we're going to go to the mayor, mike livengood. thank you. we have been showing video of your town.this afternoon looking really incredibly high. what's the situation there right now? and are people able to get out of their homes to safety? >> people have been evacuated. we did crest here. we are on this river that feeds into the merrimack. we have hit a crest, which is a good thing. it's starting to drop on us. we made it to 34.31, which is roughly not quite a foot over our previous record. so it was a record flood here in our community. as you've seen on your videos, you can see it impacted about 25 homes, some of them very severe. the people did get out. some stayed to the last minute and were evacuated. not too many. most people were able to -- we gave them enough time and told them we felt it was going to rise above what they had projected and it did. >> glad to hear the waters have crested. do people around there -- this is always a key question here. do they have flood insurance? i am curious what the cleanup process is going to be like. a lot of those homes severely damaged.

i'm joined by missouri mayor mike livengood.e about how bad it is in your neck of the woods. >> okay, well, first, it's crested here. the river that has given us our problems, it has crested. so that's a good thing for us. we crested at an all-time record high, where our previous of 33.9 inches. now it's 34.3. we're fortunate that we do not have the situation that others do. we had a backing up of water. so we had plenty of time to warn the people to be prepared to evacuate. no injuries luckily. we haven't had any injuries. a few people driving into some water in their automobiles, but they were also rescued and no one was injured. >> sir, can you give us an update in terms of the power and the number of individuals that may have been committed? is there running power to the area? how many homes would you say of course affected by the flood? >> approximately about 25 homes and about nine commercial retailers. the retailers got hit pretty severe. out there completely covered. the homes, the basements, i'm sure there's a few more

mayor mike livengood, we wish you the best.r. >> thank you very much. >> thank you all for being with me today. i'm poppy harlow in new york. "at this hour with berman and bolduan" begins after a quick break. announcer: it's time to make room for the new mattress models-- during sleep train's huge year end clearance sale. for a limited time, save hundreds on tempur-pedic mattresses. get the most highly recommended bed in america at closeout prices. plus, get interest-free financing and same-day delivery. why wait for the new models? sleep train's year end clearance sale is on now! superior service, best selection, lowest price-- guaranteed! ♪ sleep train [train horn] ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ >>> this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, i'm john berman in new york. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and all around the world. the breaking news this morning, a legal bombshell. moments ago, bill cosby charged with aggravated indecent assault in the first degree. sexual assault. these charges filed in mo

. >> joining me now is the mayor mike livengood. one of the hardest hit areas, mayor mike.least 25 homes we heard in your town are affected by the flooding so far. what is new today that you've learned? >> well, i'm glad to say that we're getting closer to recovery water is receding. people are able to start getting back into their houses. so that is a good thing. thankfully nobody got hurt. lucky there. but it is just -- to see this water just amazing. you never thought it would get this high. but we are real close to the recovery. fema is coming in and doing evaluations. so we'll know more after that. >> right. >> and get the treatment plant running. we have treatment plant failures. >> talk about that. as we know when we have the floods, there are the concerns about hazardous materials being transported, being aerated and being put in the water. how you have talked to fema about that as folks move back into their homes. perhaps about -- it may not be safe, for instance. >> well, it is a priority. you're absolutely right. but the thing is, whenever you have -- it's not ac