appetite you have for risk. mark luschini, the folks at janney have been ahead on really watching closely with north korea. there is so much more to discuss as the closing bell rings. we want to thank all of our gets and you, the viewer. it has been a challenging time. what with the hurricane. here is the closing bell. ashely and cheryl, take it away. ashley: liz, thank you very much. stocks climbing into the close. the dow snapping a two-day losing streak, closing up 57 points after dropping 135 just after the opening bell this morning. that is resilience. s&p and nasdaq continue to live in positive territory. what a remarkable day. i'm ashley webster in for david asman. cheryl: i'm cheryl casone in for melissa francis. this is "after the bell." we have more on the big market movers. first here is what else we're covering in the very busy hour for you. president trump and the first lady are in texas right now surveying the first stages of

the recovery efforts from tropical storm harvey. they're speaking to a crowd in corpus christie. >> this has been a total cooperative effort. again we will see you soon. i will tell you this is historic, it is epic, what happened but you know what, it happened in texas and texas can handle anything. thank you all folks, thank you. cheryl: the president making comments in corpus. they arrived in the capital city of austin. they will be briefed on disaster relief efforts across the state. we'll take you live for that previousing during this hour. this is all happening as more than 40, almost 50 inches of rain hit parts of state. this is the most rainfall from one event in u.s. history as louisiana braces for impact. there is new details on another big story we're following. north korea, in another act

of defiance launching a new ballistic missile. the president says all options are on the table, ashley. ashley: deep breath. let's get back to the markets. the dow making a comeback ending up some 56 points, or thereabouts for nearly 200 point swing on the day. let's go down to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, the dow took a dive on the news of the new missile launch in north korea but turned around in the session? how come? >> we have tensions of four missiles in four days. now we know president trump said all options are on the table. path of least resistance is to the upside. they're digesting north korea and with that harvey, just wondering economic impact for the nation. devastating to see the pictures down south but big picture, natural disasters don't always have a huge effect on the national economic numbers for the quarter.

taking a look here. in fact the dow has moved higher by 56 points. just about 300 points away from its record highs. i'm bringing you the facts here. we've seen nasdaq higher. s&p up two points right now as we speak on the closing bell. one area, one group that saw strength are defense stocks on heels of tensions from north korea. we saw name like raytheon hitting an all-time high again this year. it is up 2% today. we saw united technologies had big news on a near deal to buy rockwell collins, the two together, $20 billion deal will be the world's biggest equipment-maker. best buy, sales jumped but said don't get used to it. as a result the stock tanked 12%. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. cheryl: here is look at fold gold.

the med tall climbing for the third straight day to end above 1313 for the ounce. that is the highest level for the commodity in 11 months. ashley: shaking off earlier losses the dow ending the day in positive territory, fears about north korea i guess begin to fade. let's ask our panel. gary kaltbaum, from kaltbaum capital management. also a fox news contributor. thanks for joining us. veronica dagher from "the wall street journal." host of watching your wealth. thank you both for being here. gary, let me begin with you. we saw a remarkable turn around on the dow today. why is that? >> first off the market right after the close yesterday was down 100 because of north korea but they have been sabre-rattling forever and when the real world opened up this morning market defended at some support levels, sellers took a powder, buyers came up. you have to remember, north korea is little event that happens every now and then, unless something really big happens i don't use it in the equation when i'm investing.

ashley: you know, veronica, almost like august is the last week of summer. almost like in a situation like this, we have perhaps a black swan or two events. sell now, ask questions later but that didn't happen. so is buying on the dip in the market kind of ingrained into investors mind right now? >> for a lot of people i think it is. people had the instinct to sell first and ask questions later which they often do but i think folks realized the situation, although it escalated it is contained. so this could mean good opportunities for sectors like defense. today we saw growth in defense stocks like lockheed martin, general dynamics raytheon. if you're an investor you will be happy with those results. overall you have to stick to your long-term financial plan. ashley: always good advice. gary, we got good economic data. we call consumer confidence hitting the second highest level

since the year 2000, 17 years. housing prices hang in there, moving up a little bit. what do you think about the economy right now? consumer confidence is a big part of the u.s. economy. >> i give the economy seven out of 10 right now. my biggest issue, a lot of it has to do with the ridiculous easy money around the globe, negative interest rates, printing of $20 trillion of things like that. until we normalize i get worried but i think we're okay in here. and the markets, we talk about the dow and s&p but right now half the market is in bad shape, whether energy, retail, some other areas, but the good news half the market is still working. semiconductors, things like that, as long as there is something working i'm a happy guy. ashley: me too. glass always half full. gary, veronica. appreciate it. cheryl: optimism nice to see. well the president and the first lady are in the texas capital city of austin. at any moment they're going to

be arriving for a tour and a briefing on tropical storm storm harvey at emergency operations center. the pictures are from corpus christie. they were there in corpus hour ago. gave a briefing with the governor abbott and giving a briefing. austin is the hub of coordination for texas disaster relief efforts. we'll take you back to austin for the briefing when it fetes underway. ashley: very good. search-and-rescue missions continuing as thousands are forced out of their flooded homes. harvey has now broken the u.s. record of rainfall for a tropical storm. more than 49-inches of rain in some locations. that is remarkable. jeff flock live on the ground as he has been in houston, what are you seeing now? reporter: seeing rescues we didn't think we would have to have. this time yesterday some of these streets were not even flooded. the release from the barker

reservoir risen waters beyond anything. these folks got on board. you can see the emotion in this young lady's face. you didn't expect this to happen? >> no. i can not. i can not this happened. i can not believe. reporter: no one can believe it. >> nobody can believe it. reporter: are you okay? are you healthy? >> but my daughter wanted to stay here. reporter: your daughter wants to stay. i saw that. she is brave. >> i worry about my husband and my brother. thank you so much. i see, i see everybody help each other and i'm so happy. i'm so happy. this is very nice. everybody help each other. this is very, very nice. reporter: that is happening all over today. texas is a good place to live says the young lady from texas with the accent. >> east texas born and raised. reporter: born and raised where? >> over in the heights.

reporter: in the heights. you didn't see this coming here. like the guy was telling you in the blue shirt, he has lived down the street from us for 39 years. he has never seen it. reporter: yeah. cheryl be, ashley, i have to give respect, excuse me, to, this is pastor carlos of the church -- which means power in miracles. >> power in miracles. reporter: you showed up. >> somebody told me. a lot of people needed help being taken out from houses because all the houses you see is floating, more than six foot. reporter: i know. we were here yesterday. this was not like this. the first-responders came through. they asked everybody was okay. people wanted to leave left. everything was okay. and then the releases from the reservoir which they have no choice about. if they don't -- >> people don't want to leave. reporter: in fact you say people

don't want to leave. >> right there. reporter: i see that. we saw them yesterday. dave, if you can in the picture window, this young couple renovated this house. if you look at windows of the house, they still have the little stickers this a new window put in. they have said they want to stay. they have been at those windows throughout the day. they say they have got, in fact you see one fellow. there is, you're staying? you're okay? they're okay. they're staying. a lot of these people don't have that. this is elderly couple. no offense. they're probably my age. they didn't have a choice. there is no power. nothing. >> power went out at 5:00 last night. reporter: you can't stay under those conditions? >> no. reporter: incredible. incredible. this is going on, ashley, cheryl, this is going on all across houston. all across texas. i thought we would be done by now. but no.

water still rising. ashley: remarkable scene. this is what it is all about. fellow man helping each other in a dreadful situation. pictures don't do it justice i'm sure. they are absolutely remarkable. seeing floodwaters halfway up homes. poor people heading to dry ground. who knows when they can come back. jeff flock, remarkable, do you know, where do they go from here i guess? reporter: they're going to a park up here. they get to go to a shelter, if they need to, or if they have any family, they get transported. volunteers have been coming, transporting pets. transporting people. by the way i have to ask you, is your pet okay? >> she is fine. she has been with me all day. reporter: been swimming all day. >> she is been having fun but freaked out now. been on a boat the first time. reporter: swimming will be handy.

there are you go, folks. ashley: jeff, thank you very much. terrific job bringing home what it is all about. about. -- cheryl: he was asking the question why didn't they leave a the love folks weren't told to evacuate. they thought they were safe in houston. i'm from texas. a lot of my family chose to leave. they went to austin. they went to dallas. the problem there was no official in houston on friday, the mayor saying get out. now they're stuck. that is what jeff is reporting on. they're trapped. ashley: mayor of houston said no, because they were frightened of people trapped on the roads when the storm moved in. cheryl: it's a big debate, when hurricane rita hit, there was death on highways. a group of elderly folks that died. they didn't want to see that. i understand that but these people where do they go? i want to bring in james lee witt, former director. james, good to have you. i think what we're seeing now, these people are trapped.

this is what fema on the ground is dealing with. they can't get out of houston. where are they going to go? they can go to downtown. you have two levees breached. that may be flooding downtown. what is your assessment on the situation we're seeing on screens right now? >> i'm sure they are opening more shelters to house people with the red cross and salvation army and others. of course i'm sure there are families that have been evacuated now. they may have families in other areas not affected by this terrible flood. cheryl: never seen anything like this, rain event in like this in houston. broken a record of tropical storm rainfall totals, nearly 50 inches. is fema equipped to handle this? do we need more troops from fort hood? do we need more personnel around the country from texas to help? >> i believe earlier they did have some high water trucks and some other equipment from fort hood was coming in to help.

the governor activated 12,000 national guards, all of them. i'm sure that they have assessed what resources they need. at sometimes with all the volunteers working as hard as they are which is a blessing to help, i know they activate ad lot of the arkansas game and fish game wardens to come down with trailers and equipment to help as well. my grandson is a game ward en. he is going down there as well. cheryl: he is heading down there. the troops in fort hood were mobile highs -- mobilized days ago but they weren't called in and frustrated. concern the cost is going upwards at 20, $30 billion for recovery efforts. where is the money going to come from? >> of course congress is going to have to pass a supplemental appropriations to cover fema and all other federal agencies, hud,

all of them involved in this. and when they get back in september, they need to do that because it is going to take an awful lot of funding not only to recover the reimbursement costs of this response but think of magnitude, it will be just getting debris out of there. what that cost is going to be. cost of individual assistance, temporary housing, family grants program, small businesses loans. it is going to be a very expensive, it will be, i think it will be a lot more than $20 billion. cheryl: again, amazing so many folks left from new orleans, headed to houston, relocated themselves after katrina. now you have the situation today. really sad. james, thank you very much for your time. >> you're welcome, thank you. ashley: as we know floodwaters rising in texas as the rain continues to batter the southeast coast. new reports of levees breaking, roads and highways buckling. the national guard has rescued 3500 people.

it is not over yet. we're tracking the storm now headed for louisiana. melissa: harvey crippling america's largest oil refineries. another major energy company announcing they bill shut down one plant entirely until the floodwaters recede. what this means for gas prices across the country. ashley: president will meet with state leaders to get a briefing from leaders at any moment. we'll take you there live when that briefing begins. ♪

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every branch running like headquarters. that's how you outmaneuver. cheryl: breaking news. president trump and the first lady are in austin, texas, the state capital. they're expected to arrive at the emergency operations center and they will get a tour of the facility and get a briefing on the status from officials.

we'll bring the briefing to you live once the president arrives there. the president spending the afternoon in texas. ashley: harvey, what is left still a tropical storm circling away in the gulf coast, still soaking southeast texas but louisiana is now on the storm's radar, on this, by the way, the 12th anniversary of hurricane katrina slamming into new orleans. fox news meteorologist adam klotz tracking harvey's path. adam, do you have good news for us, please? >> i don't know if it is good news. folks in houston clearing out in a day or so. rain still an issue and we are seeing as you mentioned this shifting more and more towards the east. rain shifting as far east as portions of the florida panhandle. that is heavy shower activity from lake charles and heavy showers east of the houston area. we've seen all the moisture continue to roll onshore. this area we're seeing heavy rain. a little lighter in the houston

area. still an inch, two, three, left. put this into motion for you. this is the future radar. pay attention to the time stamp in the corner. this is taking you to early wednesday morning, right on the border of houston seeing a little more rain. but the heaviest rain at that point shifting off to lake charles. we'll see movement on this, lifting to the north, shreveport, through little rock, up through memphis, all an area we track a lot more heavy rain. as it moves that way, finally because it has to make landfall, we'll lose some of that moisture. it begins to drop from a tropical storm, down to a low pressure system. just a general post-tropical system as it moves up into the middle of the country, leaving the coast a little bit drier. how much rain before all said and done? in the houston area another three or four inches. you see areas, lake charles, texas, louisiana coast another foot of rain. there are still spots that will eventually see more shower activities, guys. ashley: at least there is an end

in sight, adam. thank you very much. appreciate the latest on harvey. cheryl: time for the skies to clear up in houston. that's for sure. any moment president trump will be briefed by locals, by some state officials at the emergency operations center in austin, texas. he is at the capital right now. we'll bring it to you when that happens. he was in corpus christie earlier. you're looking at those pictures. the president make as pitch for tax reform tomorrow. will it be enough to have americans see the tax cuts this year? art laffer weighs in at the break.

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ashley: we have more live pictures of those desperate rescues from the rising floodwaters in houston now. those were ones that jeff flock was bringing to us about five minutes ago. here we are, rescueers going literally door-to-door. this was an area jeff was telling us that did not have this type of flooding yesterday. waters have risen so quickly,

the good-hearted volunteers with boats going door-to-door, bringing people out. we're seeing families with the family dog. everyone else is brought out to boats. eventually we understand taken to a local park. from there on to shelters or to other family members or friend who can offer them shelter while getting out of these floods continuing to grow. as we know, reservoirs, the two main reservoirs they tried to control the release, didn't work, now it is going over the top. even though the rain may stop the flooding will continue to go on. with nearly more than four feet of rain in some places, the rivers and tributaries around houston continue to rise. cheryl: to your point with the addicks, barker reservoirs the gauges broke because they never had that water. you have fear those reservoirs, it will be a slow release of

water. it will head toward downtown. it will head toward i-10, the katie freeway, where the convention center is, which is the main spot for refugees right now. they're already overcapacity. caroline shively from the fox news channel is there right now. they are overcapacity. to your point they have to find more shelters. ashley: this is one street. if you know the size of houston, you do very well, it's a huge city. this is just action going on one street flooded out. our very own jeff flock with church volunteers using a boat, going door-to-door, rescuing these people. it is beyond description. one of my good friend is on the second floor of her home, texting me, if i think she should stay, no. get out. she is with her mother. i hope if she is watching, she has gotten out.

president is kicking off tomorrow a major tax overhaul campaign. he will travel to springfield, missouri. this is the first of several presidential stops across the country he will do in the next few weeks. he wants to rally support behind a tax plan but can that happen? art laffer, former reagan advisor with me. good to see you. >> good to see you. cheryl: is it the appropriate time to talk about tax reform tomorrow? >> i think it is like jell-o, you always have time for jell-o. i think a plan for good tax reform is always the right time. this economy especially needs it given the economy in houston. we need to put as few barriers to their recovery a possible. a tack cut would be enorm mu stimulant to bring though resour there. you could have it sick, eight months or a year and would help

houston recover. cheryl: if you look at small businesses in the wake of natural disasters overall, 30% of businesses never recover. >> that's right. >> linda mcmahon with the small business administration is with the president, part of the entourage if you will in austin and he referenced small businesses today. i wonder if there will be more funding? if the tax break they can come through, congress can agree that would help the small by community across the country of course? >> congress should agree. it is time to do it right now. i hope they don't go after pay-for and this other none send. it i not just small business thing. it is all business and employment and recovery is really important here. it shouldn't be discriminated by size of company or area. they all need a tax cut. they need the recovery back up in houston and rest of the country. we're not all doing that well. we had 16 years of real problems. now we have a chance to really coming back. cheryl: that doesn't mean things will work the way they should in washington. you saw what happened with

health care. that is still in the fresh of mind of many americans who voted for obamacare to be replaced for many republican senators and congressman but it didn't happen. doesn't they need the dems to come across the aisle? >> if they need the democrats doesn't look like they will be successful. i would remind you, life is a marathon, not a sprint. if it doesn't happen this year, it will happen next year and year after. in long run we need more rational tax code. we will get health care reform. believe me i will tell you. we'll get tax reform. it will happen. the day it happens is not critical but does happen is really important for bringing america back the way it was brought back in the 1980s on through bill clinton by the way. we had great support with bill clinton in there. it was terrific. cheryl: we need good news, especially this week. art laffer. >> you have good news. it will be food. houston will come bouncing back, believe me. cheryl: texas strong.

>> we're all texans today. cheryl: we all are. >> thank you. cheryl: don't mess with texas by the way. ashley: never. cheryl: keep saying that in my mind. ashley: you do and it is true. harvey still hovering over texas. we know that floodwaters continue to rise as residents are forced out of their homes. we've been watching live pictures of that. coming up next, texas congressman culbertson weighs in on the extraordinary situation. cheryl: first-responders and a lot of good samaritans are coming together to help the lone star state. erious... especially for my precious new grandchild. it's whooping cough. every family member, including those around new babies, should talk to their doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be.

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cheryl: fox business's hillary vaughn in kingwood, texas, where rescue operations are going on throughout the day. hillary? reporter: that's right. you're seeing them load up boats as they come in after they dropped off rescue es in this neighborhood this is half mile from where we were earlier today the waters are rising fast. several apartment buildings had to be cleared out because the water is rising from floor to floor. cheryl, you mentioned you had a friend on the second floor and the water is rising fast. here is why. they are telling people to get out even if the water is not to your floor yet.

the apartment buildings are not always structurally sound once they fill with water. they could collapse internally. they're telling people to leave the building, take what they can, and get out. they don't know when the boats can go back. these are treacherous waters here. the water looks pretty calm where i am. once you go to kingwood street, the town center the current is very strong. the deputy said his boat hit a light pole. it capsized the current was taking him away. he was scared for his life. he was able to be rescued. we're in a situation where the rescueees are needed to be rescued in some cases because it is that dangerous. so as daylight fades, it is very difficult to see if at all what is underneath this water underneath the mailboxes. right now you could hit anything. another person tore a hole in the bottom of their boat. hundreds of people alone have been rest cuted here at this point. operations are ongoing and

quickly as we try to chase and beat sunset here. cheryl: hillary you made the great point with neil cavuto earlier, if you don't get a rescue today, because the daylight are out, because these boats do not have lights it, will be tomorrow. hillary vaughn, stay safe. thank you. ashley: joining us by phone, republican congressman john culberson from texas. congressman, you represent the seventh district which includes parts of houston. what can you tell us about your district and houston as a whole? >> ashley, we're experiencing unprecedented flooding in areas that have never seen flooding before. homes are under water, that have never flooded ever. this is a unprecedented event. report levels of flooding, of rain, 49-inches so far. and you're exactly right. i heard one of your commentators came on, they feel like they need to get out of their home,

they need to do so this afternoon. the focus is saving lives and property. people need -- [inaudible] ashley: congressman, i think we're losing you. can you hear me? i think we lost him. cheryl: these live pictures we're looking at, can i talk to our viewers? ashley: yes. cheryl: when he first joined on the phone, did you see the mini-cooper? ashley: underwater. cheryl: completely submerged. ashley: congressman, can you hear us? >> i got you back, ashley. ashley: fabulous. what is the biggest need right now with regard to help? >> the biggest need right now, people need to focus making sure if there is any danger of their home going underwater this afternoon or tonight, they need to evacuate. i recommend people call 911, if they feel they need to get out of their home. secondly, there is an app, ashley, called nextdoar. you download it on the iphone or droid.

you create a account for free and sign into your neighborhood. if people do that, they will discover all their neighbors have boats, trucks, are ready to help them if they need to evacuate. this is a disaster of epic proportions we, the federal government, will need to help afterwards. right now, neighbors friends are stepping up to help evacuate their neighbors, friend, family. it is very heartening. that nextdoor app is great way to plug into with neighbors with boats, for example. ashley: thank you. congressman, quickly, we knew the storm is coming, we knew it was bad, but could any city prepare for what we've seen with harvey? >> no this is unprecedented flood event. i heard it described by the weather service as a 1000 year flood event. we have never seen levels of water this high this rapidly. there is so much water dropped all over the entire county, i don't know how anyone could have prepared for predicted for this. but houstonians are responding.

we're looking after each other. getting our neighbors and friends out of their hopes. as soon as the water begins to recede. i will work with my democrat and republican colleagues to make sure that houston and harris county area gets all the help we need from the federal government to recover from this disaster. ashley: absolutely. not a time for partisan politics. congressman culberson, thanks for joining us. we understand the mayor of new orleans is holding a press conference now as that state braces for harvey. let's listen in. >> in commemoration of that very terrible event especially in light what is happening in houston. if you would join me and ask the city to join with us. thank you very much. everybody remembers all too well, especially in light of what is going on at houston, 12 years ago, katrina changed new orleans forever.

we lost fellow americans. 15 million were displaced. 250,000 homes were absolutely destroyed. entire families, neighborhoods, communities were torn apart. in new orleans federal levees broke, flooding 80% of this great american city. destroyeded home, roads, schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, grocery stars, parks and playground. it was in fact a life and death struggle for thousands that were trapped in our city. images of those stranded and their stories of their survival are seared into our souls forever and brought flashing back to us as the images from houston rain down on us. in addition today to bracing and preparing for impacts of heavy rain here we unfortunately have to watch our friend in other parts of texas experiencing a similar hardship. we will never forget the incredible compassion that the people of houston, particularly and people of texas as well as

all of the people across the world showed us when we needed them most. they were the embodiment of psalm 46:1, our refuge and our strength, very present help in times of trouble. because of that compassion the people of new orleans will lean forward to help in any way, in every way the people of texas and southwest louisiana, should they need us and god knows and everybody else knows they will because they are just at the beginning of a very difficult and long road book to recovery. yesterday, i reactivated nola pay it forward fund at greater new orleans foundation to receive donation,. donate visiting gnof.org. nola pay it forward or calling 504-598-4663. most recently the fund raised $250,000 to support our neighbors in baton rouge

following last year's flood. we expect continued generosity as we pay it forward for texas and southwest louisiana. our first-responders have also begun to identify special search-and-rescue teams to be mobilized to texas when the requests come. i'm asking citizens to keep texas, southwest louisiana, new orleans in your prayers and trying times for us all. one positive thing hurricane katrina showed us, compassion of new orleanians is and americans is amazing in times of need. we overcome tough times. new orleanians are resilient. we will weather this storm too. our friend in texas, south louisiana, will do so as well. the weather update today, talked to us a bit and gave us a sense where we were when we started. when we began this event the national weather service we would get five to 10-inches of rain with that doubling because of potential weather bands.

to this date three to four inches generally and some areas up to five or six inches throughout the city. of course we still have more days to go. so that prediction is right on track. the threat of sudden heavy rain that could rise quickly enough after concern for to us close public buildings, schools, to encourage residents to stay home today. this morning we experienced some of the flash flood warning as predicted. today we received two new briefings from the national weather service who continue to predict, rain, thunderstorms, flash floodings in our area. the storm continues to move north-northeast and three or four inches of additional rainfall with heaviest rain tonight, maybe early morning. this is a slightly i am purchased forecast for us and enough of an improvement for us to order all public buildings open tomorrow. schools will also resume to normal schedules tomorrow, permitting any dramatic changes

in the weather forecast later tonight. i want to remember small deviations in storm strack or intensity could lead to significant changes and impacts. we're asking everybody to stay alert and vigilant tonight. as it relates to city activations, the fire departments activation sandbag locations at fire stations. we have issued over 63,000 sandbags. department of public works increased cleaning an repairs to catch basins since august 6th. we have cleaned over 1358 catch basins, more than 77,500 linear drain lines. the health department been coordinating support to those with special needs. since the start of hurricane harvey preparations we have people join the special needs registry. we have 240 people active on the special need registry who our health department supports. the operations center is fully operational from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. the team has handled

6,000 phone calls since monday. we continue to get bert and worry making progress every day taking one step at a time. again, all of what we do depend on what the residents do. so we're asking rest den to clean in front of your catch basins, visit ready.nola.gov for a tip sheet. stay off the street if we get flash flooding tomorrow. sign up for alerts from nola ready. if you have elderly need, call special needs registry calling 311. just as recap, the weather outlook got a little better for us. the everybody can see the patterns developing. harvey is starting to track north-northeast and is actually now moving at a significantly faster pace t was two miles an hour. now it is at eight miles an hour. it is expected to approach southwest louisiana coast overnight and central louisiana late wednesday evening. for the next couple days we should expect heavy rain and

thunderstorms. we believe we can handle this with potential for some localized street flooding. we're under a flash flood watch throughout thursday. the national weather service advised this type of event could produce a slight chance of tornadoes although that is becoming less as we go on. the current forecast indicates three to four inches of additional rainfall with the heaviest rain it night and tomorrow. we are prepared for whatever comes our way. we're encouraging the public to stay alert and to lean forward and to continue to prepare as we do in any other weather event. so thank you for that. i would like to call up paul rainwater for couple comments and then council members. thank you. >> thank you, mr. mayor. the waterboard we continue to operate on a 24 hour basis. i'm extremely proud of the employees the way they work in inclemment weather. we reported yesterday we had a pump out, that overheated motor

on pump 6-c. that pump is back in service, available for service now. on the power side we have worked 24/7 to return turbines 3 and 4 back into service. on turbine 3, for example, we tested it last night. we continued testing today. we will continue that until we feel ready that our, feel confident it is ready to move back in to start generating power for pumps. doing the same thing on turbine 4. we have 142 personnel out of pump stations with another 50 -- cheryl: we're been listening to a briefing held by new orleans mayor mitch landrieu. they're expecting three to four inches of rain. adam klotz said new orleans will be spared from the serious effects harvey. it will head up to shreveport, louisiana, more inland. they will get rain tonight but

certainly -- ashley: three to four inches compared to what we've seen is nothing. also mentioning the anniversary of katrina, more than 1800 people killed in the storm 12 years ago. obviously remembering that as well. cheryl: talking a lot about the pumps and the reason they have been so concerned about those pumps in new orleans what to your point with hurricane katrina. with levees failing, we're seeing with the city of houston, levees are breaking. so similar situation. this is president trump, first lady getting briefed this is few moments ago. this is the briefing on harvey with texas officials. >> doing a fantastic job. brock has been incredible. from your standpoint, nim, steve, who i just met, steve, the job they have done, getting along. number one they like each other, very important. number two they respect each other and the job all of these groups have done getting along in terms of coordination has

really been incredible. everyone is talking about it. the sad thing this is long term, nobody ever seen anything this long and nobody ever seen this much water in particular. the wind was pretty horrific but water has never been seen like this to the extent. it is maybe some day going to disappear. we keep waiting. we have three or four of our great congressman here. we appreciate you being here. we'll work with congress helping out the state of texas. it will be a costly proposition because again, probably ted cruz is here and senator, thank you, very much. senator cornyn. we'll be working with these characters over here. i think we'll come through with a very, with the right solution. but probably there has never been anything so expensive in our country's history. there has never been anything so historic in terms of damage and in terms of fur rossty what we

witnessed with harvey -- ferocity. it is sound innocent name but it is not innocent. i want to thank my people here, ben carson from hud and linda mcmahon from small business. this is not small business, linda, this is big business. when you add it all up you will be given away many millions of dollars to help people out. tom price, as you know, dr. tom price, you have your people in the field, tom. in fact you may say a couple of words. i will ask linda. i will ask ben. then we get on to nim and brock and everybody. >> thank you, mr. president. as you said this is historic flood. we have to get resources to individuals that are stranded right now. mick certain evacuees have a place to go. from hhs, your responsibilities are veterinarian and medical and

mortuary. all challenges for the above. most individuals who suffer from these, suffer from not getting medical care they need after the, when the sun comes out. so trying to make certain we have pharmacies staffed. make certain dialysis units are up. get electricity to the homes, oxygen concentrators and the like are able to be utilized. chronic disease, make sure folks get to their doctor when they aren't in their hometown and get their treatment they need. we're staffed up. we have four federal medical stations that, two are up and running. and two on the way. we've got another four or five that are stationed beyond after that, depending where folks need >> [inaudible]. >> we're here for you. >> thank you, tom. linda? >> fba, disaster relief office in dallas-ft. worth area. we have 900 people there

permanently. 600 people available in the surge. they're already coming in. i actually did get a note on the plane from corpus that we made the first home loan approval from this disaster. so glad we're already up and running. we'll be making home loans, business loans. we'll be making loans for those folks who have lost income. and also the opportunity to replace plant, property, and equipment and inventories. so we're up, ready to go. >> thank you very much. ben carson from hud. >> well, thank you, mr. president. thank you for your leadership and mrs. first lady also, compassion permeates everything that has been done here. it has been great working with everybody. governor, one of the people i admire the most for what you've been doing. brock, is doing a fantastic job and lane, everybody that we have been be woulding with is fantastic. what we've been trying to do is

make sure that we go from the phase of rescue and reaction to the phase of recovery and a smooth transition. we also are going to be assisting the state and local governments in reallocation of federal assets to disaster relief. looking granting immediate foreclosure relief. insurance, mortgage insurance, as well as insurance for rehabilitation through the section 203-k program. section 108, loan guarantees for infrastructure. for economic development and for a host of things. and also disseminating information which is so critical. you know the masses frequently become confused. we're working very hard to get

rid of the some of the regulatory burden to get things done very quickly. linda and i will be working very quickly on that, to make sure we get what we need to the people. i want everybody to know we're in this for the long run. we know once the water recedes that is where our work really begins. and we'll be at it until we finish the job. >> ben, thank you very much. i appreciate it. nim, take over with brock and go over the some of the different things we've been doing. >> thank you, sir. this will be our first swing at harvey coming back at us. about 200,000 hours of time have been generated with the emergency operations centers across the -- [inaudible] ashley: i guess that was it. cameras are out. cheryl: we're watching it live with you, folks. ashley: there you had it. heard from the president, praising people for everything they have done so far and to reassure the people of houston and those affected by the floods

that the federal government is on it and will provide 100% of whatever is needed. we have ben carson from hud and linda mcmahon from small business. the president earlier visited in corpus christie. a lot of disaster relief efforts all being done out of austin, the state capital. that is why he is there. the message is we're behind you and we'll do everything we can to get houston back on its feet. cheryl: again, the president is in austin at that command center and obviously as we're watching the live pictures we're getting from our own jeff flock out of houston as these rescues are continuing live on your screen. you're watching it with us. we're here with you, folks. we can't to bring in christie considered dock, because the oil industry took out more oil productions cuts and christie, thank thank you for standing by, obviously the president is in austin where you are. talk about the refinery shutdown

in port arthur. >> thank you for having me. obviously we're still prioritizing people and rescues as we look across the state. that is priority one. we appreciate the president being here in austin and corpus. prioritizing the state. we had great response from federal government, state government, local officials. we're coordinating together and at the railroad commission our purview is really oil and gas. that is a priority for us in the state. we're the largest producer in the country of 2.7 million barrels per day. last week from the railroad commission operators got a notice to operators to say look, a storm's coming. be prepared with your people, be prepared also on the ground for any environmental issues, be prepared. we've seen good preparation today. we're announcing that storm came in on top of eagleford. for those of you who don't know, that is the our second largest

oil field in the state of texas. between the san antonio, corpus, victoria, in the sweet spot where harvey ended up hitting the first round. it is important for us to be ahead of that. operators have been ahead of that. we still see that, as people get in there safely, begin to ramp up. we're glad about that. the second piece is important to us, has been pipeline integrity obviously. we want to make sure the pipelines are flowing. that natural gas needs to get into communities. it is getting into power plants and refineries. we're looking what happened in corpus and houston, our port situation. so we in texas refine about six million barrels of oil a day. cheryl: right. >> half of it is off-line today, we believe. the city of corpus christie. cheryl: i have only 30 seconds with but how soon do you think you can get some of those refineries back online?

>> corpus was able, people were able to get back into their plants as of monday afternoon. they're doing assessments. we're hopeful we have corpus back on line as early as this weekend. until we finish the flooding situation in houston. it will take some time to do ans is mayes end in that -- an assessment in that area. cheryl: port arthur refinery shut down right now we'll know more about i weekend you think? . . >> that is the main pipeline from texas all the way up to new jersey all the gasoline. the diesel fuel, the jet fuel, there is problems with that

pipeline then there will be massive problems with gas prices and supplies keep an eye on that >> and the port of houston as well you've got the shipping aspect all those ships that come up to the east coast so that does it for us but a lot more coming up right now risk & reward. >> this is if not the largest has to be categorized as one of the largest disasters america has ever faced. we responded more than 3000 people. new homes will be flooded. >> we just decided today to leave because we're told that the rain was supposed to pick up >> get what you can. pick up what you can. >> there's a current rescue, a water rescue happening right now >> mostly, i lost everything. >> we want to do it better than ever before. we want to be looked at in five years, and ten years from now