we'll take you live those news conferences as soon as they start. you have streets that look more like rivers. all morning we've been seeing scenes like this play out. first responders, an inflatable boat, inflatable rafts, helping people escape their flooded-out homes. this is epic rain and shut down a lot of the subway service in new york. new york city subway has very limited service. this is the scene at some of these subway stations. you can see it again, gushing water. the entire -- nearly the entire new jersey transit rail system is down, too. and this morning they're surveying the damage from dangerous tornadoes created by this storm. several homes in new jersey and maryland totaled in a matter of minutes. >> wind, nearly five minutes, and then everything was decimated. >> i'm hallie jackson in washington, along with our nbc news team. stephanie gosk is in the city of queens. gary gombrach, and bill karins