the tracking coming into line it will stay offshore. that is good news for everyone so it leaves us with the concern tonight for the possibility of flash floods. the flash flood watch remains in effect across the region and the west and the southwest until 9:00 in the morning. based on the latest tendency we noticed on radar we wouldn't be surprised if they didn't cancel part of the area out of the flash flood earlier than 9:00 in the morning. the reason is the rain has not been heavy. it has been light to moderate. there is a break developing south. that is good news. if we look farther south we have more areas of rain from the another lan tick ocean. this area of -- from the atlantic ocean. this is emanating from the western side of the hurricane but it looks to past west. so it looks like we will get period of rain tomorrow and then gusty winds and cool temperatures. we'll be doing just fine. beaches will continue to get

hammered hard with the shery wind, strong rain. or heavy rains and strong wind doing beach damage. meanwhile, find out what is happening in ocean city. jonathan elias with a live report. jonathan: as you say, we have been seeing the strong winds. the rain has let up. but when it comes down it's so spheres, you have to turn your head the other way or it will blind you. the surf is really kicking up. this has not lel up at all. we have seen the beach creeping up five or six feet and higher than that it so receding a bit. the problem here in ocean city is not what happens on this side. it's on the back bay and the inlet. that is where maryland bureau chief brad bell joins us live. he saw plenty of flooding today. brad? brad: absolutely, jon. we are still seeing it as well. we are approaching low tide. that is what is disconcerting to the town. they still have water up here in the street.

a few hours ago the houses had water lapping at their steps. we can show you the video of how bad it got earlier today. the problem in town is that the wind keeps pushing and pushing and pushing. water up against ocean city. that is why we have the big surf. and then the high tide comes in and it pimes up. the beach at front is higher than the back. the water tends to come in. for folks here, it is a concern. >> my concern is the water coming up. out of the bay up the street. all the way up to my street. my house is surrounded by four feet of water in sandy. i'm concerned about that. maybe losing the electricity. >> well, that i did turn the electric off in the lower part

of the town today as a precaution so there wouldn't be big problems. this is just about low tide. this is concerning we still is the water up in the streets here. not much now. the high tide next is midnight. we will be here reporting live at 11:00 to see what is going on then. that tide is expected to be even a little higher. it could be a problem for the town. they expect it to continue for another day after that. that is the real worry. ocean city, brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you. the worry is when the storm let up, that is when hurricane joaquin would move in. that is something they couldn't deal with. now it looks like joaquin will be far enough out to sea it won't be a factor here. that is great news. not so great news in the bahamas. they are being pounded by joaquin. 20 inches of rain, five to ten feet storm surges. this afternoon a huge cargo ship out of florida became

disabled and contacted the coast guard to let them know they were in trouble. since then the coast guard has lost contact with the ship. it's lost. 33 people an board the ship. if we get an update about that we'll let you know. with the storm turning up to sea to the south of us in south carolina, charleston. they had good waves out there. that is when the surfers do what they call kawabunga. you really shouldn't go in the water at all when there is a rifts. but they are taking vam of the tasty waves to hang ten in the surf. in ocean city, you don't have surfers out here. they are formed well enough to surf on. this is a rangery ocean behind me. hopefully it will let up but so far it's been relentless. back to you. leon: thank you. now for us in the metro area right now the story is all about being ready. as we mentioned, the old town

alexandria has sand bags for the flooded areas out there. some low-lying spots. already have standing water. further south, though, this is what they are dealing with in portmouth. things expect it to get worse there. our coverage of the relentless rain and the effect continues ahead with a specific request from the coast guard. they say it will save time, money and possibly lives. we also have extensive coverage on wjla.com for you. we have a look it a all the big weekend events canceled already. remember, keep up with the changes to the forecast wherever you are by downloading our storm watch weather app. now, good to the other big story today. the deadly shooting ram page on an -- rampage on oregon college campus. it left nine dead and naing others wounded. among them a hero. the army veteran ran another the gunman and getting shot seven times and broke both legs imu survived.

the gunman flunked out of army basic training in 2008. they received six weapons from the scene and seven more from the gunman's home and all were purchased legally. it's the last fact that has president obama vowing to keep pushing congress to toughen the u.s. gun laws. president obama: this will not change until the politics changeds and the behavior of elected officials changes. the main thing i am going to do is talk about this on a regular basis. i will splittize it. because -- politicize it. our inaction is a political decision we're making. >> he urgedded the americans to vote against any leader opposing gun legislation and tell them my you are voting that way. polls taken this summer 88% support increased background checks. a cnn poll found most americans 660% don't think stricter gun laws would reduce

gun-related deaths. we asked iteam investigator chris papst to look at this. what did you find? chris: after the oregon shootings yesterday president obama was passionate speaking to the nation during which he made a provictive statement about gun control and how it relates to gun deaths. so we amized the numbers to see if he -- we analyzed the numbers to see if he was right. thursday morning mass shooting at a community college in oregon shocked and sadded america. it also -- saddened america and frustrated president obama. president obama: each time we see one of these mass shootings are thoughts and prayers are not enough. chris: the president said this. >> president president obama: we know the state with the most gun laws have the fewest deaths. chris: is that true? it depends on how you analyze the data. in our area we have stricter gun laws than virginia. but the 2014 crime statistics

show virginia has the lowest rate of the gun murdered. at 2.7 per 100,000 residents. maryland and d.c. despite tougher gun laws have higher gun murder rates. president obama: there has been another mass shooting in america. >> when analyzing president obama preferred metric of gun death including suicide and accidents, virginia has the highest rate, according to 2013 data from the centers for disease control. virginia's gun death rate stands at more than 10 per 100,000. maryland and d.c. are lower. >> instead of focusing on the tools that a bad person uses to commit an atrocity we should focus on the individual. chris: so president obama was right. state with stricter gun laws have lower rate of gun deaths but they also tend to have a higher rate of gun murders. chris papst, abc7 news. leon: of course, "world news tonight" will take an in-depth

look at the issue on a national scale and have the emerging stories of heroism out of oregon. but still ahead at 6:00, the warning that the coast guard has for boaters even if they are not going out on the water this weekend. the simple act sold save time, and money. the fate of accused killer jesse matthew for the plea deal after an attack oba fairfax woman. mobile track 7 on the outer loop checking for problems on if coastal storm. this is near georgetown pike. what to expect from joaquin as "abc7 news at 6:00" continues.

leon: matthew was awaiting trial for the murder of two college students is sentenced for life. he was sentenced two three life-terms for the 2005 sexual assault. in june he was attempted of attempted murder, abduction and sexual assault. he faces two charges for the murder of hannah graham and harrington. and could face the death penalty if convicted of either case. the vatican spokesman said

that davis was one of several people invited to greet the pope in washington. pope francis said the only real interaction he had was one a washington student who was open ligases. -- who openly gay. up next at 6:00 -- joce: whipping winds and the coast guard is at the ready. i'm joce sterman. coming up, we will tell you about their main concern that might surprise you. leon: and doug hill has what you need to know about the storm. hurricane joaquin as well. we'll see what we used to know about as the sun. stay with us.

okay. so everyone is saying, "hey! you gotta get fios!" but why? why fios? well fios is a 100 percent fiber optic network, so you can get 100% out of all your devices. whatever speed you need, fios has it. so if you need more streaming for more devices, fios gives you options with the fastest internet and wi-fi available from 50 to 500 mpbs. and we're not just talking downloads. we're talking equal upload speeds, too. you can upload your favorite videos up to 5x faster than cable. plus with the fios mobile app, you can view your entertainment at home, or on the go.

but the main reason to get fios? we're rated number 1 in customer satisfaction. why fios? ultimately, that's why. right now, get 50 meg fios internet, tv & phone starting at $79.99 a month, guaranteed for two years. plus get $300 back with a two year agreement. get out of the past. get fios.

leon: looking back on our big story. flooding underway in part of ocean city because of the coastal storm sitting over us and affecting the whole area. the problems could worsen as hurricane joaquin moves north through the weekend. the relentless rain and the risk of rough waters

throughout the weekend has the coast guard sending out an urgent warning. joce sterman is live in chesapeake bay with that part of the story. what is the concern there? joce: well, leon, check out the conditions here. we are in chesapeake beach. the wind is whipping, knocking over the fragile palm trees, the waves crashes. they have taken precautions. they are preparing for flooding here later tonight. once he hit high tide at 8:30. that is the concern here. we want to show you the boats. the winds are strong enough to knock the boats in the sides of the marina. we are hearing the crashes and the bangs. the boats are not the concern of the coast guard today. they know if you invest the amount of money it takes to own one of the boats the chances are you have locked it down and secured it. so they are not worried about me. what they told me today is they are concerned about the kayaks and the canoes, the other boats that you stock along the dock and the shoreline. maybe you don't secure them or

tie them down. as a result, they may wash out in the bay. this is the problem. if the coast guard gets a call or if they are out on the water and they see them. they have to handle that as though there is a potential missing person tied to the boat. they have to go through the protocols. do potential searches. it's a concern for them. they don't want to put people on the water if they don't have to. they have to address the concerns. they can't assume that the wind and the we have as pulled the vessels to shore. that is what i they are asking people to secure them. they tell me that people should not be on the water. if you are going to take the chance the coast guard told me today they may not be able to come out and save you, leon. live in chesapeake beach, joce sterman, abc7 news. leon: all right. thank you. we're not going to get hit with joaquin but that still looks bad. doug: where up the road where she is less than a quarter mile in north beach there is probably tonight the road that will flood on the beach front. that happens a lot. along the title river of

the -- tidal river of the beaches. let's start with an update on joaquin. here the latest. a strong powerful hurricane but downgraded to top category three storm with the top winds of 125 miles per hour. nothing to mess with but it is showing signs of moving north. it will over the next couple of days and gradually weaken. no effect in our area or on the east coast. there there will be a partial effect. the high pressure over new eng lands. that will force strong winds in the coastline. rehoboth beach and even in the chesapeake beaches will continue to get the effects of the strong winds with the rough waves. on the atlantic side. beach erosion and the destruction of the sand dunes. not good. another part of the story, is during the past few days. upper level storm over georgia and sparta. that is stealing moisture from

the hurricane up the east coast to north carolina. it extends northward to our area. the northern end of this will improve quickly tonight as the heavy rain rotates to the west and the north, the real focus will be farther south, north and south carolina where there is the potential for some area to get a foot of rain. locally we have had three inches the day or so. 2.2 in children's hospital. as we are feting through the evening from what we see on the radar, i don't see the conditions developing that will cause flash flooding in the metro area. the flash flood watch in effect. by the time at 11:00 that some of the counties could be dropped from the flash nod -- flash flood watch. what we get through tomorrow morning and even through sunday it will rain 2-1/2

inches in the area. spread out over a day, day and a half that shouldn't be a big issue. but this is a big issue. from 10 to 12 inches of rain over coastal piedmont area of south carolina. for us, we'll do better. breezy and nasty in the next couple of days with period of rain tomorrow. scattered showers on sunday. clearing on monday. then just what the doctor ordered. that is latest. leon: we have to get the latest on what is happening with the nats. robert: you mentioned last year. manager of the year. we have this news out of nowhere. leon: amazing. robert: the difference a year makes. matt williams could be a different memory after the last three games and it will be wet on sunday but it won't slow things down for the chip

robert all right we start with baseball. double-leter tomorrow for the elusive mets team. it could be the final game for matt williams. there is a lot of speculation that matt williams will be fired because of the nats' failure to produce this year according to report by cbs hayman. he will be let go by the nationals at the end of the

season. however, there is no official word from the team on the report. we will keep you updated on that information. we have our finger crossed that desean jackson would be back for the eagles but he is ruled back sunday. a big focus at practice the fast-paced eagles offense. chip kelly doesn't like to wait on anybody. the skins saw it twice last year winning 27-24 in the last matchup with rgiii running the offense. but are they ready for hurry-up? >> communication is the key. their tempo is the tempo that tress you out physically and mentally. >> as far as the plies they run, we have seen them all. it's not like they are doing anything that brand new to the world. >> so remember 2003 the cubs fans steve bartman became public enemy number one in

chicago for interfaring with the ball that many thought caused the cubs' downfall in playoffs. well, some fans want to make amends and started a go fund me page to raise money to bring bartman to the upcoming wild card game. the money will cover his ticket, flight, his hotel room. bartman is still m.i.a. if he is not found in time, the proceeds will be donated to the alzheimer's association. the caps are back home tonight taking on the bruins the preseason action. i hope it's not a setup. leon: you are from chicago. do you want him at that game? robert: i wasn't going to say anything. leon: okay. doug: there is still rain around the area. the heavy rain overlooking the live storm tracker 7. steve rudin has the latest and updated information at 11:00. leon: "world news tonight" with

breaking developments tonight. new details on the gunman in the deadly campus shooting. what authorities have now discovered inside his home. also, the hero. the young father that charged record him. and what the gunman asked his victims right before he shot them. two dozen americans onboard a ship trapped in the waters of hurricane joaquin. the other major storm locked in place up and down the east coast, 14 inches of rain in some places. authorities warn even without the hurricane, this storm could be historic and life-threatening. the explosion, this time in a condo high-rise. multiple injuries. and the warning tonight. and the voice of an angel.