Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NEWSROOM
Historic And Catastrophic Proportions Of Flooding Unfolding In Texas; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Talks About Impact of Flooding in Texas. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 27, 2017 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BEN FERGUSON, AMERICAN COMMENTATOR: It's right now, I think the President and the White House is letting the state lead the way they should giving every government resource behind them declaring the state of disaster, talking with the mayors and other officials. And right now, my thoughts and prayers are with them.
I'm not worried about the politics of this. I'm worried about the response to it. I think Ellis with agree with me, the government plays a very big role right now. But they need all of us cheerleading them on and not dividing on politics.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And Ellis a response from a President is particularly important when you have a national crises. And this would be the first significant national crisis, the first natural disaster for this President in which to respond.
It could -- it could certainly help or very much harm, a President's legacy, how they respond.
ELLIS HENICAN, AMERICAN COLUMNIST: That's very true. They're very aware that the White House and let's remember, guys, this is a President who has not shown a particularly deft hand at setting the right tone with the difficult issues that we have seen so far, you know, in Charlottesville, and at other time, the President does have a way sometimes if missing that appropriate mark. It's early in this catastrophe.
So we can't say yet how well he is going to respond and what he is going to say when it gets down there and whether the resources will really be in place, but it is something that I think most Americans are listening to with a skeptical ear maybe.
WHITFIELD: All right, all right we're going to leave it right there, gentlemen, Ellis Henican and Ben Ferguson, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And we continue to follow the situation in Texas, a very significant situation there. Just look at these images. First responders and neighbors working together to rescue people trapped by floodwaters.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News. WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. And thank you so much for being
with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. And 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was awake all night on the phone, and every time I dialed 911, it automatically hung up, and I'm sure they were just over inundated or busy. But I called everyone I could and the best I could, and finally I just sent a message out to Facebook, to all my friends and said, I need help. Call anybody who can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very surprising how fast -- how fast it rose and everything. I didn't think it would rise that fast. But it is, so welcome to Houston.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need boats. We definitely need boats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're ready to come out here and help you guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People that have experience with boats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, how many people are still back there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably hundreds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want everybody to be safe. It's hard for everybody. But you know, the ones down on the creek. You know, they -- you know they need help and we've all got to pitch together and help everybody else out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: President Trump is expected traveled to Texas as early as Tuesday. Governor Greg Abbott is urging residents to stay off the roads get to the highest points of their homes. The Governor also warning residents, the worst is yet to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG ABBOTT (R-TX), GOVERNOR: This likely is going to be a historic rainfall, if not an all-time record and the amount of rain that is sustained in certain regions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, let's get the latest on the situation in Houston -- Downtown Houston with Rosa Flores. These bands of rains continue. Our meteorologist say that rain is going to continue until Friday. So what is the case now?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, information just into the CNN newsroom that the Houston Independent Public School District has closed for the next week. So it is completely closed. No classes will be going on next week because of the inclement weather.
And of course you can see around me and it's very clear the reason why because roads in Houston have turned to rivers. Bayous have turned to raging rivers and it is just not safe for children to be going to school in these conditions.
Now we have some video from earlier today. It was a live shot that we did from about 7:00 a.m. this morning. We were in the same location, but much closer to the intersection that you're taking a look which is commerce and Travis here in downtown Houston.
And if you look at those two pictures, you can see the comparison of just the amount of water and the accumulation and the water levels and how the water has risen since 7:00 a.m. this morning, and that gives you an idea of the magnitude of this storm.
And as you mentioned, Fred, we are still getting drenched at this hour. We're expecting even more rain as we see more of the bands from tropical storm Harvey still pound and pummel the city of Houston and the surrounding areas.
[16:05:03] FLORES: But take a look around, we are surrounded by water. You go through multiple of the streets here in the Houston area, and as far as the eye can see, all you see is water. You see street signs, you can see traffic lights, but the traffic lights are no longer on. And of course those traffic signs show us the water level and just how dramatic the water has been rising here throughout the day.
But again, that picture from 7:00 a.m. this morning, and what the water levels look like now really kind of tell you the story of what the downtown area has seen.
We were doing live shots earlier today from a spaghetti warehouse building that's about a block away, Fred, we can we can barely see that building right now because it is surrounded by water where we were standing at about 6:00 a.m. this morning, local time.
We would never be able to get there just because of how dangerous the situation is, because of how rapid this water is moving -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Just from upwards of 20 inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours and upwards of 20 inches more expected throughout the week. All right, Rosa Flores. Thank you so much in Downtown Houston.
All right, let's go south now to Dickinson, Texas, and not far from Galveston. That's where we find our Ed Lavandera. Ed, are you still on I-45, which was, you know, impassable to most vehicles except for the one behind you? Some high water vehicles and those who have boat hitches and unloading their boats in that area.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. No, this is kind of incredible to explain, but this isn't, you know, some small country road tucked away somewhere that's flooded out. This is the middle of Interstate 45. You head straight up north this way and that takes you into Downtown Houston. This entire interstate is impassable. If you look just on the other
side of the barrier here, you can see about a foot and a half water. And there isn't any car traffic on here today. But what there is traffic of, is an endless fleet of boats. People who have shown up here along this park near Dickinson launching their boats into the water to rescue people from the dozens of neighborhoods that extend especially behind this tree line here that you can't necessarily see.
We're going to talk to these fine folks here. This is the Elephant family, Travis and Crystal and they were -- you guys just literally right off the boat as we as we talk to you here.
TRAVIS ELEPHANT, RESIDENT: Yes, we got dropped off by the boat right up there by the go kart track, and we just walked right up here and my dad came to pick us up so, kind of lucky.
LAVANDERA: What's it like in your neighborhood?
T. ELEPHANT: When you go out to the in the yard, it's about waist deep and slowly it goes up to about chest deep. So it's like walking through a lake.
LAVANDERA: And you guys are one of the lucky ones in your neighborhood.
T. ELEPHANT: Yes, we have a two-story home. So we were really lucky. The first story flooded and we were able to bring over some neighbors and stuff and have everybody upstairs.
LAVANDERA: It has to be terrifying.
CRYSTAL ELEPHANT, RESIDENT: The kids are a bit shocked.
T. ELEPHANT: Shocked and everything. We haven't quite gotten to the terrified yet. But just tried to -- all the adrenaline and stuff just kind of goes through it. And now we're ready to see what we need to do next.
LAVANDERA: What's it like to see hundreds of these flat bottom boats, just crisscrossing their way through the road?
T. ELEPHANT: It's pretty wild. It was like vehicles driving up and down our streets, just boats everywhere.
C. ELEPHANT: It was pretty neat. Our neighbor was actually the one that ended up getting us ironically, he didn't intend on picking us up, but he lives right on the corner. So he had donated his boat to a cause.
LAVANDERA: Had you guys been told to evacuate? Given any suggestions on what to do?
T. ELEPHANT: No, no, they just told us to sit still. We weren't told to evacuate or anything.
C. ELEPHANT: We haven't flooded in that area from what we were told since 1978. And for all we knew, it was safe. And it essentially was, but oops.
T. ELEPHANT: It was about a window of three hours, it went from nothing to about three feet, and it just yes -- it just flooded the home.
LAVANDERA: And you told me there are people -- are there people still on rooftops in your neighborhood?
T. ELEPHANT: Yes, there was -- we had a ladder up to the rooftop. There was a neighbor of ours that had somebody up there for a while, but they moved down.
Most of the boats were prioritizing, picking up single story homes and people that were on the roof. So there was only a couple of people in the neighborhood on roofs.
LAVANDERA: And given how chaotic it seems that people just showing up with boats. What's it like in there? Is it running pretty smoothly? Are people panicking? Or people --
T. ELEPHANT: Not a lot of panic. Everybody is working together. You know, everybody just kind of -- it's a disaster, we've got all to kind of work together. Otherwise, you're just not going to get anything fixed. So we're all working well.
LAVANDERA: It might be too early. But do you know what you're going to be able to do? How do you plan what to do the next couple of days?
T. ELEPHANT: Well, I'm lucky to have a wonderful dad over here. He's going to let us stay with him until we figure out what we're going to do until we talk to insurance and do all that stuff.
LAVANDERA: Dad, you cooking tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. I'd like to do that.
LAVANDERA: You guys need a good meal.
T. ELEPHANT: I am looking forward to a shower and do those things, so --
LAVANDERA: I wish you guys the best. Thanks for talking to us.
C. ELEPHANT: Well, thank you so much.
LAVANDERA: We hope you guys -- we hope you guys do all right. All right. All right, kiddo. Good to meet you, Travis. Good to meet you, Crystal. Take care. All right.
So there you get a sense of folks in relatively good spirits, considering they just left their home with four to five feet of water more than waist high there, Fredricka, and you know that's exactly what it's come to here in some of these neighborhoods.
It is just someone showing up with a boat in your front yard and plucking you out of the neighborhood. And you can get a sense there.
[16:10:14] LAVANDERA: It's interesting how things are kind of working out. People are prioritizing who needs to be rescued and you can kind of see, all the boats seem to be kind of out. But it doesn't take too long here. This has just been a boat crisscrossing up and down as they go into these neighborhoods that have essentially turned into lakes to go rescue people from their neighborhoods -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. So hey, Ed, I mean, people seem to be really taking this in stride. I mean, based on the people that you've been interviewing, I mean, they're smiling. And yes, they may have lost everything, but they kind of have a rosy view of everything at the same time.
What about the other potential dangers? Because we are talking about South Texas. We're talking about bayous. We're talking about you know, gators, and water moccasins and all of that. Have there been any you know, real health -- potential health hazards in that respect for, you know, wildlife?
LAVANDERA: Oh, yes, no, people know there'll be snakes, alligators, those are definitely things that people need to be very, you know, weary of. And that's why these boats are kind of crucial, because, you know, as you see this gentleman over here, kind of wading through it. I think he's trying to get to the top of this overpass here.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
LAVANDERA: But you know, in fact, we spoke with a local reporter here who was covering a situation last night on Galveston Island who was walking to a scene where a house had caught on fire, and they were walking and all of a sudden, he said he took one step and he dropped into six feet of water into a canal.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.
LAVANDERA: He actually told me he thought he goes, "I thought that was it. I thought -- I thought my life was over right there." And he was in what he thought was a completely perfectly safe place. So you can't really stress enough just how ...
WHITFIELD: How deceiving.
LAVANDERA: ... treacherous and dangerous walking through the these areas can really be so that is definitely a concern.
WHITFIELD: That water is very deceiving.
LAVANDERA: But obviously, you know the real concern here, especially as we start approaching to, you know, toward nightfall -- several hours away from nightfall, there's really kind of a rush to get as many people out because being out here as we heard one person say, you're out here in the darkness with no electricity and no power. And things are sloshing around, more rain expected. The water really rises. You hear repeatedly from everyone I've spoken to out here. They're
always amazed at how quickly the water comes up in their homes and it goes from just a couple of inches to feet in a matter of, you know, less than an hour and everybody is shell shocked when they experience and live through that.
WHITFIELD: My goodness, it's potentially dangerous on so many levels -- utility lines. I mean, there's obstructions in the water that you can't see, don't know because when it is -- when you're talking about water like that that simply grows and spreads -- the depths. You don't know what's underneath and you can be injured in so many different ways. Life threatening on so many levels.
Thank you so much, Ed Lavandera, we will check back with you from Dickinson, Texas.
All right, let's head further south now to a coastal community of Rockport, Texas. Martin Savidge there. Martin, what's happening? Do you see any folks there?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not a lot of people, a lot of first responders, but not a lot of people, we will explain why that is the situation. Same storm, remember, 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 you're in the commercial areas or whether you're in the residential areas really hard to try to give you a sense of the scope of it.
The more you drive around, the more you see it and the more you are amazed at just what the winds did. There's only one reported fatality in this community. Nobody is reported missing. That is miraculous given the amount of destruction that you're seeing.
Still, search and rescue crews going 24 to 48 hours a day, and -- they go in 24 hours a day, they expect it will take 48 hours to finish up the job.
Let me show you what they're staging, which is this area over here. Former grocery store that now has become Ground Zero for the relief effort and the relief is still pouring in -- heavy earth moving equipment.
You see the electric companies now trying to come in. That's the problem now. This area is cut off. It's cut off from the modern age essentially. There's no electricity, its pitch dark at night. Very limited cell service and the water is not fit to drink and there's no sewage system.
That's why city officials are saying if you're here, you've got to leave. They've got buses to carry you away. If you're not here, don't come back because it is just not inhabitable. And it is likely not to be that way for some time to come, Fred. So same storm, but this one had a very different impact and they are
still struggling to come to grips with it here, and of course a lot of the first responders that were here are needed elsewhere in the state.
[16:15:02] WHITFIELD: All right, that's the scene from Rockport, Texas. Thank you so much, Martin Savidge. Appreciate that. And 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 flood water as Tropical Storm Harvey hovers over that state. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Immense flooding is affecting some of the most vulnerable in Texas. More than 20 people have been evacuated from La Vida Bella Nursing Home in Dickinson, Texas.
I know this picture is extraordinary. I know you want to double check and see if you really are seeing what you're seeing. But these people are sitting in water and you see the water has come to their chest to their elbows as some sit in chairs.
The woman who is closest to us is actually sitting on kind of the chair of her walker, and you see they are submerged by water that has come inside that nursing home.
But good news is, we understand that National Guard did come in. They were able to rescue 20 to 25 people. Still unclear whether there any more people at that La Vida Bella in Dickinson, Texas, but of course if we hear any more information, we'll pass it on to you, but we understand they -- those who have been rescued are well right now.
[16:20:19] WHITFIELD: All right. There are other flood victims stuck in homes and hotels. Our next guest, Jake Lewis is in Houston for work and was stranded at a hotel. He is joining us now on the phone back in New Braunfels, Texas. Is that right? Jake? So --
JAKE LEWIS, STRANDED BY FLOODING IN HOUSTON (through phone): Yes. That's right. How are you doing?
WHITFIELD: I'm good. The question is, how are you doing? I'm looking at these images that have come in? I think you supplied these images showing the water -- standing water in the hallway of your hotel?
LEWIS: Yes, ma'am. That's correct.
WHITFIELD: Okay, tell me the story. What was your experience? What happened?
LEWIS: It's kind of funny. I'm a really hard sleeper. And it was -- it was like six o'clock this morning and a guy from work, he called me and I was still sleeping. I just woke up. And he told me he's like, "Hey, man, we're going to work." And I was like, "Well, yes." And he's like, "Well get off to bed real quick." I get got out the bed, and I was in ankle deep water. And so from like, 30 seconds in, it was already a bad day. But I
started walking through the water, looked out and looked in the parking lot and it was just -- I mean, it's just -- it was just a lake, it seemed like.
I sat there and I decided I was going to go up to the second floor, you know, and I figured that would be smart, you know, because the electric was still on and, you know, TV was on and everything like that.
It would have been wise to go up to the second floor, and I did, and I kind assessed the situation, and then I got out of it somehow and I prayed a lot. You know, like the song, "Jesus, Take the Wheel," and He just took the wheel and got me home.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. This was really frightening, wasn't it?
LEWIS: Oh, yes. I mean, extremely. It was one of those things and they're calling it 30 inches of rain that night, and it was either stay there, and everything slowed up to me, and maybe I'm on a rooftop or try --
You know, I mean, I can tell how deep it is. I mean, if you can see the line, you know, I don't you know -- you can drive through it, just be cautious and I was extremely cautious. And, you know, I was checking the whole time, but I made it all right.
WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Jake, when someone sees water like that, of course you want to get out of there, but then you know that water is everywhere. It might be in the route that you're, you know, trying to get home, how did you get back to New Braunfels? And how -- what's the distance between where you were in this hotel in Houston and New Braunfels -- home?
LEWIS: It's usually about 150 miles. I don't know, two and a half hours drive, I mean, in good conditions. And there were a couple of ladies that I helped out along the way and they were kind of stranded, but their vehicle was fine and they followed me out and we kind of worked as a team, and we just kind of helped each other get out of that situation. Because we were in no spot --
Once I get on the hallway, they know -- it got a little sketchy getting on 610. And whenever, you know, you got on a 610 there's a few places that were hot, you know, just kind of like the Governor and like the mayor used to say, don't get on the road. It was very -- it was really crucial times, and, you know, I could be looked at like a bonehead or I could look at it like you know, I made it through it.
But I think it's kind of -- I think it's kind of dumb getting through it. But I made it you know, and I didn't use my better judgment, but I kind of used my common sense whenever going through that water.
WHITFIELD: Well, I'm so glad you got through it. But then along the way, did you see a lot of standing water because you know, you're a Texan. You've heard the, you know, the phrase, the advice, you know, turn around, don't drown.
LEWIS: Yes, there was plenty of standing water. I mean --
WHITFIELD: You saw standing water, and you drove through it anyway?
LEWIS: You know in the 610 wraparound -- oh, excuse me?
WHITFIELD: Oh, I was asking did you standing water and did you drive through it anyway?
LEWIS: Oh, I mean, in some spots in the highway, it was maybe a foot, but I mean, it wasn't running water. I mean, if it was running water, you know, I wouldn't go into that. But yes, it was just standing water.
I mean, I've done worse in my pick up, bless his heart and got through it. And-- but I mean, there were people that were stranded in the water up to their waist and well, we did what we could to help them out. And I took a few people to the shelter on the way there.
And I mean, it absolute mess down there right now and it's only going to get worse and it was either wait until it gets worse or try to sprint through it right now.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
LEWIS: So -- and I just kind of didn't want to wait for it to happen, and I can take my own judgment, and I guess --
WHITFIELD: Well, Jake Lewis, so glad you're okay. And glad you were able to help others. We've heard that story many times over today, Texan and help and Texan neighbor helping neighbor.
And congratulations to being able to help out one another and get there safely. Thanks so much for your time and your story.
[16:25:07] WHITFIELD: There's much more ahead with the weather system, because while it continues to rain there in the Houston area, really South Texas, it is going to continue possibly until Friday. That's what our meteorologist, Tom Sater is saying and is that still the case, Tom?
TOM SATER, METEOROLOGIST: Well, unfortunately, with the amount of rain that has fallen in Houston and the devastation we're seeing with all the pictures coming in, I hate to tell you, we may see just as much rain fall in the days ahead that have already fallen. And we're talking over two feet of rainfall.
So I mean, we could surpass three in a few places. The satellite imagery is showing it brought in to the east, and now the models are saying yet they're in pretty good agreement, let's carry the system back to where it made landfall or pretty close. And those models didn't speculate that last week, and they let's carry it offshore.
This is like a refueling stop. If it gets back over water, it cannot only retain its strength, which is a tropical storm, but maybe even develop further.
Let's take it out further and see where the models have been going with this. We had a couple that wanted to drive it out to the west, they're no longer agreeing with that. Everyone is saying almost in the water and northward.
The ones that are extremely east, this is a little concerning for two reasons. One, it brings the secondary landfall into the shores of Louisiana, but because it would be a longer duration into these very warm waters, it's not out of the question, it could develop much stronger, maybe even a hurricane strength again.
But let's put that aside and let's go with the bulk of these. It's still overwater Fredricka, it still makes a secondary landfall most likely as a good tropical storm, but it's picking up more moisture right over Galveston, right over Houston and we carry it northwards.
So, we're still we're still talking about a system that will be in the state late Thursday and into Friday.
The numbers we have shown with you are interesting. I mean, they're well over two feet, but they're these are all different counties in Texas. And the list goes on and on.
In Harris County, just southeast of Houston is Hobby Airport. Three miles south of Hobby 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 was going to be moving in last night and they would wake up to some flooding this morning. That band continued to back build in the Houston area, even getting support from the northern Gulf.
So now that these bands are moving in, we've got another one that's getting poised to move into Houston, too. So the rain is going to pick up intensity in about an hour and a half to two hours.
But now we're starting to see the eastern flank get a little bit more exciting not just with the tornadoes, but it's moving into Louisiana as far as the heavy rainfall.
The National Weather Service has now issued 111 tornado warnings, and that doesn't include six tornadoes that popped up that they were so busy, they just surprised them. But the bulk of the rain has been to the north and the northeastern flank. And we'll continue to see the back building of these bands feed that moisture, but now sliding in toward Louisiana.
The center which has been moving one to two miles an hour, as I mentioned slides back over to the Rockport area that'll keep electrical crews really from getting into that electrical work done, although that can clean the streets because that's another problem as well.
But as the system moves North back over Houston, I can't stress it enough. This is a one in 1000 year rain event, we're going to find more areas not only that have picked up two feet, but here's the problem now if you look at what's ahead, the amount of real estate and landmass that will continue or has not seen two feet of rain will start to see two feet of rain.
The newest models now take it well north of Houston, Huntsville area, north of Huntsville now slides two to two and a half feet of rainfall totals across I-10 in towards Southern Louisiana.
So this is the latest model Fredricka, not only we're going to double the rain totals in Houston alone in some areas of Southeast Texas, but now what is expected in the days ahead is just as much rain as we've seen fall, fall in places that haven't had it and slide into the north into the east. We're a long way from over with this one.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And it's moving so slow. I mean, earlier, when I was hearing you talk about this moving at one mile per hour, while it has, it still packs, you know, a punch, it's still very strong. It's just that it's moving so slow, and it continues to saturate the area for days to come, Tom Sater.
SATER: One other thing, too, if I could add.
WHITFIELD: Yes, go ahead.
SATER: What's interesting about Houston when you talk about flooding, many parts of Houston flooded two and three inches. But you have to look at how much they've grown.
Since the year 2000, they have added 25 percent more pavement and that's on top of wetlands. So it's a bigger city, pavement and wetlands, there is more flooding.
WHITFIELD: All right, Tom Sater, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right, Houston being hit very hard. Houston also happens to be the district of former Presidential candidate and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is on the phone with me right now. So, Senator, where are you as it relates to all of this rising water? And perhaps you've been witness to all of these rescues that have taken place? We're looking right now at a woman being rescued unclear whether this is the you know, first responder and which it appears to be, and there's also many cases of neighbors helping neighbors. What have you seen?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) (through phone): Sure. I'm in Houston right now. And we are seeing just historic flooding. The impact of Harvey is massive and it is expected to be growing.
We've got right now just in and around the Houston area about 2,000 high water rescues that are ongoing, people who are trapped with rising water.
And so I've been spending much of the day in communication with local officials, with state officials and with the Federal government working to mobilize resources to provide assistance to people who are facing real peril. WHITFIELD: We heard from the Governor earlier who said, you know
everything Houston has asked for you know, we provided. The Governor has called the Houston Mayor a number of times and left messages, but hasn't had a direct conversation, at least at the time of that press conference. What do you believe Houston needs right now that needs to be conveyed on a state level and perhaps even Federal level since Federal resources have also been dedicated?
CRUZ: I have spoken with both the Mayor and the Governor in the past few hours. But the Mayor expressed significant concern about needing additional resources for high water rescues, additional boats and helicopters and high water trucks.
That is a concern I express directly to the White House, expressed to FEMA and Federal officials and also to the Governor. The Governor I got off the phone with about 20 to 30 minutes ago and Governor Abbott told me the state has deployed 60 boats to the Houston region, 20 helicopters and has sent an additional 500 DPS troopers and mobilized a total of about 3,000 National Guardsmen.
So the state is acting swiftly to marshal resources, the Federal government is as well. It's taking a little bit of time to get those resources to the affected areas just because getting there is not proving easy, because many roadways are shut down.
But I think we're seeing state, local and Federal officials working well together, but we're still in the midst of an active crisis and so there's considerably more work to be done.
WHITFIELD: Earlier, I spoke with Ed Emmett, who's the Houston Emergency Management official, one of the officials and he defended the fact that it was a rain event and it's difficult in which to evacuate from a rain event.
You don't know who to evacuate and the mayor earlier saying between two and six million people would have to be evacuated if there were to be a mandatory evacuation. And that would not be wise. Where are you on the issue of evacuations? Or whether it has been handled properly knowing that this was going to be a hurricane and potentially -- that would potentially evolve into a tropical storm?
CRUZ: Sure. Well, look, there's always time in the future to look back in hindsight and assess what might have been done better. But I will say what I've been advising people is listen to your local officials because it really varies region by region.
We saw when Hurricane Harvey first made landfall, we saw devastation further south in Texas in Corpus Christi, and Victoria and Rockport. But -- and now we're seeing flooding, especially in the Houston and Dallas area that is very, very significant.
You know, I think it's important to monitor the situation as it is moving, particularly because this is an over. Harvey is expected to stay and keep dumping water. We may not even be halfway through in terms of the rainfall and flooding that's coming and so what I would encourage anyone in the Houston area who is facing rising water, stay safe. Stay inside. Don't go out in your car.
Frequently -- the most frequent loss of life is people that get out in their car and they think they can make it and swift moving water can be incredibly dangerous. Don't jeopardize you or your family's safety.
If you see rising water in your home, get up high. Don't go into your attic. This is a very important warning. Don't go into your attic, unless you have an axe or other equipment to get through the roof because it can be very dangerous getting trapped in your attic with no way to get out.
You're far better off if the water is rising, getting on top of your roof, where you can be rescued rather than getting yourself trapped. But the biggest advice is stay off the roads, do not drive in the water that can be incredibly, incredibly dangerous.
WHITFIELD: And Senator Ted Cruz, President Trump is back at the White House now having arrived there just moments ago after spending a weekend at Camp David and the White House also say that the President plans to head to the region there, the flooding region there and here are the images right now. The family coming off Marine One that they will be in the region on Tuesday. What do you want to see come from the President's visit, potentially in your district?
[16:35:15] CRUZ: Well, I spoke to the President earlier and he committed swift and immediate Federal resources and all the support that the state needed. I was very appreciative of his direct and personal level of concern.
Yesterday, I spoke with Vice President Pence right after the President had convened a video conference Cabinet meeting and Vice President conveyed to me that the President had directed every Cabinet official to move as swiftly as humanly possible to marshal resources on the grounds to meet the need.
We've been seeing that level of cooperation. In fact, the Governor told me that he's just now in the process of signing an agreement with the Federal government to create a dual status command center so that you don't have the problems of coordination between the state and Federal government that we've seen in other disasters.
And I know what the President told me when I visited with him that he wants to come to Texas, but he wants to come at a time when it doesn't create a distraction and pull resources away from search and rescue, so he has intention to come --
WHITFIELD: And is Tuesday a good time in your view? Is Tuesday a good time in your view?
CRUZ: I expect there will be a time coming this week. But I think the President is trying to be sensitive to the right time to come. And the focus right now of the White House and the administration is search and rescue, getting you know --
Let me say our first responders, the incredible bravery of police officers and firefighters and paramedic, the National Guardsmen and so many people that are just risking their lives. And you know, as you mentioned a minute ago, also just neighbors helping neighbors in Houston and Galveston, there's been a call to private citizens if you have a flat bottom boat and can assist in rescue efforts to do so.
And that's one of the most incredible things we see is whenever natural disaster strikes in Texas and sadly, were big enough that we have had a significant number of natural disasters, we always see Texans coming together and neighbors helping neighbors and we're seeing that right now as well.
WHITFIELD: All right, Senator Ted Cruz, thanks for your time. Appreciate it. All the best to you, your family there in Houston, and everyone in your district, and we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:40:36] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. In the news right now, President Trump just arriving back at the White House. He'll be traveling to Texas on Tuesday, the President -- the First Family just back from a weekend at Camp David.
All right, let's go now to Athena Jones live at the White House. So Athena, the President has made his way back, off to Texas as early as Tuesday. But is that schedule rather loose?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred, we were talking last hour about how he wants to go to Texas as soon as possible but he could do so as early as Tuesday. Now, the White House making Tuesday official.
We still don't know what city or cities the President could travel to, but Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders telling us just a short while ago that the President will travel to Texas on Tuesday, so we will await further details there.
We know the president doesn't want to have his footprint, the security and the infrastructure needed to protect him. He doesn't want to have that get in the way of rescue and recovery efforts. And so the expectation is that he is likely to travel to avoid the hard hit areas.
So we're hearing the White House could be leaning toward a city like San Antonio, I should say, because it was outside of the hardest hit zones. We will be awaiting more details on that.
I can also tell you that earlier today, the President held a second video teleconference call with Vice President Mike Pence, other Cabinet officials and other senior members of the administration to talk about the overall response and talk about the ongoing unfolding natural disaster taking place in Texas.
We know the President stressed the importance of saving lives, making sure that they could avoid loss of life and also called on people who were in the areas that there were sheltering in place to heed the instructions of local and state officials so that they can remain safe -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right, Athena Jones at the White House. Thank you so
much. Again, the President, according to the White House on his way to Texas as early as Tuesday, and when the President gets to Texas, these are the stories that he is going to hear from people directly about their rescue attempts losing everything in places like Dickinson, Texas.
These are the images you're seeing right now. Ed Lavandera is reporting from that location. Ed, these images are extraordinary, the water very high.
LAVANDERA: Hey, Fredricka, we found a gentleman who was very gracious to bring us out by the name of Austin Seth, who drove up from Lake Jackson today in his own flat boat and he is taking us out into the neighborhoods where he has rescued about 12 people here today.
But this is one of those subdivisions just off of Interstate 45 that has been here in the town of Dickinson that has been flooded out by the floodwaters that came in overnight and this is an area where we've seen boats crisscrossing, and you know the images here that you're seeing speak for themselves. This is just how devastating the flood waters is.
And this is an area where people went to bed last night thinking that they were going to be high and dry in one of the areas where they were going to be better off to withstand the intense rain that was coming and the floodwaters that was coming down.
But you can see just how much water the folks in this neighborhood have taken on. So many people with their own boats have been coming through this neighborhood pulling people out that actually right now, it is incredibly quiet.
In fact not many people, if maybe only a handful by this time in the day are still in here. We have seen a couple of rooftops where you can tell people have used axes to punch their way through the attic and onto the rooftop of their homes and crazy enough in some of these places you can still see like the porch light is still on in some of these homes, the electricity still on.
But you can just see how much water is in this neighborhood. Everyone -- almost every car submerged in water. You can see when you look in through the windows, the furniture tossed around inside the floodwaters.
This is a little neighborhood just adjacent to Interstate 45 in the town of Dickinson. There is not -- you can see over here one of -- another group of -- he is asking if we've seen any people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hadn't seen any around here.
AUSTIN SETH, VOLUNTEER: Not since this -- I mean, earlier this morning, man. I think most people out of here are gone. If you go back out to where that bridge is where everybody is launching their boat and run up whatever road that is, the neighborhoods on the left still have got some people in them. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
SETH: Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
SETH: Yes. In Commodore Lane, I think is where --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
[16:45:19] SETH: I am circling in here making sure there's no one left here and then --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scout around right here?
LAVANDERA: How many people have you guys rescued today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Towed one boat in.
LAVANDERA: Towed one boat in. So it's just, you know, folks like this Fredricka who have come in here, and you know what is odd as we sit here and drive, Austin was telling us you know, you have to be incredibly careful when you're driving through these neighborhoods. On one of his last trips through here, Fredricka, he said he got lodged on top of car that was hard to see but here, you know navigating -- we are we are into the trees. That is how high we are here in this water. Probably seven eight feet of water in some places.
As every car you've seen here submerged. Countless cars submerged. You can see that the water inside the home. Here, you can actually see -- look over here to your right. If we look, these cars, you can see the coolers where people were managing their way trying to get to higher ground push their cars closer to the edge of the rooftop so they could climb from their cars onto the rooftops.
Coast Guard teams have been coming into this neighborhood as well throughout the day, Fredricka and rescuing people. You can see here we are at the top of the street signs at the intersection of Meadow Court and Meadow Lane here so you can see just how much water and this is going on and on through all of it.
As you look back into the -- there's a bayou that stretches throughout this back part of this neighborhood and you can you can see just how dramatic the pictures are here from this neighborhood -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, Ed, the gentleman that's driving the boat that you're in, he lives in that neighborhood. I mean, he clearly knows the neighborhood well enough to know where the street starts and end there. But what's his story as to why he decided to pitch in and help out?
LAVANDERA: Austin, this is your first time in this neighborhood, right?
SETH: It's my second time in this -- LAVANDERA: Let's stand up here a little bit if we can and try to
figure out a way to talk to Austin while he maneuvers his way. You mind if we talk to you? Austin, you're from Lake Jackson, which isn't that close to here?
SETH: Yes, it's about an hour west of here.
LAVANDERA: What? How did you hear this news? What made you want to bring your boat out here?
SETH: Well, I don't remember if it was the Game Warden's office, or just the local police, but they put a thing out on Facebook, saying that, you know, anybody with a flat bottom boat in the general vicinity, if you can come help, you know, we'd greatly appreciate it.
So that got from what I saw, you know, within an hour, it had like 3,000 shares or something like that. So it got the word out pretty quick.
LAVANDERA: We were standing there on the interstate and that's where I first met you a couple hours ago.
SETH: Yes, sir.
LAVANDERA: And we saw everybody you know, just the boat started coming out of nowhere, it seemed like.
SETH: Oh, yeah, it's been unreal. I mean, I've been passed, but dozens upon dozens of boats and you know, this a huge areas. So God knows how many there are out here.
LAVANDERA: And you've already rescued about a dozen people?
SETH: That's pretty -- there were a earlier. I don't know if that was --
LAVANDERA: What is that? That's like, that's one of those --
SETH: military trucks of some sort.
LAVANDERA: Is that a National Guard truck?
SETH: That's kind of what I was thinking the first time I saw it. I saw that earlier and it's kind of eerie.
LAVANDERA: What were -- the people that you've rescued from here, what did what did they tell you? What were their stories?
SETH: Well, the first people I pulled out, it was a wife and her husband and their daughter. And they -- I don't know how they got as far as they did. I picked them out -- or pick them up closer to the entrance in the neighborhood. And they said, "Is there any way we can go back and get our dogs?" I said, "Yes, we can go come back and get your dogs. Let me drop your wife and daughter off first."
And then the other people. They woke up this morning at 5:30 and stepped out in then knee deep water in the middle of their house. And so --
LAVANDERA: They had no idea.
SETH: No idea it was coming. And they were lucky enough, their neighbor across the street was actually dry. He built up a little bit. So we went over there and we were camping out there and I just happened to find him an hour or two ago.
LAVANDERA: You've been paying attention the news, you knew the storm was coming.
SETH: I didn't realize it was going to be this bad.
LAVANDERA: This still even shocks you.
SETH: It's mind boggling.
LAVANDERA: What is this vehicle? That looks like a -- I can't tell if that's an official National Guard truck or not. It doesn't look like it actually. But anyway, it's stuck there. It's not going anywhere. You can really -- have you ever seen flooding -- you know people -- I have been talking a lot of people, people in this part of Southeast Texas are used to this kind of flooding, but this?
SETH: This is unreal. We had flooding over there in Lake Jackson last year, the Memorial Day floods and the Brazos River crested and it flooded a bunch of neighborhoods back there. But it was nothing compared to this. You know, the worst house may have had two feet of water in it, not 10. So nothing compared to this.
LAVANDERA: And the people you rescued from here, did they say -- that most people that evacuated or most people were still here?
SETH: They -- well, from what I gathered, they said most people were going this morning because most of them didn't know, you know, a fair amount of people had already evacuated for the storm or something like that. But they said most of their neighbors and stuff, they had no idea it was going to get like this.
They figured there was going to be a little bit of water in the streets and ditches but that was it. And they underestimated it, that's for sure.
[16:50:21] LAVANDERA: This is absolutely stunning. This isn't just even terribly isolated. This is -- this goes on for a large, large area here. This isn't just you know, one little street that's flooded. This is in several giant subdivisions.
SETH: Oh yes. It's wild.
LAVANDERA: Fredricka, so this is -- this is that scene.
WHITFIELD: It's extraordinary. I mean, what a view and I mean, this is a very concentrated residential area and to see how many cars were left, and possibly how many people were rescued out of that is astounding. And then earlier, Ed, we had an image, a photograph earlier from a
nursing home and it was in that very neighborhood as well where the water had come in and the people who were staying in that nursing home were in their chairs with the water, waist deep.
Well, extraordinary work that your friend there is doing or the two friends there who are steering the boat are doing by rescuing people, neighbor helping neighbor, heeding to the call coming from Texas officials, asking if anyone had a boat in which to help.
They are there. Ed Lavandera, thanks for that perspective. Appreciate it. We are going to check back with you there from Dickinson, Texas further north out of Houston, Texas.
Downtown Houston also hit hard where there are still bands of rain that are falling and high water. Brian Todd is there. Brian, what's your perspective now that you are there with fresh eyes and on the ground there?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it is very difficult to traverse this area here just west of Downtown Houston. We're about six miles west of the downtown area.
We came down Route 45 from the north. Ed Lavandera who you just were with came from the south. He got cut off coming from the south. We got cut off about 20 miles north of the city. And this is kind of what you're looking at along the highways in some of the major thoroughfares here.
We're right along Route 610, the loop that goes around the city, and you can see this access to it is flooded. Now look behind me, if you see -- our photojournalist Eddie Gross is going to zoom in there. That's the back of an 18-wheeler and you can see it got stranded there. It's a probably a good five feet of water at least, that that truck was stranded.
And I talked to a witness who saw the driver of that truck being rescued a couple of hours ago. He said that Houston Fire had to go in boats over there and pull her out. It was a female driver of that truck. They had to pull her out with a rope and get her onto a boat and look to the right of it, you can see two submerged vehicles and there were people just as second ago on that -- at that convertible vehicle looking in to see I guess if there was anybody there, and then they moved on.
But there are people kind of moving along this thoroughfare in boats, and then if you come over here, and Ed, if you can just kind of pan off left or right your left a little bit. That is I-610 and that you could see there are some high water vehicles that can get through there. But they're struggling to get through. And a lot of people are being turned around the other way.
This is essentially the Buffalo Bayou that has just overflowed onto this access road onto I-610. And Buffalo Bayou is one of the many bayous in the Houston area. As our reporters have been saying all day, that funneled the water into the Gulf of Mexico, but you can see just how overwhelmed Buffalo Bayou is.
My water level is going to get a little higher here as I dip down. This Buffalo Bayou is just over here to my left, and it's just completely overflowed, and as you can see what it's doing here to the thoroughfare here.
Now we were told by a witness that this driver of this 18-wheeler saw that these other two vehicles were stranded, and she still tried to make it through anyway and got caught, got stranded and had a really close call there.
We heard the Governor, Greg Abbott say earlier today that about 250 plus highways throughout the state have been shut down. Well, we kind of experienced that just trying to get from Dallas down here trying to get around some interstates.
And as I said, Route 45, a major highway was closed about 20 miles north of Houston. You've had thousands of high water rescues, as our reporters have been saying all day. There's a neighborhood here to my left that we're going to venture out in to see who's being rescued over here, Fredricka.
But again, just a peril for motorists. That's that 18-wheeler got stuck here a couple of hours ago. Luckily, the driver got out okay.
WHITFIELD: Well, that is good news, an incredible amount of rain there. And so I saw over your shoulder, right shoulder on the other side of the highway, it looked like a lot of emergency vehicle lights as well.
Any idea what kind of activity is happening over there? Is that you know, simply serving as a barricade so that people don't try to traverse that area? Or what's going on?
[16:55:04] TODD: I think they're trying to get through, Fredricka get to the other side where maybe they can kind of pass through that area. We're not sure quite what they're doing. A lot of people are stopped up there.
So again, these -- even a major highway here gets flooded, I-45 got flooded. This is 610, part of it is flooded over here against some high water vehicles getting through here.
Not quite sure what they're doing over there with those emergency vehicles. They may be steering people back, incoming this way. We encountered a lot of people going essentially the wrong way after they were turned around out of here. So it is very dangerous to try to just -- to get through on any road, much less you know, some of the smaller ones here that are just completely submerged.
WHITFIELD: Right. I know you can testify to what the journey it was to get from Dallas to Houston with all of those road closures and with standing water everywhere you look.
And now we're learning from the National Weather Service, whereas earlier it had been reported that perhaps another 20 inches of rain could be expected in that area until Friday.
Now we're hearing from the National Weather Service, it could be 40 to 50 inches additionally of rain water accumulation. So it is bad now, it is certainly going to worsen there in the area in South Texas.
Thank you so much, Brian Todd and to all our correspondents. And all of our guests who have been with us throughout the day, giving us a first-hand view of what people are experiencing there.
Live pictures right now of Dickinson, Texas by way of our friendly boaters who have given our Ed Lavandera an incredible look and you see the dogs there that are in safe haven in that boat at that residence. Rescues have been taking place by Good Samaritans and by first responders all day long. It will continue.
Our continuing coverage goes on. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for joining us at this hour. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. We continue our breaking news coverage of the catastrophic flood disaster in Texas right now.
The horrors and the heroic as Harvey which slammed the state as a Category 4 hurricane has stalled as a tropical storm dumping more than 24 inches of rain in 24 hours on Houston, the nation's fourth largest city and much of it now underwater.
The worst unfortunately is likely still to come since more rain is expected throughout the week. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has activated 3,000 military personnel. Emergency crews are being dispatched by land, water and air.
It is a frantic race in some places to get to residents who are trapped in their homes. Some of them trying to make their way to their rooftops. At least a thousand people already rescued overnight and when asked just how many happens --
[17:01:58]
