showing -- giving way to despair in the dark. >> 72 hours of crippling conditions have emergency officials and power crews working around the clock and many people are wondering, when do i get my power back? governor martin o'malley called a hurricane punch without the typical warning. >> thousands of people are struggling through the third day of sweltering heat with that rigid with no air-conditioning. the storm's wake has proven deadly. the death toll now stands at six. roughly 168,000 people are still without power at this hour. those figures have prompted baltimore leaders to open that would be open tonight and each can accommodate about 75 people.

we have to encourage tonight of the storm's aftermath and perspective on the storm system that caught so many people off guard. plus the locale local businesses are bearing. >> the bad news is the deed is preparing to tell you to stay this way for a least a week. we hear that frustrated customers are lining up the complaint lines to bge and many are being told my have to spend the rest of the week in the dark because there is specific protocol that covers who gets restored first. there is a crew right now trying to determine how to disentangle from power lines wrapped around a tree that is blocking lake avenue. it is interesting to watch how it all plays out. you can see there's not much activity. there is one bge worker out there guarding what we are told is a live wire. he has had coworker's come and

go and their consulting each other on how to deal with it. at night, the darkness is the biggest challenge. when we take down our lights, the only other lights out here are headlights until other equipment gets here. about 3200 total workers have been brought in. the goal is to get everybody back on as soon as possible. trees tangled with power lines across maryland friday night, wiping out power to a half- million customers during a heat wave. a bge spokesman says the utility company per se restores some power to sites that live public safety role like 911 call centers. >> once we get them completed then go after the individual homeowners better served by one poll, one line, one house. >> if you fall into that category, prepared to spend the fourth of july in the dark. >> you need to plan for the worst and hope for the best. this could be a very long

restoration, and perhaps it could extend into the weekend. >> i think a week is way too long. i think four days is way too long. >> one key factor would save repeated power interruptions, running on utility lines underground. >> having our electrical wires above ground when we have the snowstorms and hurricanes we are having, and this new weather phenomenon we experienced, we can put it back up all we want, but it will come right back down again in the next year. >> the cost is prohibitive at $1 million per mile. >> we found fill in the dollar's to save banks. we should find trillions of dollars to save our infrastructure. >> going into our 4 not without power, it is still important to make sure you have personally

reported your power outage. don't assume your neighbors did for you or that they are on the same power line, for that matter. calling back repeatedly is not productive in just backs up the phone line. bge tells us by 2014 once smart meters are installed, they will automatically report the average is for you, setting a lot of weight time on the phone. >> that is something, anyway. after a big storm like this, it is really important to be aware of all repair scams and other consumer frauds. be wary of those who solicit you at your home or business, like traveling salesman. tactics like demanding upfront payments or immediate decisions, also advanced fees and a guaranteed loan to rebuild your home or business. many of you have been sending us your incredible pictures of the

damage the storm left behind. here is a utility pole resting precariously on a power line in the nottingham area. another tree into a house in the northwood area. show us what you have been seeing by sending your photos and videos to u local. >> you may be dealing with demijohn your own property. there are some important steps to take to protect yourself and make sure that your claim is processed. >> the best way to do is to take pictures. get a camera, walk around and you the aftermath. take pictures of everything that could be damaged on the property, where it is personal property inside the house or the house itself. >> after taking inventory, contact your insurance company. so that they can authorize and ordered the repairs. it is also important to make sure you protect and preserve the damaged property. a hole in the roof should be

properly covered, and if you have to relocate even temporarily, make sure your insurance company or agent knows how to reach you. businesses without power are basically businesses that are closed. restaurants, dry cleaners, grocery stores, you name it, they are out of business. >> thousands of lost -- thousands of dollars in lost business opportunities that they cannot recover. >> a lot of the businesses here on reisterstown road did not even open up today, but others try to make do with no lights, no air conditioning, and very few customers. >> no air conditioning, no fans. >> mr. parker open the doors at his dry cleaners monday morning, but business has not exactly been booming. that spent more time adding up the money they have lost than helping the one or two customers they had all day.

$1,500-$2,000 per day because of a storm that knocked out power to the entire strip mall. >> thousands of dollars we can lose because we cannot do any work. i mean, thousands of dollars. it does impact the business because if we don't sell, we don't get paid. but we still have to pay the rent. >> the 7-11 score -- store owner is working on generator power. after nearly 72 hours of very little business, he is worried about making payroll. >> i know they are doing the best they can as quickly as they can. they don't know what to tell their employees, whether they are opening today, tomorrow, or friday. >> while some businesses are suffering, others are thriving.

residents without power at home are willing to spend extra money to get under a new roof. >> i hate to say it like that, but it is lucky for us, for such a bad event that happened. >> maybe it is good for the economy. >> a lot of the business owners we spoke with today said there are hoping that power will be back on by the end of the week. they are calling it b g e in trying to get updates, but at this point there is no time line. it is just a game of latency. kai reed, wbal-tv 11 news. >> -- just a game of wait and see. >> the quick onslaught of severe weather caught most of us by surprise. tom tasselmyer is in the insta- weather-plus center with a look at the storm system. >> it is defined as a cluster or

line of rapidly moving showers and thunderstorms. moving at us at 75 miles an hour, and with damaging winds over a large area, at least 240 miles or more. the storm that hit us boarded up in chicago and made here in about eight hours. western maryland gets one of these about every two years and west of the mountains, it is fairly frequent, at least one per year. good news tonight, none of that is on our radar picture. it is a nice, clear evening out there and should be a very pleasant overnight. more he and thunderstorms in the forecast, coming up in the seven-day forecast. >> you can always get complete coverage on 9 -- online at wbaltv.com.

there you'll find information on the power outages, locations of the cooling centers, as well as school related closures. >> don't expect to see michael phelps top his record-setting immelt collection this time in london. gerry sandusky joins us with this olympic update. >> felt qualified to swim in five individual events in london but has elected to swim in seven events overall but the gangs. he set the olympic record in beijing winning gold in each event. this time he said he wants to have some fun and relax a bit. don't confuse that with the european vacation. australia goes to london as the favorite and the u.s. will need a huge raise from phelps in the four hundred real-life

freestyle. he still has plenty of gold to shoot for later this month in london. he wins three levels, he will set the record for most metals ever won by an olympian and if you win seven gold medals, michael phelps will have more than twice as many career goals as any other olympic athlete in history of the game. >> millions of taxpayer dollars may have been squandered by the state. >> why recouping net cash might never happen. >> today was a couple degrees cooler than the past few days. 99 degrees in minneapolis this afternoon and some of that is moving back our way. the forecast is straight ahead. the forecast is straight ahead.

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x maryland state agencies have wasted as much as $63 million over the last three years. >> in most cases, is money that cannot be recovered. david collins explains how that happened and why. >> the state health department issued $2.5 million to medicaid recipients who are deceased. the paratransit program shelled out 740 four thousand dollars in gas taxes, even though it is exempt from paying it. summer given improper refunds. the maryland office of legislative audit its uncovered these in on its performed every few years.

it all cost taxpayers a bundle. >> we have a soft estimate of $63 million. >> the soft estimate of $63 million? should alarms be going off? >> i would like more people to be concerned. >> $63 million exceeds the money generated by doubling the plus tax, doubling the vehicle titling task -- tax, doubling the vanity plate fee. much of the 63 million wasted dollars may be lost and gone forever. >> is any of this recoverable? >> a lot of it is lost. >> a quarter of it is a consequence of agencies not addressing previous audit findings. 26% of state agencies -- the agency's inspector general says the agency now has a tracking system to measure progress and results in each one.

>> why is it so difficult to resolve an audit finding the first time it is brought to the attention of an agency? >> each audit findings and have four or five recommendations that we must correct. some of those recommendations might be simple to correct, were the others might be more complex. it would involve partly the computer network, other issues such as moving staff to priority areas. >> how frustrating is it that agencies generally concur with the audit findings, pledged to do something about it, and then don't? >> you forget about it and then it comes back. >> departments have to submit quarterly reports to auditors, but the office does not have been forcing power. -- in forcing power. where does the push back come

from? some agencies and people just don't like interference. they think they are doing their job well and they don't want legislators suggesting how they should do their job. >> trigger in quarterly reporting after four repeat findings would increase accountability. >> small details do add up to millions and millions when we ought to be operating as smoothly and tightly as possible. republican delegate gail bates proposes holding up funding until they are resolved. >> i think it truly is a culture. we give out millions of tax credits with no documentation. we give up food stamps and don't

find out if there even eligible. >> it is a drop in the bucket. >> withholding money from agencies until they resolve the audit findings is one of many ideas on the table for the joint audit committee. it plans to take up the issue in october. i am david collins. >> now, your insta-weather forecast with chief meteorologist tom tasselmyer. >> temperatures are still well above normal today for the sixth consecutive day above 90 officially at bwi marshall. downtown baltimore for the first time since last thursday the break that string. you can see from this matt a lot of hot weather out there, slowly moving in our direction. almost 100 in chicago, 98. check out that 99 up there in central minnesota. that is minneapolis.

theeat up quite a bit in the summertime. temperatures in the night of the all the way across the mid atlantic, although today at least the humidity levels did come down a little bit. the inner harbor did not hit 100 degrees. subtle changes. storms left here in the early morning hours but the skies are mostly clear tonight. 94 degrees at the airport today, the 16th time this year we have been above 90. last year we only had 11 of them, and the normal is eight. the skies are mostly clear and with drier air and clear skies, the atmosphere is finally getting a chance to cool off a little bit, already down to 71 around parked in. many of the northern suburbs will see temperatures settle into the low 60's by morning. and up tomorrow at 5:45. the warm front is approaching

cleveland and stretching out into the lakes, brought that he into minneapolis. tomorrow we may see a couple of thunderstorms as the higher heat starts to return to the area, along with a little more humidity. a chance for a thunderstorm in the afternoon or evening tomorrow. the fourth of july, there are likely to be storms popping up through that late afternoon and evening. thunderstorms cannot be ruled out late wednesday. on thursday, maybe a few isolated storms still to the south. the humidity and storms start to return rapidly over the next few days. 91-96 tomorrow with the southwest breeze at 5-10. the waves will be about 1 foot until the storm crosses the day in the late afternoon. rain chances a little higher in the western maryland mountains. temperatures not as high as around here. down at ocean city and would go over the big beach holiday, it

looks like classics summer weather for the mid atlantic. the upper 80's to almost 90 degrees, a chance of afternoon storms and served temperature of 74-78. some scattered storms to contend with, 94-93 degrees on thursday and friday. it looks like another front arrives late in the week and maybe a more substantial front. hopefully we get the temperatures back into the 80's by next weekend. >> we will see if they can start with a splash out in seattle. that is coming up next in sports. >> the maryland lottery, let yourself play. >> tonight we are playing multi match with an estimated $1,400,000. in numbers are coming right now.

10-22-43-37-42-14. if no one matches all six numbers on one line of a ticket, the jackpot climbs to 1 million four hundred $50,000. the next drawing is thursday night here on wbal-tv 11.

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>> the opening 7 game road trip -- road trip as they open up the last three games before the all- star break. they are leading in the fourth. runners on second and third in the second, mark reynolds goes down swinging. one of five pitchers on the all- star ballot with the final spot of the team. a strike out, matt wieters with a throw. in the third, brendan ryan with a soft single into right center field. one of the faster players you

will see barrels in for the score, 1-0 seattle at that point. the orioles have taken the lead. jim palmer plans to part with some of what you might think he would consider priceless awards. palmer has put his three cy young awards and two of his gold gloves up for auction. he told the associated press he wants to use the money from the auction to help his grandkids education. he said he has a 16-year-old grandson with autism who need special care. experts estimate the polymer auction could raise up to $250,000. michael phelps will not go for and eight metal repeat in the london olympics. he decided not to swim the 200 meter freestyle. the event will take place on the same day as the finals of the 400 meter freestyle relay.

he has chosen to skip the 200 in hopes to improve the usa plus the chance of winning the four hundred. he only needs three more medals in london to win the most career metals and all time. its 14 gold medals already put him ahead of all other olympic athletes in the history of the games. the dream of making the six olympic team ended tonight in omaha, nebraska. only the top two in the event. she earned her first trip to the olympics 28 years ago in 1984. a year before michael phelps was born. finally a resolution tonight after she conceded to -- a

position on the team. she said if i was impeached, i would have run. my heart was not at peace -- she said if i was not at peace, i would have run. there was a virtual tie for third at the finish line. she backed out this afternoon. she does to qualify to run the 400 meter relay in the olympics. athletes will run, swim, and jump. the tower of london displayed the image of 90, the greek goddess of victory on the front. 4700 gold, silver, and bronze medals now wait at the tower of london for the start of the olympics. frenchher of this year's open champions will see the

finals of wimbledon. fourth round, center court, sharapova near court cannot deliver with the forward hand. she found herself back on her heel throughout much of the afternoon. she is taken out in round four at wimbledon. stick around for a look at the seven-day forecast, straight ahead. [ male announcer ] now at your neighborhood subway:

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>> it looks like another six days of the 90's sticking around and it might get quite sticky as you go through the fourth of july with scattered thunderstorms. that last front will hopefully get temperatures back to the upper 80's beginning monday of next week. [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> announcer: it's "the tonight show with jay leno," featuring rickey minor and "the tonight show" band. tonight, jay welcomes -- katy perry, the man who travelled around the world for free, michael wigge, and the music of needtobreathe.