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

west of florida and could go east. right now the center of the guidance suggests that it may make landfall and come over the state. if it happens exactly like that, it mines the southern portion of florida, the entire state will be simultaneously under hurricane conditions. right now south florida is sunny and breezy. that is where we find abc7's brad bell with nervous people that want to know what is going to happen. brad: doug, that is the big question. where is it going to make landfall? what damage will it do? we are in west palm beach. downtown by the city dock, the city park. there is the water. the fear is five to ten-foot storm surge will bring it up and over the sea wall to get in the community here. look at this. they have sand bags here at the community center to buy them a little bit more time. then i want to take you around the corner and look at the saloon. they are boarding up because the concern is

>> across south florida to, the contrast is striking. postcard day on the ford lauderdale beach -- fort lauderdale beach. >> it's beautiful. i don't have to work so i thought i would make it to the beach. >> but everybody knows deadly power of irma on the horizon. >> that man is filling sand bags on the beach. others scrambled to hang hurricane shutters or get gas where it can be found. people are lining up for cash at a.t.m.'s. every grocery store is packed. randy hopes there is enough to save the pizza shop. >> hope for the best. we have been through a bunch of them. wilma, we were the only ones open after the storm. try that again. hopefully it will come in at low tide instead of high tide and we should be better off. brad: preparations, look at this. e.r. bradley saloon in west palm. they have the outdoor furniture piled up, tied together.

there when the tide comes up, if the tide comes up and the wind blows. look at this. downtown west palm beach, thursday evening. usually busy, tonight is a ghost town. in west balm peach, brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: that is good to see. 700,000 people under evacuation orders in florida. michelle: many are listening. this is the florida turnpike. it's packed with the evacuees bumper to bumper there. many of them are coming up our way. jonathan: we know that, northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg joining us along dale city tonight where he met floridians fleeing irma. you knew that because everywhere you turn the license plates were from florida. >> well, you absolutely said the trend is unmistakable. you come in the parking lot from prince william county. this is all you are seeing. the florida license plate. florida license plate. another one right there. everybody fleeing hurricane irma heading to see family and friends in the safety and the comfort in d.c. or t

to stay away from the hurricane. many are relieved to get out of the storm's path. they are concerned about what is going to happen back home. >> your have to take important things with you and replace things later. >> they decided it was time to pack up the car. leave irma's path and stay with family in new york. >> you don't want to stay around for that. i'm expecting my house to flood, we expect hit house to not be there. >> my house is a wood frame construction. in florida it doesn't fare a chance. >> all day at the dale city rest stop in prince william county we saw car after car pulling in from florida. filled with people and pets escaping the hurricane.

save my life. and my son and my family. >> helen vermont and her family driving from fort lauderdale to new york. all while thinking of heroes back home ready to ride out the storm. >> i am still worried for my friends and my coworkers. >> i'm not sure, uncertain. >> valerie and james left their home in the florida keys to stay with family in maryland, where they will watch irma and worry. >> i'm not sure what we walk back into it when we go home. >> pray for the best. prepare for the worst. >> a lot of floridians we spoke with say they are not only moving out of the state to stay away from the path of the storm but they have great concerns about what it is like in the aftermath. shortage potentially of food and water and provisions, a lot of concern there. the biggest concern in addition to property is worried about the family and friends two are going to be riding out the storm in florida. live in prince william county, jeff

michelle: death and destruction left behind by irma in caribbean. look at the latest video. three people confirmed dead in the u.s. irvin islands. this video from from -- three people confirmed dead in the u.s. virgin islands. and this video from the british virgin islands. when you see this video 95% of the structures are down barbuda. you can track irma's path as it heads toward florida and then possibly up the east coast. just download the abc7 weather app for your smart phone or the ipad. we will go live to abc7 meteorologist josh knight in florida coming up in ten minutes. jonathan: in other news now, president trump leaving open the option of military action against north korea. the president was asked about tensions with pyongyang during his news conference today. here is what he said. president trump: i would prefer not going the route of the military but it's something certainly that could

i don't put my operations on the table. but north korea is behaving bad lid and it has to stop -- badly and it has stop. jonathan: he said an attack would be a sad day for north korea. north korea conducted the sixth and the most powerful nuclear test on sunday. they claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb but that is not verified. michelle: equifax hacked. and horace holmes has this. this is concerning. a lot of people pour their important information in the site. >> this is big. this could impact more than 140 million consumers. hackers may have gained access to social security numbers and addresses, credit card numbers. there is no evidence that anyone got in the core data base but they are offering free credit monitoring to all the customers. th

breach on july 29. michelle: next at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- this video went viral this year. why the feds say the airline didn't do anything wrong. jonathan: anything but forma'am. a kidnapping victim explains how she got away. michelle: abc7 on your side gearing up for race for the cure. do you have questions when it comes to breast cancer? 703-236-9220. we have doctors and nurses answering your questio

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.

michelle: remember the video, it shows police officers dragging united airlines passenger off overcrowded plane. the transportation department decided not to punish the united airlines for the april incident. the department says it didn't find evidence that the airline violated the man's civil rights or the rules for bumping passengers. >> a kidnapping victim who escaped thanks to a hotel clerk in las vegas. remember,

counter and passed a note i need help, i have been kidnapped. this is a story we broke yesterday at 6:00. the woman passing the note to the clerk saying she is in trouble. eventually the man was arrested after clerk notified authorities. so now the woman says that the guy was her ex-boyfriend who tried forcing her to get married earlier in the day. at first she refused and left the chapel. she later signed a marriage certificate under force. >> i went through with it the second time because he would not stop. mind control. he talked about his explosives and what he can do and what he has done to people and ex-girlfriends and all that stuff. that made me nervous, especially on this trip. jonathan: the woman who was taken from her home in california said she tried getting away several times in the three day ordeal. michelle: trying over spilled milk. literally. where the milk truck overturned in our

>> we have the latest on hurricane irma. we will let you know what we saw around the-year, how people are preparing an

jonathan: where is a herd of cats when you need them? the milk truck overturned. and the milk was spilling from the truck. no serious injuries reported but it will take time to get cleaned up. michelle: just need oreos now. jonathan: or a bunch of cats. michelle: either one. we have seen the donations. now there are new jobs for hurricane harvey victims. jonathan: the people of texas will be assisted by the people of the d.m.v. as cheryl conner tells us, a government contractor is still hiring. >> hurricane harvey has led to a surge in jobs. >> i always keep a resume in my car. >> tanya anderson got a call from a friend to head to csra in falls church. she is searching for a job and she allowed us to join her interview. >> i know all of the microsoft word programs. >> csra was awar

million contract from fema to hire 1200 people at all of the locations, including the one in falls church. they will staff the call centers for a month. >> i'm the first line of defense. my whole job is to make them feel more at ease. >> the employees will make at least $15 an hour answering questions about federal services available. that includes housing, medical needs and cash. >> one of the most important things is patience, compassion. making sure that they are listening to the individuals to make sure they know what they need. >> amly can'ts need a -- applicants need at least a g.e.d. and good attitude. there will be on-the-job training. >> it's helping us. but our job is help them. >> background checks are done on the spot and an official job offer can happen in 48 hours. >> csra will keep the doors open. another job fair will be held friday as they are thinking irma w

>> i have a unique passion for helping people. >> out of the storm, a wave of customer service. in falls church, cheryl conner, abc7 news. jonathan: as we continue to track hurricane irma we will go live to stormwatch7's meteorologist josh knight in west palm beach. this is the calm before the storm. sun is out. beautiful day. the weather is nice. it's going to change quickly down there. >> exactly. it was that epitome of the calm before the storm. i want to start off here with the water. we are looking at the intercoastal. one of the issues that we are concerned with, with the storm is the storm surge. the good news here? west balm beach, they are not expecting as big of a storm surge issue in this area. however, around the peninsula of south florida, some places could see five or ten feet. you are taking a look at what is normally a busy road and normally a shopping area for the night life. bradleys there. and other big spots up the

eerily quiet. look at what we are going around the area today. we had quite a bit of people boarding things up, gathering sand. sandbagging to do what they could. many of them before they got out of town. some planning to hunker down but some people saying this storm scares them more than most in recent memory. a lot of people seemed to hang around for matthew saying i don't think it will be that bad. for this, for irma, the same people, many of them are say nothing way, i'm out of here. it's reassuring because this could be a big one. each time we get an update this still continues to jog back and forth a bit. >> the truth may be it might be saturday morning before the forecasters really narrow it down. where the center of the

coastline. it could stay offshore. we have the cone and have the frustration not knowing where it will wind up. jose is a category three hurricane. major hurricane. look at that closely. the top winds are 120 miles per hour. the hurricane watches are out for the islands that were hit hard yesterday. there is the track. fortunately it will weaken and head to the open waters of the atlantic. that is that. we will hopefully pull out to sea before it's close the islands. turks and caicos hit with the furry of hurricane irma, high winds, the waves. the huge storm surges there. some of those are 15 feet or higher. you work westward for for next couple of days through the bahamas and wind one a close approach to south florida. hurricane warnings are up through the what whatmas -- bahamas. the coast of cuba to guantanamo. hurricane watch, south florida. up and down the sides east and west. buried in there is this. this is something you don't see oft

which is five to ten feet. as early as tomorrow, some of the watches are converted to the warnings as the guidance hones in on the final track. we have spaghetti models that is showing consensus in the short-term and it makes a turn right. even though they are not strongly clustered they run in parallel, running north and northwest again. a lot of questions yet to be answered. will it make landfall or skim the coast or stay on that side of the package. go offshore. eventually it will turn back inland. as far as the number goes here. as we look forward it looks like the intense of category five remains longer. but by the time we get to saturday they analyze category four in this vicinity. this is a center line product. it dun mean it will go -- it doesn't mean it will go there but it could. the cone is extended on both sides of south florida. all right. talk about what is happening around here and this is not a lot. sunshine, glorious weather tomorrow. we are looking for highs in

the spectacular weather will continue through the weekend. saturday and sunday to stay. the redskins-eagles homeowner at fedex on sundays. just like fall. 70 to 74 degrees. as we look beyond we will see beautiful weather continue to early monday. but then after that possible effects not a done deal. 50/50 chance of the rain and breezes tuesday and wednesday. beautiful weather by the end of next week. robert? robert: thanks. the nats start a ten-game home stand with the magic number at six. redskins have had success against the eagles lately but

ronal: the nats on track to make a flash in the playoffs. or am i speaking too soon? the magic number to clinch the n.l. east is now six. guess what? tonight the nat start a ten-game home stand starting with the phillies. nats won the last three times in the last five years so that might explain the business as usual attitude from ryan zimmerman. >> i think you don't really think about that. you know, we have worked hard all year to get to the position we are in. hopefully we can continue to play good baseball. that will take care of itself. >> meanwhile, this is opening night in the nfl. the world champion patriots and the

concerned the only opening day for them is sunday against the eagles. the redskins won five straight against philly and the players say it has nothing to do with sunday. >> don't put any weight into it. it doesn't matter. it has no bearing on what will happen sunday. so, it's a fun stat to sit here and throw around but talk about playing the game on sunday it has nothing to do with it. robert: the redskins added receiver crowder to an injury report with a hip issue. with le keep a close eye on his status. jonathan: i have to change my fantasy football. michelle: final check from doug. doug: hurricane irma in the middle and still 175-mile-per-hour sustained winds. heaviest of it now through the turks and caicos. steve will have the all-important update of the track and intensity at 11:00. michelle: sounds good. david muir is live in miami next on "world news tonight." jonathan: thank you for being with us tonight. seen you back here at 11:00. have a great night.

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tonight, breaking news from miami. hurricane irma closing in on the american coast, miami and south florida could take a direct hit. irma expected to hit as a massive category 4. tonight, the deadly path of destruction already across several caribbean islands. americans trapped. images from barbuda and st. martin. ginger zee with the track just in, and it's not just florida. georgia ordering evacuations, states of emergency in the carolinas -- while here in florida tonight, a million people now told to get out of irma's path. gas pumps running dry. state police now escorting fuel tankers. the other major news to