cityty, i'm elaine quijano. captioning funded by cbs it's monday, august 28th, 2017. this is the "cbs morning news." >> got to be a 500 year flood or thousand year flood, something ridiculous. >> if we ever see it again, i sure hope not. >> harvey flooding disaster. rain continues to pound parts of texas as floodwaters rise. thousands of people are evacuated, and rescue crews go into overdrive. and a television reporter becomes the news as she jumps into action to save a truck driver trapped by floodwaters. good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news

headquarters in new york. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. the damage to a large part of southeast texas from harvey is in the words of the national weather service unprecedented and beyond anything experienced. houston, the nation's fourth largest city is all but under water. the mayor says most major roads are impassable. it is estimated that a quarter of the texas population is affected. and at least two deaths are blamed on the storm at this point. parts of texas are expected to get nearly 50 inches of rain. a massive rescue operation is now under way. thousands have been forced to evacuate. the head of fema says the recovery effort could take years and president trump plans to visit the state tomorrow. tropical storm harvey is stalled now, near the coast. still pounding the houston area with heavy rain, which is expected to last through friday. don champion is in houston. good morning.

>> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. this region is still very much behind me, that might easily look like a river, but 16 feet below or so is actually a normally busy parkway here near downtown. and the flooding is only expected to get worse. the coast guard spent the last 24 hours pulling people off roofs in houston, as harvey left many residents with no way to go but up to safety. thousands are leaving their homes and everything behind. >> it is all just materialistic stuff that is always kept in your mind and is always going to be there in your mind, so it is good. but it is just hard. >> reporter: the stories of dramatic rescues and close calls are seemingly endless. these are residents at the la vita bella assistant living facility, who waited for help in waist deep water. this trucker was saved on live tv. this man realized too late exactly why officials are asking

people not to drive under any circumstances. nerves are frayed at many of the city's shelters where neighbors have little else but each other. >> they're completely soaked. i mean, i don't even know what to say. they're not my kids, but i love them like they're my own. i don't know them from adam. >> reporter: initial predictions that the storm's worst would dump 40 inches of rain has been scrapped. that number now 50 inches as harvey is expected to still rain down for at least two more days. cities and towns have been left almost unrecognizable. this used to be a bridge. this used to be a baseball field. this used to be arlene's backyard. now it is home to two alligators. with countless more still in need of help, 4,000 national and state guard troops are being brought in for relief and recovery efforts. there is so much water here that

a controlled release started this morning at two reservoirs in this region. it could flood several neighborhoods even more, but anne-marie, officials say the move was needed to protect critical dams. >> tough decisions being made here. don champion in houston, thank you so much. up to 1200 people had to be rescued just in galveston county, southeast of houston. when harvey blew ashore, it devastated low lying homes and caused unprecedented flooding. another 10 to 15 inches of rain is expected there. city officials are asking for volunteers to help staff rescue shelters. late last night, texas governor greg abbott ordered another 1,000 national guard troops to the houston area. he's declared more than 50 texas counties disaster areas. >> well, the state of things is a state of emergency where we're responding to these needs of the people. in houston as well as around the entire state of texas, by making that disaster declaration, what

that does is it triggers the resources from fema. we have been in constant contact with fema officials and the full force and resources of fema are coming to texas to respond both to the challenges you're seeing, but also with regard to the challenges we're going to have in rebuilding houston and the entire coastal region. >> evacuees fleeing the coast need shelter. tomorrow the city of dallas plans to open a mega shelter in the kay bailey hutchison convention center. the city is preparing to house some 5,000 people there. other emergency shelters in dallas and san antonio are already full. now, more than 4,000 national guard and state guard troops have been deployed to assist in the recovery efforts. so many people needed help that the rescue crews could not keep up. more search and rescue teams are on the way. mireya villerreal reports. >> reporter: rescue crews from around the country are converging in san antonio at the friedman coliseum.

the facility is best known for hosting the city's rodeo, but now more than 900 cots are set up behind me. these cots are for the first responders, bus drivers, the military. they'll come here, regroup and head out to battle hurricane harvey. and more than 900 people from the corpus christi bay side and rockport area were evacuated to shelters in the san antonio area. many of them now are getting word they may not have homes to return to. these are families being told by authorities it will be days before they can head back in to town. right now we know that bear county with san antonio, they're coordinating efforts on every level. so far, 2,000 first responders have come through this facility and they are expecting more. they're also expecting about 200 buses to start here and head to houston to pick up evacuees, bringing them back to the alamo city for safety. >> mireya villerreal reporting there. the red cross is also preparing shelters in san

antonio to host evacuees from houston and elsewhere. meteorologist jeff jamison from our dallas station ktvt has the latest on this catastrophic storm. good morning, jeff. >> good morning. we're looking at the center of harvey, off to the southwest of the houston area. the heaviest of the rain early this morning has shifted east of houston, but there are still showers developing in and around the city. and that's going to continue to cause problems throughout the day today as rescue officials and other folks trying to get to folks who are in need. the heaviest rain is to the east of the houston area over toward beaumont. the movement will be slow. what has already fallen is almost historic at this point, well over, sometimes 25 inches of rain reported in southeast texas. additional rainfall throughout the day today and really for the rest of the week. you can see by tomorrow, or into wednesday, we're looking at an additional seven inches of rain in the houston area and by friday we're talking about almost an additional 12 inches.

that's on top of what has already fallen there in southeast texas with this catastrophic flood as harvey slowly actually works its way back out to the water and curves back to the northeast through east texas and louisiana. as we get through the weekend. and by the weekend, we're finally saying good-bye to harvey here in texas. but not after -- not until we see these incredible rainfall amounts in southeast texas. now, at the same time as we're keeping an eye on harvey here in texas, we already have tropical storm watches posted now in the other side of the country on the east coast, from coastal south carolina all the way through the outer banks. tropical storm watch right now because tropical storm irma is developing out there as well. you see it here off the coast of florida. it will slowly but surely push its way to the northeast and more than likely make landfall somewhere in the outer banks tuesday morning there in north carolina as a tropical storm with winds as high as 40 or 45 miles per hour. then it will make its way into the northern atlantic by the end of the week.

but two tropical systems we're keeping an eye on. harvey has been horrible here for texas. and then we'll watch what irma does to the east coast later on this week. anne-marie. >> a long haul for a lot of people. meteorologist jeff jamison in dallas, thank you so much, jeff. many texas families are struggling to keep their pets and animals safe. a horse got trapped in high water yesterday in college station. firefighters were able to rescue the horse and are attempting to locate its owner. ahead on "cbs this morning," norah o'donnell is in houston to see how the city and the state of texas are trying to cope with the destruction of hurricane harvey. coming up, roadside rescue, we'll hear from a tv reporter in houston who helped a truck driver stranded in floodwaters. this is the "cbs morning news." ning news."

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people to flee from rising floodwaters in texas. and some children trapped in flooded homes in houston had the rides of their lives. an adult used an air bed to float the children to safety. now, five kids are seen here. but another four were rescued later. with millions in harvey's path, watching for vital information, the storm's catastrophic impact forced our houston station, khou, to evacuate. water filled the building, creeping into the studio during sunday morning's wall to wall coverage. khou's employees posted video on social media of the flooded lobby and newsroom. eventually the station's signal was knocked off the air. minutes before losing their signal, correspondent brandy smith and photographer mario sandoval spotted a driver trapped in his tractor trailer underneath a houston highway. smith and sandoval jumped into action. >> here we go. we have a boat coming. we have a boat coming. i'm going to flag -- i'm going to flag these guys down and

see -- hold on just a sec. are you guys -- are you guys headed down to the truck right here? there is a truck driver stuck here in about ten feet of water. thank you. the air boat for the harris county sheriff's office now approaching the semi that has been stalled here and here he comes. i feel like i can finally breathe. kind of a sigh of relief that he's okay. sir, thank god you're okay. how does it feel to be on land? >> wonderful. wonderful. >> what went through your mind when you saw that water? >> lord help me. lord help me. lord help me. just get me out of here safe. >> i'm so glad these guys were on hand that we were able to

direct them to you. did they tell you this is the same spot a year ago where another driver died? >> most definitely. most definitely. most definitely. i thank god that you guys were right here to get me, put me back on land safe. i appreciate you. >> can i hug you? i'm so happy you're okay. thank you so much. >> the crew caught up with that reporter last night in houston. here is how she described keeping her cool. >> i didn't want to be panicked. i'm a mom. so i kind of know how to handle panic situations where you keep it to yourself and try to get all of you through it. i had promised him that help was on the way and i wasn't going to break that promise. so i just kept a close eye on them, watching their progress, letting him know how they were doing, how close they were, if they were on their way. and we had a great end result. >> you can hear more of that

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a photo of a resourceful dog in the aftermath of harvey has gone viral. the german shepherd mix named otis is carrying around a big bag of dog food through the streets of fenton, texas. otis got loose friday night and a neighbor snapped the picture saturday morning. otis is back at home, he's safe and he's also well fed. american red cross volunteers from across the country are traveling to southeast texas to help provide food and shelter for storm victims. omar villafranca reports from a red cross staging area in houston. >> reporter: the floodwaters keep rising because of the nonstop rain. that's creating a problem for relief workers who are trying to set up new shelters. this caravan belongs to the american red cross, loaded with cots and blankets and even a blood supply that is in there. but it is stranded here. they cannot move. they have to wait for the u.s. coast guard to escort them to

make sure the supplies and the volunteers get to the shelter safely. food is also a major need in the shelters. red cross workers have been loading pallets of snacks, water, and ready to eat meals for what is expected to be thousands of evacuees. the red cross has been working with local authorities to find a safe and dry path to the shelters. but it is such a volatile situation here that that changes every time it rains. going a short of a distance as four miles can take several hours, but the main goal is to get there safely. >> to help people affected by harvey, you can visit redcross.org or text the word harvey to 90999 to make a $10 donation. still to come, the impact on air travel. we'll see how travelers are coping with airport shutdowns in the aftermath of harvey.

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the nation's fourth largest city is dealing with historic floods this morning -- and things will only get worse in houston before they get better. and another day of scorching temperatures is on tap for parts of the bay area... we'll have all the details on today's dangerous heat... join us for kpix 5 news this morning... beginning at 4:30. good morning. it's monday, august 28th. here's a look at today's

forecast in some cities around the country. more dramatic images are emerging from the houston area where the coast guard rescued hundreds of people stranded by the rising floodwaters. the work is nearly nonstop. rescuers are urging those still trapped to get to rooftops or higher ground where they can be spotted from the air. and the remnants of hurricane harvey having a major impact on air travel. most of houston's major airports, george bush intercontinental and hobby, are closed this morning. bush intercontinental is expected to reopen this afternoon. but floodwaters cover the runways at hobby. and roads into and out of the airports are shut down due to the flooding. >> everybody is wandering around aimlessly and sleeping. a lot of people sleeping on

benches and there is a lot of little kids here. there is 800 to a thousand people including employees out here. >> the main airport in corpus christi is opening today after being shut since friday. nearly 1500 flights nationwide have been canceled today. most into and out of houston. most major airlines are waving change of flight fees. the storm has shut down key oil and gas facilities along the gulf, and that means higher gas and energy prices. harvey hit at the heart of the u.s. energy industry. oil production could be offline for week. flooding knocked out 11% of u.s. refining capacity and a quarter of oil production. early today gasoline futures jumped as much as 7%, their highest level in more than two years. and coming up on "cbs this morning," full coverage of the storm disaster. norah o'donnell is in houston for the latest and she'll speak with evacuees. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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our top story this morning, catastrophic flooding in houston and southeast texas. tropical storm harvey is lingering near the coast and expected to dump up to 50 inches of rain in some areas. so many people needed to be rescued that emergency crews could not keep up. residents are being told to get on their roofs to avoid being trapped. at least two deaths are blamed on the storm. the storm has so far affected about a quarter of the texas population or 6.8 million people. survivors say the sound of rushing water in their homes woke them up sundaymorning. from there, it was a waiting game to get out. many people rode to safety on the back of trucks. >> current was strong and they helped us up to the military

truck that evacuated us over here to the library. we're happy to be okay. >> chaotic if anything, but, you know, just trying to keep the faith and stay strong, and stay positive. we're sticking together as a unit. >> survivors describe the floodwater as rising suddenly, catching many people off guard. cameras spotted one man clinging to a traffic sign with rushing water surrounding him. people nearby joined forces to pull the man to safety. >> had to jump in, went to the man and help him. i want somebody to help me if i'm in a situation. current was pulling his back. we jumped on an ice machine and floated to him and got off and tried to help him. we noticed the current was too strong. we all held hands and held on to a pole and found another guy threw a rope and pulled the other guy with the rope across. >> flooding continues over southeastern texas. meteorologist jeff jamison of our dallas station ktvt is back with more on tropical storm harvey.

>> tropical storm harvey continues, at least the center, southwest of houston. but still a lot of rain on the east side of that storm. the heaviest rain this morni is east of the city of houston. still some nuisance showers adding to already impressive rainfall totals, incredible rainfall totals in houston. the heaviest rain this morning over toward beaumont, port arthur. you see in and around the city of houston, well over 20 inches of rain in many locations and we're only going to add more to that through the next several days. by wednesday, we're talking about an additional seven inches on top of what has already fallen. and we continue to see those numbers climb through the end of the week as the system is very slow moving and not in a hurry at all to move out of texas. we could see an additional 12 inches of rain or so on top of the 20 that's already fallen in southeast texas with tropical storm harvey slowly moving up into louisiana by the end of the week as this catastrophic flood continues. i'm jeff jamison for cbs news, dallas.

>> jeff, thank you. coming up on "cbs this morning," norah o'donnell is in houston for full storm coverage. plus, we'll show you how citizens are carrying out rescues during the emergency. and the role of social media, how people turned to facebook and twitter to call for help when 911 was overloaded. that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday. thank you for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the energy conscious whopeople among usle?

say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too? turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing. i'm kenny choi. good morning, as we take a live look at the bay bridge this morning. it is monday, august 28th. thank you for waking up with us, i'm coneny choi. >> -- kenny choi. >> i'm michelle griego. good morning to jaclyn and roberta. >> we made it. happy monday. >> to happy to come to work today to get the free ac.

>> i thought it was to see me. >> me too. >> i -- 100-degree heat yesterday too. in the east bay. wow. >> like 108-degree heat. >> 103 in walnut creek. >> there was a difference. officially 108 yesterday in walnut creek, so you know it changes in people's backyards. it really does. and we're going to have a repeat performance again today with that excessive heat warning and advisory in effect. i was actually putting my hands together clapping because we could see a hint of some stratus. the fog out there this morning. that's a good signal that things will be cooling down especially along the coast and into the bay today. still unseasonably warm to downright tot. temperature-wise, look at livermore. 68 degrees after are realizing 107 yesterday. very slow cool today. -- slow to cool today. going up to high temperature there of 94 in san jose. but still 107, 106 away from the bay today. 110 at the delta. 76 in san francisco. full forecast mi