the day of giving is here. the abc 7 phone bank is open right now taking your calls and donations to help the people devastated by hurricane harvey. and mother nature packs a punch here at home. spare the air and record heat coming our way. this is a live look from our explortorium camera in san francisco, one of the cooler spots in the bay area. thanks for joining us. i'm kristein sze. temperatures today expected to reach triple digits in some parts of the bay area. let's get right to meteorologist mike nicco for the forecast where you live. mike? >> all right, kristen, hi, everybody. we'll start with the advisories, the first one a heat advisory for the areas you see in orange. that's the north bay, south bay,

east bay valleys and even hotter up in the hills where you see red. look at friday through monday. four days of excessive heat everywhere except for the coast and san francisco, and you're under a heat advisory saturday. that's where it will be the hottest in your neighborhoods. i've put the man up there that had the bay air ma quality management district uses to separate us, and here's a look at our air quality. inland east bay, the east bay valleys and santa clara valley poor today, except for the coast in central bay. here's the third of the trifecta. we have a red flag warning. a high fire danger starting at 9:00 this evening through saturday at 8:00 in the morning. i'll show you record highs and possibly record warm low temperatures coming up in the forecast. kristen? >> mike, thank you. with the intense heat wave in the north bay parents are keeping their kids at home out of health certainties, some anyway. the novato school district is considering ways to cope as eight of its campuses do not have air conditioning. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield reports from one of

those schools. as kids head into olive elementary school in novato, parents aren't just giving advice on behaving hand listening. they are also telling them to stay cool. >> and i told them drink lots of water, and if you feel sick, let your teacher know so you can go to the office, call. i'll be right here to pick you up. >> reporter: that's because this school doesn't have air conditioning, and this heat wave has parents very worried. >> when i come in the afternoons to pick them up, it is just -- it's very hot. it's -- you know, and i volunteer in a classroom in kindergarten, and you just -- it's tiring to be in that heat. >> reporter: even the kids say the classrooms get too hot for them to concentrate. >> when had you learn, it gets too hot and then it just po ops out of your brain. >> it's no different what we have every year this time of the year. we have three it four heat waves during the school year. it happens. >> reporter: the principal says the teachers will lower their

blinds and lights like they always do when it gets hot, and they will have recess inside. but parents say the annual heat waves are changing. >> it's hotter than when i was a kid and i went here, and it never got this hot. >> reporter: parents are ready to fight for air conditioning or industrialized fans. they want a new bond measure to pay for it. the principal says renovations are coming to olive elementary, like a new cafeteria and office. >> we had many other names that we felt were more important than air conditioning. air conditioning actually was at the bottom of our list of needs. >> reporter: that won't stop some parents for fighting for air conditioning. that's the long-term answer. short term is right here in the freezer. the pta tomorrow is buying popsicles for everyone at school n.novato, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> you can track the extreme heat on your phone with the abc 7 news accuweather app from san jose where we're looking live right now and all across the bay area. you can get updates on the temperature where you live.

just search accuweather in your app store to download t.harvey is finally moving out of texas this morning but the damage left behind is devastating. these are new images showing the conditions around port arthur. as you can imagine, the road to recovery is going to be a long onech here's what we know this, mo. at least 31 deaths. the red cross is preparing for 32,000 displaced people. harvey could be one of the costliest storms in u.s. history, estimated at around $80 billion in damage. abc 7 is devoting this entire day to fund-raising. it's all part of disney's day of giving. here's a live lock at our phone bank. volunteers working hard right now. you can support the red cross by phone or online. just call or go to

abc. and as recovery efforts get underway an explosion at a chemical plant in crosby is leading to new fears. abc 7's maggie ruehly has the latest. >> harvey's gone but the storm's aftermath continues to rock houston. overnight explosions at the chemical plant in crosby texas, just outside houston releasing a plume of chemical fumes that sent several people to the hospital >> smoke from organic peroxide is similar to standing over a burning camp fire. >> reporter: conflicting messages as a local sheriff and official tried to downplay the concerns. >> the smoke is knocksous. toxicity is a relative thing. >> reporter: six feet of floodwaters damaged the plant, and the surrounding area was evacuated in anticipation of an explosion. another blow to a city still reeling. rescue operations continue. more than 13,000 people have been saved so far from the

rising waters. >> i'll wade through the water and somebody gave mow a ride on the boat down here. it just breaks me heart. >> roughly 15,000 calls for help have poured in. officials now going door tor door marking bright orange sees on homes that are clear. officials believe up to 100,000 homes have been destroyed making shelters a necessity. >> we want to accommodate everybody so -- and we're not turning anybody away. >> the nrg center is set to become the main evacuation center here in houston ready to take in 7,500 people. over here, a place for people to go shopping, pick up anything that may have been displaced by the floods, and over here a place just for the kids filled with stuffed animals and board games, all of this donated by fellow houstonians in the past several days. >> reporter: this man has volunteered here. >> texas is a big neighbor. we love each other. >> reporter: people are getting medical care and meals mostly from volunteers all in 16

different languages. maggie ruehly, abc news, houston, texas. >> rescuers are focusing on saving animals displaced by harvey, reuniting them with owners or finding them new homes. it's a huge task. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony continues to report for us and for our sister station in houston and joins us live from cypress, texas. laura? >> reporter: i'm actually a little ways out of cypress. we're actually 30, 40 miles north of houston. we've been following this convoy of cars and boats and trucks. these are animal rescuers, and now that the human rescue is winding down, these folks are able to focus more on finding and rescuing some of the animals that may have been stranded at at height of this disaster. let's show you what happened earlier this morning. i shot some of this video for facebook live. this shows you the houston spca

where they were doing a major movement of the animals that they already had there at the shelter. these were animals that were up for adoption. more than 100 dogs and cats that they decided to move out and what happened is spca, humane society, folks from other cities around the area came into houston. they helped pack up these animals safely, the ones that were already there, and they are moving them all to atlanta. that is to free up space in that shelter in houston so that when these folks, and if you want to look back live here, so that when these folks go out into these neighborhoods that have been impacted and may still have water in them, that when they find some animals they can bring them back to houston to the spca. they have veterinarians standing by to care for those animals and then hopefully reunite them with their owners. just a small bit after large-scale rescue effort that

is now under way. live near cypress, texas, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> laura, thank you. now one easy way to help the flooding victims is through abc's day of giving. today abc stations nationwide are fund-raising on air and online all day with money going to neighbors most impacted by harvey. jessica castro from abc 7 mornings is live with our phone bank volunteers. jessica, how is it going? >> reporter: i'm right where all the action is. our volunteers hard at work on the phone right now gathering donations from across the bay area, and there's a lot of volunteers here. let me show you around our phone center where everyone is taking those phone cams, and the bay area has really stepped up. in the last few minute i checked, and we've raised more than $23,000. i think we're going to make it past the 24,000 mark by the end of midday. i have confidence. nationally though, abc 7 news along with nearly 200 other abc stations have raised more than $4.5 million. there's a lot of great stories.

i want to interview amanda. you've been taking phone calls all morning long. how is it go, and what are people saying? >> it's just great. a lot of people are talking about how they are seeing and hearing about the devastation that's happening, and it's a lot of words like heartbreaking and just the need to help others, so it's really touching to be a part of something like this and not only are they donating personally through their business, but they are sharing that on social media or sending the address to mail checks, so it's just a moving experience. >> reporter: it's wonderful to have you here. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> reporter: of course, amanda and all of our volunteers are so nice so please call in. i want to give a few shoutouts pnpleoe already. francis from san jose giving $100. actually upped her donation and thought 50 bucks wasn't enough and tim from oakland who says he hasn't been able to connect with some families in the houston area, so he want to help in some way. adam in san ramon says i never donate, but, hey, this really touched me which is the story

for so many folks. so go ahead and call on n.kristen, my personal favorite is a kid willem from menlo park, it's his birthday. mom called in and said he wanted some legos and to donate to the hurricane harvey relief fund so what a great way to spend your birthday. a big thank you. happy 13th birthday and, of course, we want to hear from you. we want you guys to call in if you're watching us here at midday. 415-954-7625 is the number to call, amend our volunteers would love to hear from you. advice step, back now. >> jessica, a shout-out to the volunteers, willem and you and well. >> sure. happening now. palo alto police are warning about a grown mountain lion and kitten after the two were spotted in a residential neighborhood near schools. matt keller is live in webster near embarcadero and that's also

close to the cultural museum and z. >> reporter: a lot in this neighborhood and a lot of nervous people in this neighborhood, and we're near several schools, but still no sight of the mountain lions. the quiet and upscale neighborhood in palo alto had some surprise visitors this morning. ves dents received a robo call from police. >> that there was a cub and a mountain lion mom or whatever spotted in a tree. >> reporter: police say a resident with experience dealing with mountain lions called police around 6:20 this morning and reported some dogs had chased the two big cats into a redwood tree into the backyard of a home and once officers arrived on the scene they were gone. by the time diana irvin heard the news her grandchildren had already left for school. >> it was really kind of scary to think about that the kids had already ridden their boiks ikes and probably didn't know. >> reporter: park rangers and police are patrolling the street looking for the mountain lions and so far no luck finding them.

workers have tranquilizer guns and all options are on the table if the big cats are found. >> again, the goal is to protect everybody including the cat, but the first priority is human life. >> a similar incident happened in this neighborhood back in 2004, but at that time palo alto police ended up shooting and killing that big camp reporting live in palo alto, matt keller, abc 7 news. >> matt, thank you. the news at midday continues next. donate any time today to our abc day of giving phone bank. the number there on your screen, 415-954-7625, or head to redcross.org/abc to donate online. and we're continuing to track the heat wave gripgt bay area. a live look now at 680 and walnut creek. stick around tv's number one daill ravi"r ht this minute."

new this morning, the u.s. government is retaliating by russia by forcing that country to close its consulate here in san francisco. the trump administration says the move is in response to the kremlin's unwarranted and detrimental to significance to force the u.s. to cut its diplomatic staff in russia by 755 people. under the order, russia must close its consulate here by saturday along with an exes in washington, d.c. and new york. no diplomats will be expelled. russia's government has not yet comment on the move. late last year the obama

administration expelled several diplomats from the consulate here. today marks 20 years since the death of princess diana and this morning tributes are pouring in from around the world. today her sons william and harry are remembering their mother along with kate, her daughter-in-law she never got to leave. they left flowers at the gates of kensington palace yesterday. princess diana, her boyfriend dodi al-fayed and their driver were killed in a car crash in paris in 1997. later this year a permanent statue will be erected in her honor. still to come on abc 7 news, tracking are the bay area heat wave. we're looking live at our sutro tower area. you can tell it's going to be a spare the air day. motorcycle's full accuweather forecast is coming up next. >> "good morning america." i'm anthony anderson. thank you to everyone who was lending support to people affected by hurricane harvey. to be a part of disney's day of giving, please donate by

texting, calling or going to the websit birthday surprise gifts. >> they all seem to be cat gifts. her mom comes out. >> best birthday ever. >> see the surprise next "right this minute." the energy conscious whopeople among usle? say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too? turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now,

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oh, does that water look inviting from the explortorium camera. let's jump right in to what's going to be a rough four to five, maybe six days. sun and haze today. large temperature jump. 20 to 50 degrees warmer inland. compared to this morning, a 50-degree spread during one day is almost unheard of. record heat and fire danger and poor air quality two the holiday weekend. temperatures taper but stay above average. san francisco, sausalito and 80s around the bay, north bay and already 100s today. look what happens tomorrow.

it just gets gross 100s just about everywhere, even around the bay. 96 in oakland hand near 90 in san francisco tomorrow and temperatures pretty much the same for saturday. our two dangerous days tomorrow and saturday. here's a look the a your 12-hour day planner for today. 63 and 77 and 81. feels pretty comfortable still at noon, but look how hot it gets inland. 88 around the bay and 69 and look at this at midnight. what is that? 80 degrees at midnight still. 72 around the bay and 62 at the coast. that's going to be the key. let's look at the lows tonight. this morning was the coolest morning we'll have in six or seven days. we'll be in the 60s and 70s tomorrow. notice the orange in the hills. that's temperatures in the 880s. now as we look towards saturday morning. you can see mid-60s to 80 and sunday morning is going to be just about as hot. look at all that orange on the maps. look at the overnight hours. want to switch gears and talk about haar vir and the after

effects. plano, a suburb of dallas, going to a couple different gas stations. they are out of gas. he's got to go to mom and pop shops. they seem to have bigger gas than the refineries. look at this spinning over mississippi right now. notice the rain though. yellows,on, and reds and that's rainfall amounts and the lower mississippi valley to the ohio river vale, nearly 5.7 million people affected by the flood watches the next couple of days. that's why it's such a great day, a day of giving is today, because just the storm has moved out of texas, doesn't mean that the damage is over. those people that are in the flooding path will also need some help from the red cross more than likely. back here at home, we need some help from the heat. look at those temperatures. inland, 114 and 112. tomorrow and saturday we could set all-time record high temperatures. it's going to cool into the 90s tuesday and wednesday. >> yippy. >> wow, break out the sweaters. 80s around the bay and 60s at

the coast so tomorrow and saturday the most dangerous along the coast at san francisco areas that we know that people do not have air conditioners. >> right, right, right. thank you, mike. speaking of helping out. talking about abc 7 at midday conditions but a friendly reminder. our phone lines are open for abc's day of giving phone bank. call the number on your screen right now.

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coming up at 4:00, a clean slate. the new high-tech laser that's helping former gang members and human trafficking victims get rid of tattoos and how it's helping them change more than just their looks. and new clothes, new credit card. 1 on your side's michael finney on whether you should sign for the new charge card at the checkout line tonight at 5:00. we've been telling you all morning about our phone bank that's under way as part of our abc day of giving. let's check back in with jessica castro from abc 7 mornings. let's hope the volunteers are super busy with calls. >> they certainly are kristen. i think our midday viewers are pretty awesome. we'll have a new total. we've raised locally more than $26,600, and nationally we're at more than 5 million.

call the number help us in our day of giving. it's been awesome up here so we thank everyone watching. kristen. >> fantastic. jessica, thanks, and you can donate and join the fun and join this northern effort right now, a day of giving continues throughout the day. the phone bank certainly conditions throughout midnight tonight. more on the live coverage at abc 7 news at 4:00 p.m. head over to abc7news.com for details on how to donate. it's easy, mike. we raised 18 million after superstorm sandy. >> we hope you can top that. have a great day of giving. bye-bye.

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>> welcome to whiz kids week here on "who wants to be a millionaire." we've invited some of the smartest kids we could find to play with us this week, and they're hoping to make their proud parents even prouder by walking out of here with a big pile of cash. so let's play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic musical ♪ flourish] >> hey, everybody, welcome to whiz kids week here on "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] today's whiz kid was taking apart computers before he even lost his two front teeth. some may call him the next bill gates. i just like to call him our next millionaire. from athens, alabama, please welcome 13-year-old connor higgins. [cheers and applause] welcome back, bud. >> welcome. thank you. >> good to have you. so, you love computers, you're taking 'em apart. how old were you when you started