breaking news this morning on "world news now." the death toll is rising in texas. >> rain is tapering off, but the floodwaters remain at historic levels across houston and many parts of texas. more residents, though, pulled to safety. many people still stranded on roadways as reservoirs keep spilling over into neighborhoods. first responders and volunteers banding together in what is no doubt a marathon effort. >> meanwhile, shelters across the area are expanding as evacuees stream in overnight. more large capacity venues are opening up, including joel osteen's megachurch after facing some initial criticism. the red cross is standing by to

volunteers work around the clock. and new images of kim jong un witnessing the late east latest launch. this is wednesday, august 30th. we do say good morning, everybody on this wednesday. and we're going to start with tropical storm harvey which appears to be finally moving out of the houston area. but it has left a devastating mark. >> the storm dumped more than 52 inches of rain in some place. the most ever recorded in the continental u.s. and there is a curfew in houston until dawn. >> it is right there along the texas/louisiana border with a third landfall anytime now. >> many roads are impassable and could be flooded at any mom

some are swept' w away, others stuck. >> it was horrible not being able to go to the bathroom, not know where you're going to get your next meal from. all i can say is there are angels out here. >> and a few bright spots to tell you about literally. south texas residents saw the sun for the first time yesterday. and houston has a new megashelter. it remains a very serious condition and situation around that city. abc's lana zak joins us from houston. good morning. >> reporter: certainly, we all rejoiced when we saw the sun peek out for the very first time. to give you perspective of how much rain we've gotten in harris county, more than a trillion gallons, the equivalent of 15 niagara falls. so you can imagine how elated people are here despite all the hardships that lie ahead for so many people at the first glimmer of hope, according to houston

officials. they say one of the first times, they are starting to see the reservoirs and bayous receding. for the first time since harvey roared into town, the sun peeked out of houston's sky for just a few minutes. it was a brief moment of hope after five days of record-breaking rain and devastation. there have been at least nine confirmed deaths, including houston police officer, steve perez. he drowned in floodwaters two d days shy of his 61st birthday. >> it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. >> reporter: the official tally of rescues topping 13,000. but the actual number could be even higher. and still the calls for rescue continue to pour in. more than 1,000 in houston are still waiting for help. >> it's all the way up to the roofs, guys, up to the eaves. i hate to think there are people in these houses. >> reporter: here in houston, donations are pouring in by the truck load,

more needs. >> what can i do for my neighbor. >> reporter: many shelters beyond initial capacity. >> we went from 5,000 to 9,000 no just a few hours' time. we're encouraging people, if they need shelter to come here and seek shelter. we may not have all the amenities for them, like a cot. >> reporter: and in new orleans, residents all too familiar with floods are once again using sandbags on the 12th anniversary of katrina. >> brought back a lot of memories. it really evoked a lot of emotions and heartbreak. >> reporter: the mayor of new orleans said that there was no city that accepted more people from the aftermath of katrina than here in the city of houston. and i have to tell you, kendis and diane, speaking to people, hearing the stories of people who lived through katrina only to be faced with the devastation here in houston and throughout the gulf coast region, following harvey, it's just

kendis, diane? >> that's the harest part to put together, that some of piece people are dealing with this for the second time. keep yourself safe out there. meanwhile, houston is opening up more shelters as the number of evacuees hits tens of thousands. >> overnight, volunteers stocked the nrg center with food, water, cots and medical supplies. it is home of the texans football team. and it can hold 10,000 people. >> and the toyota center is serving as an overflow center for the houston convention center which is nearly double its capacity. we are joined live on the phone from the convention center. tony, i know you've been monitoring this throughout. how's everyone holding up? >> caller: you know, diane, it's been wonderful. as i walk through, and i've been talking with some of the residents there. they're in

spiritinspirits, considering the trauma they've been through. with that many people in one area. people can tend to be a little, you know, maybe standoffish or maybe just, you know, want to be in their own little shilell, bu we've seen kids playing, folks playing cards. people watching movies on their computers. they're doing everything they can do to pass the time until they get the all clear to go home and survey the damage. so it's been wonderful to walk through the shelter and see the community banding together. >> you speak of the all clear. that all clear could take several days if not more than a week. are you prepared for that? and there's still going to be an influx of people coming by the truck load. >> caller: you're absolutely right, kendis. the thing to remember, the red cross, we rely on volunteers, and we've been bringing volunteers from all over the country. i just saw a bus load. four bus

coming in from all over the west coast. and they're now here in houston, ready to help set up the new shelter, and here to augment those that are already at the convention center here now. >> we also heard reports of difficulties for people that were trying to donate. what can you tell us about that? and what can people do if they want to help? >> caller: well, this was one of those unintended consequences from the american public's outreach and their wanting to help their fellow man. our system would not send a text saying that it was confirmed when you texted harvey to 90999. and while yes, you were credited with the text, you did not get the confirmation. and our system is working on that right now. and we're, you know, our technicians are working on that right now so that everyone who has

confirmation. and what we're saying to folks right now is, you know, we understand that that may cause some difficulties, and we are working through it. >> i hate to ask the question, but you are an expert in this and have been with the red cross and seen many disasters. what's the worst you've ever seen? is this it? >> caller: well, this is still unfolding, but in my experience, this has been unprecedented. we've had more than 200 emergency response vehicles respond. we have many, many volunteers from all over the country here. and we understand that we may have to ramp it up, and we're prepared to do that. >> absolutely. >> caller: and we're going to be here for as long as we're needed. >> then you're going to be there a long time. because there's a lot of need there in the houston area, and southeast texas for that matter. tony briggs of the american red cross. we appreciate your t

>> and disney will host a day of giving to benefit the american red cross and victims of harvey. >> you can call or text the numbers you see there or visit red cross.org/abc. the president waved the texas flag and declared texas can handle anything. >> and mr. trump stayed away from hard-hit areas to avoid disrupting emergency operations but was criticized for not mentioning the flood victims. he plans to meet with evacuees when he returns to the area this weekend. and law enforcement is cracking down on looters in the houston area. at least 15 people have been arrest the so far and could face it 20 years in prison. state law allows for stiffer punishments for crimes committed during a disaster. harvey's floodwaters have created emergencies

plants. this massive complex in baytown is under water. chevron shut down the facility sunday night. and exxon mobile and royal dutch shell halted operations at their facilities near houston. >> and we heard lanna talking about this. now western louisiana is bracing for harvey's third landfall. >> it is pack winds of 50 miles per hour. the strongest activity is right along the texas/louisiana border. >> new orleans has already had some street flooding. >> let's check in with accuweather's justin povick for the latest forecast. good morning, justin, how's it looking? >> we'll check with justin a little later. you can see the images coming out of there. already devastating and they haven't been hit fully by this storm. >> there's also a massive effort under way in texas to rescue animals.

miles from galveston bay wrote on facebook that the water was rising but wouldn't leave without the animals. thankfully sheriff's deputies were able to rescue them all with an air boat. >> a modern-day cowboy freed a horse from a corral, as floodwaters rose. look at this scene, a man and his friend rescued several animals as well. everybody coming together. >> great to see the sheriff's deputy go out to get those dogs. people were worried about the animals. and we will of course have more on the storm in the show. but weel acheck out some of the other stories, including the latest on north korea's missile launch and kim jong un's tough talk for the american territory of guam. joel osteen's church now housing victims of the storm. facing criticism that they should have been open sooner. >> you can get the latest on our facebook page at

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they don't call it the big easy for nothing. even as this city braces for harvey, a prankster seemed to find some humor, hanging this banner. >> it reads, "i think i can, i think i can." new orleans has been having trouble keeping pumping stations online. but they believe the drainage system can handle the storm. >> they'll find out shortly. harvey is headed their way with four to six inches of rain expected today alone. >> a number of their 14 pumps are offline this morning. >> the little pumps that could. >> let's hope. breaking overnight, kim jong un is calling for more missile launches into the pacific. >> this comes two days after his regime fired a ballistic missile over japanese airspace. the u.n.

the north's options and president trump says all options are on the table. >> the world is united against north korea. there is no doubt about that. it is time for the north korean regime to recognize the danger they are putting themselves in. the united states will not allow their lawlessness to continue. and the rest of the world is with us. >> north korean state news says kim called monday's launch a prelude to containing guam. it was called more saber rattling. a washington, d.c. grand jury has indicted 19 people accused of attacking protesters at the turkish embassy. security personnel and other supporters of the turkish president broke through a police line, throwing protesters to the ground and beating many of them. nine were injured in the a

most of those indicted are turkish security officials. many are not in this country anymore. transgender troops will continue serving in the military for now, pending completion of a study. jim mattis is looking for recommendations on how to proceed. it was called for on friday, a month after announcing it in a tweet. and hundreds of firefighters are battling a fast-moving brush fire near yosemite national park. 100 homes are threatened and a major highway is shut down. more than 1,000 acres have been scorched, with 0% of this fire contained. people often talk about the mean streets here in new york city. but this is kind of ridiculous. check this out. >> at the delivery man, he was crossing the street

sinkhole opened up just under his foot. soares's right leg dropped right into the street. he was trapped there for about an hour. >> so he suffered minor injuries. he said the whole experience was pretty creepy. >> looking at the images, it looks like he's kneeling on the street until the firefighters are able to collectively pull him out of the hole. you see his entire leg come up from inside the street. but he's a delivery guy in new york. you know whoever was supposed to be on the receiving end was calling him saying where is my food? >> even leaving the hospital, are you going to be able to make? >> how much longer? five, ten minutes? the megachurch in the storm zone, opening its doors and critics are asking why did it take so long. >> the pastor is responding. we have that next on "world news now." but lysol power toilet bowl cleaner has 10x more cleaning power against limescale.

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as texas struggles to shelter more than 30,000 victims, tv pastor joel osteen has announced his megachurch is now open to evacuees. >> it can hold thousands of people. and critics are wondering what took so long. here's victor oquendo. >> reporter: we were there as volunteers re volunteers welcomed families seeking refuge. the

filling up with donations for evacuees. the move come the one day after the pastor faced fierce criticism he kept his doors closed while other places of worship around houston opened theirs. he posted online it was inaccessible due to the flooding and posted these images. but locals posted these images, saying it wasn't flooded and that the roads around the facility were accessbling. osteen tweeted i care deeply about fellow houstonians, lakewood's doors are open. he said their parking garage was flooded and water was one foot away from breaching their floodgates. >> the doors who been open from the very beginning. they've neff been lock they've never been locked. >> reporter: they can stay for as long as they need. victor oquendo, houston. >> you can

donations they finally got once they said all right, you can come on in. coming up, we've seen unusual rescues in texas. >> a paddleboard, a jet ski. wait until you hear the next one.

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we're back with one of the amazing images from the disaster there. that is 78 year old karen spencer getting rescued from their home in a jet ski. >> but the jet ski isn't the strangest part. it came about not because karen and her husband called 911 but because they called chick fil a. they're regulars. they ordered two chicken sandwiches, two waffle fries. by the way, they mentioned that they were trapped while they're at it. the chick fil a manager sent help. so the spencers say they didn't get the name of

but the big tragedy, they didn't get the order from chick-fil-a. somewhere waffle fries going cold. >> good thing they didn't call on sunday because chick fil a would have been closed. we've seen wonderful res khaicu including that one. here you have a dad rescuing a kid. this is alexander george who rescued eaton coleman, a 4-year-old with a paddleboard, but that's not his kid. he helped out his neighbors because they were under intense flooding from harvey. he helped them first before rescuing his own family. >> that is remarkable. >> nice use of the paddleboard. >> speaking of nice. we've heard of all these shelters opening their door, but a furniture store is getting props for opening its doors to evacuees, and now they are sitting out the storm

the furniture store has provided all of this for the evacuees, and this is a very high-end furniture store. so people in the gallery, it's called furniture gallery, they're sleeping on $8,000 sofas, for example. they're enjoying a nice nap on a tempur-pedic. all kinds of adjustable ma mattresses. they were treated to a rack of lamb and tenderloin dinners along with asparagus. >> that's the place if you're riding out the storm. so of course the houston astros have not been able to play any home games because of the storm. a lot of issues there. but they decided as a team to pledge $4 million toward their relief efforts, and they'll give all revenues from their tampa bay series to the hurricane harvey relief there, playing in tampa bay now. >> and social media has played a big role.

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breaking news this morning on "world news now." flood evacuees seek shelter. new images are coming in of newly-rescued refugees. arriving at newly opened relief centers. we'll get an update from the red cross. in the meantime, the search effort continues as floodwaters rise even though the forecast offers a glimmer of hope. we'll hear from the army corps of engineers, racing to drain neighborhoods that could face weeks of remaining floodwaters. ♪ and rallying behind houston. coldplay is releasing a new song to benefit the victims and more and more celebrities are also stepping up to the challenge,