>> we are tracking hurricanes sandy as it moves our way. >> i am live in eastern baltimore county. >> i am lowell melser live in

ocean city, maryland. i will have details coming up in a live report. >> you are watching wbal-tv 11 news. live, local, late breaking, this is 11 news at 6:00. >> our big story tonight is the preparation for and status of hurricane sandy. >> thousands are being told to evacuate. >> airlines have canceled more than 5000 flights as it moves north. we have lied team coverage. first, we throw it over to tom tasselmyer. he has been tracking the storm for day. >> it is still a ways off but already impacting our whether. it is well over 300 miles to the south of ocean city. we have been dealing with showers on the eastern shore down to north carolina.

even though it is hundreds of miles away, it is already influencing our weather. we have the front off to the west. then we have the bands coming in from the east. the two will combine to with the maryland-pennsylvania line. where they come together, snady is expected to become stronger. the storm is only going to get worse as it makes it approach. for more on the expected track, let's go to john collins at the weatherboard. >> here is the track and timing. the wind is 75 miles an hour. that is a minor hurricane at this stage. that is the dramatic --. metric pressure. that is the barometric pressure. the storm is 270 miles away from cape hatteras traveling to the

northeast. it will make landfall somewhere between new york city and ocean city. the favored spot appears to be southern jersey. it will then head into pennsylvania. we have watches and warnings. starting late tonight, a flood watch. tomorrow, a high wind warning. all day monday and tuesday, a combination of coastal flood advisories changing to warnings. we will have more on the specifics coming up in a few minutes. >> we have live team coverage from all over the area. residents along the coast are already experiencing hurricane sandy. >> we begin with sheldon dutes onejowins us live with hel some residents are preparing. >> the rain has been coming down

for the past 30 minutes. the wind has been steady. we caught up with folks in the city and county get him ready for the storm. >> hurricane sandy is already developing a reputation. >> it is scary. it is covering such a wide area. >> with so much uncertainty, she wants to make sure she is prepared. >> what did you stocked up on a? >> toilet paper, paper towels, milk, regular things. >> she is not alone. workers at the supermarket in southeast baltimore have been busy bringing up items all day. >> milk, water, a lot of batteries. >> people who live in low lying areas piled sandbags to get

ready. >> to keep the water from coming in. >> people have altered their plans. the storm has not stopped people from early voting. we caught up with voters -- poll workers a one precinct. >> we have had more people than ever. we had a great turnout yesterday. the lines were shorter than the other locations. we did have a great turnout. >> the polls will be closed tomorrow and will not reopen until further notice. the are set up along the back river in eastern baltimore county. there is someone fishing. he is camera shy. conditions are not too bad in baltimore county as people get ready for the storm. barry is in annapolis. how are things looking? >> the win has started to pick up here. with over 500 miles of shoreline, there is lots of

concern in anne arundel county. that concern is about storm surge and flooding in low-lying areas. annapolis business is making final preparations. the owner of this store is sharing the sandbags she has with neighbors. >> if one floods, we all will. it is better for all of us to be safe. >> the city of annapolis gave out 40 tons of sand but limited businesses to 10 bags and residents 5. >> i heard the city was out of bags. we have saved some from last year and pull them out today. >> she also purchased another 30 bags. annapolis and anne arundel county opened their emergency management centers on noon sunday. >> the most important thing today is to be prepared. we have 85,000 people on well water.

they should allow the bathtub with water so they are prepared. >> the main concern is low-lying areas that could get a storm surge of up to 3 feet. >> we have not ordered mandatory evacuation. looking at the latest track, it is probably going to hit north of us. the storm surge may not be as bad as we were preparing for. there is still going to be significant flooding action. >> we expect not to get the brunt, but we will face heavy wind and rain. people need to be prepared. >> anne arundel county did open a shelter today at annapolis high school. county residents can bring their cats and dogs to the shelter. in annapolis, the parking garages are open and free for residents. the city wants to make sure cars are not blocking emergency vehicles. they have opened the parking

garages. let's go to lowell melser in ocean city. lowell? >> tweet can see what is going on and why it has affected technology. >> we apologize for losing the audio. we will work on that and go back live to lowell melser when we established an audio connection. >> there is much more ahead. stay tuned. is urgingnne's county residents to evacuate. we will have more coming up.

>> areas along the eastern coast are expecting to be hit the hardest as hurricane sandy moves through. >> david collins joins us live from queen anne's county where he spoke with the emergency services. >> strong wind has been whipping up reigned since 1:00. queen anne's county is surrounded by 27% water. the director of emergency services says he wants all residents -- they began asking for voluntary evacuation. he is urging residents to take the storm seriously. >> every county has trouble spots. the southern part of queen anne's county has lots of small tributaries. we do expect some issues. in the northern part of the county and churchill, we have had problems before. we are expecting flooding issues

in both areas. anywhere in the county because we have so much shoreline, we expect issues from flooding. >> what are you prepared to do? >> we have been in contact with local volunteer fire departments. they are on standby. we have been in touch with the maryland emergency management agency and the state of delaware and virginia. we have requested military assets to help. we are expecting large personnel carriers and two supporter rescue teams so we have the ability to quickly help people. >> what do you advise residents to do? >> we have started requesting voluntary evacuation of residents in low-lying and flood prone areas. we started requesting that yesterday. we continue to send information out. we're hoping folks will take a storm seriously. this is a very serious issue for the county.

we hope that folks will take our advice and leave while they can. >> emergency shelters are opening at this hour at kent island high-school and centerville middle school. pets are welcome until 8:00 tonight. public schools in queen anne's county will remain closed through tuesday. the bay bridge is operating under a high wind warning. david collins, wbal-tv 11 news >> sandy is expected to bring high wind and rain. high wind and rain. details

so anyway, i've been to a lot of places. you know, i've helped a lot of people save a lot of money. high wind and rain. details but today...( sfx: loud noise of metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. (sfx: sound of piano smashing) roadrunner: meep meep. meep meep? (sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] >> here is a look at the doppler as the storm approaches. the system is still a ways off but already impacting the region. away.still over 300 miles it will get stronger as it bears down. two systems are moving our way. we have the front to the west. we have the carolina coast hurricane. the stronger storm is where we will take the full brunt of this tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow night. temperatures have been holding steady. temperatures are mostly in the 50's. we will not change a lot the

next 24 hours. there is cold air behind the front moving into the mountains. we are at 58 downtown. we hold at this as the storm pushes in from the coast. it will gravel into the cold air and swing in. that helps to intensify the storm monday night into tuesday. we are holding steady tonight. it is getting breezy as the evening wears on. 15 the 30-mile an hour wind becoming gusty overnight. the sun just went down. 48 to 53 for the low. not a big temperature change. this is why sandy will get so strong. it will weaken from hurricane status to a non-tropical storm. it is moving into cooler water. it loses the tropical characteristics. the strong jet stream dipped is moving east. this will capture the storm and bring it back into the mid-

atlantic. it is this feature that will energize sandy and make an even stronger storm when it is not a hurricane. it will get more intense as transforms into what we would call a nor'easter. the computer models want to take it out to sea. we think it will bend back into the approaching storm. most likely back through northern ireland towards baltimore. some of this have it hanging around for a couple of days. that is why we expect so much rain and wind. these are the favorite tracks bringing it in our direction. wind and rain are what we are anticipating. in the delaware bay, a 46-mile an hour dust in the last hour. the storm is still 300 miles away.

gusting to 36 inland. the storm is just approaching. here are the rain fall possibilities. bright yellow is the support of 10 inches of rain possible. six to 10 inches possible in the baltimore area to the foothills. where it changes to snow, there is a blizzard warning. we have hurricane warnings off the coast and blizzard warnings in the mountains. the storm is making its way onto the new jersey coast tomorrow afternoon then pushing west. some of the models want to bring snow to parts of frederick and carroll county on tuesday. it finally winds down into wednesday and thursday. it will take several days for this too slowly settled down. tomorrow 53 to 58. emphasis on heavy rain and high wind. up to 10 inches of rain possible.

the wind could gust up to 65 miles an hour. extended heavy rain and wind means power outages are likely. tomorrow is nasty, especially into tomorrow night. showers still in the area. the wind still strong on tuesday. the showers taper off tuesday morning. it will be nice by the end of the week buy chilly with high temperatures in the 50's. ava marie has been monitoring conditions. the wind is already gusting to near tropical storm force and will get worse. critics already above its. what did you get me into? earlier, the wind was gusting up to 40 miles an hour. i just measured 47 miles an hour. we're well past the tropical storm force. look at the waves.

they are incredible. they are from 8 feet to about 15 feet. you can see them crashing on the store. they are continuing to push inland toward the high tide at about 7:50. the big concern is tomorrow as sandy parallels the coast. a high tide tomorrow morning just after 7:00 is when the actual storm surge could be above 4 feet. the normal type plus the storm surge may be of boards of 7 feet. we are expecting flooding. they have issued evacuations. lowell melser will have more updates. the wind is whipping. the sand is in our face. the rain is blowing. it is a good thing i brought safety glasses. michelle was right. ava marie in ocean city, wbal-tv

11 news. >> wow. >> we're going to take our minds off of sandy for a few minutes and turned to the qupete. >> in pittsburgh, is already halloween. see if it distracted the redskins' next in sports.

>> this is 11 sports. >> the weekend for many meant shutting out football completely. many are curious to see what kind of shape the browns will

be in for sunday. the rookie from alabama, richardson. 33 refused to go down. 122 yards rushing today. that was enough. the defense confused and conquered. wynn with a sack. in the fourth quarter, rivers in complete. the browns did their second win of the season 7-6. griffin makes the trip he will not remember fondly. the second quarter. rg3 goes like this. 10 dropped passes for the redskins. still in the second. typical, he evaded the rush. 17-6 pittsburg.

we go to the third. easy touchdown to will johnson. the steelers are 27-12 winners. a more enjoyable afternoon with his first trip to nashville. matt is showing the rookie a perfect ball. 10-3 tennessee. this went to overtime tied 13- 13. i am going to ask you to enjoy the beauty of sport. [laughter] unreal. it is a game winner. colts are the winners today. a great night to do nothing but watch football. e a bye.ns hav

we will have a full half hour after the game. jimmy johnson won five straight cups but gave up the title last year to stewart. not a high-speed track. more about technique and good pit stops. 20 laps to go. comes out in second place. five laps later, he retakes the lead. a good pass for him to get in front. he handled the restart well. all that leads to a win. jimmy johnson moves into first place in the standings. please stay with us for another check in the forecast after this. >> with rough weather comes the potential for power outages. >> we will find out the best way to get your power turned back on. on.

i've always been lucky. flew 37 bombing missions over germany. made it home every time. i'm lucky to have good friends who are all still around,

and we're all lucky to have a friend named ben. ben's protected our medicare and veterans' benefits. and he's helping my 13 grandchildren afford college. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i'm honored to approve this message. >> we want to be realistic with you. we should all be prepared about the possibility of losing power. >> b g e is preparing for the potential of several hundred thousand customer outages as early as tonight. we're joined by the company spokesperson. what is the latest? >> it is not bad yet. the wind is pic