jeff goldberg starts our team coverage from there. jeff? jeff: everywhere you walk in waverly this is what you see. somebody and sadness all over town. governor mcauliffe saying he expects the damage across the commonwealth of virginia to be in the tens of millions of dollars. it gives a sense of the power as the storm came down. >> dropped the whole car down the aisle. >> the twister hit them directly. >> we hold each other and said we love each other. we were just praying. >> williams survived but the neighbor did not. 50-year-old larry turner and his stepson 26-year-old stringfield were both killed. along with stringfield's 2-year-old son ivan

it lifted them 300 yards. a friend of the springfield's. >> for his life to be taken way aye is heart-breaking. >> terry mcauliffe touring the damage commending the effort of the national guard, power company crews and the volunteers working to get waverly back on the feet. >> they have no money for clothes. they lost everything. they don't have the money to bury the child. very sad. >> very sad. >> stunning to look at the damage. there are people driving slowly taking a look in shock and awe to what the power of what the storm did. now the mother of that 2-year-old who was killed in the storm is 30 years old. she is in the hospital recovering with se

injuries. seven other people in waverly suffered non-life threatening injuries as a result of the storm. live in waverly, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. maureen: thank you, jeff. as in waverly the residents of appomattox, virginia, cleaning up. no one was killed there by the storm but two dozen people were hurt and 15 buildings including a church for destroy ed. >> one second i was on the porch. the next i was coming out of the ravine here. >> many residents of the area spent last night in the middle school while authorities made sure no one was trapped. authorities now say all residents are accounted for.

>> the trees toppled and damaged the cars and the fences along the way. kevin lewis continues a team coverage. >> winds topple it would trees. the i silo bore the bunt of the damage. >> you can see the blocks and stuff. >> th sounded like a 747 landing on the road. unbelievable.

>> ten on ten. i'm business. >> this reminds me of the mount st. helen. this could have been somebody's house. >> the tin roof of the dairy barn went airborne. landing here right there. alison: stay connected with the stormwatch7 team when severe weather strikes.

leon: severe weather causing problems in chicago. the cars got stuck in the snow. more than 1200 flights were canceled, high winds in the area. alison: still ahead at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- metro stepping up patrols after gunfire. how many new officers will be watching the rails? plus -- >> we are in houston texas for what some say is the most important debate of the season. doug: taste of early spring and a seven-day outlook. i'll share that on "abc7 news at 6:00". stay with us.

for a cup of coffee just because you're a woman. so why does congress think it's ok that women get pai 20% less than a man for doing the same job? i'll fight for pay equity, to protect planned parenthood, choice for women, and expand paid and family leave. now some politicians will belittle this as a women's agenda. more proof that we just need more women in congress. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. leon: turning to campaign news now. this may be the most crucial republican debate yet. super tuesday is days away. candidates are focusing the attacks on the front-runner donald trump. you know him. he is not backing down from a fight. the chief political correspondent s

live in houston with a preview of what we should expect. no doubt lots of fireworks. scott: you nailed it. on no day in the campaign have we seen donald trump scale back. we won't see it tonight. it's important in texas. 155 delegates up for grabs super tuesday. that is a big chunk when there is 600 in all. that is why many people are saying since this is the last one before super tuesday, it could be the most important debate we have seen yet. >> the final five go toe to toe in the lone star state tonight and is it a game of catch-up for the field desperately trying to up-end donald trump. >> the time for the circus, i believe, is ended. >> the front runner the race donald trump alluded to the fact he thinks part of obamacare are pretty good. >> marco rubio has been racking up and counting his endorsements. >> the narrow field, marco rubio starts to rise to top like cream. >> ted cruz h

state and the recent polling show he can grab the spotlight and another first place finish. he hasn't had once since iowa. >> the military has been hallowed out by the president. america must be the super power in the world. president cruz will get us on track. >> getting on the nominating track is of the pov the portance. but history reminds us that successful nominees were late bloomers. despite what some lawmakers tell us seems inevitable. >> i still think there is a lot of votes to be had. it looks like donald trump is the nominee. >> trump's early and the often victories not a guarantee. >> ronald reagan lost the first six states in 1976 before hitting stride. and in bill clinton's 1992 campaign he didn't take a state until super tuesday when georgia weighed in. >> that is why you may see the other candidates point to what they could consider vulnerabilities regarding donald trump.

the states, the only two at this point where we see consistent polling that shows another candidate. in that case ted cruz pulling ahead of donald trump. they hope that there are more opportunities down that path. live in houston, texas, tonight, scott thuman, abc7 news. maureen: thank you, scott. still ahead at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- >> metro transit police outside of a metro station. some riders say it's something they rarely see. what transit police are doing to step up patrols. >> the severe weather is over. the big story now strong wind gusts and the chilly temperatures. chief meteorologist doug hill is back with the complete forecast coming up. erin: i'm erin hawksworth live in florida where i sat down with nationals manager dusty baker. find out what he wants to teach price harper later in sports.

maureen: this is the water gushing from the street. they tell us a valve malfunction and sent the water in

the valve is closed and repair and the streets are open. leon: we are recovering metro as it is recovering from violent incidents so including a shooting on the green line train maureen: the new manager paul wiedefeld said police are adding patrol to the train, buses and platforms. brianne carter has the reaction to it. forms. brianne carter has the reaction to it. >> they are going to make the police officers more visible at stations just like this one here. gallery place. look at this. you can see one, two, three, four metro transit cars outside. something many will see more often in the everything rush hour. >> two days after a shooting on board a green line train metro is increasing the number of the police on trains, buses and at stations. >> probably a good idea. >> metro transit police chief says plans include reassigning 17

responsible for securing the cash from the fair machines to the traditional police and the patrol duties. transit police partner with an outside firm to handle revenue responsibility. in the everything rush hour, metro will increase by 100% by the overlapping shift and what they call the power hour deployment. >> we have officers that are day work and everything. we overlap the dayward ship and the evening ship. we will pay them two or three overtime to have an impact. >> they are down 40% officers or 9% of the 479 positions. positions they are looking to fill. some officers on the limited duty status will be assigned on stations for the crime trend to be the extra eye and ears for the department. getting her police will help but others aren't

>> if they are going to commit a crime they will commit a crime. >> the other issue is seeing them in the dark position. today the metro police chief talked about that as well saying they plan to add bright colored vest to see easier to see in station and trains. >> officers are being honored to stop a purse natching. group of teenager girls come up to steal her purse. thes but driver and a metro transit police officer stepped in and broke it up. the girls ran off but they were later arrested. the driver and the officer were honored for the herorism at the metro board meeting. maureen: a much quieter evening tonight than last night. doug: it's still february. wintertime. yesterday was warm

that helped to set the stage for the violent storms. it's quiet now. we said in the tease that this will feel like early spring by the weekend. maureen: already. doug: give you a rundown on the national weather service that sent survey teams out. the first one we want to talk about is tappahannock. that was rated ef3 on the scale with the top winds of 140 miles per hour. it happened after 6:35. on the ground for 25 miles to make it a long track tornado. the circulation is 400 to 500 yards. this one is e.f.-3 with the winds that range between 136 with the highest second or third gusts recorded at 165 miles per hour. this happened with 13 miles on the ground. 400 yards wide.

remember that was 60 miles per hour. today is quieter. high of 60 that was at the stroke of midnight. 50 and 33 are the average. the temperatures are more tolerable. 40 in hagerstown. the skies start to clear. 46 at reagan. 44 at andrews. the temperatures will drop off. wind gust in 20 to 30 minutes. they are gusting to 22 in winchester. 2959 andrews. we have breezy conditions until 10:00 or 11:00. the temperatures will drop as well. 28 to 30 degrees in the early morning hours as the clouds decrease. more sunshine in the forecast tomorrow than today.

showers and flurries around the area. that will stay that way as cold air is low. look ahead for the next seven days. 43 and windy. 48 on saturday. 61 on sunday. monday is leap day. 64. 60 on tuesday. cold front with showers wednesday. before they come our way we could again hit the 6 of 0 degree mark. that's the latest. back to you. maureen: thank you. stumbling, stun and sick. increasingly veterinarians are seeing dos ingesting dangerous amount of marijuana. small amount can be toxic to a dog. even deadly. owners can face fine and jailtime if they intentionally drug the dogs. why are so many dogs on dope? tonight at 11:00, "7 on your side" consumer investigator kimberly suiters looks into

this. leon: right now erin hawksworth looking into the nats and spending time with the skipper dusty baker in florida. hey, erin. erin: how is it going? bryce harper has a new nickname. find out what it is and who gave it to them

erin: we are live here for nationals spring training where it appears that bryce harper has a new nickname. it's royce. dusty baker referred to bryce twice as "royce" saying i just don't know anyone named bryce. so he accidentally calls him "royce." but make no mistake, the nats new skipper knows exactly who the reigning m.v.p. is. what is it like for you having managed bonds and now you have bryce harper, two prolific players, two big personalities manager baker: i have been fortunate to have a number of personalities. and a number of the small players that were great from bonds to sosa to griffey to

now bryce. my son is really excited about that. there is a chance to be around him and learn. i am excited to get to bryce at this point in time in his career. i got sammy sosa and ken griffey jr. toward the latter part of their careers. i got to barry at the peak. i am getting to bryce, he is still ascending. this guy is going to get better and better and better if he stays healthy. erin: what is something that you want to teach bryce? >> probably same thing that most young players don't have. probably patience. you are a hurry when you are young. his patience and his tolerance will be

erin: i also spoke with bryce harper today. hear what he had to say coming up tomorrow at 6:00. he gave us a hint. he says there is a certain meal he could kill every day of the week. he tells us what his favorite cheat meal is. stick around tomorrow. leon: that is a tease. good stuff. thanks. maureen: erin wearing her jacket. doug: breezy. chilly air. they will warm up quickly there. let's talk about the weather tonight. 28 to 34 degrees with partly cloudy skies. tomorrow is chilly with the le 40's. warmer saturday. sunday is sunshine and 61 degrees. steve rudin at 11:00 will have the friday morning wake-up forecast to talk about the warm spring like temperatures ahead. alison: we can't wait. maureen: "world news tonight" with david muir up next.

breaking news. we're on the scene, the deadly tornado outbreak. at least eight dead, including a 2-year-old. more than 30 twisters from texas to pennsylvania. homes destroyed. this truck blown over on the gw bridge in new york. the coast guard trying to save this boat. the showdown tonight. is this the last chance for the other candidates to try and take down donald trump before super tuesday? and, the eye-opening new poll tonight from marco rubio's own state of florida. is trump unstoppable, even there? just 24 hours after our exclusive with apple's ceo, tim cook, the fierirery moments on capitol hill today. and just tonight, apple answers the judge. new reporting tonight after a passenger jet slams into a runway. the emergency evacuation. and sylvester stallone, coming back into focus.