Harvey floodwaters are receding in Port Arthur, Texas
Floodwaters from Harvey have begun receding in hard-hit Port Arthur, Texas, located near where the storm made its second landfall on Tuesday.
"We had about three-fourths of our whole city was underwater at one point," Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman said Friday afternoon, according to the Port Arthur News. "And right now we can start to see some dry land in the City of Port Arthur, and we're excited about that."
More than 3,000 residents are in shelters, CBS affiliate KDFM reports. Evacuees are being taken to Dallas, and there are some shelters in Port Arthur that have FEMA registration.
Port Arthur firefighters walked in 3 feet of water to put out an electrical fire at the city's operations center for public works Friday, KDFM reports. The fire is not expected to impact water or operations in Port Arthur, city officials said.
In nearby Beaumont, floodwaters overwhelmed the city's water pumps, CBS News' Anna Werner reports. The city issued a boil water notice, KDFM reports.
City officials in Beaumont, Texas, have revealed few details about plans to bring back municipal water service.
But a spokeswoman for ExxonMobil described how the company said Friday that a team that included Exxon engineers built and installed a temporary intake pipe to the city treatment plant. Exxon has a refinery and chemical plants in Beaumont.
Exxon's Ashley Alemayehu said the company's emergency response team was already in place, and that helping the city made sense.
Alemayehu said water started pumping late Thursday night. She said a little water is flowing to homes because the city is refilling reservoirs, but it has not yet fully turned on water again.
CBS News has confirmed at least 40 people have died from Harvey. Of those 40, at least two are from Jefferson County, where Beaumont and Port Arthur are located, including a mother who was found dead clutching to her child, who was found alive.
Black smoke billowed Friday night from the Arkema chemical plant in nearby Crosby, Texas, as fire crews allowed the blaze to burn out since it's too dangerous to go in, CBS News' Kris Van Cleave reports. At least 18 first responders were taken to the hospital with a variety of issues, Van Cleave reports.
As the smoke billowed out, police put on protective gear including gas masks.
On Friday, some residents living near the Arkema chemical plant tried to get around a mandatory evacuation order to get back home but were met by road blocks.
On Thursday, officials said at a news conference that the Harris County Emergency Operations Center received reports of two explosions and black smoke coming from the plant at about 2 a.m.
