howling. >> we are being aggressive in our preparation for the storm. if you are told to evacuate, get out quickly. >> we ask the people to keep us in their thoughts and prayers. jonathan: just listen to that. right now at 4:00, the full force of a category five hurricane. that is as big as it gets. irma hitting st. martin. the storm is now on the move. michelle: this is just some of what it can do. the storm's wind and driving rain breaking into an apartment and catastrophic damage across the caribbean. nancy: a live look now at the caribbean as hurricane irma closes in. states of emergency in florida and south carolina. right now abc7 has team coverage for you. jonathan: stormwatch7's chief meteorologist doug hill is monitoring the latest track of the storm. meteorologist josh knight with preparations underway as we all see what the storm is capable of. josh, some of th

are getting back are absolutely terrifying. josh: they are really scary. category five is on the strong as it gets. it's on the high side of the winds on the category five. and three days before the tropical storm force winds get to south florida, everybody is preparing. irma continues to plow west across the atlantic, devastating islands along the way. in st. thomas, hurricane-force winds are moving in this afternoon. and in puerto rico, where the brunt of irma is expected to hit tonight, waves and wind are intensifying. in florida, tropical storm winds expected by friday night. and people continue to prep. lines for gas wrap around blocks and some stores have been running out of water. >> i was in line, maybe 50 people deep. they said, "we're out of water." josh: traffic is building in the keys with mandatory evacuations for parts of monroe county. >> i cannot stress this enough. do

orders. we can rebuild your home but we cannot rebuild your life. josh: and including areas of ford lauderdale, mandatory evacuation is in effect starting thursday. so the boards are going up and ideally people starting to get out of town. but we are still continuing to hone in on the actual track and the forecast for irma. for the latest on that send it over to chief meteorologist doug hill. doug: josh, thanks. we are working on the latest information from the national hurricane center. still has this as a category five storm, sustained winds 185 miles per hour. gusting to 225. the center is moving now to the north/northwest. away from the coast of puerto rico on the way eventually for the turks here. look at the size of the storm. it seems like the central area with the highest winds and most heavy thunderstorms is starting to get even a little bit bigger. a number of computer models have been tracking this. the tracks of the

been slowly but steadily making a turn sometime friday to the north. these are some of the possibilities. it doesn't mean this will be it but the possibility is it may not make landfall down south. i could be further north in florida or farther north to north carolina. this is the official track of the hurricane center to keep it at a category five all the way through friday morning. and then making a turn to the north. coming out in about 45 minutes is the latest update from the hurricane center on the strength, the position and the extended track of this hurricane. we will share that the moment it is released. >> we look forward to it. video we are just getting in, southern portions of hurricane irma reaching san juan, puerto rico. look at the trees here. the palm trees bent over. some of them are absolutely ripped apart. the wind is howling. the rain is coming down. absolutely horizontally. some of the other video have shown trees broken apa

and went back out to sea. the wind is howling. we hope it stays north as it does pass through this area. michelle: that is just the outer banks, the outer rings of that storm hitting that area. so much of the video that we are getting from the hardest hit areas and of people preparing is coming in via social media. mike carter-conneen has some of the most amazing content being shared right now. mike: irma's impact is already devastating. especially in places like st. martin. this is at the edge of the airport, along the end of the runway. this area here, this dark area is the fence along the perimeter of the runway. you can barely make it out. a lot of debris. a car that has been abandoned. you probably know this beach as the big tourist attraction that people gather for the planes flying overhead. right now it's just a wall of water. also in st. martin, this incredible footage showing trees being uprooted by the incredibly strong winds. you can see, you wonder how safe t

to capture that it footage. and also, more flooding in st. martin. this dock area, also a roadway or a parking lot of some kind with a lot of standing water. again, more vehicles simply abandoned. the winds are picking up across the u.s. sir vin i -- u.s. virgin islands. the u.s. coast guard tweeted out this footage of all the helicopters and vehicles, personal and work vehicles that have been sheltered in place for the arrival of irma in this hangar. also a lot of reports from south florida, the key west area of people struggling to find bottled water. gas stations saying they have run out of the supplies. long, long lines at many gas stations. people saying they have been waiting an hour or longer to fill up their tanks. and also people in search of lumber today to board up their homes. this line as far as the eye can see before sunrise at a home depot in broward county, florida. inside, an even longer wait. back to you. nancy: stark images there. mary

got back from rescue missions in texas following hurricane harvey. this afternoon, we have learned they are back on the road again. crews heading to the southeast awaiting orders for when irma arrives. in less than 24 hours after our other local elite rescue team came back home, virginia task force one also hitting the road today. crews from all across the country mobilizing in alabama, ready to go when the call for help comes after hurricane irma. jonathan: we are not done tracking irma. not by a long shot. in a few minutes away we'll chick in, in west palm beach. at 4:30, florida, snow bird state. folks here worrying about what may happen to their homes as they are repairing to move south -- preparing to move south for the winter. then the updated track from the national hurricane center comes in about 45 minutes. we'll have that for you. stay ahead of irma by downloading the stormwatch7 app. you will get updates based on your location. just go to the website wjla.com. as for hurricane harvey, a deal reportedly reached on the hill.

package appears to be on track for approval. in this deal, funding the federal government for another three months beyond september and apparently in agreement to also raise the debt limit. nancy: meantime, eulalio tordil, the man who paralyzed prince george's and montgomery counties over a two-day shooting spree last year will never get out of prison for the first murder that started it all. and brad bell has more on the emotional day in court. brad? brad: it was an emotional day in court. judge lee owe green handed -- judge leo green handed down the sentence and he said, "usually i look for a reason to have mercy on someone." but he sid this was an ease say case. this guy, eulalio tordil, so terrible the judge said, he should never see or breathe free air again. >> he was grabbing her. please, please, come help me. brad: the panicked

made by a girl witnessing the murder of her mother. may 5, 2016. at high point high school. for the first time, we are seeing the crime caught on camera. eulalio tordil can be seen walking to a dark s.u.v., attacking his estranged wife gladys as she waits for her daughter. the daughter appears on camera. runs to help. then follows her mother's orders to run away to safety. that is when she calls 911. >> my mom is in danger! brad: in the parking lot a good samaritan in a red shirt tries to help. tordil opens fire. as the man runs. and then turns the gun on his wife. it was the start of a two-day murder spree which would claim two more lives in montgomery county and injury a total of three. today, a judge sentenced the 65-year-old tordil, a former federal officer to two life terms in addition to the four life terms he already got for his crimes in montgomery

alsobrooks saying nothing less than the max would do. angela: he is unable to empathize with other people. he is a guy who is a psychopath. that is the only reason he was able to carry out a crime as evil as this one against six different people. he is an evil, ruthless man. brad: well, we talked about the emotions at the sentencing hearing today. well, gladys tordil's two daughters, eulalio tordil's stepdaughters both gave victim impact statements today. through tears, describing what the crime had done to them. we will tell you more about that when we come back at 5:00. in upper marlboro, brad bell, abc7 news. michelle: just this afternoon, 15 states and the district suing to block the rollback of daca which provides deportation protection for children illegally brought to the u.s. by their parents. virginia is among the 15 states right now. maryland is no

in georgia. taken down. the dog that it was chasing which survived. we have that story coming up next. nancy: still ahead, memories floating away after hurricane harvey. you don't want to miss the emotional reunion as a family photo album is found and returned. reporter: it might be easy to walk or drive right by the arlington free clinic. but coming up, you can't miss the work they're doing to help prevent breast cancer. michelle: continuing coverage as we continue to track irma. this hurricane closing in on the united states as it batters san juan. these are live pictures you are looking at there. coming up, an update from florida where a state of emergency has been declared. next.

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jonathan: the national cathedral is doing away with two stained glass windows that feature general robert e. lee and stonewall jackson. the move comes after the recent violence in charlottesville. the cathedral chapter says that the racial oppression associated with the generals goes against their mission to serve all people. nancy: today as we get closer to saturday's race for the cure we continue to showcase how komen donations are spent in the community. michelle: cheryl conner takes us inside the arlington free clin tic to se

see how the women's health program is saving lines. cheryl: walking into the arlington free clinic is now a job for marlene. she is a volunteer turned caseworker but she started off as a patient. >> check yourself. cheryl: in 2003, she checked herself. her friend invited her to attend a breast health clinic. >> i checked myself. with whatever i learned that day. i found a lump under my arm. cheryl: that started a ten-year fight. just 39 years old and the mother of three, she didn't know how she could afford her treatments. arlington free clinic funded her mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. >> you cannot imagine when you have a little child and then you receive that prescription for $1,000 for six pills. cheryl: the director of clinical services says grants from komen allowed them to expand their breast health programs.

know how the breasts should naturally feel so if they feel something different they should report it to the primary doctor immediately. cheryl: they are run primarily with volunteers. the pictures are up here on the wall. that includes the medical staff. all the doctors give their time. so marlene is giving back, doing her part to educate women and help them access services, primarily funded through grants and donations. she blocks the cancer memories but says she remembers the kindness inside the clinic. in arlington, cheryl conner, abc7 news. nancy: join us thursday and friday at 4:00 for more stories like this leading up to the komen race for the cure. we'll have complete coverage of that event saturday on the sister station newschannel8 as well as on the website wjla.com. michelle: all right. now you have to see the next story to really believe what is going on here. this may look like a normal interaction between a woman and a clerk here but in reality, it's really a call for help. the woman in pink casually

nevada and tells her she has been kid napped. -- been kidnapped. she tells the clerk to get help but not to make sudden moves. the clerk secretly calls for security that takes the woman to safety while the accused kidnapper watches from the door. >> the guy was actually looking in the glass here. when he realizes she has been shepherded off the floor, he took off. michelle: police took the woman to safety and later reunited her with her daughter. the woman's ex-boyfriend was later arrested for kidnapping. jonathan: a tiger shot and killed while roaming the streets of a georgia suburb. no kidding. police were able to get to this thing before any harm was done. several people calling 911 in complete disbelief that a tiger is running around the streets. police even closed a ramp leading to a highway. officers in henry county not sure where the tiger came from but apparently it jumped a fence and started to chase that little fellow there, a dog. the fact the dog is still th

the tiger pounced but the pup got away with a few scratches. nancy: amazing. this is a crazy scene at a convenience store in california. a customer walks in. this is around 3:00. he asks to borrow the clerk's phone. he said no. that is when the customer went on a rampage and he starts trashing the store there. he goes. knocking things over. and breaking all the windows. he is not happy he could not use the cell phone right there. in all, $2,000 in damage. not a happy guy. jonathan: lost it. abc7 tracking hurricane irma. the strongest hurricane on weather over the atlantic. -- the strongest hurricane on record over the latten atlantic. this is what it looked like when they made it to the eye of the storm. eerily calm. blue skies above surrounded by the clouds. the bands, the rings around the eye are extraordinarily powerful.

south carolina declaring a state of emergency ahead of irma. florida, however, has been preparing now for days. people already on the move. maxine is in palm beach. long lines and waits as coastal communities prepares to evacuate. you are at a gas station, it looks like. fuel is also in high demand. >> all day long we watched as the cars pulled in and out of the gas station. some drivers waiting more than an hour to fuel up before heading north. packing up the car. >> i'm headed to nashville, tennessee. reporter: heading out of town. alison thompson isn't taking any chances. she left miami today ahead of irma. >> i packed up some stuff but my car is not even full. everything is replaceable. reporter: she is headed to tennessee with two dogs in tow, just in case. >> this is my little sister adopted from mexico. reporter: but first she needed gas. >> i waited waited in l

hour and a half last night. they ran out as soon as i got up to the pump. reporter: she is not alone. lines were so long at the west palm beach service station along the turnpike, state troopers were directing traffic. so drivers could fill up faster. >> we tried to get flights out yesterday. we couldn't get a flight anywhere. we decided to drive to orlando because it's more inland. if we need to keep driving further, then we will. reporter: anything to keep her children safe from hurricane irma. >> easy decision. we can't stay there. it's the biggest storm in i don't know how many years. reporter: now this gas station is along an emergency evacuation route so governor scott will ensure they don't run out of gas. jonathan: thanks. michelle: so many people hitting the road trying to get out of the path of this thing. but the cone of uncertainty is pretty much covering florida. right, doug? jo

to move. doug: there is no way this far out, the national hurricane center says that four days out of a forecast that they have an average error of 200 miles. jonathan: you don't want to get caught on the wrong ends of that. doug: we'll talk local weather and then we'll talk irma. it's chilly, cloudy and cold. cold for the date. only in the lower 60's and the upper 50's around the region now. officially at reagan national airport. cloudy skies and rain, 64 degrees. plenty of rain on radar. heavier elements passing east of town. all associated with a cold front that will continue to pass through. when the cold front clears the area late tonight and we start to see skies clearing, then we are in to a run of five straight days of sunshine until we hit tuesday. and then perhaps some impact from irma. 60's tonight with the showers ending. see clearing skies overnight. then we talk about irma. still a category five. this is the last update as of 2:00 this afternoon. still category five. it will stay that way as it heads to the west. it's just north, east f

next it will go just north of puerto rico. and the indications are it will come very close to the south florida area and kind of trend to the right. that is what we have been looking at. a trend in the computer models the past couple of days that suggest, or the past day anyway of maybe a little more rightward shift. that has huge impacts of its own. maybe it's just not florida. maybe it's south carolina that may see an impact. two of the models we watch most closely are the american model and the european model. meteorologist josh knight is here with more on those. josh: that is right, doug. what is really interesting with the models over the last few days, they have been pretty spread out depending on which run you look at. we get updates every six to 112 -- six to 12 hours but now they are starting to hone in on the same area. this is nice because it gives us more confidence. but where they are honing in does not look that good. work our way through this. this takes us to friday. as we pause this, you see they are still close together. the euro favoring a slightly more southern track. but then coming together again

about to the keys and ready to make landfall right there on the southern tip or just off on the east coast. either way, as strong as the hurricane is, whether it makes landfall in either of the places we are looking at disastrous effects for a lot of south florida and especially at this point farther off to the east. then they begin to diverge a little bit. but still the same trend to work their way up toward the coast of georgia or south carolina. g.f.s. pulls ahead a little bist -- bit faster but then we work our way inland, the european model that seems to outperform a little bit could bring us better chance for wet weather as it hangs a little farther to the east. again, the impacts here. we are still talking to early next week. doug? doug: all right, josh. in the next 30 minutes, in about 30 minutes the hurricane center will release the everything package of the update and forecast track. our weather is improved tomorrow. 70s and topping out about 75 in the afternoon. the weekend, wow! look

70's. that kind of trend will continue straight through early next week through monday. but come tuesday and wednesday, if there are any kind of weather impacts in our area from what will be left of irma, tuesday and wednesday morning will be the time. then we clear out and get back on track to more beautiful, early autumn weather. nancy: thank you, doug. ahead at 4:30 on abc7 -- leaving florida ahead of irma. the honeymoon cut short. plus, meet the man making a dash for the sunshine state and why he is heading south right now. that's ahead. they have been marching for ten days and 118 miles. they finally made it to their destination just moments ago. coming up, we will have an

jonathan: 12 miles a day from charlottesville to d.c. one group protesting how the violence broke out there last month and they are trying to make a statement. they are in the district. jeff goldberg voled the group from vienna to d.c. jeff? jeff: well, jonathan, here we are at the m.l.k. memorial in southwest washington behind me. as we turn, we can see that this group of marchers is here holding a rally. they just arrived at memorial. just a few moments ago. this march had about 200 people here throho

12 to 15 of them that had been on this march the entire time. i will walk through the crowd here and show you a little bit about the signs they were carrying throughout the march. this was to denounce white supremacy in the aftermath of the events in charlottesville on august 12. also speaking out against white supremacy and in the past couple of days speaking out strongly toward the president's decision on daca. this was an emotional march for many of the people involved. got through hot days, rainy days but they have arrived here at their destination. the m.l.k. memorial in southwest washington. i'm going to sneak in here and i will be joined by grace. grace, you came from philadelphia to be here today. why dilled -- did you want to be here for this, grace? >> i want to be here because i love this country and what it stands for. i think it's important to show up for events like this where they represent things you care about. jeff: my last question. what do y

this march can accomplish? grace: well, for one thing i think it shows that there is a lot of unity for this cause. i think people making the dedication to march 118 miles from charlottesville to here is a statement that i think is important to make. so, i think it just creates continuous dialogue which is important for us. jeff: thank you so much for your time. this rally is still going on. they just arrived a few moments ago. at 5:00, we will have a larger show for you about what today entailed for this march that went through a lot of rain but certainly the emergency is still very high. until then, live in southwest washington, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. jonathan: jeff, thanks very much. coming up next for us, the view of hurricane irma from st. thomas. look at this. this is video just within the past hour. it is very difficult to get video out of these areas because it's blowing down towers and trees. we will have an update on the forecast and also which way the storm is moving. that's coming up for you. michelle

to d.c. just in time. the honeymoon cut short because of irma. >> we felt like we couldn't stay. we wanted to make sure we got a flight out. michelle: also meet the family flying south right now. nancy: then coming up new at 5:00, we are standing by for a judge's ruling for one group's request to stop work on the purple line. what they are asking for just one day after the popular trail closed tonight at 5:00.

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announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. michelle: this is just in. this is moments ago from st. thomas. this is a wall of rain you are looking at. blowing sideways as this historic storm continues to move closer toward the united states. you can't even see, make out really the palm tree. that is about the only thing you can see in the image. boy, the wind really forcing the rain to go sideways. as the storm moves over that area. in st. thomas. doug: it's close to it. that was just close. that is the

it's so big, anywhere near the center is pounded. michelle: so much force. even if it just brushes by. doug: it's crazy. i have a live shot from the north coast of puerto rico. live video now. you understand it's shaking and up and down and why. the center of the circulation is 8, 850 miles northeast -- 80-850 miles northeast of san juan, you can see in the harbor it's rough water. the trees are going crazy as it makes a close approach. we go to radar now and show you the satellite and the radar images here that shows a tight circle which is the eye of the hurricane. at last report the hurricane hunters flew in there and found the pressure is lowering and that results over higher wind speed over the period. it's so important that coming up in 15 minutes to read the new update from the hurricane center. new intensity and track and new speed. ultimately a new, possibly or just direction they think it will

leave you with that and the update in a few minutes. this is what we have so far. the track holding for a category five storm for a couple more days. friday morning being in straits of florida and then making a right-hand turn. will it make landfall or just stay off the coast? we will find out more in a few minutes. in the meantime, josh knight is back and has a different view of the effects of the incredible hurricanes. josh: that is right. we talk about the category numbers. the strength of the wind actually can increase the power and the amount of damage exponentially. what i mean, start off with a category one storm. the winds are 74 miles per hour to 95 miles per hour. that is the baseline. so that is a one. the amount of damage that would come from that. if we upthat up to a category three, from one to a three the amount of power, the amount of damage is 50-fold. if we go up to a category four which it is as expected to make landfall. from a category one it's 250 times the power. that category five which we have

times the amount of the wind power from what we get out of a category one. that is why the categories matter so much. if you take that one step up by one number it makes a really big difference in the amount of power. jonathan: it's scary. thank you for that, josh. at national airport, people now are just returning from florida. they are cutting the vacations short as you imagine. one man we caught up with today is flying down to florida. stephen tschida right now at reagan national airport with both sides on this one. why is he going down there? stephen: to protect his property. i want to tell you within the hour we learned miles per hour airlines one of the main carriers to and from florida from this area will be winding down all operations as of friday afternoon. closing down, but some people like the guy we caught up with today going through that gate right over there. heading to florida. he wants to batten down the hatches. reagan national airport, a front line for

or heading south to fight the hurricane. >> we had a friend who tried to get gas at 4:30 this morning and the line was like 30 cars deep. there is no bottled water. we just felt like we couldn't stay. we wanted to make sure we got a flight out. stephen: mike tatum has property on the west coast of florida. he decided to make a dash for the sunshine state today in opens of getting there in time to save his -- in hopes of getting there in time to save the real estate. >> i heard they are closing the airport in tampa. i have to get there fast. atmosphere yeah. he was in a hurry to get on board that flight. fairly calm here at reagan national. but a different story at miami international. we are going to be hearing from people who made their way through the crowds there coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00". reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. jonathan: all right. thanks. you can get up to the minute information about hurricane irma and the track and do it anytime you want. download the abc7 storm watch app to your smart

michelle: in the wake of hurricane harvey, one woman saw another family's memories floating down her block. a photo album bobbing in the water. she made it her mission to find out who it belonged to. she did. here is the moment she was able to return the album. >> here you go. here is that. and then here is over here what really, that was what i saw that was your baby girl. >> this is the first day we adopted her. this is the first day we had her. michelle: such precious moments now back to their owner. most of the pictures predate social media. so she took pictures of them and then posted them online with the name of a then baby girl written next to the prints. that is how she was able to make the connection. make the woman whole again because they have lost so much. the memories are

jonathan: they have to let it dry out and see what they can do. there are companies that are good about restoring pictures damaged. hopefully they can help out here. d.c. is no stranger when it comes to big rally and counterprotests but one scheduled for this month is tarting to get a closer look -- starting to get a closer look because of who is expected to show up. richard reeve has the concerns. who are we talking about? richard: three separate protests by three very different groups. september 16. it will be a day of protest here on the streets. one of the most controversial groups right back here at the lincoln memorial. take a look. this is the juggalos group. they are marching in protest the f.b.i. 2011 classification of their group as a gang. that classification occurred after a group of crimes by people identified as juggalos. recrept days we have seen numerous daca protests. on that day a group of 500 people will march to call attention to

interference in the elections. at 15 and independence a pro trump group consisting of 5,000 people will hold what they call the mother of all rallies. plus, there will be four weddings on the day on the mall. authorities say they certainly don't want another charlottesville like incident. >> the goal is to give everyone the opportunity to exercise the free speech rights or the assembly. but to do it in a safe way. not only for participants but for the visitors to the national mall. >> so all in all, 8500 people protesting. it doesn't sound like a large number but free widely varying groups with different agendas. police say they will keep close watch on this. coming up at 5:00, we will explain what the police strategy is, how they plan to keep it a trouble-free day. reporting live, richard reeve, abc7 news. jonathan: all right. thanks. coming up for

president obama getting a highway honor but it's one that is almost always backed up. we will let you know where to hop on the obama. >> oh, my god. look at that! look at that! michelle: but first, the massive wildfire started by a 15-year-old boy according to pooice. hear from the whom who says she saw it all start. jonathan: here is a first look at how you start your day off with "good morning washington" tomorrow on abc7. >> thanks, guys. tomorrow on "good morning washington," get new information coming in overnight as we track massive hurricane irma. how your plans could be impacted in the d.m.v. >> plus, can getting less than six hours of sleep cause brain damage? why it could be as bad as binge drinking. >> keep it here for traffic and weather every ten minutes starting at 4:25 a.m. on "good morning washington." your official back-to-school headquarters.

born and raised incian, dr. rrural virginia went to vmi. trained at johns hopkins. an army doctor who treated soldiers seriously wounded in the gulf war. eighteen years as volunteer medical director of a children's hospice. as lt. governor, he's fighting to expand healthcare in virginia. he'll get it done as governor. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, and we need to provide access to affordable healthcare for all virginians, not take it away. jonathan: the eagle creek fire burning five days now. coveraged 33,000 acres in oregon. the video is impressive. today we are learning that the flames may have been started by a teenager. michelle: a woman says she was hiking along a trail when she saw a pair of teens one tossing fireworks in the ravine. the other recording it all. moments later flames were spotted and she

ranger. >> i said to him i think that is them. he said are you comfortable getting in the car? i said yes. so we ran back to his car. i hopped in. he threw on the sirens. kids blazed away. michelle: incredible. one careless event like that led to the massive fire. they eventually caught up with the teens and investigators interviewed them. 15-year-old vancouver boy is being blamed but so far no charges. local lawmakers in california agree to name a stretch of the 134 freeway in los angeles after former president barack obama. jonathan: if you spend any time in l.a., if 5 and 134 are terrible freeways. they are always passed. it goes through eagle and pasadena. it will be the barack obama highway. michelle: when you are stuck on the 134 and late to work you can jokingly say blame obama. jonathan: thanks, obama. we heard that before. coming up next at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- a year ago, abc7

mail pulled from a storm drain. we are talking a lot of mail dumped. the carrier that dumped all the letters sentenced today. 2 conclusion to a by -- the conclusion to a bizarre story coming up. michelle: the final back to school. we take you to prince george's county where the closing bell rang on day one. back to school pictures. these are some of them. these are so precious. upload them at burst.com/wjla. jonathan: i love the missing teeth photos, right?

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jonathan: only abc7 cameras were there when literally wheelbarrows of mail supposed to be delivered to people's homes was yanked from a storm drain in northeast d.c. this was 2016 in may. the mailman was just sentenced hours ago. d.c. bureau chief sam ford with a conclusion to a story you first saw on abc7 a year ago. sam: outside d.c. federal court this morning, former mailman christopher newton greeted our camera with the middle finger. there for sentencing after pleading guilty in june to stuffing 15,000 pieces of mail down the

anacostia and douglas northeast. it was may 2016. so much mail it clogged nearby household drains and the residents snakedded out u.s. mail. the postmaster himself came out that day. >> what do you think? >> what do i think? >> i think it goes down the drain you like. i don't give -- >> in court today the judge asked point blank why did you do such a stupid thing? newton responded, "honestly, i'm not sure. i was stressed." newton told the judge he was made to work 17 days in a row no day off delivering mail until 9:00 or 10:00 at night. prosecutors never sought jailtime they asked two years probation and 500 community service hours. newton's attorney asked for just 200. they gave him 150. >> they gave him less time community service than you asked for. >> yeah, they did.

>> yes. >> reaction in the northeast neighborhood. >> should have more than that. that is a crime. people's paycheck and stuff. that is what they live off of. >> prosecutors mentioned the trash mail included social security checks and a college acceptance letter that never arrived. in northeast washington, i'm sam ford, abc7 news. michelle: every school system is back in business. today, the last batch of maryland students returned to the classroom. john gonzalez is in prince george's county with all the excitement as the new school year begins. >> we worked hard to train our teachers and made sure that people shouldn't work for us don't work for us. >> we rode the school bus with the school superintendent on back to school for 132,000 students and 209 schools here in prince george's county. the second largest school district in the entire state of maryland. it's also back to school for 9,000 teachers and faculty. the new school year brings a new school altogether.

high school miles from the old one. opening up to 700 students. >> i see an academy that is thriving. we have 200 student goes into there. when the students leave, they can hold their certifications for i.t. cisco, john, microsoft. john: a new school year, a new high school and new beginnings. a dark cloud has been hovering over the school system for the past years. most recently a statewide investigation in to possible grade changing to boost graduation rates. >> the peep on my team never told anybody to lie, cheat, anything like that. the investigation will show not everybody dotted i's and crossed t's but there is no systemic effort to make things up. >> the county will tell you it's proud of the 13 national blue ribbon schools. and a county that is growing more diverse in the school system. now, black and latino students make up 90%

system. >> there is no racism here. everybody can get along. it should be a good experience. john: in hyattsville, john gonzalez, abc7 news. michelle: here now are some of the first day pictures you uploaded to burst.com/wjla. we are compiling a gallery online at wjla.com. so keep sending them. jonathan: great to see the pictures. breaking news. jose has now been turned into a hurricane. but first we're tracking irma. look at what happens when a big wave wipes over a sea wall in st. martin. michelle: oh, my. jonathan: this is a lucky woman. why she was close to the sea wall while it's brewing is no clue. you don't want to venture near the ocean. steve rudin has update on irma. a maliceive storm. even if not a direct hit you can see the outer bands are doing all that. steve: it's big, big indeed. talk about jose. upgraded here.

all. the big story is irma. we continue to track that storm. waiting now for the 5:00 update to come in. here we are at 4:52. the 4:00 update as it moves to the north/northwest at 16 miles per hour. winds are still at 185 miles per hour. wind gusts up to 225. it's beginning to ride the northern shore of san juan, puerto rico. san juan recording winds at 55, 60 miles per hour but the winds will increase moving through the next several hours or so. we will show you what is going on in terms of the path. the projected path. keep in mind this is just projection. around the bahamas for late friday. then saturday and sunday it begins to make a turn. but widespread here from the gulf of mexico off the coast of the florida. this is where the storm may go. we don't have an exact track for you. things are going to come in line as we move in the next

but anyone from miami to fort lauderdale off to the carolina beaches should watch the storm closely. a fresh update in a few minutes. 52 to 60 overnight low. lingering showers. they will come to an ends. day planner tomorrow looks fantastic out there. the highs around 75 degrees. the weekend is great. saturday and sunday. 72 on saturday. 75 on sunday. a little cool for this time of year. then we are watching what is going on with irma. how it could impact our weather early in to next week. the temperatures will be in the 70's. back right after this. (vo) there's more to life than the climb. there's the view. you've got to stop... ...and look around a little. remember who you are. let the child inside you out to play. come...

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nancy: sam carved out reputation after teaching basketball for 20 years but now he is starting a program from scratch. robert burton has more with the coach of the week. robert: there is a new team at new hope academy. >> i'm thankful and blessed with the opportunity. robert: sam caldwell has been hired to coach the first ever girls' basketball team and he is expecting to be competitive off the bat. >> we hope because of the brand we put together at new hope we will attract other players that want to play at a high level and compete.

college players but bright young women. >> being a coach means a lot. it's not just what we do. it's who we are. mentoring and teaching kids as an educator myself i know the value and the importance of basically teaching life through basketball. >> sam is off to a good start. he is bringing over the star forward from riverdale baptist. jennifer, who already has offers from duke, west virginia and many more. >> coming to -- from nigeria to place has been huge. >> it's creating championship coaches. i have been fortunate enough to win championships. i know what winning looks like. i want to make sure we cultivate that and nurture it here at new hope. robert: with the coach of the week, i'm robert burton. >> if you are told to evacuate get out quickly. the storm is bigger, faster and stronger than hurricane andrew. >> at 5:00, as the

is a new forecast and it's caused for concern from the east coast. and disabled children turn to abc7 because keeps to happening. watch as "7 on your side" clears the way. >> now, abc7 news at 5:00. on your side. right now hurricane irma is battering the virgin islands and the category five storm isn't showing any signs of slowing down any time soon. get to chief meteorologist doug hill who is tracking irma in the stormwatch7 weather center. doug? doug: larry, the 5:00 numbers are in. also in at 5:00 is this little piece of information. remember tropical storm jose? how it's hurricane jose. that is forecast to become a major hurricane in the next couple of days. head to the northwest but the official indications are it will stay farther north and east of the virgin islands. let's concentrate on this. still category five hurricane irma. still with winds sustained at 185 miles per hour. gusting to 225 miles per hour. the pressure has dropped a

from the hurricane hunter. so that means the storm is technically getting stronger and more tightly organized. right now the center is about good 75, 80 miles northeast of the northeast coast of puerto rico near san juan. it is continuing to track west/northwest at 16 miles per hour. this is north of the coast of cuba and it's making a right-hand turn to the north and being near miami and northeast of jacksonville. be remember this is the margin of error. it could be on the right-hand side or the left-hand side of this track. what we do know though is consistently it's staying the same or a little to the right. that means millions of people could be affected along the southeast coast. more that josh and i will share coming up. right now back to nancy. nancy: we will stand