and we'll begin with anchor david muir in elmsford, new york, with the latest on the dangerous floods irene left behind. david, good evening. >> reporter: diane, good evening. we're north of new york city tonight and you can see in this town here, they are entirely under water. all of these families were rescued today by boat. this, as another picture of devastation emerges even further north from here in upstate new york. tonight, the dramatic pictures coming in from upstate new york in the town of windham. the fire chief there says the town center is, quote, wiped out. completely under water after ten inches of rain. this school bus, submerged. the waters there slamming up against this bridge. as irene barrelled toward so many major cities overnight, philadelphia, new york and boston, no one quite knew what the hurricane would bring. but irene would prove deadly. more than a dozen deaths across eight states tonight. and power is out for those 4 million. but we would all learn very quickly it was not the skyscrapers, not the subways. they survived it. at daybreak, it was the cities a

let's get to the police in elmsford. i don't know who you are, sir, thanks for coming on. how are those folks and tell me about the rescue. tv is fun sometimes, isn't it 1234 they will not let me have it. maybe we broke the rules about checking people in. long branch, new jersey, fox 5 new york. listen: >> reporter:... how the water is coming up to the piers and even under the pier. it took out the railing. just to my left, camera left there. and it was really rocking the pier and the boardwalk as well. and, again that is why i was holding on along with the wind. and, the swell, you know, the storm surge, we have talked all about that, has been the biggest concern and we're hearing of flooding, just talking to a gentleman a while ago who mentioned the side streets over here and we haven't had a chance to head over there. but, some of the side streets are dealing with a little too terrible now. there was damage, i don't know if we have the video from earlier, though, of the apartment complex, that had the roof torn off. and, also a tree went down, taking out power lines and

rescue crews used boats in elmsford, new york, sunday morning to ferry people to safety.rsey water inundated a marina. >> we're talking about not only coastline flooding, but also inland flooding of our rivers swelling to record levels. so that's going to continue for another couple of days after the storm passes. >> farther south, ocean city, maryland, reported no major flooding but still plenty of water. at least 11 inches of rain by early sunday. elsewhere in the state, a woman in queenstown died saturday night, crushed by the chimney in her home after a tree fell on her. a nuclear power reactor in calvert cliffs went offline automatically late saturday after a piece of alum lum numb siding struck a transformer. power was a big problem everywhere the storm spread. more than 3 million utility customers spent some part of the weekend in the dark. >> we're trying to obviously help people manage their expectations by getting that information over to utility companies and helping in any way we can to prioritize to critical infrastructure to get power restored to those commu

in elmsford they had to save half a dozen people from homes. one man said he thought it was prepared and he had been there 30 years and never seen anything like this. >> i have pumps and they are working but it was not enough. >> shep: not enough. the owners of this sailboat were trying to make it to maryland to the coast of virginia. rescuers had to pull pull two people and cat when the boat got stuck. now in fair haven massachusetts got quite a workout. this couple trying to make it to their home. new england is where irene landed after leaving new york. now that it's gone from the big apple. the mayor announced he is lifting evacuation orders for people in low-lying areas. in fact that just happened. but some are going to come back to pretty unpleasant sights. this owner of this car picked an unfortunate place to park in soho which is in lower manhattan. one all the flooding and damage, a lot of folks took the storm in stride. across the east river in the burrough of queens, this guy decided it would be a good time to take his dog out for a

for instance, let's show you some pictures we have from elmsford, new york, in westchester county, and you get a sense while people are certainly enjoying the aftermath now, there was some serious business earlier today, a rescue being performed of some information out there in westchester county in elms ford. the big concern at this point is not-- has nothing to do with the winds and the rapes. it has to do with the potential for flooding, especially in the low-lying areas of manhattan. battery park, the south street seaport, place where's mayor bloomberg ordered the evacuation of 370,000 people, not only of whom followed the orders, of course. but those are the area where's people are going to want to take a look and see what's going to happen with the potential for flooding. we're getting news, as you reported, that the financial markets will be open for business tomorrow. but the big concern this the wall street area is, you know, salt water and electricity are not a good mix. and while there is an extensive network of underground pumps and a seawall protecting lower manhattan, unt

. >> reporter: in elmsford, new york, we were taken to a place where the water is still rising. >> we've of houses right here. >> reporter: it's deja v vu for teresa pfeiffer. more than a decade ago her home flooded after floyd. she razed her entire home five feet, but it still wasn't enough. that's her mailbox right there, number 6, now barely visible. >> this is all within the last few hours. and the water's still rising. >> reporter: and in long beach, new york, they'll have to rebuild this building carried away while back in this new jersey neighborhood where the water levels are rising, neighbors waited behind police tape to check on friends and family. david muirirabc news. >>> travelers may face frustration along the east coast. new york city buses and subways will run early this morning about 6:00 a.m., but the regional train service is still suspended and amtrak is now canceling trains from new york all the way down to florida. flights are resuming in boston and in all three of the major airports here in the new york city area. but thousands -- but since thousands of flights wer

here in elmsford, new york people doing heroic efforts to rescuing people.t likely continuing this morning. of course, the rain still falling last night when daylight was going away and then power going out. and so they have had a re rough night and this morning things are going to be very scary for people. >> rick, even though the rain for the most part is stopping across the northeast, that doesn't mean the flooding is stopping. some of these rivers threaten the new york city area and connecticut and new jersey have not yet crested. >> rick: they haven't. and they are going to crest within the next day or so and in some cases stay at that high level for a day or two. many cases we get a lot of flooding in the northeast in these rivers, especially with the spring that you, but, in this case, we are going to be seeing rivers at highest ever levels. higher than they have ever seen from this storm. >> steve: rick reichmuth live from the shore in new york. we thank you very much. we will be checking with him all morning long. >> brian: chris christie, the gover

this video shows the rescue crews in the boats, trying to help these people in a home in elmsford get to safety. they had to be rescued by boat when the floodwaters came rushing in. also this, irene's storm surge sent a life guard station tumbling. there it goes, along the waters. this is off the long beach in new york. it's -- we're told a small building but the forgs of the water there, you see it lifting off the foundation, pinning it against the boardwalk. also a boat off the coast of the atlantic islands in new jersey, not faring so well in the storm. irene's floodwaters caused it to sink. of course, we have reporters all along the storm zone to bring you the latest. gary tuckman in newport rhode island and soledad o'brien is in new york city. the evacuation orders for parts of new york was actually lifted minutes ago, hundreds of thousands of people left for higher ground ahead of irene but today the storm pushed the rivers on either side of manhattan over their banks and into the streets but good news now, a lot of water receded but just a little bit of wind they are still expe

we are getting reports from elmsford, new york, just up the river. and we have video of people getting rescued from boats. multiple rescues. and it's an area that floods when that there are storms and there is a lot of rain inland. and flooding in philly. now this is cobbs creek area, philadelphia, which often floods when they get rain. but half a million people are without power. the storm has passed them just as it passed us. and they are going to try to reopen their subways. i want to get get more information. they have been trying to get the damage assessment and about 700 trees like the one behind me uprooted because of the storms. it is fierce. >> one of the reasons that flooding is a concern because of rain earlier in the month. explain that. >> reporter: absolutely. this has been a very wet august. it wasn't too long ago, there were many communities reporting a weekend of 11 inches of rain. and normally, in august, we see about four inches for the month. a lot of folks running well above normal and add to that what we have gotten today. and m

elmsford, new york.ing there and crews rescuing half a dozen residents from rising waters. i believe that was two young ladies who got off the boat with their back packs in store and they were brought to safety. the house, big questions about how much water is in the basement and it will take some time to dry that out. seeing those scenes up and down the hudson river valley. also expect when the rain starts coming off the mountains and hills around the area the water is only going to go one place and that is up and it will go higher. >> and takes a long time to get the water out of the basement and dry the house out and leaves permanent damage in many cases. that is a tough part of the story and irene of course has caused a lot of headaches for travelers in the northeast and many other parts of the country. passengers waiting it out at boston's logan airport as irene passes through there and all the way across the country in california passengers are stranded in san francisco by flight cancellations. tra

in suburban new york city, the town of elmsford, a number of families had to be rescued after the sawmiller its banks and in the catskill mountain town, seven families who thought they escaped irene's wrath are trapped there after floodwaters washed away bridges, blocking their escape. let's head to rob marciano, hear the governor of vermont, you have to admire his spirit because he says okay, we'll get out of this, but no rain expected there today because i don't think the governor wants any more of that. >> you saw the sun actually shining on the state today. it is green because of rainfall and other things. the green mountain state is going to get more flooding, but the rivers will begin to recede as early as now through this afternoon and because of topography is so rough there, because the mountains are so steep and valleys so deep, you get the flooding the last and quickly, but you also get the recession of those rivers a little quickly as well. meanwhile, places farther south in jersey, you're going to see crests more like later today and tomorrow and places like north carolina wil