[Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] At least a thousand people were rescued overnight. That number has been climbing really exponentially throughout the day. Helicopters swirl overhead looking for people trapped on their roofs. Volunteer rescuers are coming in their boats. The head of FEMA says this is a storm the United States has never seen before. One that'll require teams to be on the ground not for days or even weeks but years as some areas brace for up to 50 inches of rain before this is all over. President Trump tweeting, "Wow, now experts are calling Harvey a once in a 500 year flood. We have an all out effort going and going well." We just learned the president will visit the flood on Tuesday. In a moment I want to talk with the mother who, along with her 5-year-old daughter, had a harrowing escape from their Houston home as flood waters rose all around. But first, I want to bring in our teams on the ground. CNN's Brian Todd is in Houston and our Ed Lavandera is in a rescue boat in Dickinson, that's southeast of Houston. Ed, you've had some of the most incredible pictures where you are right now on a boat with a volunteer rescuer. Talk to me about what you've seen in the last hour?
[Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Ana. Well, this is really our first chance to get an up close sense of just how devastating this flooding is across many parts of Houston. Get you a sense of where we're at. This is the neighborhood of Bayou Chantilly, which is in a small town of Dickinson, Texas, just along Interstate 45. I think we're about 25 miles south of downtown Houston. These are the images. And it is just striking to see. Look, this is a home where you can see the family had used a ladder to scale up on top of the roof. They have an American flag that they were using to wave down for help, they have a box of supplies and blankets, and that sort of things. All of that left behind. The garage still open to their home. As we've floated through this neighborhood, Ana, we've seen a number of homes where you see holes in the roof where they had chopped their way out through the attic. In fact just here to our right passing these other house, this is an example of what we've seen in the number of homes where people had escaped into their attics and used their ax or some sort of heavy tool to sort of punch their way and chop their way out of the rooftop through the ceiling of roof so they can get pulled out to safety. The water and flooding damage in this particular neighborhood has been absolutely breathtaking and unreal to see. We've volunteers have been coming in the similar boat that we're in. We're in a boat with a young man by the name of Austin Seth who drove an hour from Lake Jackson, Texas, to volunteer. He's pulled about a dozen people out of this area and pulled them out to safety. Interstate 45, Ana, is essentially being used as a boat launch today as hundreds of volunteers and other first responders have been coordinating and launching boats into these floodwaters. This is just one of many, many neighborhoods across the city of Houston that have been just devastated and in dire need of help. These are people in this neighborhood, Ana, who went to bed last night not thinking that their neighborhood was ever going to flood in this storm, thinking that they were on higher ground, that there'd been enough people who lived here in this neighborhood for generations who felt that they were going to be safe here. And they woke up this morning to water inside their homes, water quickly rising. So incredibly emotional for people. We've seen throughout the day a number of people who have been rescued here, some other folks being pulled out. How you guys doing? Thumbs up from them. These are, again, a number of people who have been rescued throughout the day. For the most part here in this particular neighborhood that we're in, we've seen people kind of coming and going throughout the day. They have been pulled out to safety, so that is the good news. From what we can tell, very, very few people left behind in this neighborhood. But it has been a small Navy of volunteers that have gone up and down the water here. And these guys coordinating amongst themselves, Ana, here making sure that every last person who wants to get out of here is able to do so. So this is a scene that we've seen here repeatedly. And this is looking down one of the main roads here into this neighborhood. And the images, I think, speak for themselves just to how dreadful and devastating this day has been for these people Ana.
[Cabrera:] The images are so chilling and the stories that you're telling us are so heartwarming in so many ways to hear and to see the volunteers and this effort of people who are just laying it out there, trying to save lives and do what they can to make a horrible situation slightly better for some of the folks in that neighborhood. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much for that. Please do let us know as you continue to encounter new images and new people and new situations. Brian Todd is also among those survivors who are also escaping from the floodwaters. You're in Houston, Brian. We know there have been at least two deaths confirmed in the storm. One of them in Houston. A woman who apparently drove into high water. I see you have some folks among the people who are trying to get out.
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Ana. We're hear just about six miles west of Houston near the Omni Hotel, which apparently has been flooded. There are dozens of people stranded there. They're being pulled off by private rescuers. We've got one family here. Abraham
[Unidentified Male:] Pretty much this morning when we woke up, the whole place was flooded and the power is out. We went down, looked around, and they provided, like, you know, some food and some water. And pretty much, OK, we're going to hang tight for right now. But then the water just continued to raise throughout the day.
[Todd:] And so that made your decision easier to come out. We're told some people are staying there.
[Unidentified Male:] Some people decided to stay there, yes. There's cats there, too. So because it's a pet friendly hotel. I think that they were just deciding to hang it out there.
[Todd:] And we did hear also that there are fumes in there. Were you kind of worried about that as well?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, definitely when I woke up and I walked in the hall, I started noticing some fumes. So that was another thing that was a little bit alarming.
[Todd:] All right. Colin and Abby, how scared were you guys?
[Colin:] We were pretty scared. Basically we woke up with just a lot of water. We thought it was going to come up to the second floor.
[Todd:] You ever see anything like this before?
[Colin:] No, never.
[Todd:] And Abraham, you live around here.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Todd:] You came to the hotel. Why?
[Unidentified Male:] Just because we had a generator, we just moved here about a year ago. We don't a generator and all that kind of staff so we're just worried about, you know, we've never been in a flood like this in our house that we live in now and we thought maybe it would be safe if we're in the hotel. So.
[Todd:] And where are you going to go now?
[Unidentified Male:] I don't know yet. I think they're going to take us to another hotel that apparently is dry and has electricity. The other Omni. OK.
[Todd:] All right. Well, thanks very much for joining us guys. And good luck to you. All right. Thanks, kids. They're directing them to get to arrive to another hotel now, Ana. And you can see another boat full of people coming from the Omni Hotel. They're actually staging wave runners, too, because another boat ran out of power as it was coming from the hotel. Again private rescuers in wave upon wave, just going to put people out of that hotel, we're told maybe between 60 or 80 people are stranded there, but some people are electing to stay even though we're told that there are diesel fumes throughout that hotel. We're trying to get over there and to see what the conditions here but it's tough to get over there right now Ana.
[Cabrera:] And people without power. So obviously that's a problem, too, for those who are trying to call for help and obviously their cell phone battery go down and took down. Brian Todd, thank you for that report in Houston. The elderly of course are among the most vulnerable in this catastrophic flooding. Some in nursing homes can't physically move themselves. And this is just one of the shots of the chilling images across the county in Galveston. This picture is not PhotoShopped. It was taken at a nursing home in Galveston County early today. The owner sent this picture to her family members begging for help, and around noon thankfully help came. The owner and residents about two dozen or so were rescued. The county commissioner saying some were found up to their waist in the water. And those who were wheelchair bound, you see in this picture, were found up to their chests or even their necks. And we spoke with the daughter of the owner who took this picture. She says that her mom sent her this picture in a text, and her cell phone was dying, please get some help, and she obviously went out on a frantic mission to try to get them help. And she posted this on social media to attract the attention to get the help they needed. And that is what did it. We have learned from the county officials that every single member there was rescued and was taken to a hospital in Galveston County. One Houston mother meantime, though, she had to laugh to keep from crying after seeing the incredible damage done to her home by the floodwaters. You can see just how high the water went. This was earlier today filling room after room and leaving the family no other option but to try to leave to escape with a 5-year-old child. The mother who shot that joins us now by phone, Darnica Burns. Thank you so much, Darnica, for spending time with us during a difficult time, I know, for you and your family. I understand that part of the reason leaving your home was so frightening is not only because you have a little girl, but you can't swim. So take me through what happened?
[Darnica Burns, Flood Victim:] It just happened so fast. The water just kept rising. At first I thought, you know, it was going to go down. But it just kept rising, and it got up to maybe our knees. And about 30 minutes later it's like it's gone, you know, almost our chest. So we had go ahead and leave out the house. And we walked to the nearest gas station and it was kind of hard because of the pressure from the water. And I had my baby on my back trying to walk through it. It was some guys there and they asked if we needed help. And they had a ladder and
[Cabrera:] So where are you now, Darnica?
[Burns:] My uncle picked me up so I'm at his house right now.
[Cabrera:] OK. Thank goodness you were able to get somewhere safe and warm and dry. Have you ever seen flooding like this in Houston?
[Burns:] Never. I've never see anything like this. It was just so scary, especially with my daughter.
[Cabrera:] Right. How is she doing?
[Burns:] She is braver than me. She kept saying, mommy, why are you crying? I kept saying, baby, it's my allergies. But she wasn't scared at all. She was more brave than me. So I had to keep it together so she wouldn't be scared.
[Cabrera:] Darnica, thank you so much for sharing your story, for sharing your images. And our best to you and your family. I want to go back now to our Ed Lavandera in Dickinson, Texas, there. There's another rescue underway right now. Ed, talk to us about what's happening. OK, he can't hear us right now, I'm told. But we will just continue to stay with this picture. There's a rescue happening. You'll recall this is in Dickinson, Texas. He's been on this boat and he's assisting right now. This is live, that's why the camera's a little bit shaky. They don't have contact with us. Obviously some technical issues being in the middle of nowhere and all this flooding. But we saw a dog being loaded onto a boat. Ed is on a boat with a gentleman named Austin who got the social media call for help. And he brought his boat to this area. Officials actually went online and said we need more help. We don't have enough rescuers. We don't have enough resources here as this flood was just overtaking neighborhoods. And so Austin took his boat out there. And Ed told us he's helped to rescue about a dozen people today in the last few hours. Ed made it in on this boat from the interstate. And now I think we have a connection with Ed. What do you what can you tell us about what's happening where you are right now, Ed?
[Lavandera:] Ana, there's a woman we're about to leave this neighborhood and there was a woman who kind of flagged us down and her two elderly parents who were stuck inside the home. So I'm going to put the microphone down. We're going to help them try to get back into the boat so we can get them out of here. So I'm going to put the microphone down while we help them get into the boat.
[Cabrera:] OK. I'm just going to let this play before our eyes and I'm not going to say much. But if you are just joining us, this is live right now on CNN in Dickerson, Texas. And Ed Lavandera is in a boat with one of the volunteer rescuers helping people out of their homes who have been stranded.
[Lavandera:] Jason, you want to come up here and help?
[Unidentified Male:] I can help lift you if that's OK? OK. You ready?
[Lavandera:] You ready?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Lavandera:] You got it?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Lavandera:] OK. I got you. I got you. Not too bad.
[Unidentified Male:] Just sit wherever you feel like, you know, is the most comfortable for you.
[Lavandera:] Whenever you feel like moving you can sit right there on the edge. Are we taking on water?
[Unidentified Male:] No, it's all that rain we had earlier the day and I never bailed out.
[Lavandera:] You all right? Long night.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Lavandera:] All right. We got hey, Ana, we've got this gentleman's wife and their daughter that still need to be pulled out of here. So Austin Seth, who is the volunteer, who has been taking us around I tell you what, we were just about to leave and we just happened to hear this woman so ask for help. So that's Austin here, they have two dogs as well. Come on this way, little fella. So they're trying to get her out. We'll keep working on this and doing that. I got to be honest, the daughter told us that her mother has Alzheimer's so that's complicating the situation.
[Cabrera:] Yes.
[Lavandera:] So let's be a little bit delicate here because I don't know what kind of condition her mother is in. Let's give us a second
[Cabrera:] I got you. We want to be sensitive to the family.
[Lavandera:] You know what I mean?
[Cabrera:] Sure. We want to be sensitive to this family.
[Lavandera:] I want you to see here
[Cabrera:] Amazing things happening right now in Dickinson, Texas, where this gentleman was just rescued. Ed, we'll let you do the work that needs to happen there on the ground and we'll check back in with you and that family when the time is appropriate. But for more information on how you can help the victims there of Harvey just log onto CNN.comimpact. We're going to take a quick break. We're back in just a moment.