Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20170829

The next area expected to be affected by storm harvey. The other main stories on bbc news at 5. Sirens sound as north korea fires a missile overjapan the Un Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting later in response. Its 5 oclock our top story. A major dam outside the us city of houston has begun to overflow as authorities struggle to cope with the disastrous flooding brought by Tropical Storm harvey. We will head straight to texas tonight. Lets cross to our correspondent Laura Trevelyan in la grange in texas. Welcome to la grange which is a microcosm of the devastation across texas right now landed heading to the state of louisiana. It is a small town 100 miles west of houston and it is inland and yet the Colorado River broke its banks because of that extraordinary rainfall that happened in the aftermath of hurricane hardly and we have seen historic levels of flooding and peoples homes and businesses have been the ruin. The storm is not finished yet. Just think of what happened in houston where the situation is much worse. The store may make landfall a third time tomorrow and bring further rainfall and flooding to houston and it is heading east to louisiana on the 12th anniversary of harry katrina which caused all of that damage in new orleans. All of this as the president is on his way to his very first Natural Disaster as president to see how the relief effort is going for himself. Trying to paddle to safety. Reports elderly people, some in their 90s are still caught up. A lot of elderly people have struggled to get out of their houses. People are coming and whether boats and saving them. houses. People are coming and whether boats and saving them. I am feeling a little tired and glad to be here, i want to sit down and put my feet up and get something to eat. President trump left for texas with the first lady where he will visit austin and Corpus Christi to see first hand the of. Austin and Corpus Christi to see firsthand the of. It is a historic amount of water, there has never been anything like it. The people are handling it amazingly well and the people of texas as you know have really persevered. Thousands of people have been rescued, the authorities in houston say they decided not to evacuate the city because more than 6 Million People leaving could have resulted in more deaths. Forecasts suggest some areas could see up to 12 inches of rain today and flood Officials Say they are struggling to control the water levels of dams which is making the situation worse. Places adjacent to these reservoirs, both upstream and downstream, need to be vigilant, because the water reservoirs is rising quickly and has significant potential to cause additional flooding impact. People who have had to leave their homes because of the flood water are being offered help. We had to sleep on top of the coach and cheers because everything was wet. So he uses the alligator moving along. One woman recorded two alligator swimming in her back garden. Not far from claiming into the backyard. Meanwhile in louisiana preparations are underway and soldiers are on stand by as threatens destruction. As the storm continues to move across the gulf and potentially make a third landfall, louisiana are building in advance of that. Estimates suggest the flooding could destroy up to 20 billion in property making it one of the costliest storms in us history. President trump is due to fly to Corpus Christi in texas where it first made landfall and then he is flying off and he will see the destruction wrought in the aftermath of hurricane hardly. Right here in la grangei of hurricane hardly. Right here in la grange i have been taking a look for myself at some of the damage that has been done. So just look at the devastation wrought by the epic flooding of. We are looking at mobile homes in a trailer park picked up by the force of the floodwater. They were carried and banged into each other and look at the state of these homes. Not only have they been flooded but they have been damaged beyond repair. This is peoples lives we are looking at. That the people have Flood Insurance . Very unlikely, because this is not an area you would normally think would flood. We are in inland texas. This is not the coast, but just look. In inland texas. This is not the coast, butjust look. Peoples lives have been turned completely upside down and now they are forced to live with the reckoning of this. The Colorado River burst its banks, a river that is normally at 5 8 feet flowed at 55 feet and just look at the catastrophe it brought in its wake. Joining me now, rainer lived in one of the homes we can see. This is the first time we got to see our house close by. Ever since thursday night it was covered up and under water. It is devastating, just to see your home underwater and not be able to get in there and not even had a chance to get anything out. Some warm staff and clouds and the good thing is it Still Standing but as far as water damage, pretty much everything is gone. Do you think thatis everything is gone. Do you think that is in a possibility you could live there again, reyna . Definitely, this is where i grew up and starting over might get another hosts just there. This is our little place. Did you have any idea this was going to happen . Did you feel you got enough warming the flooding was on its way . All these people, we all grew up together and we all know each other, half of these people didnt think it would get this bad, so most of them just got some extra clouds for the night. We never thought the river was going to take most of these homes. It is hard. And where are you staying now when you can get into your own home . We are staying at a family members house at the other side of town and they have been really helpful, High School Friends from austin out of ten, notjust us but the whole community itself. It isa but the whole community itself. It is a good thing. We are role in this together and we are going to get out of this together. La grange strikes me as he really kindly, friendly and small knit community, is that how it is responding to your tragedy . Thats how i feel. A lot of people are here giving us a hand on everything, anything they can do for us. Everything, anything they can do for us. This morning they may or came to us us. This morning they may or came to us and gave a speech and it was heart warming, to say we are not alone in this situation. And this is alone in this situation. And this is a really busy time of year, back to school for the kids, what is it you need at this moment most of all . Most of all, we have health which is the important thing. Clouds, any little thing that can help us out, thatis little thing that can help us out, that is great. Right now we have a little bit of everything which is a good thing. Areas hear what under mandatory evacuation, is that what happened to you . Mandatory evacuation, is that what happened to you . That you have yellow ta pe happened to you . That you have yellow tape across your home so you knew you had to get out . Police officers and managers were knocking everybodys doors to let us know we had to evacuate. Yellow strips on the door to see we are right. But when you look at what happened to your home you must be so glad you got out . Definitely. I am glad no one is hurt and everybody listened. Material stuff can be replaced. President trump is landing in the next few minutes and Corpus Christi. Do you have a message for him, anything you feel the state needs . Heres a good president , i know some we have another few will help us out and get us back on our feet and we have another few will help us out and get us back on ourfeet and i know he will do something to help us out. Reyna, thank you so much for joining us on telling us about your experience. We appreciate it. She is just one of thousands and thousands of people across the state of texas who are now homeless who are picking up who are now homeless who are picking up the pieces of their lives at this incredibly difficult time. The storm hasnt finished its deadly work. It is hovering out in the gulf of mexico and it will be moving to the east of houston and onto louisiana with 511 east of houston and onto louisiana with 5 11 inches of rain for the louisiana itself but meanwhile all eyes a re louisiana itself but meanwhile all eyes are on communities like this one and in houston, where there has been flooding of the very reservoirs that are supposed to control the water flowing to the city. That is how much of an emergency the situation is. And with President Trump arriving in the next few minutes to assess the situation for himself. Thank you very much and they will be talking about that much more over the course of the hour, as you would expect, and we will be talking to several people very much involved in the relief effort and in preparations in louisiana as well. More on that to come. Right now, good evening, you are watching bbc news, and our other main story tonight. The Us Ambassador to the United Nations, nikki haley, has described north koreas firing of a missile overjapan as unacceptable and irresponsible. People in northern japan were told to seek shelter as the missile flew overhead. The Un Security Council is expected to hold an emergency session to discuss the crisis. 0ur correspondent, Yogita Limaye reports from the south korean capital, seoul. Siren. A warning that a north Korean Missile has just flown over the country. This is what many injapan woke up to on tuesday morning. A rocket launch from near pyongyang flew over the Northern Island of hokkaido, before breaking into parts and landing in the sea about a thousand kilometres from the coast. The range is shorter than this Intercontinental Missile north korea tested injuly, but the latest launch more dangerous in many ways because it passed over japan and had the potential to cause serious harm. The countrys Prime Minister described it as an outrageous act and an unprecedented threat. It left the people of his nation worried. Translation i cant imagine what would actually happen if anything from the missile falls onto us and im scared. Translation despite sanctions being imposed, north korea keeps developing missiles and firing them overand overagain. This is a dreadful situation. Hours after the Missile Launch, japanese troops conducted drills at a us base near tokyo. Such joint exercises with American Forces are also under way in south korea. They are preparations for an attack from the north and pyongyang often uses them to justify its actions. Here in south korea, president moonjae in has ordered his military to display overwhelming force against north korea. Its a strong statement from a leader who, for weeks, has advocated dialogue as a way out of this crisis, but this time pyongyang seems to have gone too far and south korea also wants to respond with a show of strength. Four south korean fighter jets staged live bombing drills, practising how they could attack the north korean leadership. An attempt to display military might, but despite the strong tactics from both sides, many believe that the Korean Peninsula is not on the brink of war. Despite all of the rhetoric, the bloodcurdling rhetoric that we hear, we have not seen things such as the mobilisation of forces. Moving assets into the region. North korea and south korea calling up reservists. Preparing logistics chains and bringing resources into the region. Evacuating civilians. But north koreas missile tests continue to provoke, despite sanctions and international condemnation. The world seems to have run out of ideas on how to stop them. The Prime Minister theresa may, who is shortly due to travel to japan, condemned north koreas actions as a reckless provocation. These actions by north korea is reckless provocation. These are illegal tests and we strongly condemn them. There will be an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council later this afternoon and we will work with our International Partners to put pressure on north korea to stop these illegal tests. And i will have the opportunity on my visit to japan in the next few days to be discussing these issues with Prime Minister abe. That visit is going ahead, but do you have any reservations . Regarding your safety. No, im absolutely clear the trip to japan will go ahead. This will give me the opportunity to sit down with Prime Minister abe and to discuss the action that north korea has taken. As i say, these are illegal tests. We strongly condemn them and we will be working with japan and other International Partners to make sure that pressure is put on north korea to stop this illegal action. Joining me now from paris is John Nilsson Wright a Senior Research fellow with the Asia Programme at Chatham House and lecturer in japanese politics and International Relations at cambridge university. As you can see he joins us from paris. Why was this missile fired no . What is your thoughts about the timing . The North Koreans are trying to do three things. 0n the one hand making it very clear that despite President Trumps fiery rhetoric they are not deterred by his threats. They are also i think trying to make good on their promise to continue to test missile capabilities. It is also clearly a bottle to the joint exercises between south korea and the United States, annual, routine exercises, but an effort to show they are objection to those tests, and all pa rt objection to those tests, and all part of bolstering his legitimacy at home by making progress on the Missile Development campaign he has. And the fact it travelled as far as it did, does that tell us something we didnt know before about their Technical Expertise . Not really. It is not a surprise on the back of those two key tests in july, is not a surprise on the back of those two key tests injuly, it is confirmation that they are continuing to advance in that area. It is also worth pointing out this is probably an attempt to send a signal directly, the japanese a few days ago were themselves tightening the bilateral sanctions against not only pyongyang but other countries that do business with the koreans and this is both a political move and this is both a political move and an effort by the North Koreans to shore up the deterrent capability. And what options first of all does japan have no . Not very many. Mr abe is increasingly angry and disappointed by what has happened. This is the third time they have fired a missile over japan, and already the mood injapan is pretty febrile when it comes to a threat from north korea. Storm mr abe will want to condemn this, he will want to see those already tough International Sanctions threatened, but there is no evidence that this is the telling them when it comes to these tests, and all the other options, military force as a deterrent, isnt working. Military action is so unpalatable, definitely action is so unpalatable, definitely a last resort. Ultimately i think there will have to be some effort to get talks restarted with the North Koreans. The problem at the moment as they have shown really no willingness to engage in talks and therefore the International Community is going to be engaged in a state of collective head scratching beyond very obvious rhetorical denunciation of the north. Presumably they will have to start thinking about tougher measures but what they might look like is anyones guess at this stage. I was going to ask you that. What is left, if people would sit down around a table, what can happen next . What will the Trump Administration be reflecting on . Some have been talking in washington in recent days of the possibility of not only tightening economic sanctions but mechanisms that would delegitimise north korea. This is a rogue regime, and one possible approach is to adopt a two headed approach, to offer the North Koreans to membership of the International Community effort reforms its behaviour but at the same time sent a very clear message that if it continues to act in this provocative fashion then its status as an independent sovereign actor will be further questioned by the International Community, and the leader of north korea is somebody who bethink is anxious about his own status at home, has long term sustainability, and there may be some voices increasingly more vocal in washington that the United States should be taking more covert action, using propaganda and seeking to destabilise the region from within. It may be possible President Trump embraces that approach and that raises uncertainty over the long sensibility of the regime and of the peninsular and the wider region. Thank you very much. We will be discussing this again but thank you very much for now. Lets return now to the us and the ongoing chaos caused by flooding in the state of texas. 30,000 people have been taken to emergency shelters. Engineers are concerned about a major ground that has begun spilling over as storm harvey pushes the reservoir past capacity. Lets go to the district of katy on the outskirts of the city. 0n the line is pastor robert burdett, from the Power House Church in katy on the outskirts of houston. He has been helping flood victims. Thank you for speaking to the bbc at what must be an extremely busy time for you. Explain what you and your church has been able to do. Thank you for having me on. We have been in rescue mode since sunday. The rain started on friday and the church, we basically did what anybody would have done. We have got anybody would have done. We have got a catastrophe here and we have got people in droves being rescued by boat, and we opened our Church Building and we just took what we had and the community has rallied around us and brought donations. We have got help coming in and we are housing these folks, feeding them and getting them to an emergency shelter. We have got at least four are five emergency shelters almost at capacity and were looking at opening more shelters because were still even today. Our people sleeping in your church . Yes. Sunday night we housed about 150 and they spent the night here at this church and in the morning we transferred them toa and in the morning we transferred them to a more permanent emergency shelter. Last night, i had the graveyard shift, so i received another 100 at around 2am and we got them transferred around 5 30am this morning, women and children, just ability. Just everybody. We are going to keep talking to you to explain what we are showing to our viewers, you will know President Trump and the first lady at about to live in texas so were just keeping an eye on that, but ijust want to know from you what you make of the fa ct know from you what you make of the fact that people like yourself are having to work so hard under the circumstances. I know you do it willingly but i am curious whether people would like to see a greater local and federal response. There seems to be an awful lot of volunteer work, what is your thought about that . Actually, we are working with the city and with the local government here. Were not on oral and doing our own thing, all the rescue attempts are being dispatched and monitored through the emergency systems we have in place locally. 0ur systems we have in place locally. Our community is just a tight community. It is notjust my church, a lot of churches are involved that are opening up the boards, and people are just lending a hand when they need to lend a hand and be a neighbour. A lot of rescues are not necessarily high water rescue teams. It might be a neighbour rescuing a neighbour to get them high ground, and if we have the these authors we will feel responsible to do something and not just will feel responsible to do something and notjust sit will feel responsible to do something and not just sit and wait for somebody else to do it. How are people feeling . What sort of stories are you hearing and what are people saying to you about how they are having to live now and what their prospects are for the weeks and months to come . One thing that really struck me the other night as i saw really struck me the other night as isaw an really struck me the other night as i saw an elderly couple come in with the three pets and basically a big freezer bag with what looked like all of the Important Documents and maybe a suitcase, and their house was completely flooded. And so i think people are coming in and theres a lot of anxiety and the spear and initially there was a lot of panic with the rising water, and i think as it sets in, theres a despair that comes over you and we just trying to encourage them remind them that really a lot of the things we have our material things and they walked out with their lives and we can always rebuilt and re establish things that we worked for. We are about to see President Trump get off his plane quite soon. He is going to be meeting people involved in the relief effort. What would you say to him about what your Community Needs no . I think right now, we are just in rescue mode and we really need this rain to stop and the storm to pass, and then when it gets time to the build, we will need the government to come alongside and help the people that need help to rebuild. Add to get back to some sort of normalcy in our lives. I really feel like in our local city, that people are willing to help people and we do expect the government to help us, it always happens. We just are trusting that when this is over and the water recedes and we get the clean up and build up that they are going to be there and theyre going to be ready. Because so many of those people that youre helping either going to be out of their homes for months and months. The people acknowledge that, do you think . Yes, that is the despair, the thing that sets in that they dont realise. Initially youre just happy youre not in the rising water, youre not sitting at home would be what rising, but after a while you start to realise i will have to wrap it all my carpets and either sit september rebuild and do i have the funds, do i not . Do i have an insurance policy . So many things run through your minds and youre right, this is a long situation. It is nowhere near over andl situation. It is nowhere near over and i think it will take an entire community to come together to help people as much as we can. So much we can do but we cant do everything. I ran command central view that our church and it was very castrating to get calls of panic individuals and have to try to help them on the phone and get somebody to them. It is something you dont realise until you experience it. Its really good of view to the bbc at such a difficult and exhausting time for yourself so we wish you and the community all the very best. Thank you so much to you and all the people youre helping. That is from katy in texas, not too far from houston. So striking that he was saying he was looking forward to when this is all over. Regrettably, we know this is not yet all overran wholl be finding out about the weather element of love this little bit later in the hour, but we know sadly first used in there as more rain to come in the next few days. He was an excellent example other of the local work going on to help people, but people sleeping in emergency accommodation for a very long time to come, one imagines. Thats just a flavour of the help thatis thats just a flavour of the help that is being given by volunteers like him. President and the first lady had just landed texas. The past that we we re just landed texas. The past that we were talking to said he simply has got to trust that when this grim pattern of weather is over and the water has receded that the government will help with everything thatis government will help with everything that is needed. Pastor. He said the government has helped in the past and we just have to trust that happens again because people will have lost everything. We know many hundreds of thousands of people in total a re hundreds of thousands of people in total are going to need assistance of some kind. Even those who one day may be able to return to their homes, they will need some kind of help. The president and Melania Trump have clearly got changed on the plane, they are ready to go out and see the relief effort, the rescue effort that is going on in certain areas. There are in Corpus Christi and they will then go to the state capital austin. No state no suggestion that theyre going to houston itself. They will certainly be headed to the state capital austin. Much more on this story in the next 30 minutes. But lets turn first to the weather forecast. Such a first to the weather forecast. Sucha grim first to the weather forecast. Such a grim picture for so many people. Absolutely. They had about one metre, 1. 2 metres of rainjust absolutely. They had about one metre, 1. 2 metres of rain just south of houston. Double what london would get in the course of the year. And more still to come. A terrible situation. Here in the uk it is very quiet right now, just little bits and pieces of rainfall coming in from this cloud. But it has been a warm day with temperatures up to 29 degrees in kent. But for most a lot fresher than that, these are the temperature is more or less right now. Mostly in the team. Tonight some rain here in and there, even some rain here in and there, even some thunder possible. A few showers in scotland. But for many quite dry and fresh night. Then tomorrow a lot more clout in southern parts of the uk and some rain in the south east. Many western and northern parts having a bright day with some showers and these are the temperatures for tomorrow. This is bbc news at five the headlines. A major dam outside houston has begun spilling over as storm harvey pushes the reservoir past capacity. Rescuers continue to search for people stranded in their homes, thousands of people have been forced to flee americas fourth most populous city. Sirens sound as north korea fires a missile overjapan thought to be the first ballistic weapon over the country. Japans Prime Minister says its an unprecedented threat. And an attempt to curb excessive salaries the government says listed companies will have to reveal the pay ratio between bosses and workers. Waterloo station that was supposed to get back to normal today that several trains were cancelled this morning due to signal problems. The head of network rail apologised to passengers. Lets get an update from danjohnson. Passengers. Lets get an update from dan johnson. How is passengers. Lets get an update from danjohnson. How is it looking . Still some trains are delayed and some cancelled as well, some people will have long delays getting home tonight. They had disruption on the way in this morning and this comes on top of that miserable months of disruption throughout the services coming into the station because network rail was carrying out work to make platforms longer so that longer trains could eventually come here and more passengers will be able to get through. This is already the busiest transport hub in the uk and today it has not been as busy as normal because of the time of year. That is why network rail took the opportunity to do this work now but things overran this morning and that army of engineers were here for a bit longer than they shouldve been. That prompted the disruption and although Train Services tried to get back on track the day, promising that things would be all right by 12 oclock, then two oclock, then three oclock, there is still disruption tonight and we have helpers giving passengers information and handing out bottles of water trying to help people to chill out on the commute home. But a difficult day for passengers coming through the station and some of the other main stations in london as well. They are closed because of other Engineering Projects scheduled through the week. So delays at Charing Cross and London Bridge as well. Thank you. An update on everything happening in texas soon. But first the sports news. Heres leah boleto. Lets bring you right up to date with the final day of the 2nd test between england and the west indies at headingly and the tourists are closing in on a surprise victory to lervel the series. Thats mainly down to some superb west indies batting from Kraigg Brathwaite from an opener who defied the england attack for most the day. Along with shai hope, brathwaite put on 144 for the third wicket when he was caught by ben strokes off the bowling of moeen ali for 95. But hope is still going well and closing in on his second century of the match. So this is the latest west indies are 256 4 roston chase the last batsman out caught brilliantly by substitute fielder mason crane off the bowling of chris woakes. Hope still there on 93. West indies now need 66 runs to win. We understand Manchester City are due to make a formal approach to sign Alexis Sanchez from arsenal. The Chile International is out of contract next summer and is yet to agree a new contract at the emirates. Sanchez scored 2a league goals for arsne wenger last season. Pep guardiola the city boss sold sanchez to arsenal when he was in charge at barcelona. Another man whos out of contract at arsenal looks set to join chelsea. The premier League Champions have agreed a fee of a0 Million Pounds for alex 0xlade chamberlain. The england midfielder has turned down a new deal at the emirates. Well weve had all kinds of records broken in the transfer window. Roy keane has said that they are mind boggling and also claimed that former team mate ryan biggs would be worth £2 billion in the market today. Youve played with some great players, ruud Van Nistelrooy. Ruud Van Nistelrooy on the market now would be worth a billion probably. David beckham . Would be worth a billion probably. David beckham . A billion. Ryan giggs. 2 billion. Roy keane. 3. 75 million britains chris froome has maintained his 36 second lead after stage ten of the vuelta a espana. After 102 miles in the saddle italys Matteo Trentin held off spains Jose Joaquin Rojas to claim victory. Froome crossed the line four and a half minutes later alongside his main rival esteban chaves. Although the colombian is nowjoint second with irelands Nicolas Roach who made up time on the final descent. Prime minister theresa may today described this summer as a watershed for womens sport as she played host to englands cricket and Rugby Union Teams at downing street. Englands Rugby Union Team narrowly lost the World Cup Final to new zealand on saturday but the cricketers, led by heather knight, went one better and lifted the world cup after a dramatic final win over india at lords. The Prime Minister described the players of both teams as wonderful ambassadors. I have been fortunate to come here a couple of times. With previous Prime Ministers. It is always a huge honour to be invited here. I understand it may is a fan of cricket and hopefully she enjoyed coming here to have a chat with a few of us and the rugby girls as well. Thats all sport for now. Ill have more in sportsday at half past six. Floodwaters in houston, texas are expected to rise still further after officials warned that two dams near the city have begun to overflow. More than 30,000 people have been forced from their homes in the wake of Tropical Storm harvey, which has set a new record for rainfall in the state. The rain has been falling since last friday. Some places have seen more than forty inches of rain thats the darker areas. The greatest danger may be yet to come, with floodwaters rising in several rivers which are expected to flood at some stage. In the last hour Major General james witham, the National Guard bureaus director of domestic 0perations gave an update on the rescue efforts. There is a great deal of rescues occurring by the minute. Those that the National Guard has either directly done or supported, over 3500 personnel rescued, most of those have been by some kind of boat. These also include almost 300 hoist rescues which as you know are technically difficult in terms of hoisting people where they are inaccessible by any other method. Also 300 animal rescues have occurred so not only humans but also pets and as we continue to alleviate the pain and suffering that the citizens of texas are experiencing right now. As the storm continues to move right now. As the storm continues to m ove a cross right now. As the storm continues to move across the gulf again it could potentially make a third landfall, louisiana is preparing for that. The state continues to position equipment in advance of anticipated large flooding across the south west portion of louisiana in particular. The remnants of Hurricane Harvey have now begun to spin toward neighbouring louisiana. One of the areas that has been affected is lake charles, where a number of homes were flooded overnight, with more rain expected. We can now talk to the mayor of lake charles, nic hunter. Thank you for talking to bbc. How are things for you at the moment . Were doing 0k. Are things for you at the moment . Were doing ok. We are in south west louisiana so we had some heavy rain last night. Thank god what we have experienced has not been to the level of what our neighbours to the west have experienced. But we have about 400, 500 people last night that had to evacuate areas of the city. And again thank god im happy to report as of now we have not had any fatalities or injuries in our area. We have been proactive in warning citizens what is to come. Would it be fair to say that there is more nervousness where you are because you will be working alongside people who sadly remember all too well Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of that. Is that preying on peoples minds . Well i think it has made us stronger full stop we had hurricane rita wright after Hurricane Katrina. It has made us more prepared through our unity. And we are a very resilient people. Im inspired by everyday citizens are stepping up to provide food and water and shelter. Were going to get through this. The line is quite difficult but i know youre saying it is making the community stronger. 0ur it is making the community stronger. Our people very prepared, are the people who are leaving their homes in advance because theyre nervous . How would you describe what people are going to be doing in the next few days . Yes we are trying to be very proactive. Were trying to be proactive, we had some homes flooding last night, some of the water. This is not only government stepping up but everyday citizens, with people coming together to protect their community. Good review to talk to us. Thank you so much. Some difficulty with that line but we got the sense that people are prepared and that was his assessment anyway, people are ready for whatever it may await them. And we we will talk more about the weather element of this little bit later in hour. Lets speak to anneke green shes now a columnist at real clear politics but in 2005 was a speech writer for George W Bush the president who had to deal with Hurricane Katrina, which devastated new orleans. Good evening. Your thoughts first broadly as someone who has lived through a Natural Disaster like this, your thoughts about what has been happening so far and how people have been responding . Welll been happening so far and how people have been responding . Well i was in the white house with George W Bush when Hurricane Katrina hit and then in the aftermath i took the truck down to new orleans to try to find out how people were doing. Because the infrastructure was so destroyed that you could not even Contact People by phone. Living through this, trying to deal with the storm, there are lessons that the Trump Administration i would say is taking heed. The press pool has asked if they will fly over houston and they do not have an answer on that yet but sometimes the best gesture after a storm can be misinterpreted. Of course the criticism was that the administration back then was slow to react and that the preparatory work was not done. I was there and interviewed meteorologists said we we re interviewed meteorologists said we were warned that this was going to happen and people were allowed to stay in their homes. So in that regard think lessons have been learned . I think so although there is still that the bait, when Hurricane Katrina hit, immediate responses have to be at local level but with Hurricane Katrina when local efforts were inadequate there was expectation that the federal government would step in in greater capacity. So now i think the federal response is more prepared. And theyre looking at the state and local efforts. Even as he communicates that the federal government is ready to step in. There are still that debate, i know the mayor of houston has come under fire for telling residents not to evacuate and then so many of them have become stuck in the floodwaters. So is it helpful that President Trump and the first lady are arriving there today, is that helpful or is it only helpful depending on what they say to those thousands of people who have been affected, and many will not be able to go back into their homes . Theres a lwa ys to go back into their homes . Theres always that assessment that has to be made. But it should not detract from rescue efforts. At the same time as often as psychological and emotional benefit to leader showing that they care. We seen that in 2001 when president bush went to ground zero and climbed on top of rubble and said to people, i hear you. And that was off the cuff for him. I think the Trump Administration is saying we will not be going into houston, we do not want to hold back any houston, we do not want to hold back a ny resources houston, we do not want to hold back any resources there that are needed. But he wants to show that he cares about what is happening. Thank you very much. Environmental lawyers are questioning whether events like Hurricane Harvey can still be regarded as acts of god or whether they can be linked to man made Climate Change. Writing in the journal nature geoscience, they argue that blame for events previously regarded as Natural Disasters could be apportioned to company directors, Government Agencies and others with a duty of care to the environment. Im joined now by our environment analyst, roger harrabin. This is very interesting, explain what the essence is of what theyre saying. Theyre saying that an event like this as we seeing at the moment is clearly natural, a Natural Disaster. And indeed there has been no increase in the frequency of these kind of events in the southern us. However there is anotherfact here that the warming of the climate has led to an expansion of the sea level so if there is a storm surge, thatis level so if there is a storm surge, that is running on a higher sea level and likely to flood more people. The other basic scientific fa ct people. The other basic scientific fact is warmer air carries more water. Therefore Climate Change is in some way implicated with the events taking place and particularly to do with the impact of those events. The lawyers are saying as we can say now, we cannot say that these events are purely acts of god, during Natural Disasters, humans are involved and in some way can be held responsible. Particularly interesting in the United States which is the litigious culture. Are the people saying this is considered to be out on a limb or is that kind of commentary gaining currency . Environmental lawyers have said for about 15 years that they would find some way through the legal system to attack on Climate Change but frankly the science was not there. But in recent yea rs new the science was not there. But in recent years new science has developed, attribution science, and scientists calculate with an event like this one, they say what the likelihood be of that amount of rain fall happening under normal circumstances and what is the extra amount added by man made Climate Change, that science is still in the embassy but Getting Better and as computers get better and stronger they will get a better handle on the probabilities. That these things have been exacerbated by Climate Change. And they think, that given time they will have enough evidence and enough strength of evidence to ta ke and enough strength of evidence to take those cases through the courts successfully. Really interesting. And where does this go from here . Is it just and where does this go from here . Is itjust an and where does this go from here . Is it just an intellectual debate . Scientists always say when asked questions, when it comes to climate modelling they say give us Better Computers but they are improving now and as that happens the evidence will get better. Currently, President Trump said that he wants to pull out of the climate deal, and then were left with no recourse from the International Community, no comeback on that. The usa cannot be punished in any way but the lawyers are suggesting perhaps given time and Better Computers and evidence they will find a to punish whether it be the us or any other country in the courts. Find a way. It be the us or any other country in the courts. Find a way. This is an image of the storm and told from the International Space station. Very interesting. Thank you very much. Much more from texas coming up on the six oclock news. Just one more main story today. Listed companies are to be forced to publish what their bosses are paid compared to workers. But some people say the government has retreated from stronger measures to curb boardroom pay. Andy verity reports. Ever since she entered downing street, the Prime Minister has attacked excessive executive pay. We all know that in recent years, the reputation of business as a whole has been bruised. That when a minority of businesses and business figures appear to game the system and work to a different set of rules. Im putting you on warning, this cant go on anymore. A change has got to come, and this party is going to make it. Last year, the chief executives of the 100 Biggest Companies listed in london were paid an average of £4. 5 million, 129 times the salary of the average british worker. What an average worker earns in a year, a chief executive can make in less than three days. The governments plan is to force companies to publish how much the chief executive earns compared to the average worker. When boards are setting pay and when theyre disclosing pay, they shouldnt do itjust with an eye on pay in the board, but they should look at pay across the company and be prepared to set out publicly how they can justify boardroom pay in the context of the pay that the rest of the workforce get. The proposals have been welcomed by the accountants who report Company Figures to shareholders. Anything which will boost transparency around this area and make people understand better how companies are run and the say different stakeholders can have and the potential for making a difference is vitally important. But the reforms can be confusing. Charlie mayfield, chairman ofjohn lewis, which owns waitrose, was recently paid just over £1 million. 73 times the average pay of non management staff. At the same time, the former uk head of Investment Bank goldman sachs, michael sherwood, was paid more than £15 million, only 45 times as much as the highly paid employees who average more than £300,000 each. The problems with pay seem to be at the larger end of the corporate universe, the big companies. And if you look at the Historical Performance record of those who perform the least, they clearly have a lot of lobbying power in actually trying to resist a lot of this stuff. But the political impetus does seem to be growing for change. In todays reforms, theres no sign of a previous promise of annual binding votes by shareholders on directors pay. The pay gap between directors and employees will become more obvious than ever. It is less obvious how that gap might shrink. Much more coming up in the six oclock news. All the latest in the situation in north korea and over in the United States without flooding. Time for a look at the weather, heres tomasz. What is the picture right now . Lets ta ke what is the picture right now . Lets take a closer look at the storm. Here we have the radar. There we go. This is the radar showing where it is raining, this is the centre of the storm, the kind of core, the engine driving the whole weather system. And you can see it is bringing a lot of rainfall into houston and new orleans. The point is this area has been there for a kick is this area has been there for a kick for a considerable amount of time. The good thing would be for the storm to finally move back inland and when it does all the circulation would fall apart and then the rain would start to ease. So the storm going back inland is a good thing. But that is not anticipated for some time yet. Weve had over a metre of rain in houston and still more to come because the centre is just so painfully slow moving, around six miles an hour which is walking pace. So today we had a bit of sunshine today, some cloud as well, temperatures getting up cloud as well, temperatures getting up to 29 degrees in kent. As far as this evening is concerned we have maybe some spots of rain across parts of the midlands and east anglia. Still quite warm, 23 in london. Then tonight some rain possible across south eastern areas and the south west of england and wales. A bit fresher than last night especially across the south. More like the low teens tonight. Here is the weather front for tomorrow, affecting southern parts of the country. And a big drop in temperature tomorrow in kent, almost 30 degrees today but tomorrow Something Like 15. Many Western Areas enjoying quite a decent day. So this is around four oclock tomorrow, not a pretty picture. Temperatures around 15 degrees in london. For western and Northern Areas much brighter, a mixture of sunshine and showers. So tomorrow for many western and Northern Areas it will be quite a find a. Enjoy the sunshine tomorrow if you have it. Quite a fine day. That is it for me. Tonight at six President Trump says all options are on the table after north korea fires a missile across japan. Siren millions of residents in northern japan woke up to the sound of air raid sirens. Its unacceptable. They have violated every single Un Security Council resolution that weve had, so i think something serious has to happen. North korea has carried out a series of missile tests recently, ignoring international condemnation. This was north koreas most provocative Missile Launch yet. Well look at what can be done. Also tonight a new Flood Warning to tens of thousands of people in houston two dams are overflowing. Thankfulfor thankful for these people, i