more important, people and their homes, 20 deaths blamed on this disaster, hundreds of evacuated and as you can imagine many without utilities or electricity and it won t be restored until the water recedes. sandra: not only that it is 30 degrees, it is cold and wet out. any idea when these waters will start reseeding? we are not out of the woods yet? reporter: not out of the woods. what will continue rising in this area expected to crest today at 47 feet. the chief of police saying this is the worst natural disaster the area has seen. many people saying this is the worst flood they have ever seen. hundred still under evaluation, the national guard is you re helping people assist them in this cold weather. sandra: they need some much held. those who lived through the great flood in 90, thanks so much. abby: at the push for sanctions
whenever it s necessary. so really all of the different folks whether it s the governor s office, the national guard, the fema folks, high patrol, local emergency management people have all been working very well together. and with the army corps advice on where to look for the problem areas they ve been working very well together. and it s minimized a lot of the dama damage. what are you expecting in the days ahead? well, as the water recedes as your reporter and meteorologist indicate, we were cresting today on the missouri and meramec in our area the mississippi is cresting today and will go on down to the coast over the next few days and weeks here. but as soon as the waters recede, the local folks will begin assessing the damage whether it s the folks along the rivers or whether it s the folks in counties, i got one county that s got 40 county roads closed right now. so you can imagine the county roads and county bridges that
and so as the water recedes, we are going to have power out. we are going to have gas service out, and we are going to have a difficult cleanup. how do you prepare, mayor, for people who are going to be dealing with, even the people who as the water is receding, and their homes are not in great condition, but if they are facing freezing temperatures and power outages, how do you take care of the people some. i believe that the people are go ing to have to either stay with friends or in shelters. i know that our baptist church offered to shelter quite a few people. i don t know if they have any up there or not, or if most people went to family. we are tight community, and lot of people know each other, and they are willing to help out. so i expect that most people are just staying with friends and family, and that are currently displaced. so they will be displaced, i
and as soon as people water recedes, starting the cleanup in the residential areas and the businesses. diane, let s talk about pacific. we understand the river is expected to crest there this evening, topping some 35 feet. it s likely to shatter records there, not records anyone wants to shatter. what is your biggest concern for area residents? our biggest concern right now is getting the cleanup done and, like russell said, getting our sewer system back up and running. sewage is a real concern. we understand sewage waters have been flooding into the merrimack river. are you concerned that residents are going to have access to clean water? no. we ve been assured that the water is fine, that there is no problem. it s just the sewers are backing
they re not sure it will stop there. because as the water recedes, they discover more stuck vehicles and other problems as a result. but the fear seems to be that even though this storm formally never hit south carolina, in other words, joaquin was well out to sea. the rain did batter the east coast. south carolina was among those states that did have emergency preparations in place. one of six states that declared a state of emergency. it did very little to help matters there. 14 known dead. hundreds are homeless in a situation that has not changed and those waters have not receded nearly to the degree they had hoped. we ll keep you posted on that. also, we want to keep you posted on a couple other developments here, as we were reporting on that. on some of the wall street numbers i was alluding to, the reason why this yum brand thing might be very important, later