From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

America's fourth largest city, underwater.

I'm Orvin Alney, and this is To the Point.

Officials in Houston are coping with a continuing disaster.

Mayor Sylvester Turner issued this ominous warning today.

People who may not have been in a crisis state yesterday may find themselves in a crisis state today.

Thousands have been rescued with thousands more still at risk as first responders are being sent in from all over the country, as if record-breaking

rainfall wasn't enough massive releases are needed from two giant reservoirs, even though they'll make

flooding worse. We'll update an unprecedented disaster due in part to the failure of long-term planning.

On our talking point later, President Trump's pardon of Joe Arpaio, is it a sign of

more to come? First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Mormon. I'll be back with To the Point. President Trump pardoned the former sheriff Joe Arpaio last Friday before the veteran of Phoenix law enforcement had even been sentenced for contempt of federal court.

What's the message? Not just to Trump's base, but to subjects of

special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation. That's our talking point later on.

But first this update, Friday evening, Hurricane Harvey hit Rockport, Texas with 130-mile-an-hour

winds, essentially destroying a city of 10,000 people. Since then, the storm has been downgraded, but it moved east

to the city of Houston where it's been hovering since, dropping more rain than Houston has

ever seen before, creating 5,500 refugees already. Here's Mayor Sylvester Turner.

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