Together to rescue people trapped by floodwaters. The next hour of the cnn newsroom starts right now. Thank you so much for being with me. We are following breaking news of the historic and catastrophic proportions of this flooding. Unfolding in texas, more than 1,000 people have been rescued in houston. But many more remain trapped because of the rising waters. I was awake all night on th phone. Every time i dialed 911, it automatically hung up, im sure they were just inundated and busy. I called everyone i could, the best i could. Finally i said to all my friends on facebook, i need help, call everyone you can. It was surprising how fast it rose. I didnt think it would rise that fast, but it is. How many people are still back there . Probably hundreds. I want everyone to be safe. Its hard for everybody, but the ones on the creek, you know, theyre they need help and we all got to pitch together and help everybody else out. President trump is expected to travel to texas as early as tuesd tuesday. Governor greg abbott is urging people to stay off the roads, getting to the highest points of their homes. The worst is yet to come. This likely is going to be an historic rainfall, if not an all time record. And the amount of rain that is sustained in certain regions. Lets get the latest on the situation in houston. Downtown houston, these bands of rains continue. Our meteorologists say rain is going to continue until friday. What is the case now. You know, information just into the cnn newsroom, that the houston independent Public School district has closed for the next week, its completely closed. No classes will be going on next week because of the inclement weather. You can see around me, its very clear the reason why, because roads in houston have turned to rivers. Beau yews have turned to raging rivers, its not safe for children to be going to school in these conditions. We have video from earlier today, it was a live shot we did from 7 00 a. M. This morning, we were in the same location, but much closer to the intersection that youre taking a look at, which is commerce and travis here in downtown houston. If you look at those two pictures, you can see the comparison of the amount of water, that gives you an idea of the magnitude of the storm, as you mentioned, we are still getting drerjed at this hour were expecting more rain as we see the bands from Tropical Storm harvey pound and pummel the city of houston take a look around, we are surrounded by water. As far as the eye can see, all you see is water, you see street signs, traffic lights, the traffic lights are no longer on. The traffic signs show us the water level and how dramatic its been rising here throughout the day. The picture from 7 00 a. M. This morning what the water levels look like now tell you the story of what the downtown area has seen. We were doing live shots from a spaghetti warehouse building thats a block away. We can barely see that building right now. We would never be able to get there because of how dangerous this situation is. How fast the water is moving. Upwards of 20 inches more expected throughout the week rosa flores, thank you so much. Lets go south to dickinson texas, not far from galveston. Ed lavin dare remark are you still on i45 . This is incredible to explain, this isnt some small country road tucked away somewhere thats flooded out. This is the middle of i45, you head straight up north, that takes you into downtown houston, this entire interstate is impassable you can see about a foot and a half of water, there isnt any car traffic on here today, but what there is, is an endless fleet of boats. People who have shown up launching their boats into the water to rescue people from the dozens of neighborhoods that extend behind this tree line here, that you cant necessarily see. Were going to talk to this family here. You guys are literally right off the boat . Yeah, we got dropped off by the go cart track. Were kind of lucky. What is it like in your neighborhood . You go out in the yard its waist deep. Its like walking through a lake. You are one of the lucky ones . Yes. We have a two story home. We were able to bring some neighbors over and go up to the second floor. All the adrenaline got us through it now were ready to see what we have to do next. What is it like to see these boats it was pretty neat. Our neighbor was the one who got us. He lives right on the corner. So he donated his boat to the cause. Had you guys been told to evacuate, given any suggestions on what to do . No, they told us to sit still. We havent flooded in that area since 1978 and for all we knew it was safe. A window of three hours, went from nothing to about three feet. You told me there are people are there people still on rooftops in your neighborhood . They had a ladder up to the rooftop. There were only a couple of people in our neighborhood on roofs. Given how chaotic it seems, whats it like in there . Is it running pretty smoothly . Are people panicking . No, everyones working together. Everyones kind of its a disaster, we have to Work Together or youre not going to get anything fixed. Were all working well. Might be too early, do you know what youre going to be able to do . How do you plan what to do the next couple days . I have a wonderful dad, hes going to let us stay with him until we figure out what to do. Dad, you cooking tonight . No. You guys need a good meal. A shower. Trust me. I wish you guys the best, thanks for talking to us. Thank you so much. I hope you guys do all right. Good to meet you. There you get a sense of folks in relatively good spirits considering they left their home with 4 to 5 feet of water in it, and thats exactly what its come to here in some of these neighborhoods. Someone showing up in your front yard and plucking you out of the neighborhoods. People are prioritizing who needs to be rescued. And you can see all the boats out here, it doesnt take too long. All these boats crisscrossing. Oh, my goodness much hey, ed, people seem to be really taking this in stride. Based on the people youve been interviewing, theyre smiling. Yes, they may have lost everything. But they have a rosie view. What are the other potential dangers. Were talking about texas, bayous and gators, water moccasins and all that. Have there been any potential Health Hazards in that respect for wildlife . People know. There could be snakes, alligators, those are definitely thins that people need to be very weary of, and thats why these boats are kind of crucial. Because as you see this gentleman over here, wading through it i think hes trying to get to the top of this overpass here. But in fact, we spoke with a local reporter here who was covering a situation on galveston island, walking to a scene where a house had caught on fire, they were walking and all of a sudden, he said he took one step and dropped into six feet of water, into a canal. He thought that was it, i thought my life was over right there, he was in what he thought was a completely perfectly safe place. You cant stress enough how deceiving. How treacherous walking through these areas can be. Thats a concern, but obviously, the real concern here, especially as we start approaching toward nightfall, several hours away from nightfall, theres a rush to get as many people out, being out here, as we heard one person say, youre out here with no electricity and power, and things are sloshing around. The water really rises, you hear repeatedly, theyre always amazed at how quickly the water comes up in their homes. In a matter of an hor. Everyone is shell shocked when they live through that. Theres obstructions in the water you cant see, dont know, when it is when youre talking about water like that that simply grows and spreads. The depths, you dont know was underneath you can be injured in so many different ways. Thank you so much, ed lavandera, well check back with you. Lets head further south to a Coastal Community of rockport, texas. Martin savage is there. Do you see any folks there . No, not a lot of people, a lot of First Responders, but not a lot of people. Same storm, harvey. It struck here, category 4, that was friday night, different circumstance than houston, there they have water problems, here it is just destruction and devastation on a massive scale throughout this community. And you see it street after street, block after block, whether youre in the commercial areas or residential areas. Really hard to give you a sense of the scope of it, the more you drive around, the more you see, and the more youre amazed at what the winds did. Theres only one reported fatality, search and rescue crews are going 24 hours a day. They expect it will take 48 hours to finish up the job. The relief is still pouring in. You see, electric companies trying to come in. This area is cut off. Theres no electricity, pitch dark at night. The water is not fit to drink, and theres no sewage system, thats why city officials are saying, if youre here, you have to leave, they have buses to carry you away. If youre not here, dont come back, its not inhabitable. And it is likely not to be that way for some time to come. So same storm, but this one had a very different impact and they are still struggling to come to grips with it here, a lot of the First Responders that were here are needed elsewhere in the state. Thats a scene from rockport texas. Stay with us, we continue to keep a close eye on south texas, where people are currently fleeing their homes, trying to escape the rising floodwater as Tropical Storm harvey hovers over that state. 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Stranded at a hotel. Hes joining us now on the phone. Back in new brownsfeld texas . Yes. Im doing good. How are you doing . Im looking at these images that have come in. Showing the standing water of the hallway of your hotel . Yes, thats correct. Tell me the story, what was your experience . Its kind of funny, im a really hard sleeper, and it was like 6 00 this morning, and a guy from work called me and i was still sleeping, i just woke up, he told me, hey, are we going to work . I said yeah, i got off the bed i was in ankle deep water, from 30 seconds in, it was already a bad day. I started walking through the water, looked out, looked at the parking lot, it was just a lake it seemed like, and i set there and i decided i was going to go up to the second floor the electric was still on. It would have beenwise to go up to the second floor. I prayed a lot. And like the song jesus take the wheel he took the wheel and im safe. This was frightening, wasnt it . Extremely. Theyre calling for 30 inches of rain tonight. It was either stay there and everything flood up to me and im on a rooftop or try it. I can tell how deep it is, if you can see the line you can drive to it, be cautious. I was extremely cautious and shaking the whole time, but i made it all right. So jake, when someone sees water like that, of course you want to get out of there, you know that water is everywhere. It might be in the route youre trying to get home, how did you get back . And whats the distance twin where you were in this hotel and houston and new brunfels, home . Its normally a two hour drive. There were a couple ladies i helped out along the way, they followed me out, and we worked as a team. And we just kind of helped each other get out of that situation. Once we got on the highway, it was a little sketchy getting on 610. We got on the 610, there were a few places that were high. Like the governor and the mayor said, dont get on the road. It was crucial at times, and it could be looked at like a bone head or i made it through it. I think its kind of dumb getting through it, but i made it. I didnt use my better judgment. I kind of used my common sense going through that water. Im so glad you got through it, along the way, did you see a lot of standing water, because youre a texan, youve heard the phrase, the advice, turn around, dont drown. There was standing water. You drove through it anyway . Excuse me . I was asking, did you see standing water and did you drive through it anyway . In some spots on the highway, it was maybe a foot. It wasnt running water, if its running water, i wouldnt go into that, but when its just standing water, ive done worse in my pickup. Bless his heart. There were people that were stranded in water up to their waist. We did what we could to help them out. I took a few people to the shelter on the way there. Its a mess down there right now. And its only going to get worse, either wait until it gets worse or try to go through it now. I didnt want to wait for it to happen. I can take my own judgment in, i guess. Glad youre okay opinion glad you were able to help others. Thanks so much for your time and your story. Theres much more ahead with the weather system. While it continues to rain there in the houston area. Really south texas, its going to continue until friday. Thats what tom satder is saying, is that still the case, tom . Unfortunately, with the amount of rain thats fallen in houston and the devastation were seeing with all the pictures coming in, i hate to tell you, we may see just as much rainfall in the days ahead that have already fallen. Were talking over two feet of rainfall. We could surpass three in a few places. The models are saying, yep, theyre in good agreement, lets carry this system back to where it made lawful, and those models speculated that last week, lets carry it offshore, this is like a refueling stop. If it gets back over water, it cannot only retain its strength, but maybe even develop further. Lets take it out further and see where the models have been going with this. The ones that are extremely east, this is a learn concerning for two reasons, it brings the secondary landfall into the shores of louisiana, but because it would be a longer duration into these warm waters, its not out of the question. It could develop much stronger. Lets go with the bulk of these, its still over water, makes a secondary land fall. But its picking up more moisture right over galveston and houston, we carry it northward. Were talking about a system that will be in the state late thursday and into friday. The numbers weve sheen you are interesting, these are all different counties in texas. In Harris County is javi airport. Last night, in just an hour and a half time, they picked up 10 inches of rainfall. Chad myers was talking about this band that would be moving in last night, that continued to back build in the houston area, even getting support from the northern gulf. The rain is going to pick up intensity in an hour and a half to two hours. Were starting to see the eastern flank get a little more exciting. Not just with the tornados, but its moving into louisiana as far as the heavy rainfall. The National Weather service has issued 111 tornado warnings. That doesnt include six tornados that popped up, they were so busy, they surprised them. The bulk of the rain has been to the north and northeastern flank, and will continue to see the back building of these bands feed that moisture, but sliding in toward louisiana. The center has been believing 1 to 2 miles an hour. That will keep electrical crews from getting any Electrical Work done. They can clean the streets as the system moves north back over houston, cant stress it enough, this is a 1 in 1,000 year rage event. Were going to find more areas that have picked up two feet. Heres the problem, the amount of real estate and land mass that will continue or has not seen two feet of rain will start to see two feet of rain. The models take it well north of houst houston, now slides 2 1 2 feet rainfall totals. This is the latest model. Not only are we going to double in houston alone, now what is expected in the days ahead is just as much rainfall as weve seen fall. Its moving so slow, earlier when i was hearing you talk about this moving at 1 mile per hour. It still packs a punch, its still very strong, its moving so slow, and it continues to saturate the area for days to come. Whats interesting about houston, many parts of houston flood at 2 and 3 inches. You have to look at how muc