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Aerial View of Flood Damage; Texas County Orders Evacuation; Pence Visits Texas; Flooding In Southeast Texas; Pence Arrives In Texas; Rescue Missions. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 31, 2017 - 13:00   ET

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


JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All Right, we'll bring you that in just a moment.

Flooding there has knocked out the city's water supply which has forced these evacuations you see here. These are going to be flying out all morning long.

These are patients, and we'll show you this video in just a few moments, being moved out of a Baptist hospital in Beaumont, in Houston.

Crews are now being prepared to go house to house try -- there are some of those pictures right there. Trying to find more people stranded by the storm.

You're looking at boat right there making its way across Sugarland, Texas earlier today. Not far away, new mandatory evacuation orders are in place. Some because of rising flood levels. Others to keep people from trying to get back to their devastated neighborhoods. Understandably, they're trying to get back before it's safe and authorities are warning them not to do that.

And just a few moments ago, we should point out, Vice President Mike Pence landed on the ground in Texas. There you see him in Corpus Christi being greeted by Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. That happened in just the last hour.

The vice president landed to meet with state and local officials, of course, to talk about the rescues and recovery. We'll be seeing those pictures of the vice president all day long.

And with him, we should point out, is the Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, and other officials.

Now, right now, FEMA officials and Houston firefighters are going door to door. We mentioned that just a few moments ago.

Our Brian Todd, who's has been there throughout the storm, he is with one of those crews right now.

The weather is a lot better but still have to go house to house, Brian. Isn't that right? To make sure people are OK.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. We're still in the emergency response phase of the storm, even though the sun is out and its 90 some degrees. We'll walk with this team of firefighters here.

They're going door to door knowing to check and see if people are still there. Check to see if people might still be missing. They are asking neighbors, you know, what's become of their -- of their neighbors? And just checking all around.

Sometimes if they have a door knock on the front door and no one answers, they bang on windows. On occasion, they'll go around to the back. And what they want to do is just make sure that everyone in every house is accounted for. Then, they, kind of, enter it in a data base as to, you know, all the neighborhoods and houses that they've combed through.

We'll walk along with these guys as they -- as they go in this -- this is the Brayburn (ph) neighborhood. It was hit pretty bad by the storm the other day. We were just in an adjacent neighborhood.

You know, one of the commanders told me, Jim, that, you know, they've got -- a lot of these people in this -- in these neighborhoods have lived through these storms before and so they kind of know what they're doing.

But he said the problem with that is that they think they can ride this thing out and a lot of them stay in place, because they've been through these storms before. And they haven't been hit by one like this.

We were in another neighborhood where the water levels, you could see them, the marks on the houses about to your waist and there was just immense damage. You can see there was -- this is a neighborhood that's been somewhat damaged. There's some debris up there on the street. People left (ph) and what people are doing today, just clearing a lot of this out.

So, you know, the death toll and the injury tolls, this is -- kind of gives you a sense how they may not have any sense of this yet. Because going house to house like this -- and by the way, they're not getting many responses in a lot of these houses.

So, it's almost impossible to tell who may have gone to stay with relatives, who may be missing, who may be injured. And this is the way they're going try to just comb through all that -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Brian Todd walking us through the difficult and exhausting work of going house to house to check on people. As Brian was just saying, many of these homes are unoccupied. We're hoping that when they do find people, that they're OK.

Brian Todd, thank you very much.

Many areas of southeast Texas are still flooded. I'm talking about cities like Port Arthur and Beaumont, near Louisiana that are just completely under water.

Look at these pictures from Beaumont -- excuse me, from Port Arthur, Texas. You can see officials there, authorities. They're going door to door and many of those neighborhoods still under water.

And in Beaumont, next door, there's no clean drinking water adding to problems there. People that can make it out onto the roads are lining up to buy bottled water and the hospital has been forced to close. CNN's Ryan Nobles is live in Orange, Texas.

Ryan, I can see the water behind you there. It does appear that cars are moving along there. I suppose that's some progress. What are you seeing?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, Orange, Texas, here on the eastern border of Texas, right near Louisiana, is still very much on the edge right now.

Unlike where Brian was in Houston, neighborhoods that are accustomed to flooding, folks here in Orange have never seen this volume of water flood their streets.

And they're not out of the woods yet because there is a dam that's been released just ever the Louisiana border that's designed to release pressure on some of these bodies of water. But the unintended consequence of that is that is that this town, Orange in particular, could see more flooding over the next 24 hours.

So, folks here are really concerned. They actually don't know exactly what's going to happen next.

The possibility of a mandatory evacuation is still in the offing. In fact, I talked to one family that said they were forced out of their home.

But we've talked to officials that have said that a mandatory evacuation, even a suggested evacuation, has not taken place yet. But the emergency operation center is still keeping a close eye on all of that.

[13:05:03] Now, let me show you where we are now. This intersection, as you mentioned, Jim, quite a bit of water here. We were here last night and a lot of that water has receded. And as you mentioned, it's -- there's an ability here for at least big trucks to get through.

But now, with my photographer, David brooks, I'm going to walk you back around this way. And this has become a staging area here in this part of Orange.

This supermarket here in the distance has been closed now for more than 24 hours, but it's been, essentially, an island of dry land since the flooding began around 1:00 in the morning two days ago.

So, what has been happening here, is that an army, a flotilla of boats, largely volunteer from Texas, Louisiana. We've seen boats from as far away as Wisconsin, have come here to this spot and have just dropped people off.

Now, while that was a good thing, the problem that became was that they were in a situation where there were so many people being rescued, but nowhere to take them.

So, late here last night, there were literally hundreds of people lined up at this supermarket looking for a place to go. And around 11:00 local time, we saw about 10 different school buses come, round all these people up and then take them back to Lake Charles, Louisiana which has been dry. And that's where shelters are right now.

That process is continuing. We're still seeing people dropped off here. We actually ran into a gentleman from New Orleans, who was actually attempting to get to Houston with some food and provisions. He's been making lunch, offering it for free for anyone who could come.

This is far as he could get, Jim, because of just how badly damaged and much flooding there is in the east part of Texas. So, this recovery is going to take a long time.

And, again, I cannot stress enough, people here in Orange are, by no means, out of the woods. The next 24 to 48 hours could be very important. We could still see many more homes flooded and many more people evacuated -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Ryan Nobles at that shopping center that was serving as a makeshift bus stop for flood victims. Ryan, thank you very much.

Joining me now on the phone is Zena Stephens. She is the sheriff of Jefferson County, which includes Beaumont and Port Arthur. What is the situation right now, Sheriff? What can you tell us?

ZENA STEPHENS, SHERIFF, JEFFERSON COUNTY, TEXAS (via telephone): Well, you know, in some areas, the water, you know, is receding. That's good news. We still have a lot of people that we are still doing rescues.

The other good news is we got a lot of help. We were able to get some boats in from the military and some other areas and volunteers. And so, the collaborative effort to get, especially old people, the elderly, out of their homes, you know, it's working.

And so, you know, but we're still -- we're still in rescue mode.

ACOSTA: And what are you finding when you're going into these neighborhoods? Are you finding that many people heeded those warnings and got out of those houses? And so, it's a situation where you've got to track people down? Or are you finding that many people stayed?

STEPHENS: Right. I mean, our situation is a little bit different. We didn't give evacuation notices here. You know, our issues were the floods. You know, after, you know, three or four days of rain, you know, we received lots of water in a quick amount of time.

And so, you know -- and the bayous and some of these reservoirs, you know, once they had to open up, it rushed -- the amount of water, I don't think -- no one could predict that.

And so, we had a tremendous amount of water, you know, in a quick amount of time. And so, there wasn't a lot of warning to get some of these individuals out.

In neighborhoods that traditionally flood, yes, we predicted that. But, you know, I've never seen anything like this. I've lived here 52 years and I've never seen anything like this.

So, you know, we're just trying to get people to higher ground, safer ground. The city of Beaumont right now doesn't have water, so that presents some additional problems, you know, for our county.

You know, and so, again, that's what most first responders and people who have assessed for damage in their homes. And, you know, now we're trying to save lives.

ACOSTA: And, Sheriff, how devastated is your area, is your jurisdiction? You were just saying you've never seen anything like this in your life time.

You know, the politicians are going to be coming back here to Washington soon to figure how much aid these parts of Texas need. What is your message to the politicians in Washington who are going to have to come to your aid here in the coming months and even years?

STEPHENS: Well, you know, certainly it's devastating, you know. And I understand -- I think when you consider what has happened in Houston, you know, we watched that unfold. You know, and just a few miles away, within a few days, the same thing was happening here.

And so, what I would -- what I would implore, you know, first of all, our politicians to understand, you know, the resources needed to get back to just, you know, basic necessities of life.

Right now, we don't have water, you know, in the main area here. For simple things, you know, and so we are still dealing with people who have medical issues here.

And so, for sure, you know, again, basic human survival. We're talking about water and food and how to get it in.

[13:10:06] We were an island. We couldn't get resources in, you know, from the other areas because the highways were shut. And so, that present some problems.

So, you know, again, I'm not a politician. I'm a sheriff and my job is to go out there and protect and serve our community. That's what our -- you know, my employees have been doing since -- you know, even in -- you know, when they were leaving (ph) their own home, including me.

So, it's just important for people to understand it's bad. You know, again, we were expecting the help that we can get to our area.

ACOSTA: All right. Sheriff Zena Stephens from Jefferson County, Texas. Sheriff Stephens, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. All our best to you, your fellow first responders and all the folks down there in your area. Thank you very much. I want to show now some incredible video. CNN's own Anderson Cooper

was aboard a Coast Guard helicopter as it was conducting rescues over Beaumont, Texas. We know the Coast Guard has already rescued 6,000 people since the storm hit. Take a listen to this. Watch this.

Just incredible pictures, as you can see there, of this -- of this woman who was just hoisted up in that apparatus there and being seated alongside another gentleman and a woman there with their dogs. You can just tell.

I mean, just put yourself in the minds of those people right there, how incredibly difficult that must be to go through. But just one glimpse of how people are doing in that part of Beaumont, Texas right now. Some of the video from the dramatic rescues that are taking place with our Anderson Cooper. We'll get back to some of that video throughout this hour.

But first, some dire warnings from another part of Texas. Get out or die. That was one official's message to residents in Tyler County, Texas. We'll ask him about that stark warning and how his community is doing when we come back.

But first, every day heroes at work. A group of military veterans from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Take a look at them right there. They've spent the past few days roving through flooded parts of Port Arthur, looking for people in need of being rescued. They're among the countless volunteers we've seen answer the call during this difficult time.

We'll be right back.

[13:12:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:32] JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, let's turn quickly now to CNN's Miguel Marquez. He just landed in Conroe, Texas, after getting an aerial view of the flood damage in that area.

Miguel, what did you see?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, we've been spending a couple of days around the Addicks Reservoir area and the Barker Reservoir area just west of Houston. And to see it from the ground is one thing. To see it from the air is completely another.

The sweep of devastation, particularly around the area of Addicks Reservoir is just incredible. You know, they're predicting that some 27 trillion gallons of water, rainwater, fell on Texas and Louisiana. And from the air over that part of west Houston, you can certainly see it.

Houses still buried in water up to their rooflines. The entire area looks more like a swampland than a park, like it usually is. The levees for both the Barker and the -- and for the Addicks, it's not clear from the ground what it looks like. But when you're in the air you can see these levees. And they're miles and miles long. Sort of ones that have -- alongside the I-10 freeway. The other one perpendicular to it. And the spillways for these levees are very, very small.

But you can see them just pumping out the water. Tens of thousands of gallons a second. And it will take weeks and weeks if not months to get the water level down to they can get into those neighborhoods and figure out just how bad the damage is and for families to figure out what is left.

It is going to take -- it is one thing to talk about how difficult it's going to be for them to deal with the aftermath of this, to see it from the air and just the blocks and blocks and blocks of neighborhoods and the amount of water that is in there, it is an appreciation for just how difficult the job is ahead for this city.

Jim.

ACOSTA: Miguel Marquez, thank you very much for that perspective. We appreciate it.

I want to head now to the area near the Texas/Louisiana state line. We talked about that a little bit a while ago. One county there, Tyler County, ordered everyone to evacuate yesterday, writing in a very grim FaceBook post, let's show you this, here's a quote from it. Anyone who chooses to not heed this directive cannot expect to be rescued and should write their Social Security Numbers in permanent marker on their arms so their bodies can be identified.

It does not get more dire than that. Before editing, the post ended with the words, and we're quoting here, get out or die. The post was written by Tyler County Judge Jacques Blanchette, and he joins me now.

Judge, you clearly wanted to get people's attention with this. How did it work out? Do you think it was effective?

JUDGE JACQUES BLANCHETTE, TYLER COUNTY, TEXAS: It was extremely effective, Jim. And these are friends. These are neighbors. These are people that live close to the earth. They live along the Neches River. They are accustomed to the Neches River flooding. They are accustomed to the release of water out of Dam B (ph), which is the B.A. Steinhagen Lake.

The information that we had access to that was being communicated to us by the Corps of Engineers was dire. We had to capture enough information for those residents living along that Naches River so that they would understand the seriousness of what we were processing.

These folks are resilient. They've lived through storms before. They've stayed. They've weathered five and six feet. They're survivors. They're people as a

(INAUDIBLE) who are accustomed to this.

[13:20:11] They did not have the knowledge of what was just communicated to us at 3:00 from the Corps of Engineers. We had to -- we had to capture it in such a way to where they would be able to understand the seriousness of how this was going to impact them. It was going to be a historic flooding event along that Naches River. And those specific areas were the ones that we identified. It wasn't for the entire county. It was strictly along that Naches River. And it hat encompassed about five different areas where we have typically advise people to get out in time's past. Sometimes they've heed it. Other times they've not.

After about a 20-minute discussion with a former sergeant, who is now a local JP, our veterans service officer now, our assistant emergency management coordinator, myself, a dispatcher from the sheriff department that's accustomed to fielding calls from residents in that area, and one of the county commissioners and myself, we agonized on exactly how we needed to word what we needed to say to them so that they would get the message.

Jim, at dark last night, the last eight were brought on to dry -- not dry ground, but they were brought out of the water area there. The sheriff's department, the game warden, other volunteers were there with their boats and they were bringing these last eight out.

Jim, was it the right thing to say? Was it the right thing to do? I'm responsible for those lives. And one of the statements that we discussed during that 20-minute period of time was, two weeks from now, are we going to ask ourselves, did we do all that we could do, or are we seeing funeral services having been conducted for these neighbors, these friends, these residents of this county?

I have a responsibility --

ACOSTA: Judge, I guess part of the issue is, is that you have law enforcement, you have first responders who are putting their lives on the line. And so I suppose part of it is, if I'm not mistaken, is if you have residents who are refusing to leave their homes, leave their areas, they could, in fact, be putting first responders' lives on the line.

BLANCHETTE: And that was the very tone that we wanted them to understand. That the seriousness of the loss of life. Do not expect rescues to be provided for you whenever we had issued a mandatory evacuation order in all the low-lying, flood-prone areas in the county. And that was well -- that was several days ago.

And then the event that we had yesterday, with the amount of water that impacted us, it was as serious for us as what you all have been covering, as well as the other major news sources on what's going on south of us. This water is epic. It's unprecedented. It's historic. It's unbelievable.

ACOSTA: All right, judge -- OK.

BLANCHETTE: We've been --

ACOSTA: Judge, we're going to have to cut you off, Judge Blanchette. I'm sorry. We appreciate your time very much.

I want to point out some live pictures that are coming in right now of Vice President Pence there. You can see him greeting people in Rockport, Texas. Those are the pictures on your screen right now. You're seeing a devastated building there. The camera panning over and zooming in and you can see the vice president there talking to some residents there, patting some folks on the shoulder there.

This is sort of that firsthand account that politicians tend to want to get when they get on the ground in flood-ravaged areas and storm- ravaged areas. And you see the vice president there and Karen Pence, the second lady, the vice president's wife, also looking at this devastation, holding hands there with Governor Abbott right there behind them.

Just to give you a sense as to the scope of all of this, that is a building right in front of the vice president. He couldn't get any closer to some of these devastated areas if he tried. He's right there smack dab in the middle of it. And this is some of what the president presumably will see on Saturday when he also tours some of these storm-damaged areas.

It looks like, in just a few moments here, we might hear from the Vice President. You can also see Congressman Blake Farenthold next to the vice president there. So it appears to be a gathering of officials there. And so we may see the vice president speak here in just a few moments as these residents, these local officials, state officials, along with the vice president and his wife are taking a look at what happened in that part of Texas. Let's listen in a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). No, that's not -- that's not it.

[13:25:03] Remember, Jesus himself was in a storm. He was in a boat. And his disciples got in with him. And the Bible says a storm came up suddenly. And it was so violent that these fishermen who knew the sea, knew folks (ph), felt that they were going to sink. And all of a sudden it dawned on them that Jesus was in the boat.

CROWD: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so they go and they wake him up and they said, Lord, don't you care that we're about to perish? He said, ye of little faith. And he stood up and he rebuked the wind and the waves and they became instantly calm.

And they marveled so much. Who is this that has the power over the wind and the waves. Well, let me tell you, you've gone through a storm. But let me tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ, he's still here.

(INAUDIBLE). He's not going to forsake you. And we're so thrilled that the governor is here today. And the vice president of the United States and his wife Karen. And I'm just going to offer just a little word of prayer before we turn it over to the governor, OK? Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you love us. We thank you that you sent your son from Heaven to this earth to take our sins. And, Father, we pray for this community, we pray for all the residents of this church, the other churches. And, Lord, we pray that the recovery will come quickly and that you will bring an army of volunteers from across the country to come help them to rebuild. And, Father, we thank you today for the governor and for the vice president that they would come and see for themselves this situation. And so, Father, we ask that you would bring calm to this community and that they would see that at the end this community will be stronger and better than ever. And, Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

CROWD: Amen!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Abbott.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: Howdy, Texans.

We all know one thing, and that is, there is no storm as tough as the people of Texas. We will rise again and we will rebuild this great town and the affected areas across the entire state of Texas.

But as we gather today here at this church, it's important that we remember that the greatest power that exists is the power of God. And the way that God can touch and move all of our lives. It was God acting through the lives of so many Texans who came to the rescue of other Texans. It was the power of God that was able to pull people out of the water and literally save them. And as a result of that, I think it's very important that I issue and sign in Texas governor (INAUDIBLE) a proclamation here today.

By the power vested in me as governor of the state of Texas, I am declaring this Sunday, September 3rd, as a day of prayer in Texas.

This is a day where we will pray for all of those who are affected. We will pray for the first responders. For those who have volunteered to help others. We will pray regardless of what faith or church or background you may have. We will pray as one united people. For the future of the state and the future of this country. For healing and for hope. For rebuilding and for the next great generation of Texas.

If you don't mind, I'm going to have the first lady of Texas hold this microphone as I sign this official proclamation.

So there's a man with us here today who is a longtime friend of mine and a longtime friend of Texas. He's a man who understands what it means to govern, having been a former governor himself. He's a man who's shown genuine Lord-empowered leadership as the vice president of the United States. I want to introduce to you a man who is committed to ensuring, along with the president, that Texas will rebuild.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Texas, the vice president of the United States of America, Mike Pence.

[13:30:00] MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you so much, governor. Thank you to the inspiring team here at First Baptist Church. Thank you all for coming out after difficult days here in Rockport and across southeast Texas.