. >>> let's go to abc's natasha barrett live in houston with more on this. >> reporter: good morning, i'm born and raised here in the city of houston it is heartbreaking to see the way things are. the rain is starting again, on and off, the winds are picking up as well. we're not out of the woods. everything is under water as you've seen before. we're expecting 15 to 25 inches of rain. rescues continue throughout the night in houston, the 4th largest city in crisis. >> the water came up so fast. >> reporter: emergency management officials are saying they need more boats for rescues as roads turned into rivers. the geography in houston in the helping the situation. rain water is forced on the streets and on small bayous easily overwhelmed by heavy downpours. first responders are so stretched so thin, neighbors are helping out. >> i've been here 40 years and the water has never come up this high. >> reporter: other desperate residents are being plucked from rooftops. choppers from san diego and cape cod are helping. many residents have been trouble getting through 911 as the system is o

them it will create more problems, now we're going to take a live report from houston, texas, natasha barrett from ktrk whose hometown is houston is joining us live to give us the latest. >> reporter: good morning, this is my hometown, so it is so hard to put into words what we're seeing here or to describe it. it is absolutely devastating to see the city the way it is. although it might seem like we're getting a small break because we have a drizzle going on, we're expecting somewhere between 15 and 25 more inches of rain. rescues continued throughout the night the country's 4th largest city in crisis. >> the water came up so fast, it was incredible. >> reporter: emergency management officials are saying they need more boats for rescues as roads turned into rivers. rain water is forced on to streets and small bayous easily overwhelmed by heavy downpours. first responders are stretched so thin neighbors are pitching in to help others. i've been here for 40 years and i have never seen the water come up this high. >> reporter: other desperate residents are being plucked from rooftops, choppers

. >>> natasha barrett has more from houston. good morning, we're getting a break from the rain in houston, but the wind is picking up, it's getting stronger as we speak outside. i heard of people now so desperate to be rescued out of the floodwaters they are using air mattresses to float to safety. southeast texas underwater. in houston a flash flood emergency, manholes overflowing, streets turned into lakes, nearly impossible to drive through. the city's mayor urging residents to stay home. >> the streets are treacherous. it makes absolutely no sensor for anyone to be on the road unless it is an emergency. >> these people rescued from an apartment complex. >> how many we got coming? >> reporter: the storm packing a punch. >> i can't believe this is happening and i have no apartment, my apartment was decimated. >> reporter: rockport where harvey came ashore roofs ripped off homes buildings, boats destroyed. >> the wind was probably, i don't know, 100-plus, maybe 130, 140. there were a couple of times it was probably going faster

reporting live from houston, natasha, barrett. matt and jeanette back to you. >> if only it would stop raining. the coast guard has conducted 200 air rescues in the houston area and e and 1,000 by water. the guard lifted a mother and child clinging to a small impact until they could get to drier grounds. >> reporter: some members are on their way to help in texas. katherine, good morning. >> reporter: multiple local agencies are lending their resources and support including this chapter of the american red cross. the volunteers that left from here yesterday are distributing food, but they are trained to do more if needed. >> reporter: members of the american red cross embarked on their journey to baton rouge, louisiana their truck loaded with food to help victims of harvey. it's the first deployment for these volunteers who were helped by the red cross at one point in their own lives. >> it's humbling to give back what the red cross gave to me. >> i'm there to help them, it's a hard thing they have to go through. >> reporter: the

abc's natasha barrett has the breaking details from houston right now. natasha, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and lynda. you know, i'm born and raised in this city, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to see what is going on right now. like so many others, millions of others, we've been up all night watching what's happening to our homes because there's even more mandatory evacuations at this hour. people wondering what they should do as rivers are rising and we're far from out of the woods. harvey still could dump anywhere from 15 to 25 more inches of rain on us. rescues continued throughout the night in houston, the country's fourth largest city in crisis. >> the water came up so fast. it was incredible. >> reporter: emergency management officials are asking the public for help saying they need more boats for rescues as roads have turned into rivers. the geography in houston not helping the situation. rainwater is forced onto streets then onto small bayous easily overwhelmed by heavy downpours. first responders are stretched so t

reporting live from houston, natasha barrett, abc 7 news. ris, back to you. >> natasha, you have been talking to a lot of your neighbors. are you feeling a sense of resilience, despite all that has happened? >> reporter: you know, i mentioned before yesterday, in my neighborhood, a tornado tore through southwest of houston and a suburb. and 55 people lost the roofs to their homes, just collapsed. and people have been just talking to each other on facebook and saying, hey, anybody that needs to stay in my house, they don't know each other and are having people stay in their home. so they're just -- it is -- it is nice to see everybody coming together at this time, because, you know, all we have are each other. a lot of times the firefighters, the police, can't get to you because these roads are flooded. almost all the highways here are flooded, filled with water. people can't get around. >> and you mentioned the damage. how has communication been from the city, as well as first responders? >> reporter: you know, that's been good. they have bee

abc's natasha barrett has more, from houston. happening right now... two teams from our way to texas to help with the devastating flooding. 14 members with virginia task force one are driving 20 hours to houston. the swift-water rescue team got the call from fema sunday morning, and rolled out around 3 o-clock sunday afternoon. our cameras were rolling as they packed up. the virginia team is expecting to be in texas for about two weeks. the rain from harvey-- shutting down houston's two major airports-- importing hundreds of flights. united --- which operates a major diverted four planes to dulles. the move put around one-thousand passengers in total limbo, as they waited for another flight. passengers though-- were trying to stay positive. as of right now-- both the houston hobby airport and the george bush airport are closed indefinitely. the situation in texas will likely have an impact on gas prices. nearly a dozen oil refineries in the gulf are offline. industry analysts say how long the refineries are offline will determine how much gas prices wi

i'm natasha barrett in houston. this storm is not stopping.nd this city is under water, and more is expected. ♪ seed to the oat to the o, to the bowl to the spo♪n ♪ bowl to the spoon, to the mouth of the boy in the room ♪ room for that goodness... inside him to bloom ♪ ♪ good goes around... and around... and around ♪ ♪ seed to the oat to the o, on the first day of school ♪ ♪ schoolin' your sister on why...and just how to be cool ♪ cool if she hangs, you can show her what's go♪d ♪ good goes around...and around...and around ♪ ♪ good goes around and around ♪ what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. >>> good morning, bay area. let's get up and get going. >> this is abc 7 mornings. >>> today is sunday, august 27th. good morning and thanks so much for joining us. i'm chris nguy

for now reporting live from houston, natasha barrett, abc 7 news. back to you. >> natasha barrett from our abc sister station in houston. thank you. >>> meteorologist lisa argen joins us now. lisa, a much different weather story here in the bay area. >> that's right, chris. you can see the low cloud deck -- or can you from this shot, mt. tam, this is going to keep the coast cool, 53 degrees in san francisco but temperatures are warming already. not much of a wind and that marine layer will be confined to the shoreline. a big temperature spread, i will have the details next. >>> thank you. also ahead, in the midst of a massive hurricane president trump issues a controversial pardon. we will have local reaction to the late move. >>> plus, the pride festival takes over downtown san jose this weekend, a time for celebration but also precaution. stay close, you're watching abc 7 mornings. >>> tv's number one daily viral video show. "right this minute." >>> good morning. time is 6:12 on this saturday. thanks for choosing abc 12 news to start your day. we'

reporting live from houston, in natasha barrett. >>> our thoughts and prayers to the folks of texas. our complete coverage of hurricane harvey continues with meteorologist chris sowers at the "action news" big board bring us up to date. >> reporter: as natasha mentioned the wind elements are starting to weaken. the rain is getting started reports of 16 inches in areas north of victoria. this is an infared satellite shot you're looking at the cloud tops of harvey. the storm came onshore moved in like this it is slowly pushing over to the north. you can see how the eye is inching closed that is a good sign that would indicate that the storm has started to weaken. the winds blow counter clockwise around the low. you have on-shore winds here and off-shore winds south of corpus christi. the flooding was tremendous across the barrier islands north of where the storm made landfall. storm tracker 6 live i zoomed into the area, here's the center right here. what you're seeing around it, that's the eye wall that's where we're seeing the oranges and reds. rainfall rates 2 to 4 inches around the

. >> reporter: i'm natasha barrett i'll show you what the city looms and what people are doing to get out under new mandatory evacuations. hundreds of dollars on youmy car insurance. saved me huh. i should take a closer look at geico... (dog panting) geico has a 97% customer satisfaction rating! and fast and friendly claims service. speaking of service? oooo, just out. it was in. out. in! out. in! what about now? that was our only shuttlecock. take a closer look at geico. great savings. and a whole lot more. and we win! nah. like this. grab a large or extra large freshly ground, freshly brewed hot coffee for your chance to win. get your celebration ready. this is coffee. this is winning. >> hey everyone, taking a live look at philadelphia international, time 6:25 a.m., monday, back to school for a lot of folks, should be a nice day in the 70s. we're getting images from the effort to save people from the flooding in houston. traffic cameras show two people in a boat pulling a person out of the suv as water rushes around it. scenes like this are happening all over texas. the bodies of a

natasha barrett joins us live from houston with the at the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: chris, good morning. and, you know, the most devastating news is coming to light as we get daylight out here in houston. about 25 minutes southwest of houston in a city called missouri city, that suburb, we're learning that more than 50 homes do not have a roof. 55 homes had roof collapses now emergency officials are out there right now trying to assess if anybody was hurt and as for hurricane harvey, yes, he has been downgraded, but he is not ton yet. hurricane harvey roaring on to the gulf coast. >> the best way i can describe it is a tin can being kicked down the road. >> the strongest in the u.s. in more than a decade. >> this is not anything that's going to be a quick one and done. we're not measuring in inches of rain we're measuring in feet of rain. >> residents of texas, mississippi and louisiana getting hit the hardest, rockport, texas, right in its path, trees tossed on to roads, buildings destroyed, emergency crews facing difficulties respo

from houston, natasha barrett, abc news. >>> search and rescue crews from the bay area are headed to the hurricane disaster zone. this morning the alameda county fire department posted this picture on instagram. these firefighters are members of task force 4. they left for texas last night. coming up in our next half hour, find out how they'll be providing support to those impacted by the storm. >>> 9:10 our time. the piedmont city council will hold a special meeting tomorrow to consider removing the mayer from his position. mayor jeff weiler has come under fire in the past week for his alleged comments and posts on facebook. a member of the piedmont community claims weiler posted facebook statements such as black lives matter encourages cop killing. and transgenders are all mentally ill. the east bay times who reported the story could not verify those statements. council members add the city has been swamped with calling expressing outrays over weiler's alleged comments. >>> lisa argen has been tracking the latest with tropical storm harvey as well as the bay area forecast. >>> 59 d

abc's natasha barrett is live in houston with the latest. morning, natasha. >> reporter: good morning, jessica. it is still a mess here in houston, as you can see, the rain is just not stopping. harvey's not done with this city. it's devastating already. so to think that on top of the 25 inches of rain we've already received that we could get 25 more inches of rain. rescues continue throughout the night in houston. the country's fourth largest city in crisis. >> the water came up so fast. it was incredible. >> emergency management officials are asking the public for help, saying they need more boats for rescues. as roads have turned into rivers. the geography in houston not helping the situation. rainwater is forced onto streets, then onto small bayous easily overwhelmed by heavy downpours. first responders are stretched so thin, neighbors are pitching in to help rescue others from the devastating floodwaters that followed hurricane harvey. >> first time in 40 years that the water has come up this high. i've been here for 40 years. a lot of

reporting from houston, natasha barrett, abc news. >>> another bay area search -- area based search andould say, is on their way to texas to help in the hardest hit areas in the wake of tropical storm harvey. the state's 14-person urban search and rescue task force three out of menlo park specializes in water rescues. they're bringing boats and enough equipment to last a few weeks. the last time this group was called out was in the flooding in san jose earlier this year. members of task force four left oakland saturday night to help. >> if you're running low on gas, you might think about filling up now. at least ten oil refineries in the houston and corpus christi area are offline this morning. that is reducing gas supplies nationwide. gasoline futures spiked 7% overnight. those futures determine what gas stations will pay in the next few days. and it usually takes about a week for price spikes to trickle down to the court. >> both airports in houston are closed until further notice. they have grounded all flights. that is having a ripple effect on flights from coast to coast since larg

abc's natasha barrett is live in houston, texas, this morning with the latest. good morning, natasha. >> reporter: good morning, jessica. you know, i've got to say it's heartbreaking. i'm from this town, born and raised. to see what's happening is just devastating. we've got strong winds, as you can tell, and rain off and on. you can tell harvey is not done with this city. we've received 25 inches of rain, and now word that 25 more inches of rain on the way. rescues continue throughout the night in houston. the country's fourth largest city in crisis. >> the water came up so fast. it was incredible. >> emergency management officials are asking the public for help, saying they need more boats for rescues. as roads have turned into rivers. the geography in houston not helping the situation. rain water is forced onto streets and then small bayous, easily overwhelmed by heavy downpours. first responders are stretched so thin, neighbors are pitching in to help rescue others from the devastating floodwaters that followed hurricane harvey. >> first time in 40 years the

reporting from houston, natasha barrett. stormwatch 7 is tracking harvey and the local weather, 24/7. download the free app teacher forecast whenever you need it. studentsarly 270,000 are heading back to class in northern virginia, the vast majority of them in fairfax county. john, a big question mark for the first day of school. what's going on out there? right, school is starting earlier and do they have enough drivers? take a look, this is very telling. schools trying to get larger as they try to plus, 200,000 coming back to class before labor day. that is a first and it is one of the big headlines this morning, the school saying they want more time to provide instructive exercises. take a look over here, school buses getting ready to start their routes this morning. that's another question, will there be enough drivers? dealing with a school bus driver over 1600 buses, second only behind new york, but they have only 1200 drivers. officials admit this morning that supervisors might have to start the year behind the wheel.

reporting live from houston, look at the winds, natasha barrett, back to you. >> our thoughts to you and your family and other good folks in texas, thanks for your reporting. 7:46 a.m., meteorologist chris sowers keeping an eye on our forecast, chris you mentioned this is not a winds event it's a rain event that's the problem. >> reporter: if there's any good news with the storm, and believe me there's not much. the hurricane wynfield is 35 to 40 miles per hour where i am in williams town that's my trip to work, to city avenue, that's where it is, 35 miles per hour. it hit in an area that was not populated. now we'll see rains and flooding down there, that's the bad news. live on sky6 live hd, we'll talk about our weather here, actually we'll go cape may, i'll follow you. >> radar is what they are calling for. >> reporter: radar, tell me what you want me to do, all right, well, here we go, 67 degrees is the present temperature reading in philadelphia, with the dewpoint 51, winds out of the north northeast at 9 miles per hour, the pressure is holding steady, your ocean temperature is

reporter natasha barrett from ktrk in houston has a look at harvey's impact so far. southeast texas under water, in houston, flash flood emergency, manholes overflowing streets turned into lakes. the city's mayor urging residents to stay home. >> the streets are treacherous, it makes absolutely no sense for anyone to be out on the roads unless there's an emergency. >> reporter: these people rescued from an apartment complex dozens more in desperate need of help. >> how many we got coming? >> reporter: the storm packing a punch. >> i can't believe this is happening i have no apartment, my apartment was decimated. >> reporter: rockport a mangled ghost town roofs ripped off homes an buildings destroyed. >> the wind was 100 plus, 130, 140. there was a couple of times when it was probably going faster than that. >> reporter: in is you say continue an eerie scene the state capital under water. shelters set up for those in need. greg abbott lending an hand. >> we'll take care of our fellow texans, but we do it as a team rnlts fist. >> reporter: first responders are having a

from houston, natasha barrett, abc news. >> 40 members of the pennsylvania urban search and rescue team are on the road heading to texas. 20 of them are firefighters and other members of firefighters from across the state. they loaded tractor-trailers and other trucks with water rescue equipment. they will hope texas fire crews search homes and buildings for missing residents. they are bringing rescue dogs and their handlers, it will take 22 hours to get to texasment american red cross of eastern pennsylvania is looking for donations for folks struggling because of the weather conditions and the damage due to harvey. to make a ten dollar donation text the word harvey to 90999. you will hear from a local volunteer on the ground in texas in the next half-hour. >>> 6:07 a.m., new information to tell you about this morning, a man is in critical condition after he was hit by an suv in north philadelphia. the impact at broad and susquehanna shattered the front windshield of the suv. a 38-year-old man was hit crossing broad street in the middle of the block at 12:45 a.m. he was rushed to the h

from houston, natasha barrett, abc news. >> president trump is being advised on tropical storm harvey. he held a meeting to discuss flooding and emergency response and power outages. president trump tweeted he will not go to texas until the conditions are safe and the travel will not affect recovery efforts. great coordination from all agencies at all levels of government. he added many people are saying this is the worst storm hurricane they have ever seen. good news that we have great talent on the ground. >>> among those on the ground in texas, volunteers from across the country including right here in pennsylvania. 40 members of the pennsylvania urban search and rescue team began their journey to texas last night. the team consists of 20 philadelphia firefighters and 20 others from various departments across the state. the highly trained search and rescue members are driving tractor-trailers and trucks loaded with water and also rescue equipment. their plan is to help local texas fire crews search homes and buildings for missing residents. more team members are on standby if they