leon: a stormwatch alert, heavy rain across the region and flash flood warnings. plus, new revelations about a notorious murder suspect. a former girlfriend of suspect jesse matthew was a victim. >> somebody is affected by this disease everywhere you turn. leon: spreading hope through

light. at first, a stormwatch alert. happening right now, flash flood warnings in effect. yet,n: it's not over unsettled weather could bring rain for several days. watch on a keeping a tropical storm that could bring problems for the weekend. let's get right to steve rudin with more. steve: a lot going on, and the latest update with the tropical storm coming up. outside the belfort furniture weather center, the heaviest of the rain has moved off to the north and east of the d.c. showers across southern maryland, heavier downpours, but nothing severe as the slips out. we will have clearing early, early tomorrow morning. don't expect a ton of sunshine. the rainfall totals come over five inches at wintergreen, leesburg 4.5 inches, over four inches in delaplane and fairfax

station. flash flood warning down for frederick county. however, flash flood watch loudounoff to the west, county, frederick, most of western maryland. the latest 11:00 update on what is now tropical storm joaquin. it is expected to become a category two storm by saturday with wind at 100 miles per hour, and could be off the delmarva coast sunday afternoon. more on what this means for our seven day outlook coming up. alison: steve, thank you. stay with abc 7 when rain and storms roll through. stay connected at wjla.com, and watch twitter and facebook, and download the stormwatch app. leon: tonight's reign pales in comparison with what is becoming south,rous deluge in the several states facing serious flooding, and there could be more rain coming. richard reeve has a look at the

cleanup and preparations happening now. stormd: this is a massive affecting 20 and million americans -- 20 million americans, up to the coast of maine, causing a lot of headaches on the roads. region made it difficult for drivers trying to get anywhere tuesday night. lee highway turned into a mini flood zone. between winchester and martinsburg on i-81, some drivers got too close for comfort. the gmu campus was submerged tuesday afternoon. but it is not just our area. outside of blacksburg, a mudflap caused more road hassles. in north carolina, more than two inches of rain flooded parking lots and swept away a car, forcing a chaotic water rescue. >> it's surprising how fast it will carry you down the river. the carolinas hammered

by eight inches of rain in the last couple days. in western north carolina, giant cracks and roadways. this retaining wall and it up in a parking lot. >> it has continuously rained and not stopped. i've been told it is supposed to rain through friday. it's a mess. outside of winchester, va, we met a state trooper who was shaking his head, saying people have to learn all over again how to drive in this stuff, a preview of what is coming in the next couple months. richard reeve, abc 7 news. alison: thank you, rich. developing now, a sad story out of berkeley county, west virginia. the police say that a two-year-old boy wonder into a neighbor's yard yesterday and was mauled by a dog. the boy died from his injuries at the hospital. we need to know why the child was not under supervision. how he got there.

why the dog bit him. noton: the police have released the boy's name or the type of dog. investigators say there are no previous incidents involving this animal. leon: heartbreaking. not dampennight did the spirits at a gathering outside of the u.s. capital. almost everybody who has been touched by cancer at some point in their life or somebody around them, tonight a light of hope ceremony for all of those who battle or continue to battle the disease. jay korff has a look at the stories of hope and heart break. and strength in numbers is so vital. jay? leon, cancer survivors, cancer patients, those who have lost loved ones came out in full force for a powerful purpose. rain, hundredsg of people affected by cancer gathered in washington tuesday night for the lights of hope ceremony. it givespowerful that

you more information to go on and fight. illuminated tags surrounded the reflecting pool, each containing a personal died,e to someone who has has fought cancer, or has beaten cancer. >> my mother, my father-in-law, a niece, and friends. is here to lobby members of congress to make sure that funding cancer research remains a top priority. >> i'm doing my part to see that we get a cure, as fast as we can. >> cancer affects everyone. vicki has had 15 family and friends affected by cancer. >> she had just gone in for knee surgery. they said she had pancreatic cancer. in eight months, she was gone. jay: the cancer action network says cancer will kill an estimated 589,000 people this

year. driving rain will not stop this crowd from demanding a cure and holding on for hope. >> nothing stops for the weather, so we cannot let it stop us. organizers say participants traveled from all 50 states and just about every congressional district as well. reporting live in the district, jay korff, abc 7 news. alison: jay, thank you. trial dates are set for the six baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray. william porter will go on trial first at the end of december. the others will be tried at the start of next year. charges range from reckless endangerment to second-degree depraved-heart murder. gray died from injuries he suffered in the back of a police transport van, triggering national protests. developments about accused murderer jesse matthew, on trial for raping and killing

a female college student. then i come a bombshell from his past. a former girlfriend claimed in a letter that matthew was raped as a child. roz plater has more on the letter and what is next for matthew. roz? matthew will be sentenced here in fairfax county on friday.rape the former girlfriend who said she didn't matthew from 2003 to 2005, wrote a letter to the judge, hoping he would take her claims and consideration before sentencing. the stunning claims about jesse matthew were written in a letter to a fairfax county judge by his former girlfriend. she says the man accused of raping and killing multiple women was himself sexually abused as a child by at least of,e individuals she knows and one person raping him repeatedly, forcing him to keep it quiet. we asked a psychiatrist to weigh in. we don't know whether that is true, but what

we do know is that people who assault others have a history themselves of having been treated violently, so this is not an excuse for anything, but it can be a reason. set to beew is sentenced friday for the violent rape of a fairfax county woman in 2005. matthew is also awaiting trial in the murder of two other women -- virginia tech student morgan harrington, found in 2010, and uva student hannah graham, was found murdered in 2014. prosecutors say that there is a dna link to matthew in all the cases. the doctor said that the childhood sex abuse claims may not be enough to sway the judge when it comes to sentencing. >> the violence perpetrated was much too severe to have a mitigating effect, i would say, on the punishment. before friday, matthew has a court date tomorrow afternoon

-- to hear motions in two cases. roz plater, abc 7 news. alison: a federal grand jury has indicted another aide to former d.c. mayor vincent gray. rubin charles ii is charged with two counts of failing to file tax returns. he faces up to a year in prison on each count. prosecutors say it is part of an ongoing investigation into gray's 2010 campaign. from nearly 24 hours away a possible government shutdown, retiring house speaker john boehner has fast tracked a bill to fund the government through december 11. the house is expected to pass the senate version tomorrow. boehner in mitch mcconnell rso planning talks with president obama on a two-year budget deal because they want to have a goal of avoiding a budget fight in election year. the current budget hangups took center stage on capitol hill today.

the planned parenthood president testified before a committee, questioned about videos that reportedly showed workers discussing the sale of fetal tissue. several states are investigating the videos, which are extensively edited. richards today defended the organization. women come to us even if they have other options because, friendly, we are the best at women's health. i think they deserve the right to make their own decision. has become aue rallying cry for some republicans, including presidential hopeful carly fiorina. caught after decades on the run, a kidnapping and torture suspect arrested in mexico. the story of his capture and how a tv show may have led to it. alison: and changing the rules when it comes to tweets. could 140 characters be

one of the most wanted men in america is behind bars, finally, after nrly a quarter

century on the run. working with, mexican authorities, arrested paul jackson at a hotel in guadalajara. he is accused of kidnapping and torturing young women in oregon. he disappeared after his mother posted bail in 1991. >> i had hoped this day would happen, but i never believed it would. i go along periods without thinking about it, and then i will have a flashback or memory. leon: the case was recently featured on cnn's "the hunt with john walsh." somebody called in a tip, leading authorities to mexico. his brother is serving a 108- year prison sentence for his involvement in the crimes. companies are facing an october 1 deadline to distribute new cards with secure chip technology. once you get your new card, you will notice a small metallic square to help prevent fraud. instead of swiping your card at the payment terminal, you have

to insert it, holding it there for a few seconds. that is because the chip is creating a security code. if you have not received a new card yet, don't worry. companies say they are behind in the distribution efforts. leon: speeding up your next plane trip i changing the seat, something called these side slip seat. its maker say that 23 airlines are interested in the concept. sles provides both wider ai and it is believed that it could speed up boarding and d planning processes. it will go on sale next summer. those do not look comfortable, sorry. alison: not at all. be aow that for a tweet to tweet it is 140 characters or less, pack a change. twitter is working on a new product that would allow users to write tweets that are longer. they are not commenting, but it

has sparked a debate over whether twitter could survive without its character limitations. they before you know it, will actually have people talking to each other. boy, wouldn't that be amazing? steve: all the kids are asking, will we get the homecoming dances in this weekend with the potential of the tropical storm? alison: and they are asking their dates over twitter. steve: and they're asking about school tomorrow. school is on tomorrow, i guarantee you that. we had some downpours this evening. outside we go -- leon: you can tweet about it. right after this. 74 at reagan national. the high today, 80 degrees, well above average this time of year, the record was 93 in 1954. still in the 70's, not falling a lot as we move through the overnight. 70 winchester, frederick, downpours earlier this evening. 71 hagerstown.

can you guess where the cold front is located, off to the north and west. behind that, temperatures in the 50's chicago and detroit. middle 60's columbus and pittsburgh. still the 70 degree readings hugging the east coast at this time. that will change this time tomorrow night. the satellite radar, all the heavy rain now moves off to the north and east. that is the good news. if you were home earlier this evening, frederick and loudoun county, it really came down. off to theas moved north and east and not having much of an impact on the metro area. the last of the remaining showers moving across the chesapeake bay, so things are drying up nicely. tomorrow morning when you get up for work or school, grabbed the umbrella because we may see a few showers tomorrow. weatherbug shows rain totals of two to four inches across the metro area, a flash flood watch continues overnight.

in green.haded nothing for the media metro area, and things dry out nicely tomorrow morning. the futurecast, grab the umbrella tomorrow morning. may have some lingering showers, not expecting a lot. the brakes and the clouds come a little bit of sunshine midday into the afternoon. i would not plan on a great day tomorrow, but it will look a lot that are then today. in cooler air thursday, along with another round of rain. let's get you updated on joaquin. i want to start with the spaghetti plot. they are all over the place right now. as we move towards the upcoming weekend, they move closer towards the mid-atlantic. the latest 11:00 update has the wind at 70 miles per hour, wind gusts of 85. expected to become a category two hurricane. by sunday, 8:00 at night, it could very well be off the coast of cape hatteras where it may be

off the coast of the delmarva peninsula. if it moves further west, it will have a bigger impact in our area. worth watching. eileen whelan will have the latest tomorrow morning on "good morning washington." overnight, clouds and showers begin to ease, temperatures in the 70's in the morning. as we move through the daytime, a little bit of sunshine early, then we look for the temperatures to really cool off as we move closer towards the end of the week. so many questions saturday, friday, sunday. that is when we are looking for temperatures only in the 60's. there is the seven-day. alison: there you go, good job. steve: if i press the button enough -- alison: eventually. we will see what happens. leon: what is going on tonight, man? robert: worst time of the season for the nats. for the nationals, it is all about pride. nobody wants to hear that. sports is coming up.

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desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealers. robert: nats kicked off a three-game series with the braves. nothing to play for now that the postseason is out of reach. hot later, the nats trailing 2-1. but thennd bunts it, does not sprint. that is a relic killer. indicative of the season. nats lose 2-1. return to the practice field tomorrow, preparing for sunday's game against the eagles. everybody will be watching desean jackson. jay gruden said he will be ready to play this week. a couple of guys you will not be playing, the starting guard seamus out, who was put -- sean

lavalle, who was carted off thursday night against the giants with an ankle injury. first day of training camp for the wizards. head coach randy wittman says the intensity was there. it will have to be because they plan to turn up the transition game. .izards first-round draft pick with the injury of their newcomer alan anderson, he could get a lot of tract is in training camp. for now, it is get with the program. >> a lot of learning for a guy like kelly. he will make mistakes. he has to be patient. 11 of these guys were with us/year. having an understanding of what we do, how we do it, the pace we do it at, it is all new for a guy like kelly. robert: i'm a derrick rose fan, but another surgery is scheduled

for the injury-pro chicago bulls point guard. intook an elbow to the face training camp today, left orbital fracture. this is his fourth surgery in four seasons. derek rose cannot catch a break. or maybe he can. this is a whole new category of competition. division iii, unbelievable catch. he would kick the ball in the air, then catch it while on his back. i guess this would be pass, kick, catch competition. he is the champ. appeals court says february 1 will be the earliest it will hear arguments in the nfl's appeal of tom brady's suspension case. meanwhile, the super bowl will be played february 7. leon: how convenient. alison: interesting timing.

robert: seems to work out all the time. alison: still to come -- technology for your pet?

leon: time now to include the

pats with technology. several technology toys being marketed for dogs and cats. these games for pats have nearly 3 million downloads. pet owners can have your remote control vehicle for dogs to chase through the yard. alison: he's play alison: final word on the

weather? steve: a cold front tomorrow, the wind tomorrow morning out of the south and southwest. through the day, the wind will change to the north, greasy at times, ushering in cooler air. a few breaks in the clouds. 77 degrees. in the 60's thursday. a lot of questions for friday through sunday. eileen whelan will break it down. alison: have a good night.

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