♪ now at 11:00 another night of powerful fast-moving storms. drenching rains and heavy winds brought down big trees including this one on the ben franklin parkway. and it was a dangerous situation in cowan township chester coun county. two drivers pulled over during the worse of the storm only to have tree fall on top of their cars. one person wound up in the hospital.

>> meantime, power outages are men full across the region tonight. the storm knocked out traffic lights in wilmington, delaware, and thousands are in the dark night. >> and break ins right now hurricane arthur is getting stronger. arthur is now a category two hurricane and those along the coast of north carolina are preparing for landfall. >> it has been another wild night of weather. good evening, i'm jessica dean. >> i'm chris may. right now peco is reporting more than 125,000 outages majority them in chester county. delmarva about 8900. we have team coverage as we keep our eye on the storm tonight. we will begin with meteorologist kate bilo in the "eyewitness weather" center. kate? >> chris, it's been couple of rough nights across the delaware valley. last night frequent lightning over 10,000 lightning strikes tonight it was mostly the wind that played a major role in damage reports all across the region and you can see we still have storms coming through at this hour moving through new england and right down into portions of delaware.

that's front also interacting with hurricane arthur, category two preparing to make landfall through the outerbanks of north carolina. let's zoom in closer on our region and as you can see we do have some storms that are now starting that refire across the area. not so much severe but heavy rain with these and even the risk for some hail. you can see it over kent county and lifting into south jersey. wee zoom in quickly on kent county, delaware. ing see that storm right over dover right now and there is a hail signature with it so the chance this is producing hail also heavy rain right along route 13 and some lightning and again this will lift toward portions of south jersey here win the next couple of hours. lightning strikes this evening when the storms were at their worse. not as bad as last night. under 2,000 lightning strikes reported between six and 9:00 p.m. last night over 10,000 so that wasn't as much of an issue but the winds were even worse. take look at this. chester pennsylvania stewart sent this photo in on eyewitness cam a tree knocked down strong gusty winds there and also you can see degree to taj and leaves littered across the street here

in philadelphia thank you to mark for sending that photo in. flash flood watch continues through tomorrow morning. even though storms are scattered through tonight they can be locally heavy producing one to 2-inches of rain in a short period of time you want to be very safe out there storms will continue to crop up in spots through the overnight and early morning hours. as this storm works its way up the eastern seaboard getting very close to landfall now coming up we'll have the latest track on hurricane arthur and its potential ums for our area for the fourth of july. chris, back over to you. >> there's a lot to clean up in several parts of the area tonight. our live team coverage continues with natasha brown whose in northeast philadelphia and natasha that area was hit especially hard. >> reporter: absolutely, chris. this is a lovely tree lined street usually but take look here behind me. this particular tree in the 6300 block of newtown avenue was certainly no match for the high winds that swept through earli earlier. the homeowner is okay. her property clearly is not.

fears lightning, heavy downpours and high winds swept through the region leaving trees toppled and debris scattered. >> we just like their seconds before it happened. >> reporter: one of the hardest hit areas northeast philadelphia where this home own are in quickly realized the power of mother nature. >> like a bomb, big bomb. >> reporter: this woman was inside her home with her two year old daughter when a huge tree nearly came crashing through her house. >> very scary. my first time see something like that. >> reporter: her porch and white car were crushed by the fallen tree. a few miles away, another tree crashed down on to a vacant home along cottman avenue. a trail of destruction from a fast-moving storm that lasted only briefly. >> that's terrible. that's really terrible. i feel bad. >> james wright stairs at his neighbor's damaged home in awe knowing that it could have been his home across the street. he spent thousands he says trying to make sure his property would be spared from storm winds

that seemed to show no mercy. >> i spent over $10,000 cutting down these trees. >> reporter: we can tell you at this hour, that peco is still dealing with 30,000 customers without power. meantime the homeowner here has still not been allowed to get back inside her home to assess the extent of the damage for safety reasons and her neighbor right next door also suffered some damage to her car. she was not home at the time and we're not sure if she even knows what's happened here. we're live in northeast philadelphia tonight, natasha brown cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> natasha, thank you very much. and thanks to those of you who sent us pictures and video tonight. check out this shot from alex dougherty in chadds ford, chester county. the storm there brought down that big tree. luckily it fell away from the house. and into a yard. the owner of this car was not as lucky. john from glenside sent this puck cher. it shows a large tree that toppled on top of that automobile. and sites like this awfully common tonight. storm clouds, dark skies this

feet sent in from jessica watson in elk township, new jersey. so our thanks to her. when severe weather strikes, you can help us tell the storm story by sending in eyewitness pictures. it's easy to do on twitter use the hash tag cbs-3 storm. or send them directly via new cbs philly weather app. >> right now hurricane arthur is gathering strength and it has its site set on the carolina coast. evacuation orders are in place for some areas along the coast. and coming up in about 10 minutes, we'll check in with cbs news correspondent craig boswe boswell. he's live in nags head where the conditions are gettin getting wy the minute. >> people down the shore others headed to the shore all want to see how arthur could affect their plans. "eyewitness news" reporter todd quinones is live on the boardwalk in ocean city. todd what's it like now? >> reporter: jessica, right now tonight it's great night to be out on the boardwalk here in ocean city, but, you know, concerns about rough seas tomorrow prompted the city of

ocean city to postpone the fireworks show until saturday night june 9th at 7:30 because they're fearing the safety of people working out on the for works barge. ♪ >> reporter: it's a party like atmosphere here on the ocean city boardwalk. >> fourth of july, 2014 we're rocking. >> reporter: tourists are ready to unwind and have good time as we celebrate our nation's birthday. >> we love it. we come every year. we have a house in margate. >> i like to go in the water at the beach. >> reporter: but un59 ited guest by the name of arthur is charging up the coastline threatening to churn up rough surf and big waves according to the ocean city beach patrol. >> looking four to five the next 12 hours and it might bum up to six plus feet. >> reporter: storms in the area are being blamed for rough surf on thursday. >> keep it close to the beach and you shall be fine. >> reporter: plan owing going in the water. >> yeah, i'm coming back down

tomorrow. >> reporter: thanks to hurricane arthur for safety reasons there could be some restrictions for people heading into the water friday. >> worry not allowing any type of raft in at all. probably tomorrow at all. and then trying to keep everyone waist deep water. >> reporter: so once again the fireworks show here in ocean city has been postponed until saturday, july 5th at 9:30. reporting live tonight in ocean city, todd quinones cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> good looking crowd there. very patriotic todd, thanks so much. >> you can stay on top of the storms and the holiday weekend forecast by downloading the new cbs philly weather app. check live radar get severe weather alerts and even send us any weather photos you might take. it's now available in the app store. the threat of severe weather will not delay the welcome america celebrations in philadelphia tomorrow. crews are pre paring the stage outside of independence mall for an appearance from vice-president joe biden. he'll attend the celebration of freedom ceremony which is the

day's first event. as you can imagine with the vice-president in town security there will be very tight. >> the welcome america concert stage is set up tonight. but one of the big acts has canceled. ari yann in a grande won't be a able to perform due to personal reasons. tomorrow's concert on the parkway will be followed by a big firework show that will light up the philadelphia sky. of course the best place to get the latest on the fourth of july events and any last minute changes is our website cbsphilly.com. >> authorities in cape may county believe they have recovered the body of a teenager who disappeared while swimming last weekend. 14 year old cory hospital manned got caught up in rip current near the ninth street jet see in ocean city sunday night. police say hammond's body was found here the ocean city longport bridge around 12:30 this afternoon. >> new tonight, a pair of jewel thieves wanted in cape may, new jersey, apparently struck again this time in the baltimore area.

this is video of robert antoine weathers and robin tracy nelson swiping $100,000 worth of rings from artisan's out cove back in may. suspects distracted store employees then grabbed that jewelry. police say weathers and nelson pulled that same trick at the baltimore store. they're also wanted for jewelry heists in south carolina, michigan, ohio and pennsylvania. >> new information out of feltonville tonight a woman was found dead inside of a basement freezer. her son has now been charged with abuse of a corporation. this is our first look at william, he surrendered to police today. his 83 year old mother andrea was found in that freezer on north lee street on tuesday. but what happened to her is still under investigation. family members say that he toll them he put his mother's body in the freezer after she died following a fall. the front of a laundromat in kensington looked like a war zone this afternoon. after a big sign crashed down on some parked cars.

this happened in the 2100 block of east allegheny avenue just after 2:00 o'clock today. a couple of customers were inside that store at the time but that were not hur. l andism says that the heavy rain last night could be partially to blame for that collapse. >> all eyes are on arthur tonight. this is new video of the category two hurricane from space. it's expected to make landfall in just a few hours. when we come back, we'll go to north carolina where residents and vacationers are bracing for the worst. >> kate? >> and chris, arthur strengthening as it prepares to make that landfall. it looks like the eye is just about to move on shore there in the outerbanks of north caroli carolina. then it sips up the coast. what are the impacts for our shore communities? we'll have that and the seven day forecast coming up. >> also, new information about the emergency closure of a heavily traveled bridge. the warning signs that were missed. >> plus, flyers star claude giroux break his silent after his arrest in canada.

what he wants his fans to know when "eyewitness news" continues. ♪

>> back on "eyewitness news" now, take look at this time lapse of tonight' storms as they barreled through center city philadelphia. this was the view from our rooftop camera here at the cbs-3 studios. meteorologist kate bilo continues to track the possibility of showers overnig overnight. her full forecast for the fourth now just a few minutes away. >> and because of tonight's bad weather performance that usually held at independence mall had to go inside to the kimmel center instead. up in ms. mass the boston pops fireworks show was moved up tonight because of concerns over hurricane arthur. >> flyers captain claude giroux says he's sorry following his arrest and night in jail. giroux was locked up for inappropriately grabbing a police officer in ottawa. he spent tuesday night in jail but will not face charges. giroux release add statement that read in part "i regret my actions on can in today day and

sincerely apologize to my fans, teammates and the philadelphia flyers organization for my misguided attempt at humor. ". >> the democratic national convention committee is set to visit philadelphia next month. ours is among six cities competing to host the 2016 convention. the officials will do a site survey august 13th and 14th. they'll also visit birmingham, cleveland, columbus, new york city and phoenix. their decision is expected by early next year. new details coming out tonight about the emergency closure of the interstate 495 bridge in delaware. internal investigation by deldot found key warning signs were overlooked for weeks before that bridge actually closed. an inspector was called out to take a closer look at a gap growing between the north and southbound decks. did he not report anything out of the ordinary at first. >> we will be following up with him in the next week to just, you know, better understand the actions of their -- of their employee. it is very clear to me that we

did not take appropriate action. >> officials say the repairs to that bridge will take a couple more months. but they're confident it will reopen by labor day. let's go back to our continuing coverage of hurricane arthur. it is now a category two hurricane and it has the north carolina coast in its cross hairs. cbs correspondent craig boswell is live in nag head, north carolina. craig, how are the conditions shaping up there? >> reporter: deteriorating fast, chris. good evening to you. the rains have moved inform the winds are certainly picking up and blustery, blustery, blustery definitely as we move throughout this evening. tornado warnings have been issued all up and down the outerbanks. new shelters are now being opened as this weather is deteriorating. hurricane arthur began whipping up waves along the carolina coast thursday afternoon but as the sunset, arthur was only getting started. >> we're most concerned now

about flooding inland and also storm surges in our sounds and our rivers. >> reporter: evacuations toe force merchandise to leave their homes. >> we wanted to stay but they turned off our water and electric. >> reporter: while police wept door to door to record who was staying behind. >> we're going to be rocking and rolling in this house tonight. >> reporter: maryjo mckenzie is staying in her nags head home. hosting relatives for a party. she has faith the pilings beneath her house will keep it safe if not steady. >> it rocks back and forth. um, it's not that bad. sometimes it can kind of soothing. >> reporter: the wind and rain are just two of the dangers facing residents here in the outerbanks. another is complacency. city officials want everyone to be prepared. >> each storm reacts differently just because you've been through a category one before doesn't mean you'll experience the exact same thing with a category one or even category two. >> reporter: and hurricane season is just getting started.

some curfews are now in place here as officials want to keep people off the streets to keep them safe. and to keep them out of the way of any first responders that might need to get to some of these families that decided to ride this storm out. back to you, chris. >> craig, thanks very much. stay safe down there. he's right. hurricane season is just beginning and that's what's kind of worrisome about all of this. >> that's what you were saying. this is somewhat abnormal. >> it is. this time of year to see a storm this strong strengthening as it moves up the eastern seaboard this early in the season first week of july you don't see it that often it's not unheard of but generally speaking late august to mid september is kind of the peak of hurricane season. so to start off this quickly, we'll see how it bodies for the rest of hurricane season. it does look as though the east coast could be danger zone for the remainder of this season. let's take look what's happening right now with that storm. storm scan3 live it looks like we are just in awaiting game to hear about an official landfall there in the outerbanks of north carolina. the eye to me looks as though it's moving over land or very very close to moving over land

at the moment haven't gotten official wore from the national hurricane center that a landfall was made but rash less the impacts are the same and you can see the strong bands around that storm moving through portions of eastern north carolina. also interacting with front and that front what's been bringing most of the nasty weather to the northeast. you hear lot of people saying the hurricane is here. the hurricane is not here across the area this is a front end hasn'ted moisture from the storm and it has slowed the front down but that's what we're seeing here tonight you can see another round of storms lifting from portions of delaware into south jersey we are seeing heavy rain with that and even the potential for hail right now around dover this will move into portions of salem and comer land as well. showers and storms were pop up periodically through the course to have night. they're not severe but they do have heavy rain with them and also the threat for strong win winds. right now 76 at airport. 75 degrees in millville. we were in the 90s again today. meaning it's the first heat of the season. that's three straight days in the 90s this week. here's the latest on arthur now category two winds sustain at

100 miles an hour gusting to 120 the pressure keeps dropping down to 976 millibars. going to stay a category two as it makes its closest path to us but you can see moving northeast so this is going to stay away from us thanks to the curvature of our coastline not going to be direct hit for us. it will produce tropical storm conditions though in portions of massachusetts, cape cod and nantucket under warnings tonight into tomorrow. so let's track the moisture. you can see as we get into tomorrow morning we will have some showers and storms popping up mainly east of philadelphia. but showers around in philly as well. clouds hang on until about noon and then you can see most of the moisture misses us out to sea as the storm pulls away seely clouds erode and the sun will probably come out before the sun goes down. let me take you back to this graphic and show you future rainfall amounts. with the storm coming up the coast again we're not expecting much more. less than an inch from the city on west. perhaps little area of enhanced rainfall down the shore. as most of the precipitation again does miss us. out to sea. that is good news. but still some impacts down the shore. we'll show if you in just a

minute. overnight showers and thunderstorms warm and sticky, 71 degrees. tomorrow some showers in the morning then the clouds hang on but we'll clear it out by late afternoon or evening hours. worse case scenario by evening but the firework should be done. down the shore, winds northwest 15 to 20. gusts 2025. much nice sr. on saturday. if you're headed to the poconos morning showers then clearing tomorrow for the fourth of july much the weekend looks fantastic here's a quick look at your "eyewitness weather" seven day forecast which salvage most of the holiday weekend. clear it it tomorrow afternoon. the storm moves away. saturday and sunday are great. warm and steamy 99s again early next week. you can have your weather on the go any time. did you know that our brand new cbs philly app really cool app i've been using it. you can check live radar severe weather alerts and much more now available for apple products in the app store. the android version is coming soon. you can up load your photos right to us and we can get them on the air. >> we got great ones today. we did. >> kate, thanks. >> with fourth of july here

phillies fans hoping to have something to celebrate. >> who needed a win more than the phillies? six game losing strike. they accept kyle kendrick to the mound to stop the madness and slow the delay death of a season and perhaps an error. sports coming up.

>> the phillies drowning in a six game slide with predictions of complete tear downhill about and facing a sweep at the hands of the marlins. here we go. six inning phillies down two to one. cameron rough at the plate hits the fly ball that goes off off the wall at right. allen and hernandez score and the fightings take the lead. ninth inning phillies down fou four-three. they rally. rollins with a grounder who throws try to three out tony gwynn, jr. they tie the game. chase utley hits a liner who bobbles it couldn't make the double play. got utley could not get revere.

jonathan papelbon came in and got his 19th save of the season. phillies snapped that six-game losing streak. final score was five-four. >> we came out ready to play. kk gave us a hell of game and came out and through strikes and kept the ball down in the zone. they came right after me and in the back of my mind pitcher behind me got to be smart up there. but he came after me. challenged me and made a mistake and i capitalized on him. >> the sixers finish up summer league training camp today at pcom they'll head to orlando tomorrow and on saturday they will play the magic. the sixers fans finally get to see nerlins noel on the court. we waited patiently for the athletic big man to recover from a knee injury. >> i'm very excited. i mean i know there will be lot of eyes on me. i'm definitely coming with team mentality. get better, you know. i haven't played in year and a half but i'm staying focused. i'm being patient with the possibility of coming back.

>> wimbledon it will be petra versus bushard in the women's finals on saturday. the 2011 champ won straight sets to reach her second career finals. bushard also advanced in straight sets to become the first canadian to make it to a final. >> more news when we come back. ♪

♪ >> just in time for the holiday a new jersey soldier gets a homecoming celebration to remember. >> private first class joseph jones the third returned home from his 11th month in afghanistan. family and friends lined streets of audubon waving flags and thanking him for his service. during his time oversees, he earned a number of medals including the national defense service medal. and we welcome him home tonight. we'll be right back. ♪

>> thank you for watching cbs-3 "eyewitness news" at 11:00 o'clock. "eyewitness news" returns in the

morning at 4:30 with ukee washington and erika von tiehl. for beasley, kate and everyone here at "eyewitness news" i'm chris may. >> i'm jessica dean. you can also find us at cbsphilly.com. the late shoeff with david letterman is neck. tonight's guest jim parson. have a good night. we'll see you tomorrow. ♪ >> announcer: the following is a paid presentation for the amazing perfecter fusion styler, brought to you by tristar products. [♪...] what if there was finally one perfect styling tool... one that takes short, flat hair and adds instant lift and volume... >> oh, yeah, oh, yeah! >> announcer: ...brings dull, damaged hair back to beautiful life with incredible shine and body... >> we're just brushing in the shine, right? >> yeah! >> announcer: ...and even transforms frizzy, coarse hair to straight and smooth hair?