in the state of new jersey to play real money. nbc 10 news starts now. right now, flooding, rough seas and 100 mile per hour winds all courtesy of hurricane arthur which made landfall in north carolina last night. a category 2 storms is it continues to rake the outer banks off the coast of north carolina there, the delaware beaches will be the first in this area to bear the impact of hurricane arthur. people in rehoboth were basking in the sun yesterday b. a live look at cape may, the jersey shore could see the effects of arthur within the

next few hours. signs are posted warning about strong currents and some towns have canceled their fireworks for the evening. thunderstorms unrelated to arthur caused damage across the region last night. you heard the rumbling, probably. one storm brought down this tree in northeast philadelphia. the inner lanes of the boulevard were blocked for a short time but are fully open this morning. happy fourth of july. this is nbc 10 news today, i'm chris cato. let's get straight to meteorologist brittney shipp. >> i'm tracking the impact of hurricane arthur as we head into your fourth ofç july weekend. it's not going to affect saturday and sunday. really it's just going to affect the first half of today. here's a coastal look at hurricane arthur. it's swirling over kill devil hills in north carolina right now. winds are sustained at 100 miles an hour. we are seeing thunderstorms on the backside of that. what's going to happen with this system, it will continue to push

off to the northeast. we don't have to worry about the hurricane coming onshore. it will be way offshore. we're saying rain in allentown, pushing into parts of the poconos. as we head into the rest of today, we'll keep with the flash flood watch. here's how your fourthle july forecast will break down. to the north and west, rainfall as we head into the rest of the morning. temperatures at 84 degrees. we are going to see clearing in time for fireworks as we get closer to your afternoon hours. most of the rainfall throughout the area will come to an end. fireworks, your forecast is safe. i'll go over all the details and the timing coming up in my full forecast. >> hurricane arthur made its initial landfall in north carolina around 11:15 last night. this is what it looked like earlier along the outer banks there, the storm churn, the surf and send be wind swept rain on to the boardwalk there. arthur is expected to move back over the open ocean up the east

coast as brittaney showed us earlier. one family decided to steer clear of the water. they told nbc 10 it's already looking rough. >> we took the girls to the water park for the entire day. we walked along the edge of the water. it was pretty nasty. >> the weather at the shore should be nice once the hurricane passes but for now, lifeguards are warning people not to go any further than waist deep into the surf because of the strong currents here. the threat of storms prompted several local towns to postpone tonight's and last night's fireworks displace. on nbc10.com we have a fullç lt of the fireworks festivities, including the new times. we're updating it by the minute. thousands of people are waking up in the dark thanks to last night's storms that rolled through the region. peco has more than 60,000

customers without power. and a reminder to be prepared ahead of this storm threat and any other 24 hours a day with our nbc 10 first alert weather app. download it for free on nbc10.com and get severe alerts. and interactive radar to your smartphone or tablet. jillian mele is with us now with an early look at the holiday traffic. i'm guessing it's pretty light at this time. >> how did you guess that, chris? it's very light. not too many drivers on the roads. typical holiday traffic. a live look at 95 near the walt whitman bridge. you can see a few drivers and the construction cones we have set up. for the most part, things are quiet, especially on the vine street expressway, the westbound side heading out to 76. later this morning and into the afternoon in center city, you can expect to see a lot of

closures along the parkway. it's not impacting traffic at all. that's good news. average speeds in the 60s on the pennsylvania turnpike. the 50s on both 76 and the blue route right now. >> the welcome america festival. we are hours away known as the party on the parkway in philadelphia. a live look at the ben franklin where the day-long event kicks off at noon. the stage is being set for tonight's free concert in front of the philadelphia museum of art. nicki minaj, ed sheeran and many more will be joining the roots. katy zachry is live on independence mall right now. she has a look at what we can expect on this fourth of july, including a presidential visit, right, katy? >> vice president joe biden will be here at independence hallç this morning at 10:00, joined by philadelphia mayor michael nutter for a celebration of

freedom ceremony. it starts at 10:00 a.m. and thousands of people are expected to fill the grass in front of independence hall, to hear the remarks along with excerpts that will be read from the declaration of independence. of special focus, the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act and the 60th anniversary of the brown versus board of education decision, a welcome america parade immediately follows the ceremony here. then on the ben franklin parkway at noon there will be food, music and festivities all leading up to a big concert at 7:00 with the roots, nicki minaj, jennifer hudson. others will be performing. this day will be 0 topped off by a feeshgs show above the philadelphia museum of art. all of this is weather permitting. i've been in touch with organizers of the welcome america events. they tell me in light of the crowds, they're expecting more than 500,000 people out here, in light of the potential inclimate weather, they're asking everyone who wants to attend at 10:00

a.m. to arrive here at 8:00. i am working on a story in the next hour that focuses on security and some new measures that philadelphia police are putting in place that was different from last year. reporting live, along independence mall, katy zachry, nbc 10 news. for more on all of the welcome america festivities along with other fourth of july events in your community go to the nbc10.com home page. president obama is marking fourth of july with a white house barbecue for military members and their families plus fireworks. before that, he'd lead a naturalization ceremony. he'll help swear in 25 service members from other countries that defended america even though they were not yet citizens. and a fourth of july tradition, a day early. to boston pops fourth of july concert and fireworks were held last night. that show was moved up a day because of the threat of bad weather from hurricane arthur. and a holiday tradition

right here on nbc 10. macy'sç fourth of july spectacular celebrates america's birthday. that's right here on nbc 10 at 8:00 p.m. new from overnight, one person was treated at the scene of this house fire in kingsessing. the house was the scene of a murder earlier this month but they say there's no connection to that crime and this fire. investigators are still looking for a cause. also new, a carbon monoxide scare at this hotel in the city's crescentville. the days inn lost power during last night's storms. the crew turned on a generator which sent flames through the building. a man was getting off an amtrak train, missed the platform and fell five feet from

the tracks below. he was rescued before any more trains came through, thankfully. here's a photo sent in to us by michael mccoy showing the rescue efforts to get the man off the tracks. he did suffer injuries to his legs. he is in stable condition. now your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> good morning. we're tracking the impact of hurricane arthur as we head into your fourth of july forecast. a stormy start for us. we are going to see heavy rain as we head into the rest of your morning hours. that will clear up heading into the afternoon and definitely we'll see nice conditions as we get into this evening and into your evernight hours. arthur's impact is mainly to the south of us and the good news is, it's going to stay well offshore. we also have your fireworks forecast. a closer look outside right now, breezy conditions. you can see the flags moving on top of the aramark building. wind speeds right now to the north at 6 miles per hour.

you can see we're seeing mostly cloudy skies. a closer look at hurricane arthur right now. it made landfall in north carolina earlier this morning. wind speeds are sustained at 100 miles per lu). it is tracking to the northeast at 22 miles per hour. so here's a closer look. our wider look i should say of this entire area. you can see the thunderstorm activity that's still pretty far to the south of us. and a closer look at the rainfall we're seeing associated with this storm because a cold front is helping to trigger some of these storms. we are seeing rain right now throughout parts of allentown, stretching into the poconos. as we head into the rest of today, we'll see a chance of heavy rainfall. that means a flash flood watch will remain in effect until noon. for parts of the area closer to the central and southern parts of delaware, that flash flood watch stays in effect until 4:00 p.m. that's because the ground is already saturated with the storms we've already seen. here's the track of arthur. it is a category 2 storm.

you can see it's well offshore. we don't have to worry about it coming onshore or anything like that. it will downgrade to category 1 by friday at 8:00 p.m. off the coast of boston before turning into an area of low pressure. here's a closer look at the rainfall we expect to see associated with hurricane arthur and our shore impacts. we'll see wind gusts closer to 35 miles an hour, dangerous rip currents and a surf advisory will stay in effect from 6:00 to 8:00. we will continue to see rainfall as we head into the rest of the day. i'll have your full seven-day forecast, coming up. >> 11 minutes after 4:00. let's see if the roadways are wet out there if it's impacting traffic any. jillian mele has a look at that. >> we are see something wet roads, especially for drivers in the lehigh valley. this is a live look at route 22 at 309 in the allentown area. the roads are wet but the good news is, we're not reporting too many drivers, no accidents on the majors. things are quiet right now on the majors in pennsylvania,

delaware and new jersey. this is a live look at 76 near montgomery drive. both directions are clear. mass transit is too early to see delays or anything like that. i want to give you a heads up for the day, for the fourth of july holiday, when it comes to septa, that will be operating on a sunday schedule. patcoç will have trains operatg every 20 minutes. new jersey transit is also operating on a sunday schedule, holiday schedule. with the exception of resort transit routes. i have them listed, 201 to 208 and route 305 beach connection. chris? >> getting around in one jersey shore town just got easier. plus, why a wedding inside a peruvian prison will make worldwide headlines. what prosecutors say this dad was doing while his son sat dying inside a hot car. and a deadly mishap mars the

world cup. those stories and more on nbc 10 news today.

i'm first alert meteorologist brittney shipp. you're taking a live look at cape may where we expect to see heavy rainfall as we head into the morning hours. the heaviest between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. we could see up to an inch from today's storms. hurricane arthur continues to churn its way to the northeast moving over north carolina starting to push into parts of virginia. it is packing winds up to 100 miles per hour, tracking to the northeast at 22 miles per hour. it's going to stay well offshore of our area but it is affecting your fourth of july forecast. i'll have your full forecast coming up. overnight, one of the

victims in a double shooting in philadelphia has died. this happened on akron street in frankfurt around 11:40 last night. we're working to get more information on the shooting victims and the police station investigation. from our delaware bureau, new revelations about mistakes that were made in response to the tilting 495 bridge that remains closed. deldot's transportation secretary says the state should have closed that bridge sooner. a slow response was also made to 911 calls and officials sending the wrong people to lookç at t bridge. >> we should have been out there the next day to look at this bridge. if somebody calls and e-mails about a bridge, it should be our standard practice that we go out immediately. >> deldot confirms that a dirt pile next to that bridge caused the support columns to shift which it what forced the closure of the span last month.

the company who dumped that dirt there did not have permission to do so. the 495 bridge is set to re-open around labor day. from our jersey shore bureau, several homes were damaged within a boat caught fire in atlantic county. nbc 10 and egg harbor township as firefighters try to get the flames under control. no one was hurt. investigators are still trying to figure out how the boat caught fire. the philadelphia man accused of storing his mother's body in a freezer for six months it in jail. william carasquillo is charged with abuse of a corpse. investigators are still waiting on autopsy results. her son's co-workers told us that he told them he was cashing

his dead mortgage's social security checks. listen to this, police say the georgia man accused of intentionally leaving his son in a hot suv was sexting while his son was left inside a hot car. yesterday, a detective testified as that boy was inside the vehicle, harris was exchanging nude photos with women on his cell phone, including an underage woman. and the detective said prior to that day, harris visited a blog called child free and looked up how to survive in prison. today accused killer joran van der sloot will marry his pregnant girlfriend in a peruvian prison. he's currently serving a 28-year sentence in connection with a peruvian woman.

he met his fiance in prison where she sells candy and cigarettes. an overpass under construction fell on to the street below. several vehicles were trapped and this scene is a few miles from one of the stadiums hosting games for the world cup soccer tournament. here is new video out of italy. it shows a dive into the interior of that cruise ship that capsized in 2012 after it slammed into a reef. engineers have uprighted the "costa concordia" so it can be towed away and dismantled for scrap. 32 people were killed in the wreck. investigators are still examining the actions of the captain and crew. now your first alert weather with meteorologist brittney shipp. >> you're taking a look at cape may. we could see up to an inch of rain today with the impact of hurricane arthur as it turns to churn over north carolina.

it will churn to the northeast. i'll show you how your entire day will break down. we'll see a stormy start throughout most of our area. heavier rain along the shore. arthur continues to impact us throughout half of the day today. we'll see clearing skies just in time for the fireworks forecast. a closer lock at your current temperatures throughout philadelphia, 74 degrees. humidity at 82% and here's a closer look at category 2 hurricane arthur as it continues to spin along north carolina coast and what we're going to see associated with this, we're starting to see the strong thunderstorms on the back end. this entire system will continue to push to the northeast. it's tracking to the northeast at 22 miles per hour. already we are seeing a few showers and light rainfall, even moderate rainfall throughout parts of allentown, stretching into the poconos. we have a flash flood watch that will stay in effect throughout most of today. we have saturatedç soils alrea and what's more rainfall expected throughout today, we could see areas of flash

flooding. just be careful. hurricane arthur is far to the south of us right now. as we head into your morning hours, we'll tonight to see rainfall coming down, even by 11:00 p.m. we're still dealing with the rain along the shore. even once the rainfall moves out, we're still going to be dealing with dangerous rip currents as we head into the rest of the weekend. you do need to be careful along the water here. by 1:00 p.m., scattered showers. we'll continue to see the remnants of hurricane arthur shifting well offshore and we'll even start to see clearing as we head into your evening hours. closer to 6:00, 7:00, that's when we'll see more clearing. fireworks forecast looks good as we head into the rest of this evening. right now we're at 71 degrees here in horsham, 74 in northeast philly. temperatures starting off in quakertown at 68 degrees. we expect to see rainfall as we head into your morning hours. 74 in avalon. if you're heading down to the beaches and shores for today, here's your fourth of july forecast. we expect heavy rain to continue throughout the first half of your day, tapering off by 5:00

p.m. and by 9:00 p.m. we are going to see clearing, breezy conditions, temperatures at 70 degrees. >> keeping it clear for the fireworks, everybody. that's what everyone wants to see. jillian mele has a look at mass transit now. julia? >> good morning, chris. we have problems that are residual from yesterday evening from when we had the thunderstorms in the area. septa regional airlines, airport line has suspended service since yesterday evening. shuttle bus service is in effect right now between 30th street station and the philadelphia international airport. keep that in mind. when it comes to the wilmington/newark line, that's completely suspended. we are starting the morning with problems when it comes to mass transit. on the highways, things are looking good. this is a live look at the blue route out near 76. both directions clear and quiet right now. drive times on the blue route, 17, 18 minutes in both directions. 422 is an easy ride.

root 100 at route ç113 is also very clear. chris? the verdict is in for reputed philadelphia mobster scarfop. and tourist taxi, a new beach buggy service that should be a welcome sight for vacationers at the jersey shore.

30 years to life. that's what the son of a former philadelphia mob boss faces after being convicted of financial fraud. nicodemo scarfo heard that guilty verdict in a camden courtroom yesterday. he and seven co-defendants are convicted of taking over a mortgage company in texas through intimidation. scarfo's group used the firm's assets to buy cars, homes and a yacht. from our jersey shore

bureau, people in wildwood can use a beach taxi now. you hate walking across that hot sand sometimes. you you can hop on board this contraption, an atv. wildwood's beach is as much as 2,000 feet wide. rides are 3 bucks each way for adults and 2 bucks each way for seniors and kids. now your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> all right. you're taking a live look at center city this morning. mostly cloudy and overcast now but showers are likely as we head into the rest of the morning and afternoon, clearing up as we head into tonight, just in time for your fireworks. i'll have your full forecast coming up. jillian? >> good morning, brittney. if you're making an early morning getaway to the shore, you're in luck, no incidents to report. i'm sure jesse gary had an easy commute as he made his way to

margate. >> easy commute but intermittent showers here at the shore. a little bit of wind and the dangers of rip currents, we'll talk about all that, coming up. [casino sounds] >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly] >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly] [dog bark] >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly] [loud kiss smack] >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly] [party sounds] >> librarian: shh >> man: yeah [speaking excitedly]

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nbc 10 news starts now. and you are looking live now at margate, atlantic county, the jersey shore will begin to see the effects of hurricane arthur in the next few hours with rain through the morning hours and rough surf. the delaware beaches will be the first to bear the impact of arthur, though, people in rehoboth were basking in the sun yesterday but today, strong winds and dangerous ocean conditions are on tap today thanks to this.

hurricane arthur over coastal north carolina on first alert radar. arthur is a category 2 symptom as it continues to race across the outer banks. this is video from the outer banks. they're getting rough surf, 100 mile-per-hour winds from that category 2 hurricane which made landfall last night. this is nbc 10 news today. i'm chris cato. we have team coverage this morning of arthur and its impact. meteorologist brittney shipp cracking today's weather and the affect arthur will have for our weather. jillian mele is monitoring holiday traffic and jesse gary is at the jersey shore as arthur approaches. let's start in the first alert weather center with brittney shipp. >> arthur is a category 2 hurricane with sustained winds at 100 miles per hour. right now this entire hurricane is tracking to the northeast. what's going to be the impact on our region, especially as we head into the rest of your fo