28/08/2017 BBC News at Ten

A disaster of historic proportions - as America's fourth-largest city

is hit by a year's rainfall in one week.

Up to 2,000 people have been rescued - many plucked to safety

from rooftops by helicopter - as the entire Texas National Guard

We are just beginning the process of beginning

As thousands flee Tropical Storm Harvey, forecasters warn that worse

is to come and neighbouring Louisiana could be hit next.

We'll be analysing the scale of the disaster, as Donald Trump

Also tonight: the region tomorrow.

Frustration in Brussels - as the third round of Brexit

talks get under way, the EU's chief negotiatior tells

Experts are investigating a mysterious gas cloud which left

150 people needing hospital treatment after it hit

Words that only three people can understand -

we ask should dying languages be saved?

And sizzling sun and sensational sounds -

it can only be the Notting Hill Carnival.

The authorities in Texas tonight said they were still very much

in a search and rescue operation in the aftermath of

Tropical Storm Harvey - which has brought devastation

Aerial pictures today show the effect of the most powerful

storm to have hit Texas in more than 50 years.

Nearly half a million people are in need of help

following severe flooding caused by torrential rains.

Some 30,000 are temporarily homeless in Houston -

the fourth largest city in the United States.

Early estimates of losses are said to approach

From Houston, James Cook sent this report.

Wake up. Wake up. In Texas today, every stranger is a friend. You made

it. Exhausted, unable even to stand, but she is safe. You made it. OK.

All day long they have struggled to safety. Family after family

abandoning their homes to the water. Anything that would float became

part of this makeshift Armada. People are pulling together, but

many say they had no choice. They had called for help, but no one

came. We saw neighbours, we helped the neighbours, people came in with

boats. But not enough help. None from the authorities? None, they

have been useless. They have been overwhelmed by the scale of the

crisis. Three days after Hurricane Harvey smashed into the state,

Texans are still struggling. In the end it wasn't police or firefighter

who came to the rescue here, but friends with a boat. They called 911

and there was no answer. You have answered the call. We happened to be

here and we had a boat and a truck. That is happening all over. Y all

over Houston. In the cold and the rain, the helping hand was warmly

welcomed. You must be grateful to those guys. Of course, grateful to

the whole community, Houston being together and helping each other out.

That is touching and I was saying to my mom, I wish I had something to go

out and hope at moments like this we need it. This frenetic activity as

boats go up and down the river. These vessel has rescued 30 people

and the situation is developing quickly. On the roof tops of flooded

houses, many more are still waiting to be rescued. In desperation, all

they can do is to cling on and call for help. In Houston more than 20

helicopters are flying rescue missions, but pulling people from

the floods is delicate and dangerous. As Texas brings in the

national guard, the state prepares for a presidential visit. It is a

historic amount of water. There has never been anything like it. So the

people are handling it well and the people of Texas have really

persevered and when you watch the spirit and the enthusiasm and

helping each other, the teamwork, it is something. Texas is now saturated

and is struggling. Thousands have made to it safety. But the waters

keep on rising. And the lone star state is swamped.

Flooding has also been reported in towns in central Texas -

where the Colorado River has reached levels not seen for a hundred years.

Nada Tawfik is in La Grange - where a mandatory evacuation

Well it has been days since Harvey has made land fall. But in

communities here, they're just now feeling its impact. Here in La

Grange we are more than one hundred miles west of Houston. Out of

storm's path, but still within reach of its destruction.

The only way into La Grange today was on the back of

Authorities were left scrambling to evacuate those who

were caught up in the storm's wide range.

More than 50 residents at this nursing home were moved to the

Tropical Storm Harvey has turned this town

into an island in the middle of the Colorado River.

All people can do now is look on in disbelief as the water

The roof of the house might be sticking out of the water, which is

So your entire house is now submerged?

Yes, everybody's house back there is submerged.

How much do you think you have lost in the flood?

Oh it's, I couldn't put a price on it right now.

The devastation here has absolutely shocked residents of

Now the Colorado River, not from far here, burst its banks

and has absolutely submerged this small town's main street and in

some cases people have lost everything.

Mike thought the mandatory evacuation was unnecessary.

It took just a few hours for his house to be swallowed

Tropical Storm Harvey has been unpredictable and merciless.

It's left residents here numb and astonished in its wake.

James - President Trump is heading to Texas tomorrow?

That's right. He will find a state that is in a real state of crisis.

And in which a disaster continues to unfold. I don't imagine he will be

able to visit Houston, simply because the authorities here are

finding it very difficult to cope with what is a continuing emergency

and I don't really understand how they could manage to deal with a

presidential visit at the same time. But maybe I will be wrong. We are

being told he will go to Corpus Christi, about 30 miles from where

Hurricane Harvey came ashore. But to give you an update here, people here

are still being brought out. That has been happening all day. Hours

and hours and hours has gone by and they keep coming. The scale of this

is really enormous. There is more rain to come and it has rained very

heavy all day. This is not over. Thank you.

End the ambiguity - that was the seemingly frustrated message

to the UK from the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier,

as he sat down for a third round of talks on Brexit.

He expressed concern about progress made so far

and warned that UK "ambiguity" must be removed

and progress on "separation" issues made.

For his part, Brexit Secretary David Davis

said both sides had to show "flexibility and imagination".

From Brussels, Damian Grammaticas reports.

Gliding into EU head quarters, David Davis, the summer almost over, it is

now that the Brexit stakes get serious. Don't be fooled by the

smiles between the negotiators. Serious tensions are brewing. To be

honest I'm concerned. Time passes quickly. From the EU's Michel

Barnier, frustration. We must start negotiating seriously. We need UK

papers that are clear, in order to have constructive negotiations. It

is money that he means. The UK's Brexit bill. From David Davis a

Combative response. We want to lock in the points where we agree. Unpick

the areas where we disagree and make further progress on the whole range

of issues. But in order to do that, we will require flexibility and

imagination from both sides. David Davis and his team stung by

accusations they were unprepared the last time have prepared a raft of

papers, but the EU say these lack detail and magical thinking they

could them and they stay these are aspirational and not to do what is

being talked about now. David Davis wants to get on

discussing the future relationship with sea, but the EU will only for

now addressed separation issues. It is EU leaders who have set these

conditions. Today, Angela Merkel was meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris,

seemingly in lockstep. They insist the UK must agree to pay its dues

before trade talks will begin. And another congregation for David

Davis, the shifting politics back home, Labour now backing continued

membership of the single market and customs union for a transition, a

clear contrast to the Government's position. Damian Grammaticas, BBC

News, Brussels. A lorry driver has appeared in court

following a crash on the M1 motorway Two lorries and a minibus

were involved in the collision Ryszard Masierak is charged

with 12 counts of causing death or serious injury

by dangerous driving and eight counts

of causing death by drink-driving. Experts are still trying to work out

what caused around 150 people to be treated in hospital

after being affected by a chemical haze that drifted

in off the sea on the south coast Amanda Akass sent

this report from Birling Gap - the area near Beachy Head in East

Sussex which was worst affected. for a bank-holiday day out

at the seaside. But around five o'clock yesterday,

the area was engulfed by a toxic chemical cloud which led

to the evacuation of a whole stretch of coastline and 150 people needing

treatment in hospital. We all panicked, everyone,

you know, anxiety was high, and we were all shaking and getting

really nervous and everything but We had itchy eyes, sore throat,

throbbing head and nausea. The fumes also affected

the lifeboat crews sent out to help. We actually went straight

into this cloud, which we weren't aware about

at the time, and we could feel our eyes

burning straightaway. So we advised the coastguards,

and we were told to stay inside the lifeboat,

close all the doors This morning,

Sussex Police announced the gas cloud had

completely dissipated, but the authorities still

don't know what was in it. As to what caused the haze,

well, the coastguards say that the English Channel

was particularly busy with shipping at the time,

and they're currently looking into all the vessels

in the area yesterday. While investigations continue,

though, people on the beach today didn't want to let anything

stop them getting Now to India,

where a controversial guru has been jailed for 20 years

for raping two of his followers. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction

last week triggered large-scale riots by his devotees

in which 38 people were killed. Thousands of police have been

deployed to the region where his movement is based

amid fears of further unrest. A nurse serving a life sentence

for murdering two patients in Germany is now a suspect

in at least 84 other murder cases, Niels Hogel was convicted

and jailed two years ago for giving lethal drug injections

to intensive-care patients. If found guilty, it could make him

Germany's worst post-war killer, In 2015, Niels Hogel was jailed

for two murders. Today, police revealed

they have evidence he killed around 90 other people

in his care, and they suspect, though they can't

prove, he murdered dozens more. TRANSLATION: If the clues had been

duly investigated at the time, even in Delmenhorst Hospital,

then the deaths of many patients, in our opinion,

could have been prevented. Hogel's apparent motive -

to impress his hospital colleagues. He would overdose patients,

triggering a heart attack, Hard to imagine such

a deadly pattern could go unnoticed. TRANSLATION: The current

circumstances lead to the conclusion that Niels H had an unlawful

and deadly impact on patients. Tonight, difficult questions -

who suspected, who knew, and by turning a blind eye,

for how long did they facilitate who may yet emerge as post-war

Germany's deadliest serial killer? There are thought to be around 2,000

languages spoken across Africa. But globalisation has increased

concerns that languages that have held communities together

for centuries could soon disappear, as people try to assimilate

in the modern world. In the first of a series

looking at changing Africa, Pumza Fihlani has spent time

with the San - indigenous hunter-gatherers who were the first

inhabitants southern Africa - to ask why dying languages

should be kept alive. Catriona is one of the last three

fluent speakers of Njuu. At 84, she and her older

sisters are trying to preserve the language

of their childhood - now acknowledged by the UN

as severely at risk. Catriona has turned her house

in the Northern Cape into a school. For a few hours a week,

local children come here to learn the 112 distinct sounds

and 45 different clicks of Njuu. Like many other

African languages, it's been passed down

orally through generation and that has threatened

its survival. To stop it being consigned

to the history books, Catriona and her family

have joined with linguists to create an alphabet

and basic rules of grammar - the beginnings of a

documented language. She is working hard to make sure

that their language outlives them. But her reach is restricted

to these walls. About three hours from here, though,

another indigenous community is looking to modern means

for the answer. Here in Springbuck,

Dina's radio show connects 70,000 Nama speakers

across the continent. The era of apartheid left

the people splintered, as one of South Africa's

11 official languages. The white man come in, and they say,

"You don't speak Nama," and we have no power,

because we cannot fight back, As traditional societies

fight to remain relevant in a modern world,

what is it about language that makes so it critical

to the survival of a culture? If you don't have language,

you don't have identity. That is Nama, but

I'm talking in English to you. What am I, am I English,

Scottish, what am I? So I want everybody

to recognise me as a Nama. and therefore a legacy

for future generations. Tennis now, and the British number

one Johanna Konta has been knocked out of the US

Open in the first round. She was beaten 2-1 by world number

78 Aleksandra Krunic. Earlier in the day, there was better

news for Britain's Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie, who reached

the US Open second round, but compatriot Heather Watson

is out. Well, it's been the hottest August

late bank holiday for 50 years in parts of the UK,

and hundreds of thousands of revellers descended

on Notting Hill to enjoy the sunshine on the final

day of carnival. Europe's biggest street festival

didn't disappoint. Everyone can be king

or queen at carnival. It's flamboyant, eccentric,

extravagant - I'm going to say roots reggae

music is earth music. Heroes of the sound system playing

to crowds in their thousands. Through this sound system,

we're giving a message, yeah? A message of love, hope

and unity for everybody. But as I hear the music,

and that bassline resonates through my body, like I say,

it's a spirit that wakes up, and it's just higher, higher,

higher until it just go boom! Carnival is the Caribbean,

with its culture and music. ARCHIVE: This street festival

in Notting Hill is itself part

of a voluntary social service... It was a celebration started

by West Indian immigrants facing racism and inequality

in London in the 1960s. Now it's the biggest street party

in Europe. Notting Hill is ten times bigger

than Glastonbury. at least ten steel-pan bands

and 40 sound systems. I'm from Rio de Janeiro,

I'm from Rio, and there we celebrate

carnival in February and yeah, but I really enjoy carnival here,

I recommend them to come over here. It's a year thing, like the poeple

that make the costumes, We've been doing it for 24 years

now, it is part of our life, so we wouldn't ever miss it,

we live for it. And so as the sun sets on another

Notting Hill Carnival, That's all from me,

stay with us on BBC One,