blamed on hurricane/tropical storm irene. more than three million homes and businesses still don't have power. flood warnings still are in effect in five states from vermont to new jersey. all this brings me to my colleague, mary snow, in patterson, new jersey. mary, what is going on there around you right now? >> reporter: well, evacuations have been going on for the past 48 hours and they are only intensifying because you just mentioned, there are some rivers that have yet to crest. here in patterson, new jersey, which is about three blocks away from the passaic river, that has not yet crested. we are told it's about seven feet higher than it normally is, and there have been boats going out that were with the state office of emergency management, their search and rescue teams have been going out all morning. we are joined by the mayor of patterson, jeff jones. mr. mayor, thanks for joining us. what is your biggest concern right now? >> well, the biggest concern right now is the fact that folks didn't take it as seriously as we had announced it and that's understandable. this is one of the record floods we have ever had. we're now finding more folks who are in the path of danger than one could imagine. the expanse of the flooding has almost doubled on both sides of the river. we've lost all of our bridges, so there's only one way in and one way out, and any vehicle traffic is now only adding more to the congestion. we're just dealing with communications and trying to get people out. >> reporter: how many people, i have heard hundreds of people have already been evacuated, right? >> as of 9:00 last night, when we went to bergen community college, the designated center by the red cross, there were 200 to 300 focus lks en route. this morning i got a number of 850. we just had to evacuate presidential boulevard, four buildings, 20 stories, 15 apartments each floor. that's the equivalent of four or five city blocks. that doesn't include triangle village over here or colt arms right here. >> reporter: all said and done, talking about thousands? >> thousands. >> reporter: we have been watching these rescues throughout the day, small children, we saw some aerial shots of rescues. any injuries that you know of? >> well, i don't know of any fatalities, thankfully. we've had some folks who are obviously under stress and some emotional issues, have required medical attention. we have taken them directly to st. joe's. but to this date, we have no knowledge of any harsh or extreme conditions. >> reporter: now you're just waiting for the waters to continue to rise? >> cresting is established based on last report, at 2:00. originally it was 6:00. at this level, we haven't crested. i have no idea how far back we will be pushing back. our command center has moved back on east main twice and now they're on north 2nd street, approximately a little less than quarter of a mile. >> reporter: mr. mayor, we appreciate your time. we know you're very busy. appreciate you joining us and giving us that update. randi, we have been here for two hours or so and just have seen a steady stream of state oem rescue workers coming in with boats. we talked to one man earlier today, said he was on the second floor of a home, that he thought this area gets flooded a lot, he thought he could ride it out. then last night he realized he needed to get out. he didn't have a phone so he was waiting for boats to come by and caught the attention of one crew. >> mary, they have enough shelters for the stranded folks? is that where they're taking them? >> reporter: the mayor is saying he's looking to open up some schools because he will need more space. that is in the works right now. >> okay. mary snow there in new jersey, thank you very much. checking some other developing stories that we're following, a shake-up in the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. director kenneth melson being reassigned to the justice department as senior advisor for forensic issues. he came under fire for the so-called fast and furious program involving illegal weapons sales along the border with mexico. the justice department says melson is being replaced by u.s. attorney todd jones, who will serve as acting director of the atf. from nfl outcast to one of the highest paid players in pro football, michael vick. the philadelphia eagles say vick has signed a new contract worth $100 million for six years. of that, $40 million apparently guaranteed. vick was arrested on dogfighting charges, you may recall, back in 2007, and spent 18 months in prison. since his release, vick has appeared at public events with the humane society condemning dog fighting. last year he led the eagles to the nfc east title and was the comeback player of the year. the daughter of moammar gadhafi has had a baby in algeria. an algerian official tells the french press agency that aisha gadhafi gave birth to a girl shortly after arriving in the country yesterday. the government says she made the crossing with gadhafi's wife and two of his sons. algeria says they were allowed into the country on humanitarian grounds. aisha gadhafi served as u.n. goodwill ambassador until she was dismissed when gadhafi launched his crackdown against anti-government protesters earlier this year. all right. for you "dancing with the stars" fans, we have got the new lineup for you. you are looking at at least one of them. among the 12 contestants for the 13th season of the abc show, nancy grace of our sister network, hln. some of the other celebrities she'll be going up against, hope solo, the outspoken pro basketball star, ron artest, actor david arquette and iraq war veteran, j.r. martinez. nancy says quote, i know i'm not the youngest or the thinnest but i've got a lot of heart. fema's disaster funds are nearly depleted and that could be bad news for victims of hurricane irene and other disasters this year. what repair projects will have to be put on hold? 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>> not enough, i'm afraid. i have said for weeks as we've had disasters throughout the country and now, of course, faced with this irene disaster all up and down the eastern seaboard that we simply must replenish the disaster relief fund over at homeland security. what's more, we need to designate this as the law provides emergency spending. this is a genuine emergency. the notion that we would hold this up until republicans can prompt another budget fight and figure out what they want to cut, what they want to offset in the budget and to pit one section of the country against the other and to delay this and create this uncertainty, it's just the latest chapter and i think one of the most unsavory ones of our budget wars. we need to get this money in place so that our communities know they've got the support that they've counted on. >> when you say hold this up, i assume that you're speaking in part to representative cantor's comments that the money to pay for the disaster, eric cantor's comments on fox on monday, that the money to pay for the disaster aid will have to be offset with cuts elsewhere in the budget, that we are going to need to make sure there are savings elsewhere to continue to do so were his exact words. it sounds like there may be a potential fight here with the house republicans? >> well, i think it's an untenable position and one that simply is unresponsive and insensitive to the kind of situation we face in this country. you know, i'm not saying every past designation of emergency funding was justified. we need to make sure we're talking about genuine emergencies. but how can anybody doubt that this is a genuine emergency? this is a horrible storm. we have in north carolina, just been talking to our rescue groups out there, we are going to have enormous repair and rescue efforts to pay for and that's true all the way up the east coast of this country, and as your reporter just said, there are obligations from past disasters in missouri and elsewhere. the notion that you would say in effect that we are going to not do this until we can have another budget fight, figure out whose budget we are going to cut or what kind of economic development funds like high speed rail was one they picked earlier, what kind of economic development funds we're going to cut, how many jobs we're going to cut in order to do disaster relief. that is not the way this congress should be operating. an emergency is an emergency. we need to be straightforward and honest in labeling it as such and get the money where it needs to go to get relief to our communities. i just -- i think i'm just very impatient and i think the american people are going to be impatient. any attempt to hold these funds hostage to political objectives. >> your committee is going to take up fema funding measures as soon as lawmakers return to the capitol next week. how do you plan to get that through? >> well, we will -- i believe we will get it through. the question is are we going to get it through in an expeditious fashion without encumbering it with a lot of these budget disputes and insisting that an emergency not be labeled an emergency but that instead, it come out of somebody else's hide, or are we going to do it right. that's really the issue we are going to face. of course we will vote for the emergency funds, but there is a question as to how completely we will cover the emergency and whether we will label it an emergency so it can be done in the most straightforward possible fashion. >> are there any other options here? what if fema runs dry? >> well, fema is wisely making some plans to prioritize. they have to do that because they can't spend money they don't have. but they shouldn't be put in this position. the country shouldn't be put in this position of uncertainty and one region having to worry about whether they're traded off against another region, that's unacceptable. it's not the way we operated in the past. >> let me just -- >> they're doing a heroic job, as are the localities and the states. it's just unconscionable that the u.s. congress would somehow be the bottleneck in this process. >> to those who say that adding to the deficit would be unconscionable, what would you say to those people? >> i would say that we have a law in this country that provides for responsible budgeting, and that law provides in advance for emergency designations for genuine emergencies. so that's what we should do. it's very straightforward. >> all right. representative david price from north carolina, david, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you very much. stay with us. coming up in about ten minutes, north carolina governor, homeland security secretary janet napolitano and tom vilsack will hold a news conference right there in north carolina. we will bring that to you coming up around 1:30. up next, if you're looking for a job, we are going to tell you the top five companies now hiring. n. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ the news about the economy and jobs hasn't exactly been reassuring with reports that we may be headed back into recession, but jobs are still out there. you just have to know where to look. aol tracked down the top companies hiring not in a few months or a few weeks, but this week, in fact. so you car fans will know about this first one. mopar, the parts and service division for the chrysler group, is one of those companies hiring right now. mopar is searching for young, creative types who don't necessarily have to have an automotive background. let's take a look at who else. okay. then of course, there is verizon. verizon was recently ranked third by college grads.com when it comes to companies hiring entry level workers. verizon is looking to hire more than 4,000 new grads this year, pushing to attract more fine arts, music and liberal arts majors as well. moving on, macy's is also looking for workers as one of the largest u.s. retail companies, macy's plans to hire 3500 employees over the next two years. also, senior care is in high demand and the industry is in need of workers. extendicare services operates senior care centers, a lot of independently owned nursing homes are hiring them to consult on how to make their operations much more efficient than they are. on the finance and banking side, there is wells fargo, fourth largest bank in the u.s. based on assets. you probably heard about their merger with wachovia bank. that has opened up a whole lot more jobs. just a few places to start or continue your job hunt, we'll have a list of more companies on my facebook page, facebook.com/randikayecnn. good luck. time right now, 20 minutes past the hour. let's check some of our top stories. the deadly avian flu may be coming back. commonly referred to as bird flu. the united nations warns there are signs a mutant strain may be spreading in asia. this bird flu can outsmart current vaccines. the food and agriculture organization says the virus has appeared in vietnam and china. you see there in red. but the mutant strain threatens a number of neighboring countries. it killed eight people in cambodia. in afghanistan, august has been the deadliest month for u.s. forces since the conflict began. 66 american troops have been killed this month, almost half of those deaths took place on august 6th, when insurgents shot down a helicopter in an eastern province. that attack killed 30 u.s. service members including 17 navy s.e.a.l.s. republican presidential candidate michele bachmann says she just has a great sense of humor. bachmann came under fire after making the comment that the d.c. earthquake and hurricane irene were acts of god, sending a message to washington. bachmann said on monday the remarks were intended to tell the president he was not listening to the american people. bachmann says it was simply a joke and that she was quote, being humorous. president obama now plans to speak at the national cathedral on september 11th. the white house just announced that after touring memorial sites in pennsylvania, new york and the pentagon, the president will deliver the keynote address at the cathedral's tenth anniversary concert of hope. here's a story you have to stick around for. last week's earthquake apparently cured a man's deafness. i am not kidding. litter box odo: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. my hearing is back. i can hear everything. people in the hallway. to me it was a miracle. a blessing. couldn't ask for a better day. >> why is veteran robert telling the fox affiliate in d.c. his hearing is a miracle? because the 75-year-old was deaf for months until, get this, last week's earthquake somehow rattled his hearing back. joining me now, the man who is treating robert, dr. fletcher, chief of staff at the washington, d.c. veterans affairs medical center. thank you so much, doctor, for joining us. just how well is robert able to hear now? is his hearing fully restored? >> it's not fully restored but he hears quite well now. he did not hear well prior to the earthquake. he had a lot of fluid in his ear and that caused him to not hear unless he was using an amplifier at the bedside. when he used the amplifier, he could hear but not until the earthquake was the ability to hear everyone in the room easy for him. >> so can we really say that the quake actually cured his deafness? what is the explanation for this miracle? >> well, he has -- there is an explanation in that he did have a buildup of fluid in his ears since he fell on father's day, and at that time, the fluid built up quite strongly and tensed his tympanic membrane so much that he could not hear without the aid of accessory devices. he would use an amplifier, turn it up full blast in order to hear and immediately after the earthquake, he could hear everyone in the room quite well. >> have you ever seen anything like this before? >> no. i haven't. but i'm delighted that it occurred. this patient has had a lot of problems over the last few months and felt very joyous at the event and told his family, his daughters and his sons were all in the room with him at the time that this had happened and he just is tickled to have this happen, and we are obviously very pleased that it happened as well and are supporting him in the joy that he feels about this event. >> yeah, of course. it's hard not to. it's very exciting news for him. i'm curious, could this