the national hour center. what does it say now? doug: the same story as far as intensity and speed. category jose was category two but now upgraded to major hurricane, category three. it could have implication of the islands deavor stated by irma 35, 36 hours ago. that is the story. now irma, top winds of 175 miles per hour. gusts to 215. moving to west/northwest. that speed hasn't changed. milim . bar 922 about the same as all day. it's affecting the outer part of the strong storm across the turks and caicos and then bahamas and south florida. let's plug in what we expect to happen.

this is an update with the track. the european model came out today and shifted to the west. this is a storm south of the peninsula. watch what the center line does. it takes it up the state inland. it doesn't mean that is the track. could be west or east. no good solution here. if the storm doesn't track inland then everybody in south florida gets hurricane condition. a tricky move. that is why there is so much activity in florida protecting everyone as they can. keep your eye on the outer part of the cone. the center line of the track shows you this movement over the period of time,

doesn't mean that is where it will go. the more the cone will slink and where the worst of the implications will be. nancy? nancy: it's. ad by -- it's affected by that. they are seeing images like these. there are 95% that are completely destroyed. that accelerated evacuation orders on the mainland. >> this is a nuclear hurricane. this is not something you want to ride through. >> don't expect us to risk the lives of our first responders because of your irresponsibility. >> stark warnings there. florida ordered 700,000 people to flee.

larry: but evacuating that many people is easier said than done. brad something we are hearing is the gas is a precious commodity. >> we saw half of the gas stations that didn't have any. that is one of the concerns. i want to talk about the tidal surge. the dock will be okay. five to ten feet more water will easily get over the seaual here and into the town. that is one wolf the worries. scott has been through hurricanes before. even slept through them. but this one he says seems different. >> watching the video in the bahamas. it doesn't look good. >> today he is scrambling to get

>> if you find it, you are lucky. >> the same is true of bottled water and gasoline. many stations are out. rest have lines. >> i was born and raised down here. it's how it goes. brad: back live, show you a land mark establishment. they are moving their stuff up. the other issue is wind. this is probably special glass. they have the sandbags up. if we get hurricane force winds here, in this heavily developed

going to be problems. we will be back with more on what people can't really prepare for. >> the evacuation problems extend up the coast. this is a common sight in charleston, south carolina. gas stations filled with cars. out of gas or both. south carolina is under a state of emergency right now. coastal evacuation orderers go into effect there on saturday. >> we are getting a first glimpse at some of the tiniest evacuees. last chance animal shelter in waldorf received 45 carriers worth of cats and kittens from miami-dade animal control. more are expected today. or expected on monday. they are of course looking for people who adopt or foster the little kittens and the cats. the shelter is expected another 100 dogs from texas this weekend. look out for that. the coverage of hurricane irma continues ahead. we will check in with meteorologist josh knight

the evacuation effort that go through reagan national airport as well as how the red cross is preparing for the second majordy sast in two weeks. >> new information on a school stabbing involving a 12-year-old girl, bumper's knife and diplomatic immunity. a girl confessed to asking the 13-year-old boy to go in the auditorium at the british international school to stab him. she stabbed him twice with a bumper's knife. she is not facing charges due to diplomatic status. nancy: there could be closure in the murder of lyon sisters. they were kidnapped in 1975. the "washington post" reports the man accused of killing them in southwestern virginia is about to plead guilty. we are live with reaction. stephen tschida? stephen: the cancellation of a jury trial and the scheduling

raising the possibility the likelihood that the mystery that began here at this shopping mall more than four decades ago could be solved soon. 12-year-old sheila and 10-year-old katherine vanished from wheaton mall in 1975. after 40 years, a break in the case. when lloyd welch a convicted child sex offender behind bars was charged with the murders. the prosecutors maintain that welch a carnival worker at the time abducted the girls, murdered them and disposed of the bodies. they first learned of welsh when they came forward after the abduction to say he saw the girls with the man. years later they focus on welch after learning he was convicted child sex offender. no bodies found. no forensic evidence. the charges were ba

made to investigators where he is alleged to confessed to obducting the girls. but not to the murders. we should find out more about what is transpiring in this case on tuesday morning when welch in court in bedford, virginia. reporting live, stephen tschida, [music] -- stephen tschida, abc7 news. nancy: skytrak7 on the scene of howard county. that backup there is because a milk truck flipped over on the highway. this is in the traffic circle at route 16 and ice crystal drive. you can see the truck there. all the milk in the road. traffic now rerouted in the area. this is coming of course, at the peak of the evening rush hour. be aware of that if you are heading in that direction. no serious injuries reported here. larry: we have an update on christmas day involving police officers. no criminal charges are filed because in par

captured on video. review of the body camera footage showed the man police killed hall had a knife. d.c. bureau chief sam ford has reaction tonight. >> it was at this house on walnut street in northeast on christmas day when the call 911 came to police and the man was beating his girlfriend who lived here. that he had a knife. that he had turned on all the burners in the house. when the police arrived it escalated. >> he has a knife. >> it ended with hall. he did not put down a knife in order to do so. they recorded it the whole time. the city released the video first to the dead man's family who questioned whether the shooting was justified. i >> i have no idea what he shot my

said not only would he not take action against the shooting officer but added there is evidence that the officer was acting in self-defense and in defense of others at the time of the shooting. we were unable to reach the dead man's family before news time. woman at this house, who only identify herselfs a the owner said no one would have any comments. nancy: donald trump jr. told the committee he was open to hearings. fitness, character or qualifications. >> what meetings and other potential coordination was there by way of providing information, co

coordinating trump digital operations. with the russians? >> trump junior testifying behind closed doors. however he could still be suspect to public hearing. a -- subject to a public hearing. a short time later he said is thankful for the professionalism and courtesy. larry: coming up, the boards replace two windows in place for decades. nancy: plus, protest greeting the education secretary as she calls tidal ix a failure -- title ix a failure. what she thinks should replace the law protecting women's rights in education. >> folks making a last minute effort to get out of florida. we check in on why now is the time. that is coming up. larry: "7 on your side" help center is open. helping fight breast cancer. we have experts who can answer your questions not only about your own health but the local resources for tho

the disease. call 703-236-9220. back after this. your brain is an amazing thing. but as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember.

nancy: welcome back. people are lined up for gas in miami today as florida

to evacuate south florida ahead of hurricane irma. the shortage of fuel is a major complications. but cars are not the only way to leave town. larry: major airlines are giving everyone every chance to get out of the path. brianne carter, you have talked to a lot of people who evacuated. some took extreme efforts. >> indeed they did. take a look at reagan national airport. we are in a lull right now. there are not a lot of folks at the baggage claim. if you look here, a number of the last chance efforts. tampa and west palm beach. still arriving and the folks getting out ahead of the storm. bustlalling baggage claim at reagan national airport. city folks arrive in the d.m.v. to get out of the sunshine state ahead of hurricane hurricane irma. >> no doubt. it's scary.

west palm beach apartment and got on the first flight to be with family in maryland. >> it is still going to effect. it will be really, really bad. >> kevin was at a conference in miami and couldn't get out of south florida. so he rented a car and drove to savannah to catch a flight back home. >> i need a plan to get up out of there. there is nothing after 1500 tomorrow. >> to help people get out of the path, airlines like jetblue and delta added flights at airports along the hurricane path. meanwhile, thousands of florida flights have been canceled friday through monday. fran left to visit with her sister a week early. to safely get back home. >> mom was nervous. i know i was. i got to get home before the hurricane. my sister was a nervous wreck, too. she is a little nervous. this is her first time living in florida. briae:

flights added. some airlines adding additional seats to already existing flights trying to get as many people out of this path as quickly as possible. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. nancy: it's important to get as many people out as you can. there is no overstating this. the danger of all of this. >> south florida you have one direction to go, north. if you go east you are in the gulf. in the ocean you are in the florida states. you have to go north. that is a story. big changes, not big changes but changes that need to be noticed about the possible future track. the strength is on track for being a major hurricane when it approaches south florida late in the weekend, early sunday morning. let's get you started with a big picture. left-hand side of the screen hurricane katia much smaller that will push in gulf of mexico with rain and wind. hurricane jose upgraded to major category three at 5:00, as it moves northwest over the weekend. on saturday it could get very close to anguilla,

barbuda, the islands decimated just yesterday when it went through. so hurricane watches are up there. now let's zoom in for you on irma. the numbers haven't changed all day. 175-mile-per-hour sustained winds. gusts over 200. that hasn't changed. don't expect it to in the next 48 hours remain a major category five hurricane. we will track it for you and give you more information. the center last analyzed 40 miles south of grand turk island. one of the larger islands in the turks and caicos. so here we go with a warning. everything in red through the turks and caicos, bahamas in red. the government of cuba hosted a hurricane warning all the way around the coast into and including guantanamo. hurricane watch in effect along the coast of florida. from benita beach and up to jupiter inlet. of course, the keys. just inland right there the pink area a large area to the southern tip of florida under a storm surge watch. many of these will be upgraded to

a close-up. in this area there could be a storm surge of five to ten feet. depending on where the center of circulation is will determine which part has the best chance of getting a surge. as mentioned before. if the axle eye comes in the state, the entire part of the state will simultaneously be experience hurricane conditions coast to coast. spaghetti models is interesting to watch for clues. you see there is pretty much consensus. and then a spread when we get out into saturday. then we get into sunday and everybody gets the same idea. making a turn and heading north. some are clustered to the east. some in the center of the state and some to the west. the hurricane centers don't look at the center line. in of these are possible. the way to look at this is the center of the circulation is this far east off the coast or this far west. the changes, the official hurricane center track has moved just a little more to the west than it was earlier today. here we can demonstrate that. as the track

to the five and a four off the coast of cuba. this is the position when we go forward to sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. a category four with winds 140, 145 miles per hour sustained. approaching south florida. then where will it go from there? the center line shows a track north through florida. but it could be here, here, here and anywhere in there. big implications all around florida. eventually heading north going inland. the big question for a lot of our viewers will affect us. there is a chance we will get showers tuesday and wednesday. there is a chance we had little impact at all. that depends on what the future track is whether it heads east or stays west of the appalachians. beautiful weather tomorrow. spectacular weather tomorrow. spectacular weather here for the weekend. spectacular weather early next week. but then we will see what happens late tuesday and wednesday. possibility. we are leaving it at 50/50 whether there are any effects or us. back to the period. early gor

nancy: take spectacular as many times as we can right now. doug: rinse and repeat. larry: thanks. nancy: still ahead, how the red cross in area is gearing up to respond to a second major storm in less than two weeks. larry: plus fleeing the storm. barn taking in horses from south florida by the hundreds. nancy: first, though, the secretary of education calls title ix a failure. what she thinks would do a better job of protecting women on college campuses he's our pediatrician, dr. ralph northam. born and raised in rural 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.

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lisa: welcome back, lisa fletcher. live in the "7 on your side" help center. we are taking your questions about women's health, breast cancer. why are we doing that? we are ramping up for the susan g. komen race for the cure on saturday. abc7 is one of the sponsors. so we are going to be out there. you should be out there, too, at 7:30 in the morning on saturday 14th and penn in northwest d.c. if you have questions about race for cure, go to wjla.com. if you have any questions about women's health and breast health and breast cancer, call the phone bank right now. 703-236-9220. some of the things that you might want to ask, what do you do if you find a lump? what questions should i ask my doctor? what are the typical symptoms of breast cancer? of course, anybody on the team here can hook you up with local resources and support groups. give us a call, everybody is going to be here until 6:30.

703-236-9220. nancy: great resource. thank you. education secretary betsy devos calling title ix a failure and she says colleges and universities need to change how they handle sexual assaults to protect the accuser and the suspect as well. richard reeve reports her speech at george mason university was greeted with protests and skepticism. richard: voices of dissent outside devos' appearance at george mason law school. protesters concerned about a title ix roll back. >> we fear that any change will tip the scale for survivors. >> 50 people expressing fears that devos will scrap the dear colleague letter, requiring colleges to investigate complaints even if there is a separate criminal investigation. >> for implementation, title ix on campuses, after reporting the assault they were asked to leave campus until the rapist gr

>> unlike criminal courts where guilt is proved beyond reasonable doubt the college students judge it on whether it's more likely than not they committed sexual misconduct. >> every survivor of sexual misconduct must be taken seriously. every student accused of sexual misconduct must know guilt is not predetermined. >> she calls the current rules a failed system. she is floating the idea of taking title ix cases off campus completely. moving them so attorneys and forensic experts would decide a case. >> in partnership among states and the attorneys general they refer to the center any title ix incident that rises to a example level. >> devos cannot single-handedly overturn the law. she can overturn how strictly it's enforced. >> richard reeve, abc7 news. larry: still coming up at 5:00, one of d.c. iconic buildings now has a boarded up window. but not because of damage. what the national cathedral removed

hundreds of hurricane irma four-legged evacuees a thousand miles from south florida. >> as of the 5:00 p.m. update, not a big change to irma's winds but something changed to

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. nancy: all day we have been seeing images like this utter destruction in the caribbean islands that took the brunt of hurricane irma's wrath. at this hour that storm is still a devastating category five with 175-mile-per-hour winds. abc7 meteorologist josh knight tracking irma live in west palm beach with the storm's path and the race to be ready for all of this. josh? josh: that is right, nancy. one thing that is really important to remember. we talk about the 175-mile-per-hour winds. that is just in the eye wall. just around the eye of the storm. what has changed in the 5:00 update now the hurricane force winds. up to 74-mile-per-hour extend out 70 miles from the center of the storm. if you are talking about the diameter of 140 miles. let me show you the latest track. the wind speed, the categories are similar to what they were before. this is working its way there close to c

going over part of the bahamas 679 as a category five. it starts to make the turn closer to miami. then a category four. the category four is major hurricane. can still cause catastrophic damage. the winds are high. a lot of places will see storm surge. the storm continues to move north to move quickly as well. while it is down to a three, a three is still a major hurricane. so this is still something as we get closer we are getting a better consensus on and it doesn't mean that anybody in the path before is any more safe than they were. all of us are still really have to stay on guard. as this is closer we are talking about the tropical storm force winds by saturday morning. then looking at the chance for hurricane force winds as we get closer to sunday morning. i want to bring in marci gonzalez. we are in west palm. she is in new smyrna beach so two hours north of where we are. what are you seeing today? are people heeding the

evacuations? marci: josh, there are not mandatory evacuations here like there are where you are. some people are choosing to get out of town. i grew up in this area. i have friends who live here who decided to get out of town if they have small children who might be afraid of the storm or people living areas that are prone to flooding. no mandatory evacuations. but still, people take the threat of irma seriously. the lains for supplies -- lines for supplies are so long my dad went to lowe's 20 minutes from here and he waited seven hours to get plywood today. so it shows how seriously people are taking this. spending today boarding up the homes. loading up on supplies. trying to get fuel. there are the long gas lines everywhere. but not as bad here as you are seeing down there in south florida, josh. josh: that is what i was going to say. we have seen that. as sad as is it to see people waiting in the lines on the other hand i'm happy people are taking this so

marci: we are in the area last year for matthew and people didn't take it seriously. people decided to stick around the area even where there were evacuation orders in place. they are thinking back to andrew. and they have harvey fresh innary minds and realize the dangers coming from a hurricane. josh: thank you. up and down the east coast. the cone includes west coast. i'll send oat back to you. >> thank you. we will talk to you soon. as irma approaches, barns ship hundreds of horses north for

protection. so far only 11 arrived but in the next two days the women running at shelt evidence expect 600 horses to come through. >> there are as many water buckets and the supplies. >> they may arrive on shipping vans so she has extra stalls. we are tracking all the effects that hurricane irma is having. get the latest forecast track anytime. wjla.com. nancy: two twin does at the national -- two windows at the national cathedral that mon nowhered confederate leaders are covered in plywood. they removed theml

display them that are honoring robert e. lee. >> i think charlottesville showed how out of control the events can become quickly. out of the abundance of caution and really concern for the safety we decided to go ahead and get it done. >> coming up, its sent debris for hundreds of feet. we know what caused this disaster outside camden yards. >> we will check in at the "7 on your side" help center to get you answers on the breast cancer. call this number. 703-236-9220. >> a center is ready to accept new employees for hurricane harvey release. coming up, we will take you to a job fair for fema where they

steve: we could have clouds for sunday afternoon but looking nice. race for the cure saturday morning. we would love to see you down there. the temperatures are in the upper 50's to the elore 60's. by 11:00, brilliant sunshine around 67 degrees. don't forget we have the first home game for the redskins playing against the eagles. looking at the temperatures around 70 to 74. dry and picture perfect football weather for the d.m.v. stay wit ♪ it's time for the biggest sale of the year d.m.v. with the new stsleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable.

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lisa: welcome back. i'm lisa fletcher. the team of experts tonight is taking your calls on the breast cancer and the breast health. why? good information to know. it's in advance of the komen race for the cure. we're one of the sponsors of this saturday. i want to talk to dorse. what are the guidelines for mammograms for women? >> all women are at risk for breast cancer. all women over 40 should get a

basis. >> one of the options that some women are given when they get a mammogram is do you want a 3d mammogram. do you want a 3d mammogram? >> 3d mammogram takes better pictures. it gives different angles so the radiologist is able to get a better idea of what the interest looks like. the standard only takes picture of the front or the side. so there is a greater quality. >> for the women with dense breast tissue is a 3d a better option? >> definitely. if they find something suspicious. it does decrease the risk of being called back if something looks suspicious. >> doris, thank you for talking to us. i will let you get back to the phone. call in for questions. the team is here until 6:30. you could just

how to talk to the doctor going in for the exam. >> so there is no baby pap da but pitter patter of little feet at the national zoo. we are getting a glimpse of a gazelle born last week. the calf, coupe pictures. this is critically endangered. the calf not been named yet is doing well and growing fast >> you mentioned pandas. the panda house is off-limits to visitors. but you can peak in. this is a live look now. it look like she is enjoying a nice afternoon nap. of course, she could possibly give birth anytime, too. zoo cautions because she may experience pseudopregnancy. so we won't know for sure until it ends or a cup is born. we will stay on top

>> she has a dark conner. larry: get the sleep. right. coming up -- >> the red cross says donations are pouring in from hurricane harvey. and ahead of hurricane irma. i'm amy aubert. i have that story coming up. >> blast just around the block from oriole park this year. entire chunk of road sent flying hundreds of feet. next at 5:00, the

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.

nancy: we now know what caused a steam pipe explosion earlier this summer. the company that owned the price is blaming it on pipe wall thinning. it replaced the pipe with a different material that the company says will work better with thinning. larry: police in montgomery county had to deal with déjà vu after two pedestrians struck by vehicles at the same location within an hour. both are expected to be

>> an investigation where unmarked county police cruiser hit and killed 74-year-old man driving motorized scooter. the officer was on duty but it's unclear if the officer was responding to a call at the time. he is now on routine administrative leave while the investigation continues. >> this follows an incident where a woman threw urine on transit bus driver. today they are calling for metro to take action. they want the buses for the protech tiff for drivers anderingnotic seating and as well as better air full tration. >> after hurricane harvey swept through texas donations poured in across the country now. the threat of irma has them shifting the focus of their donations. amy aubert spoke with a red cross saying they are hearing from people

ahead of the big storm. >> this area now are the folks working on putting procedures in place to deal with the magnitude of this disaster. >> even before the clean-up from harvey is complete, the american red cross is gearing up for ma juror storm. >> it's further east. >> paul with the american red cross national capital region have a close wry on what is next. >> we did not commit the assets to harvey. we kept material, vehicles and the volunteers and reserves to go to the next disaster. >> he couldn't give an exact number he says donations poured in for help with harvey. >> to do something even if it's a small bit is important. it's helps to sort of we've us together. >> it's easy to see the people with the damage over there. >> the red cross says monitory donations are the best way to help. you can specify where you

>> if the donor says i want money to go to texas to harvey we honor the request. if they want to go to north carolina we'll honor that. >> ahead of irma, they are already seeing people who want to help. with the trust of the american people they are moving forward. >> if there are natural disasters or otherwise, fatigue can set in. >> he hopes it doesn't happen. >> we will get the job done based on the resources we have. >> amy aubert, abc7 news. nancy: we want to take a moment to remember the devastation a category five storm can bring. this is august of 1992 where hurricane andrew obliterated south florida. you have heard florida's governor warn irma is stronger than andrew. by the nu

for 26 deaths directly and another 65 lives lost indirectly. 25,000 homes were destroyed with more than a hundred thousand others damaged. irma is supposed to be stronger than andrew. larry: 25 year later. nancy: visual evidence of the calm behind the storm in florida. larry: jacksonville deputy snapped this picture today. you can see a full rainbow over atlantic ocean. that is going to change in a hurry. doug hill tracking irma and stormwatch7 weather center. doug? >> yeah. it's common we have seen from brad bell and josh knight along the florida coast. by tomorrow night the winds pick up. saturday is tropical storm force conditions taped a large part of south florida with

a category three if you miss that update. it's a major headquarter now. it's close over the weekend to barbuda, anguilla and antigua. leeward islands. we'll watch that. the focus is irma. this is smaller in scope but if you think about the islands devastated i can't maiming about the poor people there dealing with the hurricane force winds and rain again. so with irma it's a great unknown when we get to the final de nation, i -- final destination with florida. the winds will stay strong. it's ripping through the turks and caicos. saturday around sunday,

bahamas. storm surge watch. hurricane warning across cuba as well. that is the concern where it will wind up. storm surge across south florida expected. we will know more tomorrow and tomorrow night but south florida is a problem. here the weather is perfect through monday. robert? robert: opening night in nfl. pate-chiefs -- payry yots and the jeeps. but sunday redskins open up against the philadelphia eagles. every time they meet up, it's good. sunday they expect the same thing. they have beaten the eagles in the last five meetings. the birds look good. >> it's physicality at the finest. make plays and hit

the mouth. robert: and williams is a junior and has several division i offers. following in the footsteps but creating a path on its own. erin hawksworth has the toyota team player. >> almost like daddy but not quite. >> former player walt the wizard williams couldn't be more proud of his son. >> it's more gratifying to see my son achieve his goals and things like that. rather than experiencing it myself. >> he is a junior at st. andrews epistco ball where he is getting offers from division one schools. >> it's perfect. >> i don't want them to know me. >> but basketball is in his blood. >> when a little baby can just like sit up and he can't move around yet. i had a ball in my

>> he used to record me and my brother. head basketball in my hand since i was 1 or 2. it's in the blood. >> congratulations you are this week's team player. >> if you remember when we did at story on the two he wanted to be in miami one day. nancy: i'm surprised he wasn't born with the basketball. >> hey, mom. >> out of the womb. larry: we have this -- [laughter] nancy: is the navy ready for battle if the call comes? the congress is asking questions next with a glaring warning from the gover

jonathan: there is a disturbing trend that involves ship mishaps around the world and we have more from the hill. >> after 17 sailors lost their lives in what the navy called two avoidable accidents, congress wants to know what caused two destroygers the uss john s. mccain and uss fitzgerald to crash with merchant ships. a accountability report found 37% of the certification for the japan based cruisers expired in june. up 7% from two years ago. over two-thirds had been expired for five months. jonathan: why are we alog it to happen -- along to happen? the >> the tempos go up.

longer deployment cut to ship maintenance and training will impact overall readiness. so far this year there have been four major navy mishaps. >> the crews on board those vessels were not as well and frequently trained as the previous crews had been. >> some lawmakers worry that the u.s. is asking too much of the navy. >> 600 ships in the reagan era, 100 ships deployed. today as we speak, 277 ship navy still 100 ships deploy. >> president trump proposed expanding the navy fleet by 30% to 350 ships. but congressman adam smith argues that strategy does not match the money in the budget. >> if you are going to advocate for that much more of a robust force and not put the money behind it, this is what you will get. you will get corners cut. readiness is the first thing to go. >> some members on the house armed services committee call on congress to pass a budget

spending bill which they say will give the military civility to help with readiness. on capitol hill, i'm michelle macaluso. announcer: now, "abc7 news at 6:00". >> that is the roof. >> eny. there it is. >> listen to the local officials. >> people are scared right now. >> it will be a long road ahead if it hits us. michelle: the intensity of the storm is remarkable. hurricane irma is still a category five storm as it heads toward florida. >> it's ferocious. tonight hundreds of thousands of people are told to leave the state. we are tracking irma tonight with the team coverage from florida. where residents are boarding up or just getting out to virginia where florida evacuees are now filling up interstate 95. michelle: but first we want to

meteorologist doug hill with a look at the track at 6:00. doug: michelle and jop, it's a power storm, sustained wind of 185-mile-per-hour. the pressure is 922 milibars the same as it has been all day. raking across the turks and caicos. it's bound for the bahamas. the florida straits. eventually somewhere close to south florida if not into south florida directly. the latest track from the hurricane center at 5:00 shifted a little bit west. because of the hurricane warnings across the bahamas, the hurricane watch south florida and storm surge in interior florida. storm surge watch for possible surges five to ten feet. this is tough stuff possible. the big question is where will it go. nobody has the exact answer. the closer we get the more likely it is we will see the answer focus somewhere right near the southern tip of florida. the latest advisory has it shifted more to the west than earlier. don't follow the center line. the en