. deluged with heavy rains, and a dire overnight warning is issued as texans fight for their lives. shelt remembers not immune to rising floodwaters as residents are forced to climb bleachers to stay dry. and relie efforts reach new heights as celebrities, sports stars, corporations and more put their money where their mouth is and pay it forward for texas. we meet those working hardest to keep some of the most vulnerable and furriest flood victims safe, "early today" starts right now. good wednesday morning. i'm frances rivera. my co-anchor phillip mena is at one of the main shelters in houston. millions across southern texas are bracing themselves for harvey's third record breaking

landfall. as the national weather service puts out another flash flood warning around beaumont, texas as residents fight for their lives against another torrential downpour. thousands of city in houston are looking under a mandatory curfew. harvey is now marking as the most extreme rain event to ever hit the nation. now the ninth fatality is reported. we're learning in some of the lives lost among them houston police officer sergeant steve perez. a 34-year veteran who was on his way to help flood victims. >> we find him and it was too treacherous to go under to look for him. we made a decision to leave officers there waiting until the morning because as much as we

want to recover him last night we could not put more officers at risk for a recovery mission. >> federal and local agencies say over 18,000 people have now been rescued in houston and the surrounding areas, with over 17,000 evacuees in shelters. the floodwaters keep rising, even pouring into this shelter in port arthur, forcing evacuees to climb up the bleachers and find some respite from the unprecedented natural disaster. visiting southeastern texas, president trump surveyed the response efforts for himself and waved the texas flag while cheering on gatherers in corpus christi. >> we're going to get you back and operating immediately. thank you, everybody. what a crowd. what a turn out. i will tell you this is historic. it's epic what happened. but you know what? it happened in texas, and texas can handle anything. >> my co-anchor phillip mena is

at one of the main shelters in houston. you've been seeing a lot of these people coming in the overnight hours and morning. the one bright spot, the sun finally made an appearance there in houston. >> yeah, it did make a glimpse yesterday. but despite that, we're still seeing an influx of evacuations in rescues, especially near the two reservoirs that have overspilled and they're flooding those neighborhoods. and this morning, we are seeing another flooding emergency, to the south of us, in galveston county, where we find our sarah doloff where 40,000 people are being evacuated. >> hi, phillip, 17,000 people so far have checked into red cross shelters, a number that this morning seems certain to grow. inside housten's shelters, seeking refuge, a hot meal and news of neighbors.

>> just very thankful that we're here, safe. >> outside, the strain of days of historic rainfall pushing critical infrastructure to the limit. two reservoirs that protect downtown houston now spilling over even as emergency workers continue to release water. houston police announcing the loss of one of their own. >> he was a sweet, gentle public servant. >> sergeant steve perez, who drowned in his patrol car on the way to report for duty. his wife, devastated. >> and she tells me, i told him not to go to work. and his response was -- we've got work to do. president donald trump offered reassurances to texans during his visit to corpus christi tuesday. >> this is historic, it's epic what happened. but you know what? it happened in texas, and texas can handle anything. >> while there have been some arrests for looting, officials say overall things have been

orderly. rescues continue around the clock. strangers coming from far and wide to support a region battered, but not beaten. >> sarah, thank you, you know each and every person who has come through here has their own unique harrowing story about being rushed from their home, with pure uncertainty and sent to the unknown and they're having to wait to find out what's going to come of their home. and we spoke to a young mother and she told us her story about how she arrived here. >> as we were like waving them down for help, so they couldn't see us, they couldn't hear us, because the truck was so loud. so we went inside and laid down for the night and figured we'll try to get rescued again in the morning. so the next morning we went out and there were boats and stuff, it brought us to the m.o. campbell center and from the center they put us on buses and

took us to here. the water was up to our necks, as far as in the valley and bryn mawr, water was everywhere, all over our apartment complex. the inside of our apartment complex we were up to our thighs, i had to carry my children, i seen snakes slithering into the water. i seen dead animals floating around, it was really upsetting and really scary. >> traumatizing time for everyone, it's a day that they will never forget. the hardest part about this is wondering when or if they will ever be able to go back to their home. alice is one of 10,000 people that came to the george r. brown convention center in downtown houston. it was originally set up to accommodate 5,000 people. and that has doubled in capacity because of the influx of all of these evacuees, because of that

they have set up several shelters, dozens of shelters, another one, the newest one that just opened up to the south of here. nrg center, right next to nrg stadium where the texans play. that's this morning that is where we find julia bagg, she is there with us this morning, julia, how are things looking over there? >> well, phillip, things going very quickly here. from a start of about 30 volunteers, six and a half hours ago, they've had more than 700. and now they're accommodating more than 1,000 people, more than 1,000 evacuees, trying to provide some relief to the george r. brown convention center, phillip, where you are now. we've been speaking with volunteers who have been blowing up beds, doing all kinds of things, janet stone you have been here much of the overnight hours. tell me what you've been up to. what it's been like seeing the families coming through here. >> you feel so sad that they have no place to go.

but you're glad they're here that they survived the flooding waters coming into their homes so we've been sorting a lot of the donation items so that we're able to give them out to the people. soap, diapers, clothing, pillows, sheets. all kinds of things just to provide for them. some kind of comfort. >> what about these kids? i know you see the kids coming in, it may be hard for them to understand. how do you help them get comfortable? >> well it was fun, i brought them some little stuffed toys and gave them something to snuggle with during the night and made sure they had warm blankets because it is cold in here. >> it is cold in here. janet stone thank you so much for what you're doing. they're expecting many more to start trickling through the doors behind me, they're bringing buses from the george r. brown convention center. anyone can come from anywhere. and you're allowed to bring your pets here as well. we'll see many more people, the capacity, 10,000 here is how many they can hold at the center here this morning.

phillip? >> julia, thank you. and bringing the pets is a major part of this. i mean that can be lost in all this. of course the importance of human life is paramount, but pets are a part of the family, too. and they have to be rescued as well. not every shelter can take pets, so there are a couple of shelters, including this one and the one that julia is at that will take the pets. officials here say that they don't know obviously how long they're going to be here. but they said they are willing to stay open, frances, as long as it takes. >> that could be quite some time, phillip mena, we'll talk to you later in the show. bill karins, a literal bright spot for the people in houston, to have the sun come out. for the people in beaumont, bill? >> on social media. port arthur and beaumont. it's a dire situation as you could imagine. the rainfall last night was sometimes coming down four inches an hour. harvey has made landfall, look

at the rain. still sitting right over beaumont, in the orange and down into the port arthur area. the devastation is not done there yet and it could get worse throughout the day. we'll continue to monitor the situation. further to the north, we could even have flooding as far north as tennessee over the next couple of days. even the memphis area, possibility of up to seven inches of rainfall. although we're going to be done with houston, the beaumont-port he devastation from harvey. just so sad that this story won't end. it just keeps going. >> bill, thank you. fast-forwarding to a wednesday, president trump hits the road to settle his tax reform plan.

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clock to care for frightened pets, including litters of kittens. >> i've cried, i can't tell you how many times, we all need our five-minute cry break and we get back up and get back to work. >> some are strays, others were dropped off by evacuees who will return when life is in order. >> it's very high-stress right now. emotions are high. >> typically the shelter would have no more than 30 dogs and 60 cats. right now they have more than 100 dogs and 100 cats. so they're using the public works garage as an overflow space. more pets are on the way. the humane society arrived in dickinson to rescue animals still trapped. they have a list of homes to visit and if needed, break in with permission from the owners. here they saved three dogs from a house where floodwaters reached waist-high. >> pets are an important part of people's families. right now people have lost a lot. if we can get people's pets back into their hands and into their

homes, we want to do that. >> as the stubborn storm drags its feet across the region, images of animals are tugging at the country's heart. flood-proof love for our loyal friends who need us now more than ever. joe friar, nbc news, dickinson, texas. as we see the victims of harvey being rescued and taking shelter across texas, many of you are inspired to help. we've go a list of charitable organizations linked on our facebook page, including ways to donate to the state's diaper bank and network of food banks. the salvation army is accepting donations via phone and on its website and the red cross is accepting donations by phone, online or text. they say no worries, it should come within hours, confirmation. just ahead, gas prices on the rise and details on the staggering number of vehicles that are a total loss after hurricane harvey. you're watching "early today."

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worse than after hurricane sandy. well new york area has more residents than houston, the number of vehicles per household is much higher in houston. used car prices could climb even higher over the next few weeks, due to a tighter supply. oil prices are dipping today, but gasoline is spiking to the highest level since mid 2015. flooding from tropical storm harvey has knocked out nearly a quarter of all u.s. refineries, crimping demand for crude and raising fears of a fuel shortages. botiva which operates the largest refinery in port arthur, texas was shutting last night due to flooding. after days of serious news, you may just want to drink. target is now selling a new wine of a $5 wines, it features five blends crafted with premium california grapes and is called california roots. the wine will be available nationwide starting september 3rd. frances mark your calendar. >> what am i going to do with all the two-buck chuck. >> always gets me in trouble.

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they are discharging something like 60,000 gallons of water per second through each of these reservoirs, trying to flush out all of this water that has stopped up highway 6 and a lot of these areas here in western houston. trying to flush all the water out through the reservoirs and out through the bayous and get it out through downtown houston. the is to do it to drain the nanhoods upstream without inundating the neighborhoods downstream. and they need to do it without putting too much pressure on the dams that were built in the 1940s, and frankly were never designed to handle anything near this much handle. we've started to see some volunteer rescuers come back out here and start looking for folks in their four-wheel drive vehicles, their boats, searching for some folks who might still be trapped in some neighborhoods, i can tell you from conversations with some of these boat and truck drivers, a lot of them are now being asked

or told to start trying to make their way east towards beaumont and port arthur, where it seems like the brunt of this will be today and where they're going to need a lot more help. back to you. >> people where you are know all too well what that is like and now people in beaumont are bracing. garrett, thank you. just ahead, find out who some of the most generous celebrities are when it comes to donating to the victims of hurricane harvey. we'll name names next here on "early today." shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day

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this is the new development overnight with hurricane harvey. now a tropical storm making landfall in southern louisiana. this is one of the civic centers, the civic center, the evacuation point in port arthur. those are cots that are in the water and everyone is up in the bleachers because the civic center, the shelter, has flooded. now getting dump trucks to try to put people in the back of them to take them from that location to a safer location. the tragedies occurring and heartache and people waiting for rescue, the reason why is because of astronomical rainfall in the last 24 hours in beaumont. they had 26.5 inches of rain in one day. and in one six 0-hour period, 11 inches of rain.

incredible amounts of water fell overnight around beaumont and port arthur. the mayor is saying the whole city is under water. >> can you imagine all the people that are going to need help from here on in. bill, thank you. with that in mind, donations have been pouring in to help the victims of harvey. sandra bullock and rachael ray are each donating $1 million. comcast nbc universal, the owner of this country, facebook and disney are each pledging $1 million or matching. while google is matching up to $2 million. houston rockets leslie alexander is donating $10 million. while the texas rangers and new england patriots are committing to $1 million. and jj watt started an online fundraiser that's grown to more than $5 million. let's go back to phillip mena. the outpouring has been nothing less than amazing, from celebrities and corporations,

but from everyday people. >> it's been so heartening to see, frances, you mentioned jj watt and the $5 million. that did not come out of his own pocket. he started an online campaign and those donations are coming from his fans, coming from people all over the country who are wanting to chip in. so he put his name out there to help get that going. and it was everybody else, all of his fans, who wanted to help. who raised all of that money. people have been coming from all over the country. they've had to drive here, both airports are still closed. they had to make their way down here to help. it's started from neighbors using their own boats for rescue, to volunteers who have shown up from all over the country. helping donate clothes and helping use their time just for the sake of helping others, it's been a beautiful display of humanity. frances. >> talking to a new york city cop yesterday who said yup, they're sending their guys to texas to help as well. one example of many. phillip, thank you.

oonchts frances rivera, thank you so much for watching "early today."

good wednesday morning to you. another day to smile. it's hump day. a live look at the bay bridge as people start their day. you can see cars beginning to move ready to go. good morning and thanks for joining us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm -- we're just waking up. no, i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's get this day going together. >> it's going to be the best day of the week in terms of weather. cooler temperatures today. it will be really nice. and you'd better take it in and enjoy it. we have some high heat in the forecast. as we start out this morning it's in the upper 50s for the tri-valley, peninsula, and some lower 50s now for the north bay so a nice cool start there. as we look at the high