Border Patrol says it has made about 450 rescues

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says it has rescued about 450 people since dispatching vessels to the Houston area on Monday.

John Morris, chief of staff in South Texas, says agents are not enforcing immigration laws and are "absolutely 100 percent here for rescue and safety."

Morris says the agency had 35 boats navigating flooded streets on Thursday. They were brought from stations that patrol areas along the Rio Grande, which is the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

The Border Patrol did not suspend highway checkpoints in Texas when the storm moved into parts of the state, drawing criticism from advocates who said lives were being put at risk. The arrival of Border Patrol boats in Houston has put some immigrants on edge, but agency leaders have been emphatic that they are only being used for search and rescue.

Meanwhile, a company that operates a pipeline that moves nearly 40 percent of the South's gasoline estimates it will resume carrying fuel through Texas by Sunday.

Steve Baker, a spokesman for Colonial Pipeline, said today the pipeline is underwater in parts of Texas dealing with flooding from Harvey and those sections would have to be inspected before it could resume operating. But he says the pipeline is still operating from Louisiana to the eastern states, though deliveries will be "intermittent."

Reopening the shuttered Texas sections of pipeline could help avoid major gas shortages, but huge challenges remain, as several giant Texas refineries were shut down due to the storm.

All of these problems have sent gasoline prices surging. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has risen from about $2.35 a week ago to $2.45 now.