elizabeth hur is live in charleston where thousands are without power. first, though, our brad bell just arrived near columbia. what are you finding there tonight, brad? brad: well, maureen, we are seeing terrible damage. we can go ahead and show you right away. look at the building, the cinder block, bricks, blown out by the force of the water flowing through here. we walk along here and you can see on the back of the commercial building. the blocks blown out and carried by the water. just over there past the building you can see gill creek. the water now back in its banks. what we are told is upstream from here there was a dam on the army base, there was a lake. the dam broke and all the water came running through. how much and how deep? look at this right here. you can see the debris up against it. the water was at least four feet deep. you can see the base of the

pole. you can just imagine as the water came racing in the front of the building to blow it out the back. there are tens of thousands of people in this area who do not have electricity. there are tens of thousands of people who are told they need to boil their water. there are houses and entire neighborhoods that have been ruined. we are told just down that way -- we haven't had a chance to get there -- there is a neighborhood where people are all evacuated from their homes. this is an absolute mess and it speaks to the power of the rain that fell here. nearly ten inches in 48 hours. this columbia, south carolina, brad bell, abc7 news. leon: all right, thank you, brad. that is amazing stuff there. folk, over the coming hours brad will be making his way to the charleston area. they have seen plenty of devastation there. elizabeth hur is there right now for us tonight. elizabeth, what is the big concern tonight there in charleston? elizabeth: well, the big concern here is river flooding.

i want to show you, take a look behind me here. there are quite a few folks who are out and about venturing out to check out the aftermath themselves. even though officials are reminding residents it's still too soon for them to let their guard down. they are navigating areas on boats. it is the only way they can get around neighborhoods still underwater in south carolina. part of the state drenched with more than two feet of rain in two days. >> this is not over. just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods. elizabeth: a warning from the governor after scenes like this. swollen waters sub merging cars and -- submerging cars and homes. these are snapshot of a dire and a dangerous situation. >> everything that i own has been destroyed. >> my house is down there.

hundreds are in shelters. 40,000 left without water. 25,000 without power. more than 500 -- [inaudible] more evacuations may be necessary. noting 1,300 member of the national guard have been activated and 7,000 more are on standby with the rivers reaching the highest level in decade. >> the biggest challenging is following the water from the midland to the coast. road closures to monitoring those and watch them properly. elizabeth: back live we are standing by one of the road closures. there are signs of improvement here but the governor is asking residents to stay

vigilant. leon: thank you, elizabeth. elite water rescue is in work in south carolina. virginia task force one arrived there after leaving here before dawn. they are working with fema and other groups to conduct door to door search and rescue operations. abc7 has more on the situation in south carolina for you online at wjla.com. maureen: jury selection is underway in trial of alleged serial killer. charles severance accused of killing three people in the lex lec home over the course of a decade -- alexandria home over the course of a decade. so far, no jurors have been seated. one, a silver line engineer said his selection delayed the real project. the case of severance is

expected to last four to six weeks. the former lacrosse player convicted of killing yeardley love lost his final appeal. the attorneys argue the second-degree murder conviction should be overturned because the trial was allowed to continue while one of his attorneys was hope sick. retiring house speaker john boehner postponed elections for majority group until next month. they want to consider rule changes before the ballots are cast. they will nominate a candidate for speaker this thursday and vote is expected october 29. leon: "7 on your side" with the surveillance video that place hope to catch thieves who targeted men who preyed on

a woman in a walker. he picks her pocket. anyone who recognizes this man should call the police immediately. coming up tonight, the washington nationals fire matt williams. what the general manager is saying about why he pulled the trigger and what is next in sports. maureen: what changed in maryland two years after the state put new gun laws into place. leon: first, though, a police officer find two people running toward him carrying an infant who wasn't breathing. what went through his mind as he saved her life coming up next. doug: i'm doug hill in the belfort furniture weather center. sunshine returned today. how many more sun shiny days to dry things up? that's the forecast still to

maureen: an amtrak train derailed this morning after hitting a rockslide. seven people were hurt and several people went off the crack and down an embank. personals and crew broke windows to help people escape. vermont's governor said a rock ledge above the track fell as the train approached. leon: medstar washington hospital center replaced two guards. a patient died thursday two days after struggling with the guards near the hospital

entrance. the hospital said both guards were armed but the weapons were not used. the patient's name has not been released. maureen: an infant is alive tonight thanks to the quick thinking and the medical training of a local police officer. jim herman tells us moment after making a traffic stop on i-270 he heard someone screaming behind him. this is a man and a woman coming toward him. the man was carrying a 9-month-old child who wasn't breathing. officer herman, a former military medic, immediately began c.p.r. and moments later the child was breathing again. >> definitely warning, my son is 3. i don't remember when he fit in my arms and i have another one on the way. in a couple of days. any minute. that goes through your head. glass everything okay and i was there. maureen: police are not

identifying the little girl. leon: still to come, maryland lawmakers approve sweeping gun control two years ago but have the laws made advenes? "7 on your side" item finds out. the rain is gone and the sun is back. but for how long? doug has the answer. erin: i'm erin hawksworth. the redskins find themselves in unfamiliar territory. and the nats, well, they have made a change. will it be out with the new and in with the old? we'll explain when "abc7 news at 6:00" continues.

leon: four days after a gunman killed nine people at oregon college, democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton is unveiling her proposal to limit access to guns. >> how many people have to die before we actually act? before we come together as a nation? [applause] leon: clinton made the announcement alongside the mother of the 6-year-old girl that was killed in the sandy hook school massacre. clinton says if elected she would use executive action to require universal background

checks and anyone who sells a significant number of guns to get a federal firearms license. she would expand banses domestic abuse suspects from acquiring weapons. in 2013, maryland enacted many of the same gun control proposals that failed in congress. having made a difference, "7 on your side" iteam investigator chris papst crumpled the numbers for us. what did you find? chris: the impact on the maryland gun control on crime depends who you ask and how you analyze that specific set of data. the impact the laws have had on the businesses are more obvious. the mass shooting in connecticut in 2012 gripped the native and sparked a heated debate in gun control. they passed laws in part to ban certain assault rifles and required licenses and the fingerprinting for handgun sales. two years later, did it work? the item analyzed the numbers. according to the f.b.i.

statistics, gun murders in 2014, the year after the new law dropped 22%. >> it's lives saved. >> the former delicate that voted for the 2013 law. we showed her the numbers we compiled. >> i would like to claim credit. it will be maybe a decade or more before we know how the law is working. >> o'malley is pretty much kill the firearm in maryland. >> he has been involved with guns for years and said the biggest impact is the business. his sales are down 80%.

>> another impact the law had was a major gun company leaving the state. in 2014, legendary italian gun maker beretta announced it would move the manufacturing capabilities from maryland to tennessee. taking hundreds of jobs. that is more gun friendly. chris papst, abc7 news. leon: in maryland politics, turn-around in the larry hogan poll numbers. the favorability rating is 54% adoring to the poll. that is 21 points higher than february a month after he took office. the job approval rating is 58% earlier in year than earlier. it was at 40%. maureen: a dozen people were arrested from the home in maryland this morning. rescuers went door to door in

a mobile home park along the river. 14 people including a man on crutches were brought to safety. a dozen residents removed to leave. leon: they started to remove the sand that washed up on the boardwalk in the past week. they uncovered the windows and boarded up after hurricane joaquin headed toward the coast. the roads and the parking lots reopened in the area. it will take a week before getting to normal there. maureen: adding to concern over the severe weather. hurricane joaquin. josh knight took a ride he flew in the eyeof the storm. he will have a report tonight at 11:00. >> doug hill was jealous. he wanted to be in the hurricane center.

>> he got scared at times. great stuff. i talk about our weather. really nice. improvement here over the days and the days and the weeks and weeks. clouds of rain. a cloudy start. gorgeous in the hillside and they look beautiful. with the bright sunshine continuing at this hour. we get through the evening and we see the temperatures fall off a bit. it won't be terribly cold. chill in the air. 64 in baltimore and 66 in frederick. 64 in fredericksburg at this hour. a lot of areas in the mid-50's. mid-to-upper 50's closer to the bay. low lying areas could see spot in upper 40's. that is the way for tuesday.

tomorrow is clear and mostly sunny throughout the day. this is the moisture left over. scattered showers working their way on shore. nothing with the volume or the intensity. the the upper level low causing the rain or has caused it is circulating drifting to northeast. high pressure builds in from the north and west. the future cast keeps it mostly sunny. this is the chance for us to dry out as well. the next weather event doesn't come our way until friday. average wake-up temperature. 59 in the morning. 74 tomorrow afternoon with plenty of sunshine. through the next seven days. the beautiful weather continues through thursday.

increasing clouds and 75 degrees. the weekend looks terrific. sunshine and starting next week still in the sunshine with the temperatures in the 70's. that is the latest. back to you. leon: all right. leon: i wonder if change is in the forecast because when it comes to the nationals for the first time in a long time, they lived up to the expectations. plus the redskins are riding high after yesterday's win. jay gruden has sobering words for the team. that is when we come back.

erin: a year after he won national league manager of the year and led the nationals to a division title, matt williams was fired today with a year left on his contract. the entire coaching staff was also fired but none of this comes as a surprise given the high expectations for the club and the extreme disappointment throughout the second half of the season. williams was hired with the zero managerial experience. i wouldn't expect them to hire

working manager this time around. >> last time we brought in a manager with no experience and that will have a greater pool of the manager candidates this year stemming from the very experienced to limited experience. kirk cousins made a big step to prove this is his team. he was composed around he didn't turn -- and he didn't turn the ball over. he made a great catch for touchdown and the lead. jay grude said they are not there yet, he likes what he sees. coach gruden: you look back at the games you lost and you try to say if we had done this, this, this. we could be 4-0. or if this wasn't done we could be 0-4. i like that we are competing and giving the great effort. i think the way they are preparing the coaches are preparing will pay dividends

for us in the long run. >> the redskins rival cowboys are trying to get by without tony romo but they couldn't get it done last night against the saints losing on 80-yard t.d. pass on the second play of overtime. with the loss, the redskins woke up today in first place in the n.f.c. east with the giants. leon: say it again. say it again. especially tied for first -- erin: tied for first place in the division. leon: enjoy it while we've got it. maureen: it's only october. erin: there is still time. you are right. doug: our weather fortunes are changing. tonight is 50 with mostly clear skies. tomorrow is 74 degrees with sunshine. 77 on wednesday. the next system to come through is friday with showers. steve rudin is in with 11:00 on the latest with what to expect in the morning. leon: sounds good. maureen: "world news tonight" with david muir is coming up next.

leon: join us at 11:00. sea you then.

tonight, breaking developments. the new discovery at sea in the desperate search for the ship that went down. 28 americans on board. the life board discovered and what else they found. also, the captain. what he was trying to do in the middle of the hurricane. >> the deadly flood emergencies in several states tonight. the mother and a little girl rescued from their roof. the driver trapped in a pickup. the roads giving way. the mystery tonight, the pilot who died mid flight leaving the co-pilot to control the emergency landing in syracuse. the amtrak passenger train derailing today. the recuse. the one day this week to get the cheapest ticket with the holidays approaching.