good evening. the big story tonight, the numbers from friday storms that swept across much of the country are staggering, more than 100 confirmed tornadoes in 12 states, killing at least 36 people. jay gray has the story from one

of the hardest hit communities, the town of henryville. >> the day after, and the devastation is almost impossible to believe. >> it is like one minute you are here, the next you are gone. >> communities and lives are ripped apart by the tornadoes that touchdown and a dozen states. the images of destruction tell the story. kentucky, georgia, tennessee, north carolina. deep, violence cars that stretch for miles, perhaps none more painful than in the nation's heartland. >> mother nature dealt harshly with indiana. >> the small town of henryville was essentially wiped from the map. the only thing left to cling to, each other. now, as they begin to seemingly impossible task of picking up the pieces, many understand that as hard as it may be to believe, it could have been even worse.

>> it is a miracle those kids came out alive. >> this is all that is left of the high-school, shredded by the storms. the classrooms likely would have been full. ahead of the tornado, administrators may life-saving decision. a blessing in an area that from the outside looks accursed. the difficult task begins. survivors must work through their grief and pain to make these communities feel like home again. >> such a mess. lowell melser is here to talk about the tornadoes and are forecast. >> it is horrible, and extremely unusual to see this porn addicts activity like this. the height of tornado season is in may. we are seeing the violence storms in the beginning of march. i have some statistics from the national weather service.

these are storm reports from yesterday and today. so far, 108 tornadoes, 296 high wind reports, and 441 hail reports. that is astonishing to see that from the storms this early in the season. the current weather, 55 at bwi- marshall. this evening, partly cloudy, becoming mostly cloudy, the wind out of the west at 10-15. the temperatures will be 36-40 this evening. there is a chance of snow, mixed precipitation in the morning. we will take a closer look at that and the forecast coming up. a heated argument turned into an hour-long standoff in northwest baltimore. now a man is behind bars. the city swat team was called to a house on edgewood road last night, or the police say a man fired a rifle after getting into an argument.

nobody was hit, but two people were injured. the occupants fled. the man surrendered this morning after several hours. the police say he faces assault and weapons charges. it westminster man is facing -- is being treated at a hospital after being shot and stabbed in the back. it was trying to remove on known guests from a party early this evening. it happened on bullfrog road and taney town. investigators are investigating. radio talk-show host rush lush -- rush limbaugh has apologized for his inflammatory comments made about a georgetown law student when she testified before congress about birth control. rush limbaugh suggested her support of contraception coverage was an attempt to force americans to pay for her sexual activities. in a statement, he said he chose the wrong words and did not mean to personally attack her. the maryland women's

basketball team is on a roll, beating wake forest in the acc tournament today. pete gilbert has the latest. >> the key to success anywhere, and the maryland women find themselves moving skyward, march madness. the third acc final. thomas, the terps with the four- point lead at that juncture. in the second half, thomas, knocking it down. soft, feathery, in. maryland cruises into the acc final, 73-58. later in sports, we will hear from brenda freeze in their match up in the acc championship. one of the largest international women's organization is holding an annual festival in baltimore, honoring one of maryland's very own. >> maryland's a very known as

u.s. senator barbara mikulski served on a panel entitled maryland's women, first and foremost, a topic she is familiar with. it was a first of sorts this weekend as the women of the world held their annual festival for the first time in baltimore. it kicked off roddick the home of the baltimore symphony orchestra. the festival celebrates the leadership and talents from women all over the world. >> we have panels on women in politics, women in law, health, sports, technology. >> this woman, who is the music director of the orchestra at the first woman to hold this position with a major american orchestra, is responsible for bringing the festival to charm city. >> you learn so much. >> who better to serve as the featured guest speaker but a political trailblazer who is also celebrating a first this month.

>> i am the first democratic woman ever elected to the senate. >> on march 17, barbara mikulski will be the longest serving woman in history of the u.s. congress. greg vice? when you are the first, you don't want to be the last. >> you want to make sure that you are a mentor and teacher to encourage others to come behind you. >> sound advice. other speakers included a baltimore city councilman and a former maryland state superintendent. there will be a concert featuring mary chapin carpenter and other talents this evening. coming up, cut at 2012. republican candidates on the campaign trail. super tuesday, hundreds of .

syrian officials have handed over the bodies of two journalists killed in damascus. the french ambassador received the body of the photographer. the polish diplomat receive the remains of the american-born woman. she represents u.s. interests and syria. it is the final weekend on the campaign trail before super tuesday, when republican voters in seven states will take parts and primaries and 10 caucuses in three states. brian nor has the story. >> in washington state, a caucused for their favorite candidate. while the results are not binding, it means month and three days before super tuesday. right now, all eyes are on ohio.

>> we need a president who knows the economy to fix the economy. >> mitt romney rallied supporters on this saturday afternoon in dayton, ohio, and picked up the endorsement of ohio's largest newspaper, the plain dealer of cleveland. the latest polls show. santorum seems to have the momentum. >> we will keep working. we feel like the race is narrowing. >> newt gingrich has to win his home state of georgia. ron paul is more interested in adding to his delegate count. that is what super tuesday is all about -- delegates, 419 up for grabs in 10 states, more than one-third of the delegates needed to cinch the nomination. santorum is shrugging off news that a complete paperwork and ohio will cost at least nine delegates of that state.

taking a look at doppler, the heaviest of the rains that are associated with that system, which brought the severe weather out west, down south, virginia beach, portions of north carolina, a little bit of sprinkles in richmond. we have also seen some of snow to the north, near pittsburgh. this is all lake effect snow, does not have to do with the system that gave the tornadoes. for us, nice, clear skies, we had rain this morning that moved through, a couple rumbles of thunder for some folks, but overall fairly nice. sunny, 60 degrees. we talked about the storm earlier, and here are some statistics that i showed with deborah.

the national weather service storm reports, they put these out every time there is violent weather outbreaks, and this is from yesterday and today so far. they tracked these three things -- tornadoes, high wind, hail reports. tornadoes, 108. that is on heard of this time of year. usually when we see this kind of severe weather, it is usually in may. a high wind reports? 296 of those. hail, 441 reports of hail. that is through the roof, literally. the reason we have seen this is because of the mild winter. you get a couple blasts of the canadian air, makes a nice cold front. the one that is associated with this storm is a well-defined cold front. it spawned a lot of tornadoes in the midwest and the deep south. the current temperatures right now, really nice day, around the

entire state. bwi, 55. carson 49, edgewood 53. carroll county, westminster, 54. to the west, frostburg hit 40 degrees. down in ocean city, they are at 51. they were the warmest earlier this morning. right now, boris temperatures are college park and annapolis, respectively at 59 degrees. here is the system, a good look at this to really understand what is going on with this storm, why there were so many tornadoes. this is a completely well to find cold front, a lot of moisture on the front and back because of this upper level trough that formed the low pressure system, bringing the rain on the back of this. this is just rain, nothing severe associated with this. along this cold front, really severe weather, the heavy storms

down here in georgia, parts of alabama, the panhandle of florida. also, virginia beach getting some of the nasty stuff, too. and the lake effect snow up north. behind this, this is the good news, a lot of high pressure behind the storm making its way towards us over the next couple days. by the end of next week, we will have spectacular weather. i think the temperatures could possibly topped 70 degrees by thursday. stay tuned for that. tonight, partly cloudy, becoming mostly cloudy, the wind out of the west at 10-15, 36-40 degrees. should be relatively dry if you are heading out on the town. the doppler shows all of the twister that moved through cents yesterday, into today. that storm just forming to the bottom of us, the southern states, from virginia south. bringing with it some of the rain we saw yesterday, clearing

skies we are seeing currently right now. the good news, we are in the clear. there was some talk of snow on future-cast. starting around 9:00, some moisture associated with a little bit of the back end of this system as it makes its way through, and that could mean somebody snow showers, mixed precipitation, mainly on the eastern shore. we will have cloudy conditions, but i would not be surprised if we have a pop-up snow shower, north baltimore county, carroll county, but for the most part the moisture stays to the east of the bay. and parts of ocean city, southern maryland, probably, could see a pop-up snow shower. as that moves through, the clouds moving out, just spotty showers as we head into sunday evening. tomorrow, possible morning mixed precipitation, depending on where you live, becoming partly sunny, nice day.

just a little cooler than today. the wind out of the west at 10- 15, 44-48 degrees. the seven-day forecast, the mixture tomorrow, then things gradually get warmer. we get a cold blast monday, then the warming trend begins. thursday could be the magical day, maybe also friday unless the system gets in before them. i think we're looking good, 60 degrees by thursday. -- 68 from the susquehanna bank sports center, this is 11 news.

>> job well done, lowell melser. the heavyweights of the acc crumble, duke and miami, already knocked out. brenda managing to coach at the highest level, while her son, tyler, still battles aftereffects of leukemia. i don't know where she gets the energy. she gets the best out of thomas. she hit the jumper, maryland by five. early second half, thomas, the one-and it passed. laser perfect, maryland up 37- 27. the lead group. the three-point-shooter, maryland and to the acc final, 73-58, over wake forest. >> that is what we did, defend, rebound. we need it everybody today. wake forest belongs in the tournament, and erik'they're plg

extremely well. >> maryland with the wind gets georgia tech in the final on sunday. twice, the terps beat the jackets. both great games. should be fun on sunday in greensboro. a crammed to the rafters gm, the north boys final, miller's hosting patterson. the regional semifinal. in the second quarter, miles, drives baseline, the finish. more of the second, car, the drive and the push, the nice dish. tied at 36-the sixth half. miller trying to pull away. the exclamation point. fourth quarter, tied at 53-53, carr, goodness.

patterson up. back into the fourth, myers, the incredible finish. you'll understand why they were scalping tickets for this game. carr, the oop, oh, my. patterson, the clippers do not trail again, knocking off the top seed. patterson going to the comcast center for the semifinals next week. now a little bit about the orioles's first draft pick. he took the mound today for an inning of and for-squad scrimmage and proceeded to get adam jones, wieters, and reynolds, 1-2-3. feeling healthier, better shape, almost giddy for what feels like a second chance. >> it was awesome to get back on the mound again. although it is just scrimmage, i

had some jitters and excitement. my heart was pounding a little bit, just to get out there for the first time. it was a lot of fun to go out and play the game that i love. it is good to see him smile again. busy day with lacrosse, including the resumption of a great college rivalry, md.-duke. maryland with relative ease knocks off the duke blue devils. now series came up short, towson holds on. loyola's first road game of the season, at kentucky. and navy struggled again at home, falling to bucknell, 14-9. another story, we have had issues unable to play our commercial breaks, so we have time to talk. earlier today, we had it jerry johnson, a free agent for the ravens. will he come back, will he not?

we don't know. he said he hopes to retire as a raven, but it is a business. we have also learned there is about the game with a saint? that is a big deal, there were apologies. i ask, have you ever been a part? he did not, absolutely, never been part of it, never seen it in the locker room. interesting conversation with him. >> the story is huge, and i am sure that teams are watching. >> will be interesting to see the punishment that comes from roger goodell. we want to return to the stories about the tornadoes that tore through henryville in indiana, destroying the town friday. a reporter got to the tornado just after it hit, assessing the damage, some looking for members of their family. >>. it is, going up in the air.

>> jeremy saw it all, the funnel cloud heading for his house. he pulled out his i pad and filmed it. >> i saw it touched across 65. it was sucking the tractor trailers, you could see the debris from the tornado to the ground. it leveled the area. >> the destruction hit homes leveled. school buses flipped over, semis on their side, hail the size of baseballs, a gas station abolished. the pumps were carried across the street. for steve, the damage included just about everything he owns. >> i just got here from work. i came home, and it is across the road now. there was a white house right there, and it is not there anymore, either. all of this is the back room of my house. >> we walked down to survey the damage. >> i think this came from up

there, the gas station. >> his family is safe, the material things can be replaced. in the middle of the rubble, their two dogs, scared out of their minds, but alive. >> this is trigger, that's tyson. she was hiding under the debris. a week of killer storms and deadly tornadoes, and the death toll keeps rising. friday, the monster storms stretched from the deep south of alabama across the border into tennessee, all the way north to indiana. the tornado destroyed homes and turned lives upside down. here is what living through a

tornado is like, in the survivors own words. >> everywhere you look, there is a story like this, a bus into a building, a mobile home flattened. >> it was being around our heads. >> i looked up. i was talking to my daughter across the street. i looked up and i just seen debris everywhere. i thought it was a dream. >> there were gas leaks. the houses are completely demolished. completely, to the ground. >> the buildings shook, the lights went off. the noise was incredible. it passed right in front of us. >> golf ball sized hail. i cannot honestly tell you what

is going on. [pounding] >> it was just like you were on a scale, like this way. the next thing i know, pushing tables, refrigerators, freezers that were on me off of me. >> my house just lifted up, and then it just dropped. the roof fell, the glass was every place. i was under the table. i said, lord, make this pass. and it did. >> so awful. i had asked if you've ever been in an area that had torn it is. >> i used to work in montgomery, alabama, and i only saw one that

never made it to the ground. pete? >> my wife covered the devastating tornadoes in oklahoma city. and just the story she came back with. it is amazing the power of the storms. >> and just so fast, everything is gone. very good reporting. >> absolutely, and is tough to report on that. just going over the forecast again, another look at doppler, that is the storm in the south. it is slowly making its way -- it was in the midwest, is now in the deep south, and it will eventually move over the atlantic. this is a very well-defined cold front that is making its way through. some of the heaviest rain and around the panhandle of florida, southern georgia, parts of southern alabama as well. very dangerous stuff associated with this cold front.

way up north, lake effect snow up there, parts of pennsylvania and upstate new york. quickly, this graphic again, the national weather service storm report, 108 tornadoes, 296 high wind reports, 441 hail reports. this is on heard of this time of year. usually we see storms like this in may, the height of tornado season. the current temperatures, heading out this evening for dinner, 55 at the airport, 59 annapolis. eastern shore, mid-50s, 52 easton, ocean city 51. western maryland, warm temperatures, unusual this time of year, 40 degrees frostburg, 36 oakland. the war in the low 40's earlier this afternoon. a partly cloudy conditions, becoming mostly cloudy, the wind

out of the west at 10-15, the temperatures anywhere from 36- 40. the future-cast, the clouds build up overnight. there is a chance of precipitation down around ocean city, the eastern shore. as it moves through, should turn out to be a nice day as we head into the evening hours. as far as tomorrow morning, a possible morning mixture of snow associate with the front as it goes through, partly sunny afternoon, 44-48 degrees. the seven-day, and weight, and we will give good news, out past sunday, cooler temperatures monday. then the warming trend begins. i think those temperatures could be even warmer. we will look at this again, the temperatures could be in the 70's by thursday. >> fantastic. we want to show these

highlights again. scalping tickets to see a high school game? >> 30 minutes before the game, the gymnasium was packed. carr has become a national celebrity. they call him the crime stopper. the drive and the finish. miles. then carr with the drop off. this is what it was like all game. it was fun following twitter, just the reactions. all through the game, back and forth. patterson holds on. the play of the game, the gymnasium goes crazy. >> we pulled this off quite well. if you would never know there were no commercials in this show, would you? >> that is it for 11 news at 6:00. we will see you back here at 11:00.

this is an editorial from the president and general manager. >> 2010, nearly 5% of all u.s. households access to food pantries one or more times. that means 5.6 million homes experienced food insecurity, recalling to the availability of food and once access to it. a house is considered food insecure when occupants live in hunger. that does not mean the family is living in poverty, although many are. joblessness is also a strong predictor of food insecurity. that is why this time in our country's history, the very things we sometimes take for granted, a pantry full of help the food like peanut butter, fresh bread, and vegetables, are not available to friends and neighbors. now is the time to look inside of our well-stocked pantry and lend a hand to millions in need. wbal is proud to partner with the united way of central maryland. beginning march 3-10, we will