sarah dallof is in columbia, south carolina. thank you, sarah. let's now -- again, if you're just joining us, we're waiting for the news conference from nikki haley. when that does happen we'll get to it. here we have gabe gutierrez by the coast. we heard the report from sara. she's 100 miles inland. you're in charleston. so you are right there by the shoreline. what does it look like there, gabe, by charleston? >> hey, richard, good afternoon. a lot has changed in the last hour or two. this location we've been throughout a big chunk of the day and right now you can see a tow truck has pulled up to get these abandoned cars out of here. they have been here all day, overnight. drivers got stuck there. in fact, we just saw up with of the women that had gotten stuck in that car, she is now back. so the waters have receded in the last hours or two to do that, we are not far from downtown and last night it was incredible, torrential rains flooded this area very, very quickly. this was the wettest day on record for charleston, south carolina, and as you

forave a lot to be grateful in this district of columbia. we have grown, attractive people, attractive businesses, grown our prosperity. more injustice remains in that more washingtonians are sharing in that prosperity. ago, onehat 20 years million men came to the district of columbia. it is my privilege to be mayor at the time that we celebrate this 20th anniversary. my good friend, you know him where, marion barry was there those 20 years ago. remindede, and i was by the minister, that washington, d.c. welcomed this march. the government rolled out the red carpet to make sure that every voice could be heard. generationy in my who have been trusted, trusted speak up forave to those same injustices. . ran here to be here that is why you see me in running close. -- clothes. today's event.s our ministration has been focused, and we will continue to be focused on growing pathways to the middle class. we will continue to be focused on productive avenues for our youth and our men and women who are returning home. we will lead in this nation and s

we saw several of them as well in columbia, south carolina. there was a dramatic water rescue there, where several people were caught fighting the currents hand in hand as rescue crews rushed in to help. here in charleston, it was the wettest day on record. there were hundreds of emergency calls overnight and dozens of water rescues. this is the weather system that has pounded much of the east coast over the last few days, killing at least four people, and if you come over here, aymon, this car in the last hour or two thankfully the water line has dropped so slightly, just a few inches so the waters are receding but the issue in south carolina many of the rivers are rising and the concern is that they could reach record flood stages by tomorrow. back to you. >> thanks to gabe gutierrez for that update. >>> coastal flood warnings are in effect from south carolina to new jersey as more rainfall is expected. we turn to msnbc meteorologist bill karins with the latest from our weather center. >> i'm confident, this will go down as the flood of reco

but there are fortunately good areas of columbia and not so good areas of columbia right now as far as the weather. so hopefully it will get dry for us soon. >> all right. jonathan, i understand you're in the car. you guys are headed to safety. we appreciate your time. we wish you and your family the best. please keep in touch with us, okay? >> thank you very much. >> all right. thank you. we're going to have much more on the coverage of the flooding throughout the day. please stay with us. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, or if you

the gentlelady from the district of columbia is recognized. ms. norton: mr. speaker, this morning a member said that a letter had come from a member of the city council, anita bonds, asking that her name be removed from the letter sent by the council, majority of the council, saying that they opposed re-authorization of this bill. that member has since called me and she writes, dear member of congress, due to some confusion about my position on the district of columbia voucher bill, h.r. 10, i want to make my position clear. i oppose this bill and i intend to remain a signatory of the letter previously acknowledged that seven of my colleagues on the d.c. council -- council and i sent to chairman jason chaffetz dated october 8, 2015, opposition to the bill,

now there is fear that the dam at one of columbia's biggest lakes could breach tonight. it's called lake katherine. if that happens, the water from that could have a devastating effect on a community that was under nine feet of water only yesterday. evacuations are being ordered again tonight. >> i was in south carolina on vacation last week as some of you forced on facebook and i was on kiowa island, just south of charleston. we thought about leaving early and when we saw the hurricane heading away from the east coast we stayed. then -- >> whoa! surf's up! >> overnight friday heavy downpours all night, suddenly there was significant flooding everywhere saturday morning. all of the rain combined with astronomical high tides to produce the highest water since hurricane hugo hit 26 years ago. this was not a hurricane. there was damage on the beaches that they're still assessing. after days of rain, the ground was already saturated and the roads were closed on the island and we weren't going to be able to go anywhere in our rental car. sunday morning it was even worse when

here's a photo from columbia, south carolina. these people are standing on the back of the bed of their truck. notice the fire department trying to rescue these people. this is the scene taking place throughout columbia, south carolina, north charleston and north myrtle beach toward florence. we're talking now not just about the monetary damage. we easily have a couple thousand people. 10,000. who knows how many people that don't have homes to live in. that whole bottom floor of that house has at least four to five water. and that's the scene. i've seen apartment complexes halfway up. people can't live in those places anymore. a lot of sheetrock has to be torn out. here's more pictures of first responders rescuing people from their homes. some of the rescues were dramatic. some like this pulling people out of their homes surrounded by water. also roads are closed. i-95 from interstate 20 to interstate 26. that's dozens of miles of major interstate where people can't get up and down the east coast. think of all the truckers stuck

the topic is the underground railroad in the district of columbia. in the catalog of human endeavors, there are few chapters more grand than the story of the underground railroad. the organized effort to have people make the great trek from slavery to freedom is one that strikes a resonance in our hearts and minds that rings from the time we will chronicle down to the 21st century. what we will also see is that it's not simply a matter of evading the beasts that you can see, but also the ones you really can't. if you look closely at this painting called "the hunted slaves" from 1861, the dogs, the slobbering hounds that the man is so ferociously resisting with his axe. he has already slain one. these are simply, if you will, ideas or symbols for the slave power, the slave owners. there are also something else. other dangers. we have the wilds, going into unfamiliar territory. it will be difficult to see on the tree log, just about here. let's just say we will call this creature -- sir arthur conan doyle called it the speckled band. it is a symbol of

east of columbia we are following the efforts of virginia task force one. they are among the crews assessing the damage down there. fema sent a team from fairfax county earlier this week. take a look. you can see there assisting in the cleanup efforts there. they were also performing water rescues and delivering water and supplies.

even columbia proper. where you still have a number much roads, major highways that are completely shut off, completely impassable at this point. there was concern that the windsor dam, that's one of the ten dams that were supposed to protect this area. eight of them breached. there was concern that the windsor dam was also going to give away. i've talked to a number of folks who say that no longer appears to be a possibility. so the lion's share of the day has been spent getting things out of houses, meeting with insurance adjustors, trying to salvage what you can here. and that's going to be the case for the next few days and weeks in columbia, south carolina, kate. >> we were talking to the mayor last hour, of that town, and he said most people don't have flood insurance. it's inland. you're not on the coast there. what are your friends telling you about how they rebuild, where they go now? >> you know, we were just talking about that. funny you should ask me that. you're right, things like this don't t

columbia is still in play. i think many areas in the upstate as well that are getting tree damage and some flooded roads are in play. then right after all those rivers -- the savannah river and the santee may go into major flood stage next week. big problems now, columbia, lexington, under water. back to you. >> thank you to the weather channel's jim cantore in charleston, south carolina. >>> coming up, a rare interview with the sitting supreme court justice as the court prepares to return to work tomorrow. san fwhile this parking loting lies still. life, proposition d and mission rock will create a new neighborhood right here with 40% affordable housing, 8 acres of parks and open space, all connected to public transit, and generate $25 million a year in revenue for san francisco. vote yes on d to turn this into this. ♪ >>> tomorrow the u.s. supreme court begins a new term in which the justices are expected to take on cases examining abortion, contraception, race and voting district boundary disputes. earlier

that's the scene across much of columbia, south carolina. i want to give you a look right now, high above the devastation. this is not far from where i'm standing in the same neighborhood near gil's creek, one of the many creeks and tributaries here that overflowed. and you can see what a lot of folks have spent much of their day doing, pulling furniture and clothes and valuables outside of the house for the trash trucks to come along and take them away, so they can get in there and start to try, and again, rebuild what they can. 15 people now dead. 7 of them, the result of drowning. i talked to my mother a short time ago, in fact. and my mom actually works with the mother of one of those men who died while he was swimming. so, i want to bring in steve benjamin, the mayor of columbia, south carolina. thank you, first of all, for taking the time. >> thank you for being here. >> you've been pulling some long days, as a lot of the first responders have. what's the latest? what can you tell us about, there was talk, i know, of another dam possib

he has lived in the columbia heights house for nine years. harassment started in august. >> i came home one day and someone writing the word [bleep] on my garage door. >> on another occasion he found his car covered in graffiti. but letters prompted him to call police. >> one was written in crayon and the other was typed. stephen: they're specific and threatening. >> said i was in the crosshairs. reporter: they are stunned that this is associated with the 1950's than washington, d.c. in 2015. >> people with stall mind. stephen: while police investigate the homeowner is protecting himself. he installed surveillance cameras. his neighbors find it hard to believe whoever is responsible could live in that community. is there we have a diverse neighborhood -- >> we have a diverse neighborhood in a lot of ways. that has never been a problem or an issue from our pers

it is a huge source of economic mobility in the district of columbia. and finally, i will say that transportation is also an enormous source of innovation, those transportation choices. you live in a city that is like the district of columbia and it has experienced a lot of innovation. think about car2go and zipcar and uber and lyft and all of these other choices. they are taking advantage of things that shows the millennial generation that automobiles, as it turns out, is something that is used 5% of the time and is parked 95% of the time. so millennials were smart enough to realize that they didn't want to use that on-demand service and it has really spurred a lot of innovation. a lot of these services can be called in an instant using a smart phone. it is kind of ironic that it is so radically reshaping transportation when in fact in the early 20th century, the disruptive technology was human travel patterns were basically the same way for the last 6000 years, and it was only after we embraced the automobile that we changed the infrastructure and the

jonathan joins us live in columbia. >> good morning to you. standing on the banks you can see the swool encreek raging over the bridge. the waters were over top of the bridge. you can see the toppled guardrails the flood waters also damaged multiple businesses nearby. the columbia fire department strung lines across flooded roads to allow teams to reach people who had become trapped in their vehicle. statewide hundreds of vehicles had to be rescued from cars. officials urged people to stay at home if at all possible. the flood waters had been affecting communities of all sizes in south carolina. this is the team in a small community 20 miles northwest of charleston weather crossing a portion of 78 near highway 26. here's the governor. >> if you are in your house stay in your house. this is not something to keep taking pictures of. it is not safe. in other areas where you see the deep water, it has bacteria in it. >> portions of columbia including the downtown area sh lost tap water. >> very close to fort jackson one of the largest army posts n

>> reporter: yeah, there are still power outages all over columbia. there's no power in this neighborhood. yes, people are not supposed to to be drinking the water still. there is a boil order. you know, we done know what is in this water right now. raw sewage, bacteria. it may look beautiful, sunny skies, first time we have seen that in a week and a half, but nothing is back to normal here, and frankly, officials can't really tell people when they are going to, because it's flash flooding still. at any moment one of these rivers or streams could have a breach and the second that happens, we're in another flash flood situation. it's still minute-to-minute scenario, but unfortunately, there's no real answer as to when people get back to their life, and certainly those people that have had flood damage in their homes and businesses, that's not going to happen any time soon, steph. >> i can only imagine the devastation that awaits those residences. robert thank you. let's bring in kevin corriveau. kevin you heard robert talk about the dangers of those da

of columbia. today i have a truth to share about the united states of america, the land of the free, and the home of the brave. the truth i share is supported by the united nations, the organization of american states, and the one man, one woman, one-vote principle, which are democracy is built on. today i speak, we speak, truth to power. the truth is nearly 700,000 citizens of the u.s. and residents of the district of columbia have no voting representation in the u.s. congress. we have no voting representation in the house of representatives. we have no representation in the u.s. senate. what we do have is taxation without representation. collectively, the nearly 700,000 district residents pay more than $3 billion in federal taxes year. 200,000 brave district resident men and women have served the u.s. armed forces, fighting, diane -- fighting, dying, in fact, 2000 dying for our beloved country, yet we have no representation in congress. god bless the child who has its own. the citizens of the di

simply because you live in the district of columbia. in the united states between the states of maryland and virginia, you lose only representation in congress, and immediately become subject to taxation without representation. did you know the first african-american attorney general of the united states, eric holder, a d.c. resident cannot run for a position in the house of representatives or the united states senate simply because he resides in the district of columbia? on a personal note i moved from oakland, california, to the district of columbia in 1980, and i have lost and had been without a voting representative and two voting senators ever since. simply because i occupy this soil, this land, and i'm a resident citizen located here in the district of columbia in the united states of america. my children, like the other children in the district of columbia, have been robbed of an opportunity to become a voting member of the united states house of representatives or a voting member of the united states senate because the residents

the capital city columbia the hardest hit. dams have been breached, dozens of roads are closed, water lines ruptured leaving many residents without drinking water and the city's fire chief says there have been too many rescues to even count. for the latest we bring in jay gray live from columbia, south carolina. jay, very dangerous conditions down there. >> reporter: yes, they really are amy and it's going to continue for quite some time, along with the curfew there's a state of emergency in place here right now. there's been so much water so fast that many of the flood gauges along the congaree river behind me have either been damaged or washed away but you don't need a gauge to understand the water is still rising. floodwaters continue to rush across the carolinas, running through or over everything in their path. >> cars are submerged, cars washed up against the porch and everything, never seen anything like it. >> reporter: in many areas there's never been anything like this. rain for three days straight at times more than

side of columbia. this little pink color in here, 16 inches. still flash flood warnings for this area. they are worried about the black are in. kingstree has been evacuated. they had 20 inches of rain total plus the river water from upstream is coming through so they're telling every wrun to get out of there in a hurry. as far as the forecast we should be watching this flood watch dissipate later tonight hopefully tonight flash flood warnings will be ending by this evening. the highest total we could find anywhere, 26.88 inches of rain. that's incredible! widespread 10 to 20-inch totals from columbia south wards down to the coast especially. now we are done with the coastal flooding which left millions of dollar in damage from the jersey shore all the way down the carolinas. now we're dealing with the flash flooding. river flooding will last though until at least wednesday or thursday of this week. >>> thank you, bill. >>> i'm joined by the mayor of south carolina, stephen benjamin. mayor, thank you fo

of columbia, ms. norton. ms. norton: i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. norton: i did not expect to be on the floor managing this bill. ironically i was to host a meeting for members and staff on the constitutionality of the district of columbia statehood bill where i was going to show a 7-minute h.b.o. "last week tonight" clip from john olver that lampoons the congress for denying district residents their voting rights, budget and legislative autonomy and statehood. instead, here i am on the floor in a virtual reality show, not speaking about the rights of self-governmentance but fighting this latest attempt by the republican congress to impose its ideology on d.c. residents. i ask that the d.c. council's letter opposing this bill be included in the record. the chair: that is covered under general leave. ms. norton: yet, mr. speaker, i have sought a compromise that should be acceptable to republicans as it is to president obama. we support, and i r

at least here in columbia. but the rainfall amounts as you have mentioned are staggering when you look at what the rainfall totals are. anywhere from 26 inches of rain to as much as 14 inches of rain throughout the area. and the good news is we look at the latest radar. the heaviest rain is over. it's moving up into the north carolina area, outer banks through tuesday. localized heavy rain is possible but this is just about over. but again, lester, everybody on edge because of those dams. >> al roker tonight. al, thanks very much. >>> after four days of searching, the coast guard believes a cargo ship carrying 33 people, including 28 americans, sank to the bottom of the sea in the category four hurricane joaquin. today crews discovered a body near a life boat in a debris field but they are not giving up hope. there could still be survivors in the water. nbc's kristin dahlgren has late details. >> near the el faro's last known position, a grim find. a badly damaged life boat and no signs of anyone on board. but

very serious situation here for the city of columbia. many neighborhoods across the state of south carolina, they look the same. federal disaster declaration declared by president obama. we're expecting to to hear frome governor any moment now. she doesn't want people to come out of their house, any unnecessary rescues to take place. we understand they're bringing in emergency response teams from neighboring states including tennessee. let me step away here. these images are just striking. >> take us through that. what are we seeing here? i know that they said that they live on hire grougher ground, b can't get to the restaurant that they open. that look like the downtown area and a ton of shops there now just flooded. >> reporter: sure. from what we understand, we just got here in the last several minute, but this is one of the lowest lying areas in columbia. we started to notice the flooding about six miles outside of the capital when we saw rivers swell. we saw tractor trailers digging out big vehicles from the swelled rivers. we noti

meanwhile, columbia still a lot of residents here without power. we have got a lot of people without water or if they have the water it is not safe to drink so very much an ongoing situation, kate, near columbia. back to you. >> i'm surprised, sarah, to see people driving behind you. tell us about the dam you said just breached just within the last few hours. how much people threatened amy homes? >> reporter: we have just confirmed that within the last ten minutes. we don't know at this point. seeing police in this neighborhood in particular. very popular neighborhood, a lot of homes here. a lot of people doing cleanup. somebody came in yelling that one of the dams breached and people scrambled, got the vehicles out of the way. as for how many homes or people it affects, we don't know the answer right now. >> we will have the mayor on with us next hour, sarah. we'll follow up with him trying to get specific information. appreciate your time. let's turn to assistant fire chief of the charleston county volunteer rescue squad. there have been working

and south carolina's capital city, columbia, in the cross hairs today. officials say the large number of waterways in columbia makes it a prime target for flooding. but as we've been recording flooding is far from the only issue. officials say more than 40,000 homes in columbia still have no drinking water. columbia's mayor is telling people who do have water to boil it before they drink it or cook with it. nearly 500 roads and bridges across the palmetto state still closed. the water is apparently causing some caskets to rise from the graves. officials say there will be weeks of recovery ahead if not more. south carolina's governor, nikki haley, says she's confident the state will bounce back. but the damage is clearly going to be excessive. >> this morning i went up and started to see the damages after the water has come down. the water has come down a good 10 or 20 feet from the time that we were in the air. and what i saw was disturbing. and it is hard to look at the loss that we are going to have. but everything will be okay. >> and not just a flood

now, back here at the columbia canal, this is the main drinking water supply for the city of columbia and because of the situation here they've declared a boil water advisory telling residents to boil their water vigorously for a minute before drinking it or cooking with it. back to you. >> john, clearly a desperate situation. the rain continues and, of course, we're waiting for governor nikki haley's press conference which will occur at any second. arthel? >> as jonathan just pointed out, this historic storm that is creating huge challenges there for emergency management as well. joining me on the phone now is lisa borsear, the public information officer for south carolina. thank you so much for joining us. talk to me now, we just showed some pictures there. how bad is the flooding, from your perspective, and what's the worst problem that it's causing for work crews as well as residents? >> our entire county is a little over 1100 square miles and pretty much every part of this county is having flooding issues. all of the major thoroughfares are unpassable at some point. we're scared

class at columbia law school. and coming to finish up to know that each class rank would now come down in the they did. she graduated first in her class at columbia. for teachers tried to get her supreme court clerkship. but there was not a supreme court justice would take a woman into his chambers she wound up as a clerk in she ultimately started her real career and then at rutgers law school. a-k when the women students came to teach at course in women and though lot. said she found all these horrible losses about treating women badly and from the aclu. from the aclu. that was offered a job on the faculty at columbia they realized they had no women. [laughter] and they invited her and she ran for nine years. she had six cases that she argued. she had six cases that she argued and lost one with five victories and she also won the case i like this side cases never because jane austen had five great novels. the known as of feminist movement. >> to say the most of regis' things and then to do it myself. >> then appo

weijia jiang reports from columbia, where a midnight to 6:00 a.m. curfew remains in effect. >> reporter: families are just starting the process of cleaning up. you can see behind me piles of personal belongings now going out as trash. and they tell me what makes it sting even more is that they are bracing for the possibility of even more floodwaters. residents are bringing damaged belongings to the curb after record flooding in columbia, south carolina. >> what we will have to do is gut the whole entire house, dry it out, and start from scratch. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: angela cole's house is ruined. she and her family were squid from their attic after posting an s.o.s. on facebook. >> we are here and we are alive and that is all that matters. my kids are safe. >> reporter: water has started receding in some of the hardest-hit areas revealing stechs damage and debris but some people still can't get more and more flooding is expected. crews worked to form a make-shift dam on the conagree river and will drop sandbags to close a breach in the canal

a call for residents to conserve water this morning in columbia, south carolina. after the work of sandbagging and plugging an earlier breach was temporarily suspended, when a portion. columbia canal collapsed. >> the plan is to oppose the breach and the wall between the canal and the river. if we can do that we'll be in good shape for the long haul. >> reporter: meanwhile, the new images from above showing why authorities remain on high alert. already at least 14 dams have failed and more than 60 threatening to burst. >> we're working around the clock to remedy this. >> reporter: this dramatic video released providing more proof of the power of rushing waters. this man and his grandmother clinging to a cross outside a local church before being rescued five hours later. today all eyes on the rising rivers expected to stay at a major flood stage through the weekend. >> it's smelly and it's wet even though today it's showing some improvement today, but i know i've lost at least two cars. >> reporter: and we are told thousands of homes are without water and have been

it has been a dangerous few days for people here in columbia. so far 11 people at least 11 people are dead that they're aware of. residents have been forced to flee at a moment's notice. there are 18 dams breached state wide. nine here in the midlands. doing these kind of controlled breaches to try to relieve some of the pressure. president obama signed a disaster declaration. we can say that 11 counties have been declared federal disaster areas already. more than 500 roads and bridges have been washed out, so it is very difficult, eun to get from one place to another. in fact, since this bridge is closed, a major area here for drivers to get to and from the city of columbia, very difficult for people to get around this. >> dave wagner live in columbia for us this morning. thank you. >>> there is more heroes than idols out there. my heroes are my peers in the classroom with me and that experienced this with me. >> opening up about how they're recovering. in roseburg, a memorial is growing outside the building where christopher harper mercer kill

sarah, we saw you last hour, standing outside in columbia. you had to move. you had reported that you believed there were two new breaches? >> yeah, kate, we have confirmed with south carolina emergency management that both the forest lake dam and the overcreek dam have breached. they're expecting water levels to rise. shortly after we learned this, a police car drove through the area on a bullhorns, asking residents to evacuate, move to higher ground immediately. people did so, getting in their cars, without grabbing anything and heading to higher ground. a lot of these people that we saw evacuating had just returning this afternoon to their homes which were flooded yesterday. they were seeing what was salvageable when the announcement came. the one resident said his heart just kind of stopped for a moment. it was happening all over again, mere moments to grab what you needed and get everybody in the car and get out of the area. we don't know how much water is expected, how many homes are expected. this is all happening very quickly and everybody's being eva

look at the folks in columbia. >> i can't get over the water. >> raging waist deep waters. holding on to a stop sign. rescue operations set to begin in the state capital today. the torrential rain and floods leaving some with no choice but to completely rebuild. >> we have lost everything. what i got on my body is everything. pretty much everybody down that hill has lost everything. vehicles, clothes, everything. the best thing is we still have our lives. >> more than 18 inches to 24 inches of rain in places in that state in a day or less. you can just see how powerful the force of that water is right now. catastrophic flash flooding. there is more rain in the forecast. let's get the latest from meteorologist pedram javaheri. >> one of the more impressive rain events. you look at the numbers. 24 inches out of mt. pleasant outside o of charleston. 65 billion gallons of water. that is the same amount that falls over the niagara falls in a weekend. you calculate the average rainfall amounts in a wide area where we saw up to 20 plus inches. you do the math and you are talking a

elizabeth her has the full story from columbia. >> rick an sarah, good afternoon. here you cannot driver a while without running into one of those. road closure signs. sidewalks destroyed. >> immediately. >> neighborhoods evacuated near a breached down in south carolina. >> it's going to break further. got to get out what while we can. >> this is scene from one of broken dams in columbia area where officials are warning things will gets worse before they get better. >> i pray. that's all id i prayed. lord take care of us. >> roads turned into rivers. several businesses nearly washed away and more than 500 bridge as cross the state damaged. 100 in columbia a most still shut down with huge chunks of roadway missing. and despite the fact that south carolina is starting to dry out the danger from more nodding remains as many rivers continue to rise threatening to breach more levies and the work of rebuilding is now underway from columbia to charleston 14 missouri members of national guard on the ground helping to repair the devastated region. >> you have people displac

>> we've had a west columbia firefighter swept away. they lost visual contact. >> reporter: two firefighters rescued today. there's so much water, it's easy to forget it's a roadway, not a river. and you look in the distance and see scenes like this. three cars completely submerged. and the water up to the rooftops of some homes. these residents trapped on the upper level. this storefront collapsed. roads giving way. dams bursting. this man says the water was rising by the second. he escaped with his wife. their home somewhere underneath this water. >> it's tough because everything i own that i know of has been destroyed. all my memories. everything i've worked for. >> reporter: countless neighbors volunteering all day and night to get people to safety. >> so, when i saw what was going on, i just felt the need to help. >> reporter: some who lost everything they owned, just grateful they'll get a chance to start again. >> it's heart-wrenching, but i'm so glad we're safe. >> reporter: now, the big wait for the water to recede. the current

elizabeth hur, abc news, columbia, south carolina. >> not raining, the one thing now. cindy: upper levels are galatian moving out. just to compare, we have had 24 inches of rain this entire year. they had that over the past three days. just incredible. nice to see the sunshine around here, right? looking for a cloud, not seeing one there. so gloomy around here the past several days. tonight, you see the blue skies. first of all, chile this morning. this is the warmest as been all month long. close to average if not a little above it this afternoon. try aerosol feeling like fall out there. finally have more of a southeasterly wind now. now the persistent northeasterly wind that keeps us so cool the past few days. the cool spot is chatham, where we have had lingering cloud cover this way. 62 in worcester right now. lots of low to mid 60' s right now. beverly, you are 64 everything in the mid-30' s this morning. low to mid 30' s in fitchburg as well. there you see the sunshine and there are a few little clouds. these will continue to thin out. overall, really quite. can y

the team from chantilly is in west columbia. that's about an hour south from the hard hit capital city. the team was called in sunday night by fema. the 80-member team and 59,000 pounds of equipment left yesterday morning. task force one will assist in swift and still water rescues. they'll be down there for about ten days. >>> this morning, the ntsb says it's opening an accident investigation into the disappearance of el faro. the coast guard is handling the search and rescue portion of the investigation. investigators say the ship lost power as it ran into hurricane storm force winds and started taking on water. the ntsb will work to find out how safety was compromised on the voyage. >> what happened, why it happened. ultimately to prevent this from happening again. so we'll be looking at the voyage data recorder. that'll be of utmost importance to look to try to find that. we'll be looking. >> 33 crew members were onboard the ship when it lost contact yesterday. the coast guard located a badly damaged lifeboat and a body and

nick la vens ya is live in columbia, south carolina, and chad myers live in the weather sener ter, and to y-- weather center, and now to you, nick, because the death toll is now up to nine. >> yes, ashley, this is real and dangerous, and that is what governor nikki haley emphasized there in the pres ks conference and the death toll is now up to nine dead in relation to the flooding. it is just when you think that the intensity will lift up, it does not. the rain has slowed down, but they are not out of the woods yet. the roads are treacherous, and wide swathes of land inundated with heavy rain and flash floods and here at hydroelectric facility in columbia, south carolina, where you can see the river behind me, and it is 15 feet above average for this time of the year, and the national guard troops are on standby for water rescues, and some of the numbers that the governor is putting out, she is saying 25 airlift airlifts, and 7,000 national guard troops on alert, and 1,300 on duty, and more than 900 citizens currently seeking shelter for the red cross or by the red cross for different

cbs has the latest from columbia. reporter: south carolina. reporter: floodwaters are receding in columbia, south carolina now leaving behind massive damage. a giant sinkhole practically swallowed this tax office while raging waters ripped apart >> the community is strong, and it will be rebuilt, but it's going to take a long time. reporter: military choppers are flying looking for people who may still need help. over the weekend crews rescued hundreds of victims from fast moving floodwaters. the governor is urging residents in hard hit areas to stay indoors. >> this is not over. just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods. reporter: the rain and floods have left more than 40,000 people without drinking water. the state is setting up water distribution sites until the taps are flowing again with clean water. cbs news columbia, south carolina. >>> just absolutely wild weather there. they say it hasn't been like in this in a thousand years. >> they are not out of the woods yet. >> thousand year rain event means it has

. >> reporter: from bad to worse in columbia, south carolina. after two feet of rain, dam breaches, flooding already hard-hit areas. >> we've got to get people downstream evacuated. if this dam goes, 50,000 people are going to be washed away. >> reporter: not everyone is heeding the warnings. >> we don't want to have to come out and rescue and much worse we don't want to have you added to this number of fatalities. >> reporter: with no other place to go shelters are filled with families. water is not safe to drink. and bottled water is in my demand. >> we got very little water pressure. and what water we do get we have to boil it. >> reporter: in downtown columbia, fire trucks are pumping clean water into a hospital. travel is tricky and treacherous. 550 roads and bridges are washed out. >> the roads are still unsafe. a lot of them have been undermined by the flooding. >> reporter: when the water recedes it's clear the suffering in south carolina won't end any time soon. and neither will the memory of this historic storm. dave wagner, nbc news,

that is the first time in columbia that they've had no rain in 11 days. still officials say there could be emergency evacuations tonight if another dam breaks. lester. >> kerry sanders tonight. thank you. >>> the search is intensifying to uncover what happened to the boomed cargo ship that vanished during hurricane wa. the ntsb joining the investigation looking for the ship's data recorder which could reveal the fate of the 33 people on board. most of them americans. rehema ellis has the report. >> reporter: a week after the cargo ship left port, more debris spotted in the search for evidence and answers to why this happened. >> the crew had no reason to have to be in this situation. >> reporter: kenneth benton, a merchant marine for eight years worked on the ship last month. >> i feel that the company and the captain will decide what is their best interest money wise. >> but the owners of the vessel say safety always comes first. >> i can assure you that there is no schedule that is more important to keep than that would in any way endanger the lives of

so there's still a lot of concern there, and not just here in charleston, and i know sarah is in columbia and devastating impacts of this rain event throughout the state. richard? >> gabe right in the middle of all of it, as we've been talking about the over 200 swift water rescues and the roads are closed and 94 of those closed. that's where you're at. gabe gutierrez reporting at 4:00 in the afternoon just joining us on msnbc. what we have been seeing, sarah dallof in south carolina is more of the bad stuff and nicki haley for those of you just joining us at the top of the hour, 4:09 local time in columbia there, she was saying how all of the interstates around your area are closed now and just look at what's behind you. there are already people walking in the streets. >> columbia just really can't catch a break yet, richard. we've got the rain starting up again. you have this lake turned into an intersection here behind me and you still have officials urging people to please, go home. we had a police officer in a bullhorn just a minute ago reminding people not to get in the water and it

that is the latest live from columbia, south carolina, elizabeth herr. "channel 6 action news". >> thank few are that report. accuweather is tracking warm conditions here in the weather forecast. sky6hd us the view outside. we have a minimum of sun and clouds and light wind in wilmington this afternoon. overall not a bad day. meteorologist david murphy is outside with the latest conditions, hey, david. >> rick, not bad out here now. we've been waiting all morning long to get the sun out from behind the clouds and we're transitioning to partly sunny skies i'm seeing a lot of blue around. take a look at satellite. assuming we can melt the clouds away and punch holes in the cloud cover you see it rolling down over central pennsylvania and we should get up to mid 70s and maybe upper 70s in couple spots. either way above average day and nice. right now 67 in philadelphia and most of the area in the 6 60s. 69 degrees. almost 7058en town and 6 wilmington and trenton and 69 reading and cooler down at the shore in sea isle city next to the cool ocean temperature.