that's where we find martin savage live from west alton, missouri. good morning martin, what's the latest there. >> reporter: morning. it's been a rough night for the people in the small town here. this is the second round of flooding they had on this part of the mississippi in the last six weeks. the flood protection system, the sandbags, they have all been under a lot of strain and for west alton, it was just too much last night. >> reporter: danger in the darkness in the small missouri town of west alton. a levey breach sent emergency teams rushing to safety. >> people can be locked in their house. if the water gets two or three foot deep then they're stuck if their house if they don't evacuate. >> as the flood waters from the nearby mississippi river threaten, many residents didn't need to be told twice to pack up and go. >> i want to be safe than sorry, you know? i don't want to take the chances. >> in many place as long the mississippi near st. louis, high water threatens small towns. sandbags the only thing standing between a surge of storm wa

hundreds of residents in west alton, missouri had to evacuate last night. flash flood warnings posted for st. charles county. >> reporter: danger in the darkness in the small missouri town of west alton. a levee pwraoerb. >> people could be locked in their house if they don't have a way to get through the water. they're stuck in the house if they don't evacuate. >> as floodwaters threaten, many didn't need to be told twice to go. >> i'd rather be safe than sorry. i don't want to take the chances. >> high water threatened small towns. sandbags and temporary dikes often the only thing between a surge water and mainstream. commercial districts are already under water. the rising river closes roads. in most places the water is expected to crest an inch high from what is regarded major flooding. what makes this event so dramatic is that five months ago the river was at record lows. >> i'm standing on the exposed bottom of the mississippi river. >> since then the river shot up 45 feet. >> there had been fears they would have closed it due you to barges. >> it was

folks in west alton, missouri, have been told to evacuate at a moment's notice. there's extensive flooding. there's extensive flooding up to the doors of businesses. the river has already crested in west alton and is slowly retreating. >> a dramatic late night rescue in philadelphia. a 61-year-old woman was pulled from a building that collapsed earlier yesterday. she's the 14th survivor pulled from the debris, but at least six people were killed when the building that was being torn down suddenly collapsed in center city. vinita nair reports. >> reporter: philadelphia fire crews worked through the night sifting through what remains of a thrift store, looking for survivors or victims. a building next door that was being torn down suddenly collapsed, trapping shoppers inside. >> we did not know and we still do not know how many people were actually in the store. >> reporter: more than a dozen people were rescued from the rubble and taken to area hospitals. >> there are six people who died. one man and five women. >> reporter: witnesses who were passing by the build

. >> reporter: yeah, anderson, this is just outside of west alton. this area has literally been all day long kind of the focus of a battle with the floodwaters here. it had two breaches in the last 24 hours. now the fear is for a third breach. this one could be the most serious of all. the mississippi river is just beyond here. you might see that smokestack in the background there. if it gives way, and there is real fear there's a slide occurring on one of the levees there, if that happens, all that water's going to come right this way. 94 here, this state highway, it is the main way out. they have to keep this roadway open because for a lot of people it's going to be the way they get out of the water's way. they're erecting right now a stone kind of levee very quickly to try to prevent that from happening. in essence, it's going to be a watery alamo. they have to hold it here. if they don't they'll be in serious trouble. that power plant would be in trouble as well, anderson. >> why west alton in particular so affected? >> reporter: two very big rea

mart you know savidge in live in west alton, missouri.rning mart you know. >> good morning, carol. take a look at all of this. what's interesting, when we were here yesterday morning, none of this water was here. this all came up overnight, and you are right. it came from that second levee breach. that levee breach is two miles in that direction, this water slowly making its way overnight. a lot of people woke up and saw in this morning and were a little surprised to hear about it. the levee breach is so large, they cannot plug it, at least not until floodwaters recede and that's really what's interesting here, that the crest has gone by, the floodwaters are actually going down, yet the flooding in west alton in some areas like this, is getting worse. there are homes here and there are businesses, and, unfortunately, not much authorities can do about those flooded so far. they are worried about another levee breach. this one is some distance away, about four miles, on the mississippi river. what they call a slide. where part of the levee

voluntary evacuations are in place in west alton, a town not far from st. louis, about 15% of the people in the town he left. the fire chief says everybody else is ready to go at a moment's notice. >>> and one man in new zealand hasn't let a few years slow him down. bob edwards is 105 years old and has driven for 88 years since he was 17 and keeps going and going, during all that time, he's only gotten one speeding ticket, though, asked how it feels to be new zealand's oldest driver, bob edwards says simply, "i don't think i'm old." he has a young attitude then. it is 11 minutes after the hour. you're up to date. top that. >> notice how the streets were empty. everybody says old bob edwards is coming down, clear a pass. >> only one speeding ticket. >> god bless him, that's fantastic. >> how about a look at the weather? >> we have more rain to talk about in the midwest, severe storms for another day and then hopefully it's over from arizona all the way to arkansas, possibility of tornadoes, heavy rain as you can see we've got heavy showers and thunderstorms

. >> why west alton in particular so affected? >> reporter: two very big reasons. 2 1/2 miles just off in this direction is the missouri river. a mile and a half in that direction is the mississippi river. and both of those rivers right now are struggling to try to contain an awful lot of storm surge that has been coming from the heavy weather that's essentially been up north. right now the mississippi river is seeing levels it hasn't seen in close to two decades. for the most part the flood protection system has been working. but right here even though the water's starting to recede that system is showing the wear and tear. and quite frankly, right here on this stretch of roadway the next 24 hours are going to be crucial. >> i've been actually in alton on the illinois side, i have friends there. i know they've had flooding over the years. are conditions supposed to get worse before they get better in west alton? >> reporter: yeah. because the next thing that's going to happen is even though the water is going down the weather is

water already covers some roadways and bridges and a second levee gave way in west alton yesterday.e thunderstorms are expected in the area today which could make conditions worse. >>> weather and traffic every ten minutes on the 1s. tom kierein is here with an eye on our forecast. >> we may be affected by a little tropical storm here tomorrow. just east of us. not going to be a direct effect. certainly remarkable for this early in the season. right now it's a milder morning than it has been the last couple mornings low to mid 60s throughout most of the region. quite a bit of cloudiness around and also light rain showing up on storm team 4 radar out in the mountains of western maryland and west virginia and a few sprinkles are beginning to show up in the southern shenandoah valley passing west of us for now. way down south florida getting pounded with heavy rain right now. there's the circulation of andrea off the west coast of florida over the eastern part of the gulf of mexico. here is the latest track. does look like later ashore later today across northern florida and moving alo

residents of west alton, missouri, north of st. louis, were told to evacuate last night. volunteers were stacking sandbags. levees in the area have already been breached and roads are already flooded. the mississippi is expected to crest there sometime today. >>> just north of los angeles, thousands of residents forced by a raging wildfire to flee their homes have been allowed to return. the powerhouse fire is now 60% contained thanks to diminished winds and some cool, moist air. but the fire destroyed at least six homes and still threatens some 250 others. edward lawrence reports. >> reporter: tom has lived in lake hughes, california, for 20 years. since saturday he's been living in his rv in this parking lot. >> i saw the flames coming over the hill. >> reporter: he says the fires that forced him here are the worst he's seen. you're living out of that? >> three of us living in there and four dogs and a bird. >> reporter: he could soon be going home. favorable weather conditions have helped firefighters gain ground on the flames. fire crews are also looking for favorable

nbc's kevin tibbles is in west alton. kevin, good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, i'm standing pretty much at the confluence of the missouri and mississippi rivers, and while people around here probably thought the flooding season was over, all these storms and all the rain they've dropped are making otherwise. once again, they are manning the barricade as long the mississippi. >> we're just going to get our stuff out of here and vacate the premises. you can't really predict the river. >> reporter: voluntary evacuations are in place here in the town of west alton, missouri, as the rising waters now threaten this tiny community, about a half hour drive from st. louis. local casino was closed as a precaution. >> me and other cousins are going to take the kids and get away from danger. >> reporter: outside town, a 150-foot very much stretch of a levee gave way as emergency teams worked to get residents to higher ground. the u.s. army corps of engineers says the inis miss is above flood stage in many stages and ten feet ab

let's take you to west alton, missouri, where we had some video to show you of widespread flooding on the mississippi river which takes a long time to get going but then takes twice as long to get rid of. that's the high point of the highway there. everywhere else is floodedded. a levee broke. we had a lot of rough weather in the midwest when it comes to flooding. for us, calmer, cooler low 50s. oakland 53. san rafael 51. mountain view overnight tonight 54 degrees. let's talk about this onshore flow. look at the cloud cover just sitting offshore and unlike yesterday, today just hung out at the coastline. it didn't pull off and move out to the west so a lot of you along the coast and on the peninsula had mainly cloudy skies for much of the day. likely you will again tomorrow because high pressure has not moved that much. it's far away from us inducing that light-to-moderate onshore flow so any heat now is going to stay away until thursday. tomorrow will be another relatively cool day. thursday we get warmer and then by friday, pretty abrupt transition, by friday we're hot and the reaso

this is all in west alton, new jersey. martin savidge has more. where are you right now?e standing on one of the roads that leads into that small community of west alton, missouri. this bridge is closed for the obvious reason, that's the mississippi running by at my feet. this has actually receded somewhat. this new levee breach is a wo y worry. we're told it is a serious breach. they also say the area impacted is only about 30 residences or businesses. so it is not that serious for a lot of people, but very serious if you're among those living in that specific area. they are still trying to get a handle on exactly what happened. and the concern here is that even though the flood protection system for the most part is doing well, holding up well, despite the fact this is some of the heaviest flooding in two decades, they're always worried there could be these kind of breaches and nobody can predict where or when t they just happen. one of them just happened here in west alton. they don't need any more water in that community. most of that town remains dry. >> it was lack

the flooding so high, a bridge connecting west alton, missouri, and alton, illinois, had to be closed today. a factory proclaiming "welcome to alton" surrounded by water, cut off from the rest of the town. and these are the major flooding concerns for the next 36 hours in places from memphis to chicago. we also have a note about that tropical system in the gulf of mexico. it's moving toward florida and could become a tropical storm by the end of the week. >>> now to a political firestorm from the governor of mississippi today who said he thinks american kids are struggling in the classroom in part because moms have entered the workplace. cue the arguments and the facts from abc's linsey davis. >> reporter: even before the governor of mississippi answered the question, he knew what he was about to say was controversial. >> i'm going to get in trouble, but you want me to tell the truth. >> reporter: government bryant was one of three governors participating in a "washington post" live event about the importance of ensuring that children read well by the end of third grade, when they wer

mike collumbo in west alton, maze. >> good morning. officials are keeping a close eye on floodwaters. barricades behind me, floodwaters are a tenth of a mile from where we are standing. move over this way and the levee built here late last night. crews working through the night to get that in place. one thing clear whether that evacuation warning came out last night, residents needed to get out. the rapidly rising waters breached leaveeses shortly afte 7:00 p. 8:00 p.m., 20 miles north of st. louis. heavy rains wrought water levels from the mississippi river to over 33 feet by monday morning. that's 13 feet above flood stage. >> i came through here this morning, and, again, it was fine and again six, eight hours later, which this is what are you looking at. >> reporter: even before the breach, many area roads already underwater, causing major headaches for travelers and local businesses, forced to shut down. >> it's sad for some of the restaurants, because a month ago, they had to take everything out, and then they put it all back in,

and it's threatening communities along thethe mississippi and missouri rivers the fire chief of west alton,al mississippi says everyone who did not voluntarily evacuate iss ready to go at a moment's notice. >>> coming up a popular pizzapui chain is looking to boost its is summer sales with a deal that is sure attract a lot of customers >>> plus, the district may notcy be a huge city in terms ofterm miles, but it sure does have a lot of green space.sp how its parks stack up with other major cities when we come back.  >>> look at that. the fog must be along the river. it's pretty. pretty. >> it's fascinating.s the rest of the sky is clashings but right there where you gotgot the water the fog is forming. fo >> it's gorgeous just to look a it. >> it's going to be a nice day. welcome back it to fox 5 morninn news. tucker barnes is here with the latest. >> it's going to be a beautiful, and tony is asking about thethe pollen situation. situa we will start with the pollen pl forecast. we have transitioned. a few weeks ago we said it wasws tree pollen and now it's the e

take a look at west alton, missouri, near st. louis. residents there packed up and got out of town.he mississippi river breached a nearby levee. it is mostly farmland that's flooded right now but police urged a lot of people to leave their homes just to be safe. >>> this morning firefighters say they're gaining the upper hand on a massive fire in california. the powerhouse fire right now, that wildfire is about 65% contained. so far it has scorched more than 32,000 acres in southern california. the wildfire is threatening hundreds of homes and businesses as well. firefighters say they hope to have it fully contained by this weekend. >>> the latest tornado outbreak in oklahoma killed 19 people. friday's storms also created the widest tornado ever recorded. the national weather service says the twister in el reno was 2.6 miles wide. the winds topped 295 miles per hour, making it an ef-5 tornado, the highest rating. last month's tornado in moore was also the same strength. >>> the weather is calming down in that part of the country. here at home, calm and cool as well. >> it's delightf

the rivers come together is breached as the pounding rains fall across the midwest. 40 homes near west altonin sandbags and doing what they can to keep the rising waters out. many remain under water, making travel difficult in the area. >>> it was another picture perfect day right here. a live look outside right now. we have mostly sunny skies with the low humidity. making for another pleasant afternoon. wjz has weather and traffic together. meteorologist chelsea ingram is here now with the updated numbers from first warning weather. chelsea? >> we are sitting around normal. maybe 2 degrees below now. 77, elkton. 80 in washington. that humidity is very low. dew points only at around 45 degrees right now. and thursday, whether is -- weather is going to start to change this. is going to be our transitional period. we'll start bringing more humidity into the region. and slight chance of rainfall, especially in areas western maryland. it's all going to change, though, as we head into your friday. we're watching an area of low pressure, down near the caribbean, gulf, and florida. and that's expec

this is west alton, missouri. a river breached a nearby levee. it is mostly farmland flooding now. police urged many people to leave their homes just to be safe. >>> we are going to get a check from tom kierein on our latest forecast. he is outside on the storm team 4 weather deck. tom? >> gorgeous day once again. we have sunshine, few wispy, high clouds coming over. about 20, 25,000 feet up. there is a live view from the news4 city camera. showing that gorgeous sunshine on this delightful day. there is another view looking off towards the west and into fairfax county from our vantage point here in upper northwest. you can see a milky blue sky, afternoon high temperature, likely making it up to around 80 degrees with low humidity in place. all throughout the region. tomorrow, changes move in. 4-day forecast, near 60 tomorrow morning. and a little sun in the morning. cloudy during the afternoon on thursday. and highs in the 70s tomorrow. and good chance of showers moving in late thursday evening. then off and on friday. passing showers are likely. and then maybe some thunder and lig

it is the fifth-highest level ever in the history of alton, illinois, and across the rest in west alton which is just two miles from here. lots of damage -- the mill is closed here. businesses behind me are closed and also big money-maker, the river boat casino is closed. but this is not the worst they have ever seen. that was 20 years ago, the great flood of 1993. i was actually here in alton, covering it. i was a child then. relatively speaking. but it was much more serious. 42 feet. and that was the highest flood level they've ever had here in alton. so far, the most important news, no casualties whatsoever. but right now, they're waiting to see what happens. they expect these levels to go down. this really is a fascinating place, alton, very historical. back in 1858, the last lincoln douglas debate was held here. and for those of you who are fans of the "guinness book of world records," the tallest guy who ever lived, robert wadlow, 8'11" tall, born here and buried here. >> and his dad was the mayor. >> reporter: exactly right. how did you know that, anderson? >> i have friends in a

the water already covers some roadways and bridges there and a second levee gave way in west alton yesterday. some thunderstorms are also expected in that area today making conditions worse. >>> we are tracking tropical storm andrea as she churns in the gulf of mexico. storm team 4 says that she will make landfall later today. it's raining heavily in florida. andrea could pack winds of 45 miles an hour but the rain is the real story. meteorologists say it could dump 3 to 6 inches of rain on the florida panhandle and some areas could see as much as eight inches of rain. >> tropical storm warnings being expanded along the eastern seaboard. we want to check in with meteorologist tom kierein. >> cloudy. a mild morning. temperatures around the region are generally in the low 60s in nearby suburbs in maryland and virginia. right now in the district of columbia we're in the mid 60s. mid 60s near the bay. a bit of a cool morning. upper 50s to near 60 in prince george's county. generally mid to low 60s in arlington to fairfax county low 60s. storm team 4 radar showing light sprinkles in the shenandoa

i'm standing on a road that leads into the small town of west alton, missouri, it's closed, the road. but that's because of what's happening. this is the mississippi river that is literally washing over the road and heading directly into town. the second into tflood they eve area's seen. the levees, sandbags all under a lot of strain. last night there was a breach and that forced several hundred people to be ready to evacuate. a number of residents said they didn't have to be told twice. they were ready to move too higher ground. there is a concern for many areas all along the mississippi river north of st. louis. their hope is that the river is going to crest today. as bad as this is, it could have been worse. but until the water recedes, no one's going to be breathing easy. >> all right. thank you, martin. firefighters continuing to battle to beat back the wildfires. that's out in western united states. the fire just north of l.a. about 60% contained. people get a chance to go home. but as you can imagine, they suffered serious damage. >> we've had the smoke coming over in years bef

mandatory evacuation for the town of west alton. 15% of the people living in that town have had to evacuatenow, the swelling due to heavy rain in that area. >>> washington state patrol is looking for a second commercial truck that may have been on a washington bridge before it collapsed. a truck pulling a white trailer may have passed another truck with an oversized load as the bridgexl collapsed. verts don investigors don't think the second truck damaged the bridge but do think the oversized load did hit the rig. >>> monumental turn out, as many as 40,000 expected at a memorial service for four houston firefighters killed during a five-alarm fire at a motel. the service will be held at houston's reliant stadium. a live look at that procession in honor of those fallen firefighters this one is on its way to the stadium right now. the four firefighters were dr trapped when the motel collapsed when they were fighting the fire. the cause of the fire remains under investigation. >>> 6:27. we'll be right back. >>> the question remains, will apple outgrow its spaceship campus before it's even bui

the national weather service says levees have been breached in the west alton area. have been told to evacuate. rosa been shut down and drivers want to avoid high and swift moving water. days of heavy rain caused the rivers as well. from the mississippi river in alton is expected to crest. >> we are also following developments out oakland this morning were gunfire breaks out late last night. apparently it's a driver who then lost control of his van slamming into a power pole. it happened shortly after 11:00 p.m. of 98 avenue and 880 . police are still on the scene is so was will tran was been following what happened all morning long. >> james the power pole still dangling behind me they managed to get it down a little bit. we have showed you all morning how was horizontal. the pg&e crews had to come and secured it was leaning on power lines carry at a tight 120 people lost power at this point only about 20 people still in the dark. this happen around 1115 they believe the shot took place a s from this l. maybe just a few blocks. here's a picture said by someone lives

. >>> a levy breeched in west alton, missouri and residents asked to leave. >>> and in grafton, illinoise mississippi expected to crest. top five floods in the river's history. >>> what's being called an unprecedented hearing under way on capitol hill. live pictures as the top leaders of the army, naefvy, air force d marines, set to testify before a senate panel investigating sexual assaults in the military. under consideration, a bill that would give uniform prosecutors instead of commanders the authority to investigate these cases. military's brass is against the proposal, but advocacy groups and lawmakers say the change is needed because commanders have failed to address this pervasive problem. we'll keep you posted. >> if you would like to see more of today's hearing, streaming it live on cnn.com. go there and you will see it all. >>> still ahead on the "newsroom," miami heat celebrate the return to the nba finals. highlights of the conference clincher in bleacher report. sparkly water and pure white sand might not get you off your couch, but there's not a creature on earth that can

take a look alternate the scene in west alton where the mississippi river is creeping closer to neighborhoodsthorities there announced evacuation orders after a levee breach. the flood also forcing police to close highways as crews work to secure other levees. over the weekend at least two people in missouri drowned in all the flooding. jenna: back to california now where firefighters are gaining the upper hand on a massive wildfire north of los angeles. we've been watching this one and the winds that spread this powerhouse fire are now slowing down, but some living in the fire zone are just returning to their neighborhoods and finding their homes destroyed. junwilliam la jeunesse is live in palmdale, california. william a lot has happened in the last 12 hours. catch us up. >> well, jenna, the fire blew through here yesterday and i want to basically tell you the cause is still unknown, the damage we do know six homes burned to the ground, 50 square miles, cost about $8 million. i want to use this scene to show you why fighting a fire in southern california is so expensive. number one, most fi

. >>> hundreds of people are evacuated from their homes in west alton, missouri after a levee broke.tect their homes by filling sandbags. others say they are not taking any chances and are taking all of their belongings out of their homes instead. >> i want to be safe than sorry. i don't want to take the chances. >> it's stressful, for sure. >> the rivers are about ten feet above flood stage. the flooding is being blamed for at least three deaths already. >>> all lanes have reopened on highway 101 in sausalito after being blocked by a rockslide. debris came crashing down rodeo avenue this morning. the debris caused one driver to lose control. that driver said she didn't see the rocks in the road until it was too late. >> big rock and then just kind of -- [inaudible] >> the driver complained of hest chains but does not appear to be seriously hurt. >>> this is video of a big rig crash on the richmond-san rafael bridge. the crash blocked several lanes. no reports of, j. the cause of the far -- of injuries. the cause of the crash is still being investigated. >>> ticket tuesday. five luck

today a second levee was breached near west alton where the missouri river joins the mississippi andould be effected. people in the same vicinity were told to evacuate yesterday after the first levee breached. >>> still ahead, america's military brass out in force up on capitol hill today. they faced off with lawmakers who are very angry about sexual assault in the u.s. armed forces. >>> and a new ruling in the case against colorado massacre suspect james holmes. cnn is investigating how he was able to buy a massive stockpile of ammunition. we had never used a contractor before and didn't know where to start. at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. from roofers to plumbers to dentists and more, angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, ho