We are live in texas. Good morning and welcome to early start. Im renee marsh. Im dave briggs. Thursday, august 31st. 4 00 a. M. In the east. 3 00 a. M. In houston, texas. The skies above Southeast Texas clearing. But as harvey heads north, it leaves many worries in its wake. The human toll just keeps getting worse. The number killed in the storm jumped overnight to 37 and is still expected to rise. The number includes the six bodies of the saldovar family found wednesday there in in their white van, washed away in the flood. A controlled release is happening now at the attucks dam. A mandatory Evacuation Order was issued in areas around the barker dam. Well have more details throughout the morning. Heavy rain taking a hard, parting shot at point arthur and beaumont, texas, on the louisiana border. Beaumont has lost its water supply after pumps failed in floodwaters. Even shelters where people had taken refuge started flooding. Workers at the Texas Health CareEmergency Operations center are keeping a close eye on hospitals and nursing homes. Patients at one nursing facility in port arthur evacuated yesterday as hallways flooded. And at least 16 hospitals in texas remain closed. Alreadystrained medical centers bracing for an influx of new patients as roadways start to clear. In some cases, that will take time. Take a look at this. This is interstate 10 east. Look at it you would think that its the shore if it wasnt for the highway signs. Remarkable image. This morning, emergency officials hold a News Conference to discuss the danger ougs situation at the arkema Chemical Plant outside houston. The company that owns it says the most likely outcome is that this plant will explode. Were learning more about the heroic rescue efforts taking place. Youre looking at a human chain formed to save an elderly man whose suv had been swept away by the flood. The man was saved thanks to this brave, spontaneous act of teamwork. For the latest we turn to cnns George Howell. He is live for us in houston at a shelter there. Good morning. Reporter good morning to you. So this is the scene here. You get a sense of whats happening. A little more activity. Keep in mind a lot of people are sleeping, trying to get a good nights rest. Some 8,000 people here at this Convention Center downtown in houston. And at the nearby nrg center. They have the capacity to hold 10,000 people. We understand that they have 8,000 cots. You really do get a sense of how many people are in need of help in this area. Lets talk a bit more about the storm itself. Harvey now a tropical depression. Its moved out of this region, but its left a great deal of damage. At least onethird of houston is still under water. Were talking about these neighborhoods. Places nearby uses, near rivers near bayous, near rivers, where flooding is still a concern. Its unclear how many people are still in need of rescue. The Houston Fire Department even going door to door to see what more work they need do. You touched on this, but lets talk about beaumont, texas. The navy conducted search and rescue operations. They airlift 25 men and women from dangerous situations there. And this storm broke a weather record. So it dropped 52 inches of rain in a single storm. You really do understand this storm left a lot of water. It left a lot of damage. And now people are just left to do their best to recover. You did a lot of interviews. You saw someone on my way into work. You spoke with local police officers. What is their situation . What do they need . How are their spirits . Reporter you know, their spirits are high. But the police chief, acevedo, explained what it was like in the early days. The early days where his men and women were not allowed to go home. They couldnt go home because they had so many calls to take on. They were prioritizing those lifethreatening calls, and the calls kept coming and coming and coming in the days that continued on. These men and women and Law Enforcement, they are getting those breaks. Theyre able to go home. Some even staying here just, you know, easier i guess to turn around shifts. You do understand Law Enforcement has been busy, Fire Department has been busy, coast guard has been busy, and heres the other thing. Just men and women who are not in any official service picked up their boats, theyre doing the best they can also to find people that are in need. So the searches, they continue. Yeah. Probably the takeaway from this will be houstonians helping their neighbors and friends and pitching in to this effort. George howell, a texan, live. Thank you. Harvey, a tropical depression headed into the ohio valley. Flooding still a major concern in the wake. Karen maginnis with the latest. Good morning. Just to give you a perspective, all of the aerial flooding around houston and surrounding areas including those all critical reservoirs that heretofore have been recreational areas but have really become undated with the floodwaters here, now we compare the flooding around houston, even into western louisiana. 33,000 square miles, which is roughly the size of the state of south carolina. If you can imagine that. But were not finished yet. In beaumont, port arthur texas, they saw 24 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours 26 inches of rainfall in just 24 hours. Its been dangerous for days now. The river runs through beaumont. They have a beautiful river park there. The river is continuing to rise. The pumps have shut down because of the high waters that they have seen the last several days. Now the record was set back in 1994. It was set at 13 feet. It is now over 15 feet. Weve already shattered that record. It continues to rise all the way into saturday morning. It should crest at just over 19 feet. The people in beaumont say that they cant really do anything about the pumps until the river starts to drop. And it is not going to drop for days. And that storm system, whats left of it, is going to move through the Mississippi River valley and, in some cases, produce two to four inches of rain but isolated areas of as much as ten inches. Boy. Long way from out of the woods there. Karen maginnis, thank you very much. Some people in houston tell me they dont expect rivers and bayous to recede for days, maybe weeks. It is a long way before we get a true sense of the damage done. Absolutely. Weve been telling stories of people who jumped in to help those in need. Our next guest is one of those. A civilian rescue team. Theyve been key to saving lives in this widespread flooding. Josh beaman is here live. Hes one of the many volunteer rescuers putting their own life at risk. Youre joining us by sky from san antonio. First, good morning. Tell us, what have you seen, what have you heard, as you went to save peoples lives . Good morning. Yeah, really it all started supposed night really when the sunday night really when the mayor put out the call that they needed help. Anybody with boats, anybody with highwater trucks to head to houston, wherever you were, come to houston, help. And one of the big things is im also a state farm agent. Part of our mission and call is to no matter if youre insured with us or not, is to help people recover from the unexpected. This is one of those situations that nobody expected on thursday, friday of last week, that this storm was going to develop into what it did. Luckily, we live in such a great state that anybody is going to pick up the call and head over. And thats exactly what we did. And what i did. My wifes works for an Environmental Consulting firm out of san marcus. Her boss, the owner, had plenty of boats. I called him around midnight sunday and said, hey, im going to houston tomorrow. Can i borrow a boat . He said, show up at 7 00, well load it up, and you can head out. I went over there, got a boat from him, and headed into houston. Hit a little bit of high water on i10 on the way over there. But jumped in with a convoy of boats and trucks that were coming over from west of san antonio. Not sure where they were from. But we we went in and went directly into katy to the Harris County precinct five where they directed us where to go. I was there maybe five minutes when they said, hey, we need you over at an apartment complex down the street. Waters coming in fast. Weve got to get these people out. Went in, rescued an elderly gentleman about 90 years old that couldnt really even remember where his family is or who to contact. We just he just said he wants to go. So we put him in the truck, got him out, and then a sheriff sheriff and i went back in and got another eight families out that were on the second floor of this apartment. They we knew the water was going to be over that second floor within about three to four hours. They were willing and ready to go. We loaded them up, got them out, and its lucky that we got them out when we did because even my truck that sits pretty high was having little tough time getting back out of the complex at that point. Basically, i got there at 9 00, 10 00 monday morning and was in the water from that point until dark on monday. How many families do you think you saved there . In that complex, i got myself and the sheriffs deputy i was working with, we got about eight out of there before they sent me over to north of i10. That operation was south of i10. By the time i got the second family out and to the staging area that was being used as a shelter at that point and got back over there, the bps had arrived with three of their high water, swiftwater teams, and were not allowing civilian rescue teams in there. There was only one entrance in and out of the complex. At that point, they sent me back to the staging area. And within about ten minutes, they sent myself and five other crews north into the morton ranch area of katy that was taking on water quickly. We got there, unloaded the boats, and basically from that point until dark is where i was. Its probably the most soaked ive been since i was in high school. Its been crazy. Saving a family of eight with a specialneeds son, an 8monthold pregnant woman, whats the sense of desperation youre seeinging and gratitude once seeing and gratitude once you do rescue them . Absolutely. Tuesday was really where i think myself and a fellow agent of mine, steve yang, hes actually there in sugarland, where i thi think we made the biggest difference. I woke him up at 6 30 because he had a friend who commented on one of his posts and i didnt sleep at all monday into tuesday. I saw that, i woke him up. And he immediately said, pick me pu up, and were going. This is 6 30 in the morning. We head out, picked them up, got her family out. Then he while while we were doing that, he sent a message to a big group of people he knew and actually got responses. The pregnant lady we rescued in the group, within about two hours later, her friend was the one who directed us to her. We got there got on a boat they hooked up to my truck to get in the water because theirs wasnt sitting deep enough. We got it in the water and immediately got out there. Channel 13, we were pulling away, and channel 13 asked we jump on, we heard where youre going. We said, absolutely. As long as you dont get in the way. We headed out there. She was by the time we got there, she was very ready to go. She didnt know we were coming for her. Stuck her head out the door we said, were coming directly for you. Dont get in the water. Right. He was extremely ready to go. But i think most of all, her son, 1yearold, was the most ready. If youve seen the footage yall were able to get it from channel 13. That little boy was screaming. Whenever i got him, he didnt want to let go of mom. He was pulling her hair. And he wasnt very happy. They had been waiting for about five to six hours for somebody to get there to pull them out. We will get that video. Thanks for sending us the pictures of your experience. I suppose the state farm ad writes itself. Josh beaman, volunteer rescuer, thanks for helping out. You are the texas spirit. We appreciate it. Yes, sir, yes, sir. In a time now where we hear so Much Negative from all over the country, it aes refreshing to e you reporting on these stories. Not just myself but every volunteer in houston. First responders, everything, that are showing what america really is all about. So i thank you guys for that. I appreciate it. The president coming under fire for forgetting victims during his visit to texas. Whoa thats amazing. Hey, im the internet i know a bunch of people who would love that. The internet loves what youre doing. So put your idea online with a domain name from godaddy. Enter your idea and well find you a one of a kind name. Weve helped 17 Million People find the perfect domain name for their website. Get your domain name and Start Building your website for free today Vice President mike pence set to visit stokes view harveys devastation. President trump will return to the gulf on saturday. Hes already changing his tone after coming under fire for fail fog focus on the storm victims during his texas visit. Tweeted yesterday, after witnessing firsthand the horrors and devastation caused by hurricane harvey, my heart goes out even more so to the great people of texas. Later in missouri for a speech on tax reform, the president kept his focus on people hit by the storm. White house correspondent jeff zeleny is traveling with the president and has more from springfield, missouri. Reporter President Trump came to missouri on wednesday, focusing on tax reform but addressing the citizens of texas and had la la about the storm recover and louisiana about the storm recovery effort. This will be part of the administrations agendas Going Forward in the fall. The recovery package. On wednesday in missouri, he talked specifically to those victims. To the people of houston and across texas and louisiana, we are here with you today. We are with you tomorrow. And we will be with you every single day after to restore, recover, and rebuild. Our thoughts and prayers remain firmly with the citizens and our fellow people people. Great, great people. Reporter the president adjusting his message from one day earlier in texas. He received a wave of criticism for not directly addressing the victims and acknowledging the rising death toll. The president did do that on wednesday in missouri. And Going Forward, it the recovery effort now, the government aid package, is something that his administration is focused on. This is at the front of the president s agenda, tax reform, other issues will take a step behind. Tax reform will not be easy, to jeff zelenys point. Will it be reform . Will it just be cuts . Can they get the republicans with the democrats . Princess diana being remembered 20 years across europe after her death. Have you any wool . No sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. 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People have come here off and on practically every day since her death. Theres no official ceremony today, but in fact one of the people who came by was ann hidalgo, mayor of paris. She came by to lay a wreath and recognize her memories of Princess Diana. She said she was about the same age, the princess, the same age as the mayor. A couple of minutes ago here, there was a guitarist who came up here, started singing songs and whatnot. There have been a number of people lay wreaths and notes and that kind of thing this morning. No official ceremony. In fact, a lot of people are having strong memories today. David . 10 28 there in paris. Jim bittermann live for us. Thank you very much. A lot of documentaries out about this, in particular on netflix, that remind you that no one could have predicted the outpouring of emotion from across the entire country. It just stopped this country in their tracks as hundreds of thousands of people poured their emotions out. A day that most of us will never, never forget. Yeah. Everyone remembers where they were. Absolutely. If you were around at that time. Early start continues right now. Harvey is moving north. The scope of damage just coming into focus. New evacuations, climbing death toll, and a Chemical Plant on the verge of exploding. Were live in houston. Good morning, welcome back to early start. 4 29 eastern time. 3 29 in te