. if it hasn't already, it will shortly and that will overtop and have new areas that are flooded that hadn't been flooded up to this point. we're waiting to hear reports off barker too. getting pictures off the adddicks reservoir. no end in sight. >> bill, stand by. i want to go back to gabe. these boats keep on coming in with more people. gabe, a moment ago you were helping people find out where they needed to go. >> reporter: yeah, unfortunately it was a younger child that we didn't realize was a child at the time and asked him and separated from his parents and got him in touch with police officers right here. that's why we had to go off the air and make sure he's okay. he's on dry land, has a phone and able to contact his parents. just right now talking to the police officers just off camera here. wow and behind me another scene unfolding here with what appears to be a family with their pets. and again, young

again, so long that he's not, you know, he's not in downtown houston. he's not in northwest houston. he's in the places that have born the brunt of this already and are in clean-up mode now. >> garrett haake in the briefing room at the white house for us. thank you very much. >>> want to see if we can bring back the live picture of houston where we expect the mayor to come out and give an update on what's happening there. you have been seeing the images from houston on msnbc. dramatic photos. people getting rescued even today. philip is there live in houston for us. philip, you are from this area. this is a place that you know. you've seen these kinds of storms, nothing like this, but at least flooding in the past. can you put this in context based on your personal experience? >> well, yeah, i lived here for several years and this is the most devastating flood out of all the ones that i've seen in recent years. i wasn't here in 2001 for allison, which to this point, had been the benchmark for the worst storm that this area had seen. but in terms of total

this is a major intersection in the downtown of houston, it's submerged in water. you can see that some vehicles are in water. all the people in submerged vehicles in this area have been rescued. you can see there's another vehicle to my left. the water is high, it's difficult to show you here, and keep at a safe distance. that individual was rescued as well, and is safe. and this building to my left is the harris county criminal courthouse between five and ten people were rescued from this building earlier because the water started rising inside the building. i talked to one gentleman who was inside, rescued by four first responders who said that he had an injury, separate, not related to this tropical storm or hurricane. but he wrapped his leg in a plastic bag, four first responders lifted him above the water to make sure that he was lifted to safety. and he said that the water rose so quickly that they had to be evacuated. >> evacuated from a courthouse in downtown houston. it's difficult to fathom how much water is here. beyond those vehicles, that you see at t

flooding in downtown houston.oom in on what we are using as a flood gate here, you see the fire hydrant. it has dropped 6-inches or so, the rain keeps coming and expectation that the water level is going to continue to rise and certainly state officials and including governor are bracing for what they still have to go through here. >> we are measuring not in inches but in feet, we prepared to deal with that in multiple ways, we sending boats and helicopters and that will be not just in houston, harris county area, the raid all across east texas where you can see the heavy flooding. >> governor also mobilizing the national guard to assist with this effort, preparing, of course, for the arrival of president trump tomorrow trying to arrange that in such a way that it doesn't divert too many resources, in the meantime fema has a massive response to this storm. >> this is a storm that the united states has not seen yet. it started with a category 4 inundation with storm surge and now bleeding into a multiple inland thr

streets in downtown houston have been turned into rivers. mark strassmann is there now. mark, how do things look now? >> well, the rain just picked up again, elaine, in the last ten minutes, really started coming down hard. standing on i 45 again. this is for folks who don't know, i 45 goes will you the city, nobody can go through past because of the water. people have been walking. they were at th the mayweather fight at a friend's house last night. >> we have been walking an hour. >> reporter: what are you trying to do? >> to get to a place on the other side of this because my dog is there. >> reporter: you're worried about the dog. >> water got to the first floor of the apartment flex. we want to get to him. we didn't mean to leave him. we didn't think i would get this bad. >> reporter: so you walked how long, about four miles? >> yeah, through u. of h.'s campus and hopped on 45 and walked down. >> have you seen some unusual things? >> a bunch of cars coming down and tfrning around, but, i mean, i kind of knew this was a low spot and we could kind of hop off and make

now the water is flowing downstream, one of the main arteries into downtown houston.s rising at the rate of a foot an hour. we saw hundreds of water rescues throughout this area. people plucked from their room to tops, from their homes, desperately seeking help. as you mentioned the death toll from this storm stands at at least two. now this is just a massive rainmaker hovering over southeast texas and dumping historic amounts of rainfall. there are some areas that expect, get this, more than 55 inches of rain. a calamity that is just unfolding at this point. back to you. >> it's almost hard to believe. a live report there. harvey is the first big natural disaster for the trump administration. this morning trying to figure out how to keep money and resources flowing into texas. tracie potts joins us live with that part of the story. good morning, tracey. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. my colleague gabe was talking about people being plucked from their rooftops. who is doing all that, supporting that work? the federal government. and now president trump is headin

you can see how downtown houston looked back in april. fast forward and look at the record flood iing in the same exact area on the right of your screen. water everywhere. that was from just two days ago. you can see the difference in just one month in this picture. also in and around the downtown houston area. here's what we know. harvey has dumped more than 40 inches of rain in parts of houston. police have rescued 35,000 people. president trump travelled to texas to check the damage there. >> delaware first responders have not gotten the call to help victims in texas, but john carney says they are ready when and if the phone rings. >> our emergency response people are waiting to deal with what they need in texas and assist with whatever resource thas need. >> the governor said it is heartbreaking to seat number of people who have been displaced by harvey. remember you can help people impacted by harvey. nbc 10 will host a hurricane relief drive on thursday. from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. you'll be able to call, text and log on to donate m

water away from the city, away from downtown down to the southwest part of the houston ship channel. you have a dire situation of the immediate subdivision surrounding these reservoirs and dams as well as a new threat that has already besieged downtown houston. >> shepard: thanks very much, we will come back to you. we are waiting for the president now, governor abbott of texas has just walked into the room, as are a number of local officials. there is the president of the united states, president trump. at a firehouse of corpus christi, he didn't want to go to the center of the evacuation zones where the water rescues are taking place. he wanted to be in a place where he can assess the damage, talk to the locals, senators are there. local representatives, let's hear from the president as he addresses the folks at the fire station. >> i want to welcome the president of the united states. i want to express my gratitude for our fellow texans, especially the people giving the president such a warm welcome on his right over here, during she gratitude we all have. i want to express my dee