>> good morning, everybody. welcome back to 11 news today. >> thanks for joining us. let's get a check on weather and traffic. don't you feel like the weekend should just start now? >> we're out of here. we're starting now. >> it is a little chilly this morning. temperatures still in the 20's just like yet but we're going to be warmer this afternoon than we were yesterday. we're shooting for a high temperature of 45. that will be the first time since last year that we had the temperatures above the seasonal norm. the normal high is 41. 45, you're saying that is not all that great but in comparison to what we've had. >> what temperatures in the 40's does for our mood. it is like spring here. all right. let's check on your morning commute. we have a couple of water main breaks but nothing major.

you'll enjoy a pretty quiet ride. fairmount avenue dealing with that water main break. two problems to watch for but no problems as far as volume. pretty right in the area. route 40, pulaski, heading in and out of cecil county problem-free either direction. no problems on 29 at route 32. over to you mindy and stan. >> thank you, sarah, our big story this morning, help is on the way to haiti as part of a relief effort where at least 100,000 are feared to be dead. >> president obama has called for a rapid response. some aid has already arrived in haiti and more is on the way. >> president obama has called for a rapid response. some aid has already arrived in

haiti with more expected today although it appears the plight far outweighs demand. the boston tells us the needs are great. >> rescue and hospitals to take people to. >> the u.s. military has ordered the u.s.s. comfort to dock off the coast and treat the wounded. >> we're focused on the life-saving measures we need to do there. >> at least 2,000 marines will be sent to maintain security in the country. hillary clinton canceled trips abroad to coordinate the response. >> they are facing a disaster of as yet unknown magnitude. >> president obama convened a strategy session pressing his

administration to do all it can and discuss with other world leaders. >> this must truly be an international effort. >> at this point, white house officials said the president has no plans to travel to haiti. in the meantime, he has named a new disaster coordinator to oversee u.s. efforts there. >> now this morning, there are local stories of survival in haiti and now word the u.s. navy's military hospital ship based here in baltimore may be headed to the country to provide some relief. jennifer had more with that part of the story. >> good morning, the u.s.s. comfort is based here at the port of baltimore and the ship has been about vated. this is litter lay floating -- activated. it is literally a floating hospital ship. they are bringing in 600 medical personnel from bethesda as well

as 60-70 civil servant mariners whose primary job it is to operate, navigate and maintain ship. the comfort is docked at the port of baltimore. the navy's sea lift command said it takes five days to get it in order to ship out. it will serve as a valuable resource as it can handle up to 1,000 patients with 12 operating rooms. there are light and limited care wards. they can make drinking water from seawater to the tune of 300,000 gallons per day. this should be valuable as drinking water is very hard to find in the areas of haiti hardest hit. 340 workers are in the country now. johns hopkins students are now

all said to be ok and there is a survival story from the director of missions who happens to be from haiti. dr. rod martel just left his family there 10 days ago. and a baltimore county wife is relieved after getting a text message from her nuds haiti last night. -- husband in haiti last night. scot foos. >> i'm worried because my husband would put his life at risk. if he saw a baby or somebody needed him he would never walk away. >> as for the u.s.s. comfort it takes five days to get this ship ready for sail. >> new this morning, an education winner for the second year in a row. maryland is the top public

school system in the entire nation receiving a b-plus. according to "education week" which ranks schools in 11 key areas. >> this is not a glitch that this is real. it is sustained. and it is a tribute to the kind of consolidation and collaboration we have in the state of maryland. >> is this like win ags -- winning a super bowl the second year in a row. >> it is like winning the super bowl two years in a row because your competition is 49 other states and the fact of the matter is we have lots of headlines about the ravens and i am a big ravens fan we can't yet say the ravens are number one in the nation. this makes you a target now. >> we're a target. >> folks are trying to get you,

they want the number one ranking, right? >> they want the number one ranking. they are looking at maryland has done and looking at the films for the colts and the ravens this weekend and saying ok, what can we anticipate what they have done. how can we counter that? how can we go beyond that? >> now it is preseason. you have been number one twice. you must be preparing for the coming year. >> absolutely. we are in a design stage now for our next step in terms of research and so we have already started that process. >> again, maryland got a grade of b-plus followed closely by new york and massachusetts which both received a grade of a b. great news. >> absolutely. >> the time now 5:37. still ahead, a chemical used to soft an plastic could put you at risk for heart disease.

>> you might try to play catchup after those sleepless night bus a new study says you could wreak havoc on your health. >> do you think city officials can come up with a plan to avoid the closure of city fire stations? email your response to

>> all is quiet on this thursday morning in the weather department. it is actually going to turn out to be a nice day today. plenty of sunshine. take a look at the current temperatures. still bundle up. 22 at the airport. 18 in york, pennsylvania but the

sunshine will help push temperatures up close to 45. the warmest day we've seen in a while. get out and enjoy it. for now, back over to the news desk. >> in this morning's medical alert new research finds high levels of the chemical b.p.a. might be linked to heart disease. it is used to soften plastics and most of us have it in our bodies. it has been removed from some products including baby bottles and sippy cups but the people who have the highest levels of it in their system may have the highest risk for heart disease. >> a new study shows you can't skimp on sleep and expect to make up for it later. women slept 5 1/2 hours for three weeks and then they looked at the effects.

then they were able to get 10 hours of sleep. chronic sleep loss made people vulnerable to errors and accidents. sleep deficits can lead to memory problems and even weight gain. that is my excuse for everything. >> if i get 3 1/2 a night, i would be in real trouble. >> coming up, a look at some of our top stories. >> now you're looking at a live picture over the downtown baltimore area. up next, we'll update weather and traffic for your morning commute. stay with us. you're watching 11 news today.

>> it is a nice morning commute so far. not dealing with any delays yet. just a couple of things to mention.

this water main break, at fairmount avenue. watch for icy conditions where it is being repaired. we have a closure from reese street and loch raven due to another water main break. it is about a 12-minute ride on the outer loop. five minutes to get down towards fort mchenry. very nice ride here north and southbound on 97. problem-free once you get down towards 50. so far, running smoothly boast eastbound and westbound. -- both eastbound and westbound. >> we've got a few bus diversion. 15-23 at saratoga and utah.

and 16 and 64 buses diverting. trapes looking very good this morning. no delays. we invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions on mobility service at town hall meetings being held in and around the area. the next meeting is tomorrow at 4201 anderson avenue in baltimore. now back to tony. good morning. >> thank you. good morning, everyone. things are pretty quiet in the weather department. it is still a little cold now but certainly nothing unusual for this time of year but you'll see a nice little warm-up. 25 in randallstown. 23 in centreville. everybody has clear skies. clouds streaming off the great lakes have pushed well off to

the north. clear skies over maryland and plenty of sunshine especially this morning. high pressure to our south and that's a good thing. remember this area of high pressure yesterday was west of us. now, this area of high pressure is south of us so we get the return flows on the other side of the high and that allows some of the warm air that has been out in the midwest and the ohio voifl. it has been in the 20's and thirts. when we say a high temperature of 45 will feel nice, it will. when you were talking about 45-degree temperatures a few months ago you wouldn't say that obviously. i think the breeze will start to pick up out of the south and southwest later today. here is the setup here on the east coast. the jet stream is going to buckle a little bit in the mid-atlantic region which means

it is going to push to the north. tomorrow we're going to see high temperatures warmer than today. we'll be in the up r 40's to around 50. at the same time there is a little dip in the jet stream. moving across texas developing an area of low pressure in the gulf of mexico. you see the direction of movement here. this area of low pressure will develop in the gulf of mexico and right up toward us over the weekend stand you recall, that's what happened back in december when we had that big storm. the difference is this time there is no cold air for this to play with. it is going to be mostly rain instead of snow for us. 45 today. lots of sunshine. same thing tomorrow. it will turn a little bit cooler on saturday but still dry with a high temperature near 42 and then the clouds will ticken up on sunday and a good chance for rain. a couple of flakes possibly mixing in late sunday night into

monday morning but even then i think it will be mostly rain. really this is not going to be a big deal. don't worry about it if you have travel plans with this storm system. sunshine comes back tuesday and wednesday. >> if you make your living on the chesapeake bay, all of this cold weather probably is not good for business. >> with the bitter cold comes ice and many are iced in. they pulled out their ice breakers to help out. >> you hear that sound? we're on the d.n.r. ship to sandusky breaking up this ice. >> as you can see, it is ice-covered. many who make their living on the bay have been iced in at their docks for up to two weeks. >> today we're going to work on it and try to get with this warming trend we'll be able to work and break some of the ice

up and it should stay open and be able to get new boats in and out. >> so the sandusky along with three other vessels are breaking ice all throughout the chesapeake bay. >> the small inlets. all of those are iced up. all the little rivers and streams. they are all iced up now. >> when it starts to warm up that ice will melt. >> usually ice doesn't come to the bay until tepid of january or early february -- or end of january or early february. >> they are probably three or four inches thick individually but they are all packed up on themselves so there is wobalb probably about a foot or more of ice here that we're trying to make our way through. >> the hope is breaking up the ice and the warming temperatures will help those that need to get their boat us out to work, a

break. >> you start to break the ice up and it will warm up and the ice should start to move a little bit stand the water men have to make it out to do their jobs they will be able to probably next week. >> i wonder what advice d.n.r. would give to the owners of a house. take a look at this. that's ice. that's right. a whole lot of ice covering most of the house near minneapolis. turns out a water pipe broke on the second floor while the family was out on vacation for a month. they returned to find their home had turned into an igloo. it damaged the ceiling, wall and carpet. no word on the cost for all the repairs. >> that is going to be expensive. the time is 5:51. 21 degrees on tv hill. rer here is a look at last

night's winning lottery numbers. good luck.