we have it covered tonight from two of the towns affected there, starting with nbc's miguel almaguer. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. late-breaking news out west tonight. the sheriff's department confirms more bodies have been discovered in the search zone. the official death toll was at 14. that number will rise. some 172 are unaccounted for. late tonight in this wet and dangerous weather, the search upstream does go on. today in what is left of the town of oso, the search continues after more bodies were discovered and 911 calls reveal terror just after the earth gave way. >> it's like a mudslide. everything's gone. the houses are gone. i got people here screaming for help. >> my neighbor's house and their neighbor's house has been completely taken out. and it's collapsed on several of them and they're trapped. >> reporter: search teams are now trying to pinpoint the missing by tracking their cell phone. in the confusion over who has vanished, a virtual bulletin board posts names, faces and stories. >> i'm not just an emergency management director, i'm a dad,

>> miguel almaguer with the coverage from washington state tonight. miguel, thank you. >>> horrible news out of boston tonight where firefighters had to deal with a huge fire late today. it consumed all five floors of a row house in the back bay area. went to nine alarms eventually. the fire was fed by winds upwards of 45 to 50 miles an hour. sadly we've learned tonight two boston firefighters have died in this fire. at the height of the flames and faced with an internal collapse, incident commanders can be heard ordering all firefighters out of the structure, but it was apparently too late. at this hour a total of 18 people have been transported to hospitals in boston from this one fire. all of them first responders. >>> the news now many of us woke up to from the other side of the world today. a french satellite had spotted over 120 pieces of debris in the water in the southern indian ocean. understanding that any big wreckage is likely three miles down and in the dark and anything on the surface could have already drifted hundreds of miles, still se

nbc's miguel almaguer remains east of l.a. for us tonight, miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the concern here in the city of azusa is mudslides. authorities tell us now the area is stable. take a look at how deep the mud is, four feet in some areas. that basketball rim ten feet high. the concern is all of this mud which authorities fear over the next 48 hours could slide right down hill. the strongest storm in three years hammering the west coast. this is what an inch of rain every hour can do. streets are flooding, creeks turned into raging rivers, threatening homes. strong winds knocked down trees and power lines. >> if you choose to not heed those mandatory evacuations, you must understand something. that as long as the mud is flowing, the fire department personnel cannot get to you. >> reporter: in the foothills east of los angeles, the mud is sliding more than a thousand homes have been evacuated. ed highline is losing the battle to save his home. this is what his back yard looked like yesterday. here

nbc's miguel almaguer remain there's for us tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. the official death toll remains at 17, but rescue officials tell us it will certainly climb dramatically. tonight 90 people are missing as hope fades. boots in the mud. it's thick and waist-deep. more than 200 search in slow and dangerous conditions. it could take five months to scour this debris field. >> the rain and weather is basically working against us. >> reporter: fresh crews are headed in to relieve teams who are exhausted. even the search dogs are tired. >> they come into waist deep and mud that they have been going through. they have been digging through stuff. they've seen things that people shouldn't have to see. >> reporter: with so many still missing, there is fear tonight this could become one of the deadliest mudslides in u.s. history. rescue crews are focusing their efforts on steelhead drive, where amanda lennock, a young nurse, had just bought her home. she spent saturday working on repairs with bill welsh, a v

nbc's miguel almaguer has our report. >> all right, are you guys ready? >> reporter: shoving off from the port of long beach, professor steve manley leads the expedition. just beyond the breakwall, the marine biologist spots what he is looking for. >> all of this, all of this, that one right up there. >> reporter: could this kelp forest be contaminated with radiation from fukushima? collecting their first samples, researchers from kelp watch 2014. >> kelp watch is a scientific campaign designed to use our local kelp beds as detectors of radioactive materials that are coming over from fukushima. >> reporter: tsunami debris began washing ashore on the west coast two years ago, the leading edge of waste littering the beaches of hawaii and hitting the coast of oregon. >> kelp is a natural filter? >> it's a very good natural filter. >> reporter: if radiation is discovered here, it could be measured in kelp. but will it pose a public health threat? >> people, when they don't have information they start to make up their own information. and there was a lot of fe

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> in moscow today, just like that, vladimir putin signed a document and made it official and now tonight crimea belongs to russia. even though the u.s. is calling this a land grab, there's nothing anyone can do about it, and the majority of local opinion seems to support it. and for the two leaders here, putin and obama of the u.s., they now seem to be assuming public roles we haven't seen since the cold war. we get our report tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. >> reporter: vladimir putin today emotional, strident, delivering his version of russian history to a cheering kremlin crowd. accusing the u.s. of breaking promises. expanding nato to russia's borders. cheating over and over. and in red square, declares that crimea is finally heading home to russia. while putin's deputies ridiculed the u.s. sanctions in tweet's addressed to comrade barack obama, when in crimea's capital, the exchange turned deadly. gunmen dressed in russian military uniforms stormed a base, killing a ukrainian soldier, the first known

miguel almaguer, nbc news los angeles. >>> and when we come back, just eight days until spring. another big hit in this brutal winter for millions of people. move tonight from the midwest to the northeast, blizzard-like whiteout conditions making for treacherous travel for millions of people. authorities say weather is to blame for this deadly 50-vehicle pile-up involving tractor-trailers on the ohio turnpike. two people were killed and rescue workers are still trying to reach people who may be trapped. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is in upstate new york, right in the thick of of the storm. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, ann, heavy snow, whipping winds and whiteout conditions, we're certainly getting the worst of the storm here in western new york state. and although they did get more snow in chicago and detroit, they didn't get the blizzards we have been stuck in the middle of since mid morning here in rochester. these winds over 50 miles an hour, that combined with a foot of snow in some spots led to three-foot drifts. tonight temperatures tumble h

nbc's miguel almaguer is near oso, washington, 55 miles outside seattle. miguel, what's the latest? >> reporter: lester, good evening. the road behind me leads to oso, the road behind me leads to oso, the small community demolished by mudslides. while some residents are being allowed into the area, responders are searching the mountainside for survivors and victims who may still be trapped in the mud. the wave of mud tore through everything in its path. the torrent of rocks and trees swept across homes and washed out roads. >> this is a major slide here. there's houses on to -- down into the main road. >> reporter: tonight, two neighborhoods are obliterated. at least four are dead, 18 missing. it hit without warning, no time to run. >> i was coming down the hill. i just saw the darkness, like somebody wants to grab you from the -- and everything was gone. like three seconds. >> reporter: witnesses and rescue teams could hear pleas for help. >> we're hearing cries, possibly a child. >> reporter: using helicopters, rescue teams pulled a 6-month-old baby and seven other survivors from

miguel almaguer, nbc news, long beach, california. >> strange day.ob is here to talk to us about summer-like feeling and rain on the way. >> temperatures in the 80s around the south bay. partly cloudy skies and 79 degrees and a late day sea breeze starting to cool things off around the santa clara valley. san francisco 68 degrees. looking at mostly sunny skies and you can all see the cloud there lurking over the top. 68 degrees in san francisco and during the day we had kind of a southerly flow with our wind which has helped to bring in some of the humidity outside and you can see the wind that's typical summer and late day sea breeze moving through the bay area. a completely different kind of weather pattern. one to two inches of rain and this bullseye of rain has been about 200 miles to the north to really impact us in the bay area. we do have a lot of cloud cover and eventually the rain-producing clouds will start to dip to the stuff and the forecast here as we went through the next few hours, it does look like the monday morning commute you'll be

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> that boy is safe and okay. >>> we want to update the crisis in the ukraine now. u.s. lawmakers will get a firsthand look at the revolution on the ground. senator john mccain leading a bipartisan delegation of eight senators to kiev. the trip comes as a senate foreign relations committee approves strict sanctions on russia aimed at putting economic pressure on the country for intervention in ukraine. on wednesday, the new prime minister met with president obama at the white house. the president expressed his unequivocal support for the new government. ukraine's crimea peninsula votes sunday on a referendum to secede from the crew jaukraine and joi russia. >>> here at home, a late winter storm tore through the midwest, northeast wednesday night. heavy snow causing a deadly pileup on the ohio turnpike. at least 50 vehicles were involved. three people died with traffic and snowy roads, emergency workers struggled to reach motorists who had to sit and wait in their cars for hours. and, of course, nbc meteorologist bill karins has been dealing with

miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: lester, good evening, much of the day here we saw steady rain, and anything but ideal conditions for search teams, today there is real concern for their safety as they push on. >> please join us in a moment of silence. >> reporter: at 10:37 a.m., one week to the day that much of the area buried oso, search teams paused to remember the victims and those they have yet to find. in small towns not far from this tight-knit community, heartbreak and tears. >> it will take a long time to heal. >> reporter: tonight, the official death toll stands as 17, while more bodies have been found but not identified. 90 people are still missing. every day search teams make more grim discoveries. >> you say crews are identifying bodies in the field, do you expect your victim total to rise over the next several days? >> it is a very, very slow process, it was miserable to begin with, and as you all know it has rained heavily the last few days. it has made the quick sand even worse. >> reporter: this is what it looks like for the crews on the ground, a world was

. >> i'm miguel almaguer over oso. on this clear day, we have a perfect perspective of the damage. one square mile of debris to 500 football fields worth of destruction. it just goes on and on. at least two communities, both over 100 years old, were demolished by the mudslide. dozens of homes are damaged or destroyed. we believe this is steelhead drive, the street, the community that took the brunt of the damage. this is the area where first responders heard cries for help for 12 hours. they just couldn't reach everybody. this isn't the first time this mountain has given way. eight years ago it buckled in the exact same place just not up at this scale. folks who lived here never thought they would see something like that. shortly after the mudslide, crews were worried about this river. the mud was blocking the flow and they were worried about catastrophic flooding down stream. those concerns have now eased. crews in the air and on the ground have been spending hours looking for victims. but their job is dangerous. there is concern another mudslide could be triggered. so they're bei

nbc's miguel almaguer has our report. >> reporter: at 6:25 a.m., the violent jolt shook shelves and rattled. >> it was pretty scary. i was frightened. in fact, i was shaking. >> reporter: at convenience stores not far from the epicenter in encino, a scramble to safety. >> i think this one just like rattled me because it woke me up. >> whoa! >> earthquake. >> big earthquake right now. >> reporter: the 4.4 earthquake struck during the morning rush. >> thank you, coming up more problems for a -- >> earthquake. we're having an earthquake. >> reporter: many feared this could be the big one. >> it appears to have stopped. we're going to -- >> reporter: millions felt the shaking up to 40 miles away. there was no significant damage. at cal tech, the earthquake early warning system, a work in progress, was triggered 2 seconds before the tremblor. >> this earthquake was the biggest that we've had in the l.a. area in five years. >> reporter: dr. lucy jones, a seismologist with the u.s. geological survey, says this is a wakeup call. >> we'd really like to use this as a time to remind people, you decide

. >> nbc's miguel almaguer is live for us in washington, a few miles from where the mudslide occurred. miguel, for those of us on the east coast who may not understand the severity of a mudslide, how does something like this happen where you get 176 reports of possible missing persons? >> reporter: luke, there's been a lot of confusion and chaos up at the search site. rescue teams have not been able to get in there immediately after the first two days of this slide. there is confusion about who is missing now. this area was evacuated shortly after the slide. many people have not been able to get in contact with loved ones. that may be some of the reasons behind the confusion, folks calling family members -- family members looking for people who may actually be safe, but who are not in danger immediately. that's why those numbers may be a little high. on the flip side, as you mentioned, the number of dead is 14. there's a big concern that that number will rise over the next several days. there is concern that some of those victims may be trapped under feet of debris and mud. so, they'r

miguel almaguer is standing by to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is the l.a. river behind me. just on thursday there was no water and it was fairly dry. today it is several feet high. it's a good example of how quickly the water level has risen here in california. we have our strongest storm over the last three years, over the last two days. we had over an inch an hour. there's too much rain for california. you know we're in an extreme drought here but we were not prepared for a storm of this magnitude and this size t. storm triggered several warnings, flash flooding as well as mud slide warnings in the neighborhood 30 miles outside of los angeles, they had to issue mandatory evacuations for about 1,000 homes on the bottom of a mountainside burned by the colby fire in january. it's a sticky situation because all of the loose mud and debris could slide into the backyards of homes. yesterday we could see that beginning to happen. there were water rescues all across the region, up and down the state. there were back ups on freeways that lasted fo

nbc's miguel almaguer is there again for us tonight. miguel? >> reporter: lester, the number of missing dropped from 90 to 30. the official death toll is 18. though they've found another body, yet to be identified. the rescue mission is under way as the heartache sets in. in a community where faith has been tested -- >> this week is hard to put into words. >> reporter: -- tonight, there is comfort no one here is alone. it seems most of oso has reached out to natasha houstis. >> people brought brand new clothes. >> reporter: the 26-year-old lost her mother, christina, her daughter, sonoa, and everything she owned. >> people see a mudslide and they see all the aerial photographs, but they don't see the people who lived in there. >> reporter: memories and pictures pulled from the mud are all natasha has left. keepsakes like her baby's bunny. but tonight, she's worried about her best friend, amanda, and her son, baby duke. >> our houses were about 70 feet apart maybe. >> reporter: they are still in the hospital. >> she can't even sleep at night bec

miguel almaguer is live in l.a. for us. some people were probably shaken awake this morning. maybe even you. >> it was certainly a significant jolt. as you mentioned, in the large scale it wasn't a huge earthquake here in los angeles but certainly enough to rattle folks out of bed. 6:25 this morning, about 15 miles from downtown l.a. significant. i was at the gym when the first jolt happened. it was a little bit of a rock and that was followed by a really steady, steady jolt. you are looking at a live picture of l.a.x. no damage in the city. the local fire departments say they are in emergency mode but that there are no problems to report. the folks here say that there are no structural problem grs homes or so significant structural homes for homes or freeways. no damage to report. that's the good news. but they do remind us twheet flif earthqua that we live in earthquake country. and this was one of those significant earthquakes that happened in the middle of a very populated area so it was a strong 4.4. >> nbc's miguel almaguer, thank you for the update. appreciate it. >>>

nbc's miguel almaguer joins us from glendora, california. >> reporter: good evening, these are the mountains that burned by the wildfire last january. the big concern is this will come out of the basin and into this million dollar community down hill. but so far, so good. pounding rain. thunderstorms, dangerous mudslides. 25 miles east of los angeles debris continues to pour into back yards along ridge view drive. just down the road during a lull between storms a race to clear the mud. >> i'm trying to give the water a place to go. >> reporter: that next winter wallop rolled in quickly. tonight, a thousand homes are threatened by the hill side above. >> mandatory evacuations will remain in effect until we have an opportunity to get through the storms and our engineers have an opportunity to get that intel back to us. >> reporter: with nearly a foot of rain falling in some areas, creeks are swollen, roads have flooded. debris is everywhere. steve sheridan and his crew with the l.a. county flood control must keep the mud moving. >> everything you see here being held behind this structure, if t

tonight on "nightly news" miguel almaguer gives us a new perspective on this massive mudslide. a bird's-eye view of the mudslide. >>> our weather is about to dramatically change. you can see the sun is out and it is nice and toasty. enjoy it the rest of the day because a storm is headed our way. we bring in chief meteorologist jeff ranieri who's been tracking this latest round. i know you've been telling us for a week about the potential of this rain. but now that it's here, it's really here. >> great news for us. one of the worst droughts in decades across the bay area. no sign of any storm system at least within the next 250 miles out on that scan, but again, two different storm systems we're tracking right now. it will likely have rainfall totals anywhere from three-quarters of an inch to potentially 2 inches as we head throughout this week. that storm system is approaching, the first one, so i don't want to hold back on the timeline. tuesday and wednesday will be the first round of this wet weather. then a second round by thursday and friday with more areas of rain returnin

miguel almaguer, nbc news, denver, colorado. >>> he's a fugitive living outside of the country, and up next, we are live in austin and as secrets leaker edwin >>> oscar pistorius vomited in a south african courtroom after he heard detalils of his girlfriend's autsy report. >> he says that he shot her and killed her by mistake last year. and now the latest on why the judge ordered a media blackout. >> reporter: hi, from south africa, where the rain is pouring down. and oscar pistorius is as emotional as we have seen him so far in the trial. as he was listening to the graphic testimony this morning from the pathologist who examined reeva steenkamp's body, he threw up in the courtroom, and created such a scene that the judge had to stop the trial to make sure that oscar was okay. the judge has ordered a media blackout, and no audio feed or video feed which we usually get from the pathologist out of respect are from are reeva steenkamp's family, because it is incredibly graphic about the condition of the body post death in the autopsy. we are continuing to watch the developments here in so

nbc's miguel almaguer has the incredible ending. >> a high-speed chase, apparently somebody took a cart. >> reporter: police gave the suspect room, fearing for the safety of a 4-year-old boy inside the stolen car. >> he's getting into at vehicle. >> the chase lasted for over ahn hour. the suspect stole three vehicles. >> it is very dangerous. we're lucky there was a news helicopter following this guy. he wasn't going to stop for anybody. >> veteran koa news reporter johns morrissey has never seen anything like. >> not even thinking about stopping. >> he passed loaded school buses, in traffic, on the wrong way on the interstate. >> he t-biomed a car. >> more than half a dozen cars were hit. >> he's throwing a young lady to the ground. she's fighting him. there's two police officers coming right straight at him. right there. police have their man. >> the suspect is on his stomach. this is over. >> reporter: 28-year-old ryan stone is in custody. that 4-year-old boy clutching a teddy bear is safe back with his family, a wild pursued that played out on wild tv few will forget. miguel aim ma

. >> let's get the latest from miguel almaguer in los angeles. varying reactions to it, but what's the reaction there? >> there have been no reports of any significant damage at l.a.x. or structural problems for homes or most major buildings in our region. that's the good news. the l.a. fire department is on a heightened state of emergency just in case. they are responding to any phone calls they receive. but at this point there's been no significant damage. here in los angeles, the 4.4 earthquake is not something that's totally unusual. we are told this is somewhat of a typical type of earthquake we experience in our region. certainly a shocker to many folks. it happened at 6:25 this morning local time. many people were asleep or in bed at home. and there was a -- certainly a very steady jolt that was felt for several miles at least 40-mile swath of land. rattled many people out of bed. there was no damage but a reminder we live in earthquake country. this is the most significant earthquake we've had in several years nepgood news, no damage, tam

i've got miguel almaguer with an update on the missing. miguel? >> reporter: chuck, good morning.r of missing has dropped dramatically from 90 all the way down to 30. the new death toll is 21. this will be day ten of the search. the governor calls this a rescue mission, not yet a recovery. search teams will be back on -- out on the one-square-mile scouring the debris field for any signs of life, looking for any possible survivors, though there have been none discovered. this town, this community continues to heal and push forward together as day ten of this search is set to begin. chuck? >> thank you, sir. >>> now to yet another search, which, of course, has become a race against time in the southern indian ocean. ten aircraft and ten ships scoured this second of -- of the southern indian ocean today, and in search of any sign of malaysian airlines flight 370 and the 239 people on board. a chinese ship picked up these objects over the weekend, but none of them could be connected to the flight. meantime, the batteries on the flight's black box pinger could die in the next week or s

earlier today nbc news's miguel almaguer assessed this devastation from the air above oso, washingtonbris. 550 football fields worth of destruction. it just goes on and on. demolished by the mudslide. dozens of homes are damaged or destroyed. crews in the air and on the ground have been spending hours looking for victims, but their job is dangerous. there's concern another mudslide could be triggered. so they're being asked to pull back. >> joining me now from seattle, about 50 miles from the site of the mudslide, lieutenant governor of washington brad owen. mr. owen, i just want to clarify this thing about missing people. there can be some duplication there because maybe one or two or three friends of the same person could call up, not knowing that they were all reporting the same person, and that could pump up the number. isn't that why we're unsure of exactly what the number is? >> exactly. it's highly expected that there's many duplicates in that number. we're optimistic that the number's going to go down as we were able to put this all together and figure out who's talking about

miguel almaguer has been covering this since it happened. what's the latest? >> good morning. after learning the death toll has risen to 18 authorities discovered another body and not yet identified it. finally good news here. the number of missing has dropped from 90 to 30. i want to show you what rescue teams have on the ground. they have been searching the debris field for more than a week now. some 400 first responders where these homes used to be looking for signs of any victims for any possible survivors which rescue teams now concede will be nearly impossible. yesterday at 10:37 a.m. a very poignant moment in the search zone. first responders paused for a moment of silence to remember the victims and to remember those that survived this deadly mudslide. it's been a difficult time not just for those first responders but for the volunteers who have also joined them in the debris field. >> this is a very emotional event for a lot of these people. we have family members digging for their loved ones alongside us. >> reporter: it's been difficult for so many people not just i

here's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: air force tech sergeant edward gowdik is used to special missionss never gone under cover quite like this. >> we have four girls, and i like to surprise them. >> reporter: dressed as a high school mascot, the sergeant, back from a six-month deployment in afghanistan, is here to surprise his oldest daughter, bailey, who has no idea dad is finally home. >> i was so surprised. i thought my friends told me to come to lunch and i thought it was like to meet a friend or something. >> it was just wonderful to see that smile on her face. >> reporter: "operation surprise" is just getting started. the sergeant off to a second school just outside salt lake ci city, the back window of his daughter, sidney's class. >> hi. >> dad. i had no clue. i was really surprised. >> had to get your attention. >> yeah. >> reporter: but with four daughters, his work is only half done. the sergeant is front and center at this special assembly. her first hug from her dad in half a year. >> come here. okay. >> reporter: now 10-year-old olivia's turn. her big present, dad inside

miguel almaguer is about 55 miles north of seattle. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. at this hour, the rescue operation is under way, a desperate search for survivors. this mudslide was triggered when the mountain side couldn't take anymore water. first responders did hear voices overnight. they know victims are trapped. they are risking their lives to try and save theirs. it came without warning, a wave of crashing mud, trees and rocks 20 feet high. the fast-moving deadly debris field the size of three football fields. at least three were killed. overnight first responders could hear cries for help. >> we have people that are yelling for our help and we are going to make -- we're going to take extreme risks to try to get them out of there. >> reporter: the wall of mud crashed half a dozen homes. six people are listed in critical or serious condition. there was no time to run. >> i was coming down the hill and i just saw the darkness, like somebody wants to grab you and everything was gone, like three seconds. >> reporter: the mudslide washed overstate route 530. resc

let's get to miguel almaguer. he is on the phone with us. good morning, miguel, what can you tell us? >> miguel? >> do we have miguel? >> apparently we don't. as we said, 4.4 on the scale. we will go back to miguel in a couple of minutes. >>> to a major development for the search for malaysia flight 370. nbc's tom costello has been falling this. following this. >> hi, matt. malaysian investigators say they believe it was the co-pilot on the radio with air traffic controllers saying good night. but it's not clear if that was before or after one of the critical flight data transmitting systems was turned off. the two possible tracks of this plane based on those limited satellite pings suggested the plane either passed over some of the world's most volatile countries with advanced air defense systems or over one of the largest bodies of water on earth with no radar and limited satellite coverage. >> more than ten days since flight 370 disappeared, and the mystery still dominates the world headlines, the last satellite signal received from the pl

nbc's miguel almaguer has been following it all. >> reporter: kristen, good morning. search teams are entering day six of the search. the official death toll stands at 16, though authorities do fear they've discovered another eight bodies. the number of missing is down from 176 to 90. there is still plenty of grief in this community. we spoke to many survivors who say they rode a wave of mud more than 200 yards. folks survived that landslide, but more than anything, there are still many victims left on that body, authorities fear. the national guard as well as local and federal agencies are up on the hillside today scouring the square mile of debris, looking for any sign of any survivors. the search here will continue, but authorities say it would be a miracle if anyone is still alive on that mountain. kristen? >> all right, miguel, thank you for that report. >>> we are also getting a better idea of the sheer size of the landslide. nasa just released these images showing the aftermath. the mudslide covered almost a square mile. it's big enough to change the local map.

>> our top west coast correspondent miguel almaguer, thanks so much. >>> today, tdr-50 rolls into thed of sitting bull, bismarck. north and south dakota. the two states share more than a part of their name. they share history, interest, and near each other politically. the two states used to be one big territory back in the late 1800s. the capital was yankton, but after gold was discovered and the region began to fill up, some northerners wanted a capital closer to them and chose bismarck. instead of settling the dispute, members of the opposing groups went the congress and asked them to split the area in two, which they did. north and south dakota were admitted to the union as the 39th and 40th states on the same day in 1989, twins. although the two states are divided along the 46th parallel, they're pretty united in terms of their politics. both states have voted republican in every presidential election except lbj's landslide in '64. both states have republicans in charge of the governor's office and state legislatures. however, they're not averse to electing a democrat. each state

let's go to nbc's miguel al almagu almaguer, joining me for that. miguel, california has seen it all, even just this year. fires, drought, now floods. >> reporter: yeah, as we were talking to fighters about that yesterday, the weather here has been extreme. hot days, cold days, and now, of course, the very dry days. and, of course, very wet days. behind me is the l.a. river. just a few days ago in the middle of the extreme drought, it was all but dry, now several feet deep. it rises when we get these heavy rains and like so much of this state, the rain water is rising. overnight, another deluge of water. california's strongest storm in three years showing no mercy. >> until the low pressure passes, there is still potential for heavy showers to exist. >> reporter: too much rain for the foothills outside los angeles. a thousand homes evacuated, a danger rising with the water and mud. >> we're evacuating we're on our way out right now. we're packed up, getting in the car, driving off. >> reporter: amanda highland and her father ed got out friday. just a

nbc's miguel almaguer is in arlington. he's got the latest. miguel, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning. while search teams enter day six of their rescue, the number of dead is now at 16. and while authorities do fear they have discovered eight more bodies, the number of missing is going down. with no sign of life in what is left of oso, stories of survival here seem even more incredible. >> we're under the mud and water and i'm sliding and i'm tumbling and it stopped. >> reporter: robin youngblood rode a wave of mud a quarter mile. the 64-year-old can't believe this is what she survived. >> it must have been going 150 miles an hour. i mean, i just had time enough to say "oh, my god," and then we were hit. >> loanna says she's lucky, too. >> it looks like a bulldozer that was dozing down 100 trees at a time. >> reporter: she was home with seven children, a slumber party coming to an end when she called 911. >> houses are gone! >> reporter: everyone made it out safely, but what happened here is still fresh. >> i was thinking, we

miguel almaguer toured the site by air. he's seen it and seen the devastation. good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. with the death toll at 14 and the number of unaccounted at 176, there's real concern the search may become a recovery and there's plenty of ground to cover. >> reporter: in the sky above oso, we find the desperate search for the missing. these are neighbors looking for neighbors. this small town now a massive debris field where there is no sign of life. >> the street, the community that took the brunt of the damage. this is the area where first responders heard cries for help for 12 hours. they just couldn't reach everybody. >> reporter: amanda moved just one week ago, the nurse hasn't been seen since saturday. neither has steven hadaway who was at her home installing a satellite dish. >> i think that's the hardest part. we just want him home. >> reporter: this morning, hundreds are waiting for a loved one to come home. but this is what rescue teams face on the ground. state route 530 used to look like this. today, homes and ca

here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: the $1 million ad campaign poked fun at stoners.ing out. a reminder while it is legal to smoke pot in colorado, it's against the law to be high behind the wheel. >> this is a first public education campaign. there'll be many to come. >> paid for by the colorado department of transportation, the ad campaign is the state's first push to remind drivers marijuana should be treated like alcohol, both impair your judgment, both can land you in jail. for state police, it's no joke. >> and you're going to count out loud. one thousand one. >> more than half of colorado's 61 arrests made in january for impaired driving involved someone who was high. >> the potential to find somebody who is high is going to be greater now. >> i'm going to have you follow the tip of this red pen with your eyes and eyes only. >> today near denver, the mile-high city, more than 200 officers are being trained to become dres, drug recognition experts. trooper t.w. cox just graduated. >> how dangerous is a high driver? >> high drivers are extremely dangerous. it's e

nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning.he number of missing has dropped dramatically from 90 all the way down to 30. this as the death toll now stands at 21. today in the slide zone, the search enters day ten. rescue teams are exhausted, some suffering from hypothermia. >> it looked like a war zone. >> reporter: with more remains discovered every day, even the search dogs are tired, ordered to take a two-day break. on the one-week anniversary, search teams and the community paused to remember the victims and survivors. >> i lost my mother. i lost my baby. >> reporter: today natasha is praying for her dog and son, duke. >> you wonder, why did they get the opportunity to be here. why isn't my mom and my baby here. but it's -- it doesn't help to think that way. >> reporter: for the victims, there is no making sense of this tragedy. and still today, for so many families, there remains a glimmer of hope. >> we're looking for that miracle out there right now. i saw 4 or 500 people out looking for that miracle. >> reporter: the go

miguel almaguer has been covering this since it happened. miguel, good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning. the official death toll is 17, but rescue teams have discovered another body. it's just yet to be identified. with 90 people missing, they do concede that death toll will rise dramatically in the days ahead. one week into their search, this is what rescue teams face on the ground, a debris field one square mile, the mud 40 feet deep in many places. it is difficult and dangerous work that could take five months to complete. >> these come in up to waist deep in mud they've been going through. they've been digging through stuff. they've seen things that most people -- i mean, people shouldn't have to see. >> reporter: little here is recognizable. and now, heavy rain and flash flooding this weekend could trigger another slide at any moment. crews so worried, they placed instruments in the ground to monitor the soil for movement. seth jeffords, a volunteer firefighter, has sifted through the dangerous conditions. he lost his wife and

nbc's miguel almaguer got a firsthand look. >> reporter: one square mile of debris, 500 football fieldsl -- the street, the community that took the brunt of the damage, this is the area where first responders heard cries for help for 12 hours. they just couldn't reach everybody. this isn't the first time this mountain has given way. eight years ago, it buckled in the exact same place, just not to this scale. folks who lived here never thought they would see something like this. >> as these photos show, the area today is completely unrecognizable from before the weekend slide. the national guard is expected to arrive later today to help in the search. as one local fire official said, the situation is very grim. there are concerns this could have been prevented. we don't know why these people were living here, given information that bill karins has. weather conditions are being blamed for triggering the disaster and more rain could impact the search efforts? >> the more i read about this, the more questions that have to be answered. emergency manager at a news conference monday went ahead

we have miguel almaguer with more in oso. >> reporter: matt, good morning. as soon as the sun rises here, rescue teams will once again scour the debris field. ago he mefrks ras you mentioned eight people are dead. more of those could climb today. >> this is what rescue teams face today. a wave of mud 20 feet deep. one square mile of rocks, tree and debris. here in the rubble is where the search grows more desperate. >> the conditions are very, very muddy in places, it is still like quick sand. we weren't able to search the entire debris field. >> this is a major slide. there's houses on to, down into the main road. >> reporter: triggered saturday by a rain-soaked mountain, a massive chunk of hillside suddenly gave way. there was no warning, nowhere to run. the torrent of mud crushed 30 homes and swept over cars. pleas for help could be heard for 12 hours. >> we're hearing cries, possibly a child. >> rescue teams pulled a 6-month-old boy and six others from the mud alive. >> the voices they're hearing are literally encased in 20 foot of mud. >> greg regelbrug

>> miguel almaguer, thank you very much. >> meantime, residents picking up the pieces in missouri this morning following several reports of tornadoes there. and dylan's following that this morning. >> goo this is part of a very fast-moving storm system that is in trenton, missouri, just to the northeast about 80 miles of kansas city, missouri, and this could be just a taste of what's to come this weekend. >> just sad to see it all gone. >> reporter: thunderstorms, hail, and one reported tornado left a line of damage in northern missouri yesterday. demolishing houses like the home cali's parents built more than 40 years ago. >> my folks are both gone now, and it's, you know, it's like the final ending, everything's gone. i had always hoped that i would be able to live here some day. >> high winds blew out the doors and windows of the home diane chambers' family owned for more than 25 years. but her house is still standing. and she's grateful. >> i'm happy it's still standing and i didn't lose our pictures and momentos and things from memories that over the years, i'm glad that's still h