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Beaumont Gets 26 Inches of Rain; Rescues Continue in Houston; Hurricane Harvey Prediction; Flood Survivor from Texas Shares Story; More than 10,000 in Shelters. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2017 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:13] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. Thank you for sharing your day with us today.

Another difficult day. Harvey back over land, dumping now more unwelcome water along the Texas/Louisiana border. This, look here, is Beaumont, Texas. A big pickup truck, no match for the rising waters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He drove right into maybe 12 to 20 feet of moving water. And that is where he ended up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Some bursts of welcome sunshine today in Houston. But the mayor says it is not safe to go home. First responders there still overwhelmed with calls for rescues. More than 30,000 people now in shelters. More than 200,000 already signing up for disaster aid and expect that number to keep climbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROCK LONG, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: The operation right now is very clear, we're still in life-saving, life-sustaining mode. This is going to be an incredibly large disaster for the country. It's going to help us, you know, we're -- you know, to reshape some of the ways that we do business. We're going to learn from it and go on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: President Trump already planning a return visit to Texas and promising that state, Louisiana as well, will get everything it needs to recover. Five days after Harvey first hit, though, no one has a clue just what that ultimate toll will be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: I have had a very collaborative and seamless connection between the federal government, the state of Texas and the local governments for a remarkable response to, as you pointed out, a record flooding. But also we talked about where we go from here and what needs to be done from here to take care of the challenges that Texans are going to be facing for months and for years to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: That's the Texas governor, Greg Abbott there this morning on CNN.

We are expecting a briefing from the governor any moment now in Austin, Texas. We will take you there when he speaks.

You see there the headline from "The Houston Chronicle" this morning, epic flooding shows no mercy.

Houston, and Texas state officials mostly terrified by what they still do not know. How many people still need to be saved and how many are already beyond saving. The death toll, sadly, rising to 12 and it will likely rise again as the day wears on and in the days ahead.

FEMA's director, Brock Long, won't even estimate how many people have been dislodged from their homes by the storm because that number is constantly rising. On the ground in Texas, grace under pressure, escapes from near-death experiences and tragedy too difficult to bear all blending together.

Heroism like this. Take a look at this. Captured on Houston's I-10, over a dozen people jumping into floodwaters, linking arms, forming a human rope line to lasso an elderly man being pulled under by the current. The steady chorus from the displaced, we can't go home again.

Like Larry Koser Jr. (ph), seen here, sorting through the wreckage of his father's house. His kitchen, now a lagoon. Larry, in a kayak.

And no shortage of sobering stories like this. Authorities finding a shivering toddler floating in a canal, clinging to the body of his lifeless mother who died trying to carry her child to safety.

Our reporters are out in Texas across the storm zone covering the impact of Harvey across Texas and Louisiana as well. One area being inundated right now is Beaumont, Texas, just east of Houston. Twenty- six inches of rain in just 24 hours.

CNN's Drew Griffin has been watching that city flood.

And, Drew, props to you for help -- reaching out and helping pull that man from the water, along with your photojournalist Scott Peacecheck (ph) and producer Brian Rocas (ph) a short time ago. Take us back to that scene and just tell us about the latest there.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is, that rainfall continues to come down, adding to the misery that is going on in Beaumont and Jefferson County. Nine inches in three hours overnight. Really inundated the county, according to the sheriff's department, and it created these areas where you have roads that are overtaken and then you can't distinguish the roads from the gullies and the drainage ditches. And that right there is where a man was coming across what he thought

was a parking lot, when we wound up floating -- floating down a ravine. I think we have video of it. We actually saw him doing it right before our live shot, ran over there, tried to help him, were able to get a rope to him as he swam out of his vehicle and pulled him safely to shore.

It was a stark reminder of how quickly things can happen and a stark reminder that the warnings to stay inside, don't drive around in this weather are real and they're there for a reason. Just too many people are out trying to test their way through this and it's creating a bad situation for themselves and for the rescuers.

We talked to the sheriff's department. They are just trying to keep a list of where people are, trying to stage how they can get rescuers to them. But at the moment, in Jefferson County, in Beaumont, the rain is so hard, and the water is rising, that it's really difficult to get to these people, John.

[12:05:11] KING: Drew Griffin on the ground for us in Beaumont.

And I will echo what Drew just said, do not underestimate the power of the water. Do not underestimate the power of the water. Do not go out if local officials are telling you to sit in place.

You see some weather pictures there. The sun has finally come out in parts of Houston, but streets are still flooding. Those with boats still going from house to house looking for people still trapped in their homes days later, days after the rain first started.

Brian Todd has been driving -- riding along with some of those rescuers and he joins us now.

Brian, tell us about the scene you have there. Obviously, you're right in the middle of a rescue.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John, they just brought an elderly couple on and I'm trying to help this gentlemen get his legs set in here.

Are you OK, sir?

All right. Yes, there you go. Sorry about this, we've got to narrate while he help these guys out here.

This is the Lakeside Forest neighborhood of Houston, west of Houston. If you take a look down here, John, the water, this is chest high in some areas. It's about waist high here. But it's chest high in some areas. And this is a situation where there has been late rising waters.

Climb in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

TODD: OK. Can you slide over there? There you go. All right. So they're just bringing that elderly couple out of this house. We've been with this airboat operator, Mark Melba (ph), and his partner, Joe, who has been -- we've just been cruising around this neighborhood.

Again, late rising waters here. And the residents here, John, say that it's due to the spillover from the Addicks Reservoir and the Buffalo Bayou flooding late. They say this water came up really only early this morning. It did not come up at the height of the rain. It was, obviously, a little bit flooded during the height of the storm. But it did not come up really in earnest until this morning.

We can show you kind of the coordination that these guys are doing with some of the locals who are directing them where to go.

(CROSS TALK)

TODD: This is the kind of coordination, John, that's been taking place all morning. Some local volunteers here not affiliated with any state and local government, anything, just coming out in their air boats and other boats. These guys were in a wave runner. Just coordinating and directing each other where to go, where the most flooded streets are, where there are people in need, John. And they've been doing this all morning.

KING: Good Samaritans out there throughout Texas.

Brian, you've been at this all day. Just give us some context. How many people have you personally seen being rescue? And you talk about the late rising waters, reinforcing the view, as the mayor said today, it is not safe to go home. Even though the rain has stopped, this situation keeps changing and the devastated areas keep shifting.

TODD: It really does. I mean this neighborhood wasn't too bad. Everybody we've picked up said this neighborhood wasn't too bad yesterday, but it was just this morning when the spillover -- all right, we're about to power up, so we have to kind of get moored down here -- when the spillover came up. - when the storm came up -- so --

KING: We'll just watch -- we'll just watch as the boat pulls out. Brian, don't try and talk over the airboat, just please give our thanks to the crew of your boat again for doing the good work they're doing there.

You've just seen Brian Todd.

Let's just stay with this picture for a minute. We don't need to hear from Brian. Again, he said this neighborhood wasn't so bad yesterday. The sun is out in Houston and look at the water there. Another reminder -- another reminder, listen to local officials as this shifts, as those levees can be at risk. Brian Todd leaving that community. We will get back in touch with Brian a bit later.

It is the slow movement of this storm that's made it so devastating since the initial impact. As you just saw there, finally out of Houston, but now pounding smaller cities to the east. Our meteorologist Chad Myers is in the CNN Weather Center.

Chad, Harvey actually made a second landfall today. Where is it now and where's it heading?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's in Louisiana. It is east of Beaumont, Port Arthur, where is where all this rap around or backside rainfall has been all night long. And as you said, 26 inches in 24 hours, that's the same type of event that downtown Houston had on Saturday night into Sunday.

So the totals around Houston, the biggest number we can find there, 51.88. And that's not higher because the rain gauge broke when it got that high. So we don't even know what really that number would have been.

Everywhere that you see white -- there's Houston, here's the Gulf of Mexico -- everywhere that you see white, over 25 inches of rain has fallen. And that's it. It's not just that one spot got 40, or one spot got 30. The entire southeastern part of the state got covered up with two feet or more of water. Now it is into parts of Louisiana and eastern Texas and also a tornado watch is in effect for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

So it isn't done. We're still going to see rainfall. We're still going to see the potential for severe weather. But finally, John, it's moving. It's moving at 10. OK. That's better than two. I'd like to see 20. Some storms move that fast. But moving at all will start to spread the rain out, which is what we have needed now for 120 hours.

KING: And certainly the people of the Houston area will be grateful for that movement.

Chad, you just saw Brian Todd there. It stopped raining in Houston. But we want to emphasize and emphasize and emphasize again, the threat it not over.

MYERS: (INAUDIBLE).

KING: What do we know about the reservoirs near the city and the risk, the threat?

[12:10:04] MYERS: This is exactly what Brian Todd is in right now. I'm glad you asked. Here is the reservoir called Addicks. Here's the reservoir called Barker. And Brian Todd is in water that wasn't there yesterday because what water was going out the shoot, where it should go, into the Buffalo Bayou, is now going around because the level is 109 feet high, the water. That part right there, the weakest link, 108. So the water has to go around and it's going into those suburbs there. Not that far -- that should have been protected from a levee that was 108 feet high. And the problem is, the water was higher than that.

This is what it looks like right now. And I want to take your attention on to how many homes. Can you see the subdivisions here? Here's the levee, right here, same projection right there. This is Addicks levee reservoir. Look at all of this congestion of things, businesses, buildings, commercial buildings, residences.

Let me take you back to when the reservoir was made? Can you find a building? Not really. This was range land. This was farm land. West of Houston, Houston had 250,000 people when this was built. Now way over a couple of million.

And so I'm going to go back to this. Keep your eyes on where we are here, where our Brian Todd is getting flooded right there. And back here, which used to be places where the water would soak in. Now take a look at -- how's it going to soak in if you've paved it all? That's the problem here. And here. All right, here, look how that is filled in with all of those residences, and all of those businesses right there at the Sam Houston Parkway.

KING: All right, one of the many conversations to be had once they get through this. Chad, once they get through this, one of the many conversations about the growth in the area and about the new steps they're going to have to take to protect that area, obviously.

Chad Myers, appreciate that.

And a little more context here. The Houston area has been hit by more than 50 inches of rain. No matter where you live in the country, it's hard to fathom just how much rain that is. "The New York Times" put together this match using some data from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Take a look closely if you can. It shows how long it would take for your home, on average, depending on where you live in the country, to get the same amount of rain.

Follow the color scale. We help you out a little bit there. If you live in one of those light blue area, such as the mid-Atlantic region or New England, it would take 16 months to get that much rain. If you live in the dry desert areas of the southwest out there, parts of California, five years. Five years it would take to get that much rain. This has happened in five days in Houston and the surrounding areas of Texas. He said they got no answer from 911 or police when they called for help, so they got in their car and hoped for the best.

Sir, first and foremost, God bless you and thank you for joining us at this time of stress on your family.

You're in a hotel now. I was reading your story earlier in my office. It is just stunning. You were told to stay put. Then you were told to get out fast. Look at that beautiful family there. You were told to get out fast. And we can show -- we had some security footage of your wife rushing out to the car to load things up.

Just take us back to that moment where you realized, you thought you were safe in your home and you had to go.

JEREMIAH JOHNSTON, FLED HOUSTON FLOODS WITH WIFE AND FIVE CHILDREN: Well, thank you, John, we'll take all the blessings we can get right now.

We -- things escalated Sunday night so quickly after being told to shelter in place. Our family, like so many others, we live in Pecan Grove. And just to put it in context for the audience, that's in Ft. Bend County in the Houston area. We live in the Pecan grove Levee. We're two miles from the Brazos River.

And Sunday night, as we thought things were OK, our county judge came on and said the Brazos River was threatening to go at a 800-year high. They have no models for past 100 year for our levee. So they're saying, we're predicting an 800-year high. You need to plan. This is a mandatory evacuation.

And by first thing Monday morning, we were grabbing our triplets, John. We had to just take -- we literally had our pajamas on. And we jumped in the car. And I had stayed up until about 5:00 in the morning. So I got about an hour or two of sleep. And we researched evacuation routes and five of those six routes were flooding. I was going up I-99 towards I-10, for Houstonians who are watching us, and it was flooded, and I had to turn around and drive counter flow with our hazard lights flashing -- flashing our brights, just to evacuate. It was a -- it was a terrible experience.

KING: I want to just -- for someone who might not understand the term counter flow. You were driving on the wrong way -- on the wrong side of the highway. You were driving on the wrong side of the highway with your family in the car, including those beautiful children, worried that somebody could come right at you head on.

JOHNSTON: Absolutely. We were crossing 1093, where if there was a truck coming, we had to stop. And my wife and I, we prayed, and we said, what do we do? We can't go right. We can't go left. And so we just drove and asked God to send his angels to protect us. And God did protect us. And that was the only way out of town.

[12:15:09] But, John, it didn't stop there. I mean this was what was so remarkable. We took 59 west towards El Campo. Ran into a sheriff when we pulled over so our kids could use the bathroom. We're still wearing our pajamas. And the sheriff said, don't go to El Campo. Go to -- you need to get to 71 and get north of I-10. The National Guard is coming in. They're shutting down towns. And when we drove north on I- 10 through towns, John, there were -- tornados had ripped these towns apart. It wasn't until we got to Waco, Texas, off 77, did we find a working gas station.

So this is region wide. There are so many families like ours right now that are stunned. We're trying not to be paralyzed. We're just living moment by moment right now.

KING: And, again, I applaud your bravery and your courage, and your wife as well, and your children, to go through this.

You described this in an account you wrote of like an apocalyptic scene right out of "The Walking Dead." Tell me what you mean by that.

JOHNSTON: Well, and I can't -- I agree with you, I can't say enough about my wife, Andrea (ph) is amazing. And just to -- just to bring three triplets into the world is amazing enough. And we thought we had seen it all having triplets in the NICU. But driving through these towns, we were looking into people's family

rooms and businesses that are ripped apart by tornados. There are stray animals.

The National Guard -- what I mean, the National Guard is driving in. We went across the bridge on 77 that was being barricaded. We were one of the last vehicles to get through the bridge before they barricaded. I don't know if the bridge was taken.

So it was about four hours of driving around from the moment that we left our home and the emergency mandatory evacuation to where we got to a point where we felt like we were truly safe.

KING: Tell me how the kids are handling this. I assume the triplets are too young. They probably think this is some kind of great adventure and you'll have to tell them about this later in life. How about your older children? I'm guessing this caused quite a bit of stress.

JOHNSTON: Well, for all the multiple families out there, our triplets think it's great. They're normally on a schedule. And they are totally off their schedule right now, John, of sleeping. They think it's fantastic.

But our eight-year-old daughter is really taking it hard. I mean Lilly (ph) (INAUDEIBLE) us to define words for catastrophic, unprecedented. And our son, who's five, I mean, he's praying never night right here in this little hotel bed behind us, Lord, protect -- protect our neighbors, protect our friends, protect our church, Houston's First Baptist. And we're just really worried about our neighbors.

I'm a Houston -- I'm a professor at Houston Baptist University. I was just texting our students. They're OK, thank God. Our university is safe. But I'm worried about them. So for all the parents of our students, our students are OK, our campus is OK.

KING: Jeremiah Johnston, I want to thank you for sharing your story today. Again, I want to wish you the best in the days ahead.

And I just want to tell our viewers as they listen to your great story, I wish we had more time in the sense that you talk about the good Samaritans, including the people at the hotel, when you finally got to the hotel, taken care along the way. It's that kind of Christianity, brotherhood, friendship and goodwill I think that is helping your communities get through these things and so hopefully it continues in the many months ahead of the challenge.

Again, thanks for sharing your story and best wishes to your family. An amazing, remarkable story.

JOHNSTON: Thank you.

KING: Thank you, sir.

Just ahead, the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, about to update the relief effort. We'll be back with Inside Politics. More of our breaking news coverage after a quick break.

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[12:22:29] KING: Welcome back.

Any moment now we'll take you live to Austin, Texas. The governor, Greg Abbott, about to give a daily briefing. His update on the Harvey search and rescue efforts, then moving on to the recovery efforts.

One of the big questions for the governor as we await what he has to say today, is like he -- like many officials, just simply don't know the scope of this yet because the rain continues in much of Texas. The search and rescue operations continue in Houston, even though the rain in most of that area has stopped.

We don't know a lot, but we do know -- we do know who lives in the most devastated area. Let's just take a look. This is Harris County, Houston, and the surrounding county. Forty-two percent of the population is Latino, 30 percent is white, just shy of 20 percent African-American, and 7 percent of the population in this incredibly diverse area, Asian. These people now, all of them are neighbors and our friends, wondering and worrying what happens next.

Again, looking at the area, the median income in Harris County, about $54,000 a year. The poverty rate, just shy of 17 percent. How does that compare with national averages. As you see, the median income, a bit below the national average. The poverty rate, above the national average. Again, the challenge of helping these people impacted by the demographics of the area.

The census data tells us that 55 percent of the people who live in Harris County own their own homes. There are questions. Will it be partially impacted? Will it maybe have escaped the flooding? Will it be destroyed? All of the many questions that need to be answered. All one of the reasons the FEMA director says this is a challenge today, tomorrow and as far as he can see.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROCK LONG, FEMA ADMINISTRATION: The need to volunteer is going to take place over the next couple of years, OK. And the need to volunteer is in, let's -- let me remind you, 50 counties right now. Not just in Houston, but everywhere. So that mission is going to continue to expand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Houston's main convention center downtown still housing thousands of evacuees and the mayor of Houston now calling on city employees to volunteer to help those in need.

CNN's Rosa Flores is there and joins us now.

Rosa, I understand you caught up with someone who's actually leaving that center today. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, they are leaving. Some people leaving to other centers because, of course, this location had overflowed with more than 10,000 people. So some are leaving to shelters. Others are leaving to churches. And some are leaving with their families.

I met with one woman. Her name, Willie Burton (ph). She is going to be celebrating her birthday tomorrow. So she was very happy to leave the center and reunite with her family. But she explained how she was rescued. Take a listen.

[12:25:06] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE MARIE BURTON, EXCAPED FLOODWATERS IN HOUSTON: There was six of us in the truck. And we just went down Talson (ph). And he had to go through water and drive in the middle of the street. And we had to maneuver. And when we got to Lay (ph) Road, it was under water, so he had to maneuver there.

And so it was an ordeal, but eventually we got to high ground at Lakewood Shopping Center. That's on Messa (ph). After we left his brother-in-law's house. We were there figuring we could relax and whatever. And it started raining. And they said water was rising, time to go. So that's what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And after so much pain and trauma and dramatic rescues, some of these people are smiling for the first time today, John, as they reunite with their families. And, you know, I saw Willie reunite with Ashley (ph) and they were talking about what they were going to do for Willie's birthday. And can you guess what she was hoping for? She was hoping for a little seafood (ph), John, and she said a little martini because she's going to be 66 years old tomorrow.

KING: Well, we wish her a happy birthday and we applaud her optimism. It is great. There are a lot of search and rescue operations underway. A lot of hardships still ahead, but it's good to hear people finding some reason -- some reason to celebrate.

Rosa Flores at the convention center, which is right now a shelter. Rosa, thank you very much.

And for more information, if you're watching all of this and you're trying to figure out, how can I help, you can go to cnn.com/impactyourworld.

Up next, we're waiting for the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to brief.

Plus, President Trump promises to play Mr. Fix It in Texas. He says the help will come to those who need it and he promises it will come fast.

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