a trail of destruction over the island of 3.4 million people. entire neighborhoods under water. the water keeps rising. while many areas are dealing with flooding others are seeing dangerous flash flooding. people are reportedly calling radio stations describing the conditions. roofs and doors ripped off. even a water tank flew away in the island's southern region. so far hurricane maria is blamed for at least nine deaths in the caribbean. from the air, you can see widespread damage on the island of dominica. the fury of the storm is not over yet. life-threatening winds are expected to continue for several more hours. >> maria is pulling away from puerto rico. >> chief meteorologist tammie souza joins us with the latest on the storm's track. >> we're watching the eye which has filled in. it's downgraded to a cat 3

because it moved over the mountains of puerto rico. the eye is leaving the island. it's moving to the north and northwest. still affecting the island of hurricane-force and tropical storm-force winds. it's not as large as irma was but it's the tenth most intense for the atlantic on record. a central pressure of 906 millibars last night. looking closer, you see the eye diminishing as it passes to the southwest of st. croix. right over the central portion of puerto rico. and now out off to the north and west of puerto rico. so let's go ahead and look at where this is headed now. it has its eyes on the turks and caicos and bahamas. this is going to restrengthen. it looks like the eye it trying to reform. it's expected to be a category 4 as it approaches the turks and

ca caicos. then out into the atlantic. it will be a 4. it's not expected to come near florida. it will diminish to a 3 and then a 2 and sail north right along the east coast but staying offshore. that's the expected track. let's watch it at the bottom of the screen. the time line. here we go. sunday, monday. into tuesday, wednesday. now it's off the carolinas on wednesday. they'll feel the force of this. at least tropical storm force winds. it passes us, and by next friday is could make landfall as a weak system up in halifax towards nova scotia. we'll talk about it more in a few minutes. many families are waiting for updates from loved ones in the path of maria and puerto rico. >> the entire island lost power, cutting off communications.

aaron baskerville is live here. >> reporter: we are inside kensington, one of the many places dealing with the issues over in puerto rico. i am talking about nearly two dozen workers here have families over there. they say the same thing. early this morning they were able to talk to them. since then everything has been cut off. take a look around here. some of the customers are dealing with the same issues. they have been watching the television. every second they can. on the screen now is mexico and the earthquake. they have been going back and forth with what's going on over there with the hurricane. if we look at this bucket, you will see it inside this store and others in the area. they're asking for donations. that was for irma. of course they'll do the same thing for maria. like you said, the main issue today is communication. it's been a constant struggle this afternoon for eduardo begins le

gonzalez. he is trying to get updates from his sister and nephew living in puerto rico. 20 minutes outside san juan. communication is very slow as he holds on to an early-morning text. >> so far we have been able to communicate for a short period of time. i know so far they're okay, they're scared. >> reporter: he is not the only one having trouble talking with family battling maria. families tell us land lines are down and cellphone towers are having issues. include philadelphia police captain javier rodriguez. >> when i dial out there is no ring tone at all. >> reporter: we're told some families will try to evacuate to philadelphia, getting far away from the devastation, since it could take months to rebuild. at least one city council member is giving notice. >> we've seen a growing migration of puerto ricans to philadelphia and we expect it to grow. it's important to reach out to the government and mayor about how to help american citizens in

puerto rico. >> reporter: gonzalez already tried to get his family out of harm's way but that did not work out. >> actually, we thought about that. everything was booked. there was so empty planes coming out of puerto rico. >> aaron baskerville reporting. closer to home, emergency repairs at jersey beaches are under way after taking a beating from josé. we captured massive waves crashing over the seawall on jfk beach drive in north wildwood. they caused severe damage. part of a protective sand dune is now virtually gone after being washed away. >> each of those storms has its own personality. the personality of this storm was really big waves. they're the biggest waves i've ever seen. how the city is eyeing a more permanent fix that would be better at manager future storms. why has this been such an active

hurricane season? tammie souza answers that question in her blog. read it right now on the nbc bay area app. mexico is still reeling after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked its largest city yesterday killing more than 200 people. rosemary connors is live in the breaking news center with more. >> mexico's president is calling for three days of national mourning following the killer earthquake. here is what we know right now. rescue crews are still sifting through the rubble of collapsed homes, schools and businesses. the death toll stands at 225 and continues to rise as crews find more bodies. this is the deadliest earthquake in mexico since 1985. earlier today mexico's president visited a school that collapsed during yesterday's earthquake. a pile of concrete slabs is all that's left of the three-story building. crews recovered 25 bodies from the wreckage here. 21 of them were children.

all over the world people are praying for the victims. pope francis this morning led tens of thousands of people in prayer. the pope acknowledged the mexican pilgrims who were at the vatican today. out of our nation's capitol, the white house says president trump had a lengthy conversation today with mexico's president. yesterday president trump publicly offered his condolences and said the american people are with mexico. live in the breaking news center, i am rosemary connors, nbc10 news. nbc10's tim furlong spoke with people worried about their loved ones in mexico city. he'll have that story at 4:30. we're following breaking news out of salem county. you can see the water still on the road there. police said they had to rescue someone out of the car. the water was previously up to its doors. it has since, again, gone down. we'll continue to follow the breaking news, bringing you any

new information as soon as we get it. we're following breaking news of a school shooting inside a high school in illinois. one person was shot and another person is in custody. it happened just before noon at a school three hours south of chicago. police say several shots were fired but only one person was hit. we're working to find out the condition of the victim and what started it all. 20 minutes of nonstop news continues with a truck stuck on the borard walk at the jersey shore. >> crews had to step in. the truck driver drove more than two miles down the board walk from atlantic city to ventner before the truck got truck. >> ted greenberg found out how it ended up on the boardwalk in the first place. >> reporter: a very bizarre site. >> i have never seen anything like that. it's crazy. >> reporter: that made many do a double take. >> i had to start asking

questions. what the heck is going on here? >> reporter: an 18,000 pound tractor-trailer stuck on the wooden way early this morning after driving nearly the entire length of the city's boardwalk. the truck, way too big to then get off. >> the driver, in his words, made a wrong turn. >> reporter: police believe the big rig came onto the boardwalk on albany avenue in atlantic city. it kept rolling that way, a total of two and a half miles. >> we thought, well, maybe their gps told them to go the wrong way. >> reporter: how did this happen? >> no comment. >> reporter: why did you drive on the boardwalk? >> no comment, please. >> reporter: public works crews were busy for three hours dismantling railings. piling up sand and putting down planks to create a wider exit, first for the cab and then the trailer with the help of a towing company. the driver, whose destination was unclear, is being ticketed. he.

>> just a bad judgment call. he let it get carried away. >> reporter: authorities say it left no visible damage. a structural engineer will check to make sure. a boardwalk with pieces now put back together after a driver's heavy-duty mistake. ted greenberg, nbc10 news. 12 workers were hospitalized after a hazmat situation at a chester county mushroom facility. the building was evacuated. the source of the spill was quickly contained. just in to nbc10 the fan convicted of sexually assault. lee kaplan was convicted and according to prosecutors the

girls' parents gifted their daughters to kaplan because he helped the family out of financial ruin. the parents were each sentenced to up to seven years in prison for child endangerment. lee kaplan will spend the next 30 to 87 years in prison. president trump is meeting with british prime minister theresa may in new york a week after the london subway explosion. meantime, during a meeting with palestinian authorities president mahmoud abbas. the president said he has reached a decision on whether to pull out of the iran nuclear deal but won't say what it is. trump said he is hoping to reach a deal for peace in the middle east. >> i think we have a very, very good chance, and i certainly will devote everything within -- within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made. >> president trump has until october 15th to certify that

iran is complying with the deal. under the agreement, iran has halted nuclear development in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. earlier president trump met with king abdullah of jordan. u.n. ambassador nikki haley defended the u.s. policy on north korea and the president's comments about the kim regime. the defense came in an appearance on nbc's "today" show this morning. >> we have lots of military options. it's not to go straight to destruction of north korea but we will not be intimidated. we will not be threatened, and we have to protect the american people. >> president trump spoke to the general assembly yesterday and vowed that he would totally destroy north korea if forced to defend the u.s. or its allies. the attorney for the man charged with killing a temple university student earlier this month says his client didn't cause the victim any harm. jenna burleigh vanished at the end of august, last seen leaving a bar near the campus with the

29-year-old. her body found on property belonging to his grandmother. he was due in court for a preliminary hearing but the case was continued until late november. still no classes for 5,000 students in montgomery county school district. teachers walked off the job monday. the school board asked union officials to join them in arbitration to hopefully quickly work out an agreement. the district has the day off for the jewish holiday of rosh hashanah tomorrow. prosecutors are trying to prove the democrat tried to hide free flights and other gifts from a wealthy donor. they showed a clip of an interview menendez gave as well as a news release from his office. menendez said he only took a few flights on the donor's plane but

prosecutors say he took many more. menendez is charged with accepting favors in exchange for political influence. black eye for pennsylvania as the nearly three-month budget stealmate between lawmakers and the off governor drags on. the downgrade of the debt means the state about pay more to borrow money. the house and senate are divided over whether to raise taxes as lawmakers look to borrow money to help to bail the state out of a more than $2 billion deficit. the number of opioid induced deaths in philadelphia is sky-rocketing. the city is offering free training to anyone interested in learning how to properly use the life-saving overdose antidote narcan. training will happen once a month through the end of the year. the city is on pace to record more than 1200 drug overdose deaths this year. >> in montgomery county the

frontier bus depot is getting a $12 million facelift. the hub will get a number of upgrades designed to make it safer and more energy efficient. act 89 which uses capital funds for transportation improvements throughout the state is funding the project. the community college of philadelphia and cookstown university are joining forces. the schools signed a deal to enter into a dual admissions transfer partnership. that means cooks town agrees to streamline the transfer process and accept community college students. ccp has partnerships with 14 colleges and universities across the region. the jewish new year rosh hashanah at sundown tonight. >> the high holiday starts a ten-day period of prayer and personal reflection. this rosh hashanah marks the year 5778 on the hebrew calendar. many jews celebrate with

traditional food including apples dipped in honey for a sweet year. we continue to get new information on hurricane maria. right now the storm is battering puerto rico. people took cover wherever they could as winds topped 155 miles per hour today. >> in one town 80% of the homes are damaged. even emergency centers were not spared. a hospital lost its roof. in some area communication with first responders is down. brian mendosa from our sister station is in san juan. he and his photographer have been taking shelter but were able to file this report moments ago. >> reporter: we have been driving around san juan and we have been seeing a lot of damage. i want to show you some of what we've seen so far. this metal door was yanked away. you see the damage there. i want to show you this window on this building. broken away. water has gone inside the

building. there is a metal tube that seems to have went through the windowo and broken it. power lines are dangling. tree limbs on the ground. those are just a few of the damages here in san juan, puerto rico. we'll continue driving around the area. we want to get to residents and see what they have gone through, speak to them, hear their stories, and we will bring that over to you once we have that coverage. now, look at this car just going through the water. power lines on the floor, a very dangerous situation for the people here in san juan, but that's just going to be some of the things that we'll continue seeing throughout the days to come. now, we're going to bring you the latest. we'll keep driving around and bring you the latest from san juan in puerto rico. brian mendosa, nbc news. >> we know we'll see more damage as a the dies go on. >> 100% of the island without power. so many people from the virgin

islands fled to puerto rico. now puerto rico needs water and they gave it to the virgin islands last week. >> they have not had a double hit by a major hurricane in  about 118 years. many records are being shattered or pushed to the limits. it was so good to see brian standing there and that he was doing well, i have to to tell you, the major part of this storm is moving to the north and west offshore. still, there are hurricane-force winds. it's like standing in an ef-4 tornado for hour after hour. that's why you see so much damage and it's so widespread. this is moving to the north and west. the eye is starting to reform. the eye disappears as it moves across the mountains. it's starting to re-intensify. it's expected to become a category 4 storm again with winds as high as 156 miles an

hour. it could even surpass that. 115-mile-an-hour winds now. pressure up to 961 from 906 making it the tenth most intense storm ever in the atlantic basin. a 4 as it would cross the turks and caicos tomorrow. off the east coast by monday. it looks like it will head toward our area by perhaps tuesday. let's look at the spaghetti models. you can see, there they go. they bring it in consensus. a few want to turn it inland. the cone is not having to do with that at this point. hurricane maria, 111, 129-mile-an-hour winds, cat 3. second to be up between 130 and 156-mile-an-hour winds. it's headed north along the u.s. east coast. the tenth most intense hurricane on record in the atlantic as of now. there is still a problem off our coast, that's josé.

>> josé will be lurking off the east coast for the next several days straight. you see an the radar and satellite right now, as we've been seeing through much of the day, clouds overhead along the coastline. some of us are looking at nice, sunny conditions. pulling this out wider, there is the center of josé. still some rain through the radar mostly outside of cape cod but everyone else has really been dry today. that's going to be the case for the next several days. high pressure will start to build in from the west, and that will dry us up. let's track josé. this is a very interesting cone. through thursday -- so from today to tomorrow afternoon. it will hook farther east and then wrap back around and move back in our direction. it will weaken as well. you see the "l," indicating weakening. as it does we'll see the high pressure building over our area. which will start bumping up our temperatures in the next few days. keeping us dry. 87. mid 80s over the lehigh valley

and burks county. new jersey, mix of clouds and sunshine. the shore low 80s. looks better but still likely a high rip current risk. delaware, mid to upper 80s too. looking at nice temperatures tomorrow. in the next half hour we'll see how long the long stretch lasts. the flyers take the ice tonight to start the preseason but not at the wells fargo center. >> the game's strategic location is part of a business boom in the lehigh valley. >> a completely different world than it was five years ago. >> still ahead at 4:00. how the ppl center is bringing in big names and events and changing the economic landscape of the lehigh valley. plus, communication cut off. local families watch and wait to here from loved ones stuck at ground zero after mexico's earthquake. and, dangerous discipline. the reason prosecutors say a mother ran over her daughter on her way to school.

that's next. but first, a look at the closing bell on wall street. the dow and s&p are up, while the nasdaq is down.

an ohio mother is in jail after she allegedly ran they are daughter over with a car not once but twice. the woman was in court today. she told police she was arguing with her 17-year-old daughter monday morning. as a punishment the maother demanded she stay home from school. she refused and the mother got in her car, chased the daughter down and hit her. the teen broke her leg in two places. for the model involved in kevin hart's video scandals she says she is not extorting hart.

she says she was involved with hart last month in las vegas but says the pictures and video leaked online had nothing to do with her and she is also a victim. she says someone snuck into hart's hotel room and took pictures of them. hart took to instagram where he apologized to his wife and children and also talked about an alleged extortion plot against him. >> at the end of the day, man, i just simply have to do better. i am not going to also allow a person to have financial gain off of my mistakes. in this particular situation, that's what was attempted. i said i would rather fess up to my mistakes. >> sabag says she'll cooperate with the police. pummeling puerto rico. maria has no mercy for the island. causing devastation to homes and businesses. >> where will the giant storm go next? hint, close to the united states.

it's frustrating because i have two children. it's like, they -- a lot of people are depending on this job. >> check-cashing confusion. dozens of people say the paycheck their employer gave them was no good. we're working to find out what's going on at 5:00. and, nbc10 is your official station of the philadelphia eagles. we're getting you ready for sunday's home opener against the giants. coverage begins at 9:30 a.m. with eagles game-day kickoff and game plan. join us for eagles gameday final after nbc10 news at 11:00.

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it's here. the first night your teenage daughter stays out way too late. but after three years of specialist cancer care, to guide her into remission, you couldn't be happier about it. aetna. you don't join us, we join you. listen to that. hurricane maria roared ashore in

puerto rico today, sounding leak a freight train. the category 4 storm pounded the island with a direct hit. here is a look at the storm right now. today, the strong winds took down power lines and blew off roofs. >> in a one-two punch, heavy flooding is the next threat for the island with a storm surge of up to nine feet expected. first alert chief meteorologist tammie souza is keeping an eye on the track of maria. >> let's go back to rosemary connors in the breaking news center with new information. >> maria is slowly moving away from puerto rico, away from right over the islands. life-threatening winds will continue to slam the area for another 12 to 24 hours. a long way to go. the storm is responsible for nine deaths across the caribbean. maria hit puerto rico with winds of 155 miles an hour. people took cover wherever they could. in stairwells, closets. today the governor of puerto rico asked president trump to declare the island a disaster zone and he asked residents to have faith and insisted they will rebuild.

the dominican republic is next in line to feel the storm's wrath. hurricane conditions will begin there sometime tonight. in the breaking news center, i am rosemary connors, nbc10 news. as she mentioned maria is starting to move away from puerto rico. >> tammie souza has the latest track on the hurricane. >> what we're looking at now, as it moves away from puerto rico the eye is trying to reform. until be just glancing past the northern side of the dominican republic. but it will be moving directly over the turks and caicos. they'll feel the full force of the hurricane shortly as well. it moved right past st. croix. they suffered a lot of damage. you see the eye diminishing as it moved over the mountains of puerto rico. it did begin to weaken despite the damage. category 3, 115-mile-an-hour winds. moving to the northwest at 12 miles an hour. tonight it will pass the north shore of the dominican republic. by tomorrow morning it will be

approaching the turks and caicos. restrengthening to category 4. it will move into the atlantic. it looks like the cone stays away from the bahamas but it could shift. this is a couple days away. it will be a 4. it will by a category 2 by monday morning and then it heads straight up the coast of the united states. how close will this get to us? too close for comfort. it bears watching. here it comes. it's diminishing. should be a category 3. category 2. it curves very close to land. high pressure to the east that is moving it around. that's off the coast of philadelphia. maybe rain in jersey and perhaps a quick landfall in halifax. we'll look more closely at maria in a few minutes, guys. we're also following the devastation out of mexico where at least 225 people are dead following yesterday's earthquake. >> here is what we know right now. crews are scrambling to find any survivors underneath all the

rubble. they have saved at least 11 people. rescuers have been asking for silence in the streets so they can hear calls for help. also right now, 40% of mexico city does not have power. workers are trying to restore power just as quickly as they can. take a look at this. a drone captured just part of the devastation there in mexico city. you can see buildings were levelled in minutes after the 7.1 magnitude quake. local families tell nbc10 they're worried about loved ones caught near ground zero in mexico city. tim furlong spoke with them as they watch and wait for news. >> it was ugly. it was horrible. >> reporter: when miriam saw the images of the earthquake damage she thought of her family in her hometown two hours south of mexico city. >> my mom, my sisters, are they

scared, are they okay. what's going on. i got into a panic attack. >> reporter: she says her sister had a nervous breakdown after the quake and her mom's health problems are making things tougher as they assess the extensive damage to their property. >> the electricity, the fences, the walls of the house, they cracked. >> reporter: as far as she knows all her extended family members are safe. she can't confirm anything on her own. many have no power and cell service has been sketchy. here at the latin american community center miriam gets the support she needs but she is more worried about her family who she hasn't seen in years. here in delaware she'll try to keep calling home and continuing to pray. tim furlong, nbc10 news. "nbc nightly news" will have live coverage from the earthquake-ravaged region in mexico. tonight at 6:30 right after

nbc10 news at 6:00. a look at some of the other stories we're following. in atlantic county, today is the battle of the badges. atlantic city firefighters and police officers are teaming up with the red cross to find out which agency can recruit the most people to donate blood. the firefighters won last year's competition. blood donations are being accepted at the atlantic city moose lodge number 216 on west end avenue. the red cross will be there until 5:00 tonight. shoppers across the area are encouraged to help bag hunger. all day long, shop rite supermarkets in the delaware valley are giving customers the option to round up their change to the nearest dollar and donate the money to local food banks. nbc10 was in brookhaven, delaware county this morning where we found the mayor lending a hand. in montgomery county parents got the chance to learn how to properly install and use a child car seat. representatives from britax

child safety hosted the test-drive parenthood program at thomas lexus in willow grove. studies show nearly half of all kids who died in car crashes were improperly restrained or at restrained at all. tiz the season for sick calls in the office and at school. >> next at 4:00, why doctors predict this year's flu season will be worse than normal. the flyers are playing at the ppl center in allentown tonight. why people believe the ppl center is the key to allentown's success. tropical storm josé is out of here, but it left a mess behind along the jersey shore. new at 5:00, the issues one community is left to deal with now.

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♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. new jersey born and raised. like his father before him, he served our country with honor in the navy. came home and worked his way up from floor technician to supervisor at the salem power plant. as a husband and father, grenier knows how families struggle to make ends meet. that's why he'll fight to cut our taxes, and stand up to career politicians like steve sweeney. if we want to change trenton, there's only one way. fran grenier. . americans are living longer but opioid drugs are shortening the overall life span of adults. a new study from the centers for disease control and prevention looked at death rates in 2000

and 2015. during this time overall life expectancy increased by two years to 78.8 years but deaths from drug poisoning more than doubled. most were opioid related. researchers say opioid use is shortening lives by two and a half months. if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, you may want to do it soon. doctors are predicting a bad flu season this year. that's because australia has seen more than double the number of flu cases this season compared to last year. and they say that is bad news for us. remember, it takes one to two weeks after receiving a flu shot to have full protection. and, like last year, doctors are not recommending the nasal flu mist. i am tracking maria. how close will it really get to philadelphia once it heads north along the east coast? the answer to that, coming up. lost and found. ahead at 5:00, she was changing a flat tire then realized she lost a prized possession. how this jersey cop found it.

before before bensalem did ha .

walmart is not planning any large-scale hiring for the holiday shopping season. instead, the retailer will offer extra hours to current store workers just like last year. the largest u.s. private employer will be adding more temporary workers at its distribution centers, but walmart has not released specific numbers there. ups says it expects to hire about 95,000 seasonal employees including more than 4500 in the philadelphia area. the package delivery company says the employees will support the expected increase in package volume that will begin in november and extend through january. twitter says its controls are weeding out terrorists. it says it removed nearly 300,000 accounts in the first half of this year. it says the accounts were used

for the promotion of terrorism. u.s. and european governments have been pressuring social media companies to fight harder against online radicalization. we are tracking the damage left behind by hurricane maria. nbc10's rosemary connors is live with new information. >> i can tell you that some villages in puerto rico have been destroyed. and now with the threat of up to two feet of rain falling, flooding is what island residents are worried about next. the storm surge is a concern with up to 4 feet along the coast of puerto rico. strong winds are expected to continue through the evening. already hundreds of houses have been destroyed. to make matters worse, the power is completely knocked out on the entire island. just in the past few moments we learned about a new curfew extending from 6:00 tonight until 6:00 tomorrow and until saturday. they want everybody to stay inside. today president trump tweeted his support for the u.s. island

territory. puerto rico's governor later asked him to declare the island a disaster zone. that would free up much needed federal aid quickly. live in the breaking news center. rosemary connors, nbc10 news. >> puerto rico still getting pounded by the hurricane. but it's starting to pull away from the island. >> chief meteorologist tammie souza is here to talk about it. >> the dominican republic, you can see the eye trying to reform once again. watch as the eye diminishes. you can see, as it goes across land, as it moves across the mountains it falls apart. it goes past st. croix. the eye is gone. the storm is down to a category 3. look at the eye trying to reform. the storm has widened a bit in size and scope. hurricane-force winds are affecting parts of puerto rico. it will taper off and become tropical storm force winds soon. right now, actually now just downgraded to a category 2. this is brand-new information with the 5:00 update. 110-mile-an-hour winds.

the pressure at 957. the pressure will drop more. that's dropped a little bit. that's probably why the eye will start to re-intensify. it's expected to restrengthen to a 3, possibly a 4. it will move north by sunday, monday it will be off the east coast of the carolinas. it's starting to take the turn around the high pressure to the east of it. that's the main steering mechanism, this big bermuda high on the western edge of that. then it moves upward north. the models bring it along that path and then they stop. for most part the thinking is that it will stay to the east. let's watch how close it comes to us. here is the center. tuesday. next wednesday. you can see we could get some rain here, especially across south jersey by thursday, maybe wednesday into thursday. then it's gone. at this point the models want to keep it off shore.

that's very good news. we'll probably see high surf again and more beach erosion. the beaches will be a dangerous place over the next week or so. here is crystal about more on josé and things closer to home. >> part of the problem for the beach locations is the fact that there is no recovery point. josé has been lurking off the east coast. it's not moving over the next several days. the rain bands still hanging on tight. none of it over us. we're just seeing clouds. a lot of blue sky overhead. josé's track. this is updated by the national hurricane center. you can see that the national hurricane center has it moving a bit to the east over the next day or so, then wrapping back around to pretty much the exact spot it is in. that's why the cone is one solid circle. the reason it can't move further inland is the high pressure building into the west on top of what tammy wie was talking abou

the high pressure to the east. the next few days will look nice thanks to the high pressure building. tomorrow, mid to upper 80s for the high temperatures across the board with a mix of scattered clouds and sunshine out there. really a good forecast for us for tomorrow's highs. on the ten-day on 10. no complaints over the next several days unless you're itching for fall-like conditions. fall officially starting on friday but you won't feel it. 83 on friday. upper 80s saturday and sunday. a dry eagles game. then we could see some of josé's moisture bringing us a spot shower by monday. additional chances of rain could move back in at the end of next work week. next at 4:00. business boom for the lehigh valley's largest city. how the ppl center has revitalized downtown allentown.

ey is facing an epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. vanessa: in honor of september being recovery month, we want you to know that recovery from addiction is possible, but you need to know the signs. they can be hard to spot: social withdrawal, financial problems, irritability. christie: if you see these signs occurring together or suddenly, you may have cause for concern. the signs you spot today... vanessa: ...could save a loved one tomorrow. christie: call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov.

revitalized downtown allentow

there is a special treat tonight for hockey fans in the lehigh valley. the philadelphia flyers will be playing a preseason game there tonight at the ppl center in allentown. it is part of a business boom for the ppl center which is seeing a boost in sporting events, concerts and even monster truck races. nbc10's steven fisher shows us just how important the arena has become to the community. >> reporter: the old adage is true in allentown. build it and they will come. the ppl center has only been open for a handful of years but it's already become a main attraction. many people say this is the main reason why allentown has turned around. ask anyone, and they'll tell you. >> definitely. >> reporter: today's allentown is far different than in years passed. >> getting to be a pretty rough

neighborhood without much activity. >> reporter: so much has changed in so little time. >> it's a completely different world than it was five years ago. >> reporter: many say the town's turn-around started with the addition of the ppl center. >> i wouldn't come down here for anything prior to the ppl center. we rarely came down, even to go to a restaurant. >> reporter: now there is a lot going on. new restaurants, shops. and your pick of shows. concerts, hockey games. >> it's show after show after show. the arena has been busy due to the fan support. >> reporter: the community interest is said to have been off the charts. >> ppl center was the catalyst to the revitalization of downtown allentown. three years deep into this, i think the expectations have been far exceeded by the great fans in the lehigh valley. >> reporter: tonight the center hosts the philadelphia flyers in a preseason game. an added bonus for die-hard fans who live far from philly. >> i am a big flyers fan. to only have to drive to allentown instead of philadelphia is great.

>> reporter: the phantoms have also helped to rally the valley. >> the idea that there is great hockey local is marvelous. >> reporter: steven fisher. nbc10 news. we're working on several stories for nbc10 news at 5:00. >> here is rosemary connors. >> imagine trying to cash your paycheck and walking away empty-handed. dozens of local workers say it happened to them. we're digging to find out what went wrong here. hurricane maria has wreaked havoc in puerto rico. new pictures of the damage as the curfew is about to go into effect. i am tracking hurricane maria. where is it going next? how close will it get to the u.s.? and some things you may not know about this amazing hurricane. i'll be right back with that.

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right now at 5:00, a front-row view of hurricane maria's intensity. the storm is walloping the island of puerto rico with winds of up to 155 miles an hour. video coming to us from puerto rico where you see the intense wind gusts blowing around debris. we're seeing the damage maria left behind on the island of dominica. buildings across the island are missing roofs, debris scattered everywhere. good evening. i am erin coleman. >> i am rosemary connors. maria continues to show relentless force to everyone in

its path. the entire island of puerto rico is without electricity tonight. that's not the worst of it. as maria unleashes its furious assault on puerto rico, the island is unable to fight back. winds over 150 miles an hour. tearing apart homes and businesses, and a soaking, flooding rain, swallowing neighborhoods. >> this is a clearly going to be the most devastating tomorrow in the history of our island. >> devastation scattered across the caribbean. st. croix, dominica and guadeloupe ravaged by the storm as it made its way to puerto rico. one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in the u.s. territory in nearly a century. thousands pushed into 500 shelters across the strike zone. >> we have a lot of houses over here that are wooden and in flooded areas. those houses had no chance. >> puerto rico and the san juan we knew yesterday is no longer there. >> for survivors to have a chancenc