and flooding only the start. extreme heat baking other parts of the country. the national weather service warns parts of the southwest could hit all-time heat records later this week. >> and miguel, what are conditions like there now? >> eerie. we are right downtown montpelier now. this is main and state streets. the alarms are still going off. they've been going off for about 24 hours. i'll let you listen for a second. they're alarming to nothing. the water line, we're about two blocks from the river. the water line came up to here. this is a bookstore. everything in this bookstore destroyed. there are some people who have already started to pull stuff out of their businesses and trying to recover. but keep in mind, this is one of hundreds, if not thousands of businesses that have just been so damaged by this storm. it will be weeks, months, maybe years before vermonters recover. anderson? >> incredible. miguel, thank you.
into the back of the truck. >> extreme weather, the new american and global normal. oklahoma city, drenched with life-threatening rainfall. flooding, only the beginning of extreme heat baking other parts of the country. the national weather service warns that parts of the southwest could hit all-time heat records later this week. >> miguel, what are water conditions like there now? >> eerie. we are right downtown montpelier right now. this is main and state street. the alarms going off, about 24 hours, a let you listen for a second. they are alarming to nothing. the water line, we're about to watch from the river. this is the bookstore, everything in this book story is destroyed. there is some people already starting to pull something out of this, trying to recover, but
the emergency side of this thing is over. the rivers have pretty much gone back into their banks and are starting to come down. even the reservoirs are coming down as well. that's the good news. the sun is out. they expect more rain but they don't think it will be enough to recharge all of the rivers and the reservoirs, so they think they'll be able to take it. this is what they're dealing with now. it's the heartache of everything they have lost. this is a beloved bookstore in montpelier. they're throwing out everything. this is the water line. everything below that they're getting rid of and trying to dry out the store so the rest of the books above that, they can keep, they can sell at some point. beyond that, i mean, look at the mud here. the mud is unbelievable everywhere. i'll hold on to this because it's slick. this is what they're dealing with, very thick, silty mud that they're doing an amazing job of getting rid of right now. they have street washers from burlington and other areas that are here in the capital that
from paul one of the co-owners of this establishment and the co-owner of a bookstore i talked to as well. let's listen. >> has a lot of dimensions. sleep, business, trying to speculate on the future. even if this is a temporary pause, either way we're out of business for a while. >> it is a big mess. we have a lot of people coming in to help us, but there is a ton of cleanup, wet books are not an easy thing to clean up. it is heart breaking looking at the books and throwing them away. >> reporter: she took books off of the lower shelves with the water went much higher than anyone expected. so we know fema is here and national disaster declaration has been issued. so people are grateful that they're going to be getting the help. the other thing to look to though tomorrow there is a forecast for rain. we know how saturated these grounds already are. >> that's not what they need right about now. from flooding, kathy, to you in
more intense and frequent heat waves, wildfires, floods like we're seeing play out this summer. >> you just heard the president talking about the need to address climate change. lindsey reiser is live from vermont's flooded capital city, nbc's kathy park is on the ground in sweltering, miami, so lindsey, what's the recovery effort going to look like and how are they preparing there for the potential of more and more rain? >> reporter: chris, it is going to take weeks if not months. take a look behind me at some of the cleanup. this is a bookstore, and they knew that the rains would come. they removed books from the lower shelves. they could not anticipate the deluge that came. we're talking three and a half feet of water, so everything below that line gone. they're going to take a hit as a business. i heard similar stories from other business owners. the salon and perfume ri across the street aren't sure they're going to be able to open up
i believe this is how god made me. there's no choice along the way. t perplexing to see people like the salon owner put out statements that compare to you animals, wondering why this is the thing that you're honing in on as a business owner. and i think in that statement, yes, you are totally, absolutely allowed to have an opinion and that is one of the great things about america is that you can speak freely and have an opinion, but again, an opinion is very different than discrimination. >> that goes to the thing i want to ask you about. you mentioned, your husband deals as transportation secretary. that's not just about planes, trains and automobiles. it's about business. it's the regulation of business. and we are a very capitalist society. that's the current reality. it would seem important that we understand that if all of our big activities are channelled through business -- get on a plane, go to a concert, a bookstore, most is about business, and that's why the business community and stores
this is such an emotional book. such a fantastic book. your humility can be seen throughout this period you don't want to talk about yourself a lot, you want to talk about your brothers. some of whom survived, some of whom did not. it is a patriotic book. you can get it at amazon.com or any other bookstore. tell us, we know you lost both of your legs which is a horrible horrible thing, but i don't think everybody knows if you can tell us how. >> my job in the marine corps was to take bombs apart. as you know, most people know, you refer to them as roadside bombs or ied's. the way the enemy tried to kill us will put bombs in the ground. my job was to help find them. when we did find them it was to take them apart and move them so no one got hurt. on august 6, 2010 we were
this is such an emotional book. such a fantastic book. your humility can be seen throughout this period you don't want to talk about yourself a lot, you want to talk about your brothers. some of whom survived, some of whom did not. it is a patriotic book. you can get it at amazon.com or any other bookstore. tell us, we know you lost both of your legs which is a horrible horrible thing, but i don't think everybody knows if you can tell us how. >> my job in the marine corps was to take bombs apart. as you know, most people know, you refer to them as roadside bombs or ied's. the way the enemy tried to kill us will put bombs in the ground. my job was to help find them. when we did find them it was to take them apart and move them so no one got hurt. on august 6, 2010 we were