round 2. more possible tornadoes touch down in the same region already devastated by deadly storms. >> the scramble to clean up the damage amid growing threats for more severe weather. >> hi. i'm kai jackson. >> and i'm mary bubala. here's what people are talking about. we have breaking news. more reports of storm damage in the south. take a look at the destruction in alabama. houses are ruined by possible tornadoes. and there are reports of twisters touching down in several other states. this comes just two days after storms kill 13 people in the region. elaine quijano reports where they're still cleaning up from the first round. >> reporter: melissa clark and her family scrambled to pick up their belongings thursday, while the skies were clear. >> now there are storms rolling in again. >> it's just awful. we have worked all day to get as much as possible out. because obviously we don't have

a roof whatsoever. >> reporter: a tornado tore through her home, sucking sucking up almost everything with it. the system was part of the same string of killer tornadoes that roared across the midwest and south. clark wasn't home at the time, but she's pregnant. and this ordeal is taking its toll. >> we have a baby in eight weeks. so you know, to not have a home to bring him home to is pretty stressful. >> reporter: today's storm is threatening to unleash even more dev devastation, with potentially stronger damage. >> there is not much more damage it can do to my house. so if it levels it, that's okay because it would probably mean less cleanup. >> reporter: she says she feels blessed she lived through wednesday's storm. her pastor has faith they'll make it through the next round. >> the same god we trusted through these will be the same one that we'll trust through the next storm and the next storm and the next storm.

>> reporter: that was elaine quijano reporting. there are reports of a large it happened touches down in indiana, within the last hour. first warning weather team is keeping a close eye on those violent storms. meteorologist tim williams and bob turk are tracking the weather. >> we have been watching these system not unprecedented that we have these types of storms. but this is really pretty early. because. types of temperatures we have been dealing with. this is early this morning. around 8:00, is where we start to see the storms fire up. they have been moving to the northwest, to alabama. to the northwest, up toward kentucky and tennessee. they're continuing to move up. and the next batch, as you've already seen, is starting to fire up this afternoon through the heat of the day. the key here is, we do have this next round. and our live doppler radar shows that the low driving this is starting to move over toward indianapolis. and up toward the great lakes. all of that energy is moving up

to the east. and this firing line right around louisville, back toward nashville, is all starting to kick in. these are very, very strong storms. the factors involved in this, well, the low pressure you see here. let's put it all in kind of a fashion here to give you an idea of how this all comes together. tornado outbreak factors. cold air from the west. we have very warm, moist air from the south. and this low, spinning it altogether. you add that with the jet stream. we always talk about the jet stream. a very strong river of air that puts the spin in motion. and that's where you get the rotation, the storms and the tornadoes. we'll continue to watch this for you throughout the afternoon. for now, we'll talk about the local weather with bob turk. we have air off the atlantic ocean. rain drizzle just beginning to move in. heavy stuff across the region. we'll be dealing with rain this evening. and looks like it will last at least into tomorrow morning. maybe thunder later tonight and tomorrow. it won't be rain the whole

time. but it will be kind of cool and damp throughout the night. there are watches and advisories in effect for a lot of areas, particularly to our west. where much of west virginia. and as you can see, just to the west of that, there were some tornado watches out. and a few tornado warnings. showing on this particular map. right on our coastal areas here in the chesapeake bay, we have a coastal flood advisory. because of the winds coming off the ocean. south and southeast winds, pushing the tides. maybe 1, 1 1/2 feet above normal. and flood watches to the west. we saw heavier rains earlier in the week. some of these could produce downpours. have a complete look at that forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> all right, bob. thank you. stay with wjz. to find forecast updates and live doppler radar any time. log onto wjz.com. and wjz will continue to track these storms and continue to track them throughout the evening. today, studentsa the chardon high school -- students at chardon high school are back in class for the first time

since their deadly attack in the cafeteria. three teenagers are dead, following monday's shooting there. as michelle miller reports for wjz, the students are trying to move past the violence by showing school spirit. >> it was the first chance in four days to be kids again. >> i have never been so happy to be as a community. >> reporter: hundreds of students, parents and fans, sat to watch the chardon basketball team on the court and forget what happened in another court. >> thomas emily was charged with three counts of aggravated murder. >> reporter: this game is supposed to have been played monday. that was the day police say lane opened fire in the high school cafeteria. killing three students and wounding two others. >> reporter: prosecutors have said publicly that tj lane chose his targets at random. but investigators tell cbs news that he knew his alleged

victims well. and that one of the key factors that may have led to this shooting was that the week before, lane's girlfriend had broken up with him and started dating one of the boys he allegedly killed. >> hey high court and -- ohio court and police records revealed lane's home life was deeply troubled. his father, thomas n. lane, jr., was arrested for assault and served time in prison. the boy's mother, sarah nolan, at times did not live with her children. >> we never saw them playing. never saw them behaving like children. >> reporter: timothy fogerty lives across the street from the house tj lived with his father, sister and brother. the house has been empty since they moved away five years ago. the bedroom doors are padlocked on the outside. >> the house had been turned into something that looked like a jail cell. >> reporter: but that mattered a little less thursday night. madison high school. the hilltoppers now move on to the second round of the state play-offs and get another shot

at hopes instead of heartbreak. michelle miller, cbs news, euclid, ohio. >> prosecutors say lane admitted to firing 10 shots at a group of students sitting at a cafeteria table. the exact motive is still unclear. an undate tonight on the search for a hit-and-run driver, caught and killed in laurel. >> well, mary, the accident is caught on the camera of a metro bus. a pickup truck swerved onto a sidewalk, hit a pedestrian and was thrown away. the man was thrown over a 30- foot embankment. police believe the driver who hit him very likely knew what happened but chose not to stop. the suspect's vehicle is described as a ford f250. the model years between 2005 and 2007. anyone with information should call police. >> other drivers stopped to help the victim. he is now being treated at shock trauma. incredible new video today of the man who drove his car onto the runway at philadelphia

international airport. the alarming security breach caused panic and fears of a terror attack. whit johnson reports for wjz, with the charges the suspect faces. >> we got a rogue vehicle driving around on the airport. >> reporter: with a black jeep cherokee, flashing across the tarmac. >> what's going on over there? >> i don't know. we're trying to figure that out right now. >> reporter: one flight had just seconds to abort its landing. more than a dozen others drifted in a holding pattern, as air traffic controllers at philadelphia international scramble abouted to -- scrambled to communicate with pilots. >> we're stopping all airport movements at this time, due to a situation on the field. >> i guess somebody is having fun. >> reporter: police say 24-year- old kenneth mazik was either drunk or high on drugs when he rammed his jeep through a chain- link gate. the ensuing chase at yesterday's busy hour of 11:00 a.m., shut down the airport for roughly 30 minutes.

>> it was a black suv. they caught up with him. they do have him. >> reporter: in addition to dui and resisting arrest, mazik may face federal charges. police call it an isolated incident with no link to terrorism. but a decade after 9/11, it is raising questions about airport perimeter security. >> terrorists remain fixated on aviation. so aviation has to maintain the highest levels of security. it does highlight a potential vulnerability, which is why i think it needs to be reviewed and reviewed quickly. >> reporter: a vulnerability someone with more sinister intentions may look to exploit. in washington, whit johnson, wjz eyewitness news. >> aviation experts say there have been 25,000 airport security breaches since the 9/11 terror attacks. we are following breaking news right now, about anne arundel county executive john leopold. he was just indicted by a grand jury. leopold has been charged with

four counts of misconduct in office. and counts of fraudulent misappropriation of a fiduciary. the indictment says that leopold regularly used his protection squad for his political and personal benefit. wjz, of course, gathering more information on this story. but anne arundel county executive john leopold has been indicted by a grand jury. we'll have much more coming up in a later newscast. a water main break causes major damage in baltimore county. sky eye chopper 13 is over seminary avenue. in the lutherville area. you can see part of the roadway is gone. public works crews had the area closed off. well, the friday rush is under way right now. if you're waiting for someone to get home from work, let's check in on the roads with kristy breslin at wjz traffic control. >> hi, everyone. as you said, friday is always

chaos. if you're traveling northbound 95, we're watching delays there, from the 895 split to whitemarsh boulevard. on the north side outer loop, heavy there from providence road to charles street. inner loop also heavy charles street to harford road. average speed, about 35 miles an hour. on the west side inner loop, that's our heaviest delays so far. 35 to 95 security boulevard. accidents include bonita avenue at thoroughbred. another break at stevenson lane. sinclaire lane at erdmann avenue for another crash. east baltimore at north washington. also piedmont at dennison. let's now take a live look. you can see things are very heavy there. west side of the beltway at baltimore national pike. and the same situation there, west of york road. this traffic report is brought to you by the lexus dealers. introducing the all new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. back over to you. >> kristy, thank you. still ahead on wjz

eyewitness news at 4:00. a bank manager is held hostage by an armed robber. see the daring way this intense standoff came to an end. a woman vanishes from a cruise ship. the latest on the fbi investigation into her strange disappearance. celebrating seuss and the love of books. i'm gigi barnett. coming up, the new campaign that inspires students to open up an adventure. that story is next. friday night rain. will our weekend be a washout? tim will have more in our updated forecast.

an out-of-control suv smashes through three homes in northern california. police say the driver was going 70 miles an hour when he hit a curve and went airborne. the vehicle then crashed through a garage and hit two other houses.

no one was hurt in those homes. and the driver walked away uninjured. possible charges are pending. a wild animal clears the hallway of a school in north carolina. somehow a deer got into the high school building. kids scrambled for safety as the deer ran wild and skidded on the wax floors. i feel bad for him. a few students were cut and bruised. it's not clear how the deer got in. >> wow. well, if there is an adventure inside every book, dr. seuss is one of the best tour guides. the author is at the center of a campaign to collect more books and inspire students to read. gigi barnett has more in tonight's school watch report. >> how the cat in the hat you do not want to play. >> reporter: everyone has a favorite story, tucked between the pages of a book. >> my favorite book is dr. seuss. >> reporter: today, on the

birthday of dr. seuss, a campaign to boost books in several city school libraries, kicks off with a mega book drive. >> we'll take any book and make sure we put it in the library. >> reporter: the school will soon receive a new media center. but it needs new books to fill the shelves. and that's where the book drive steps in. >> they need to drop off these books. if they're used, we'll take and find other homes for them. but we want the classics, the hot, new authors. >> reporter: thanks to a partnership between several baltimore organizations, collections have already begun and will continue for the rest of the month. shirley lamont is the ceo of baltimore reads, a literacy organization. she says many children never see books outside of school. >> it's horrifying. parents who can't read raise children who don't read. it's an intergenerational problem in our region. we have to stop it. >> reporter: all will have to

go to four renovated city school libraries. i'm gigi barnett, wjz eyewitness news. >> if you'd like to help, there are more than 100 dropoff bins around the area. many of them at the state's mva office. today is also dr. seuss's birthday. a bit of a rough end on wall street. all the markets ended down for the day. dow is down 3 points. nasdaq down 13. let's go to new york right now. alexis christoforous has tonight's cbs money watch update. continental airlines will soon be history. the last continental flight from phoenix to cleveland takes off tonight. the airline that was once one of the nation's biggest, will all but disappear into united airlines. united and continental will combine. they will combine into one computer system. that means one frequent flyer program and one website.

tickets will be issued under united's name only. most jets have already been painted with united's name. eastman kodak is selling its online photo business to shutterfly for about $4 million. kodak filed for bankruptcy and is selling off. they say the gallery has more than 75 million users. customers who don't want their photos transferred tol shutter fly can opt out. and yelp made a splash in its wall street review. shares soared more than 60%. yelp is 8 years old and has yet to turn a profit. that's your money watch. for more, go to cbsmoneywatch.com. in new york, i'm alexis christoforous. coming up at 4:00. humiliated at the airport. what tsa agents force one mother to do in front of other passengers. i'm ron matz at the merit

athletic club downtown. it's your chance to be a ravens cheerleader. auditions this weekend. the story coming up here on wjz. we are tracking severe storms to our west. what will they mean for us? tim has the answer next. wjz 13 is always on. for the top stories on wjz.com, and instant first warning weather, click wjz.com. [ clanking ]

think we should have bought pre-assembled furniture? [ telephone ringing ] wait. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you are good to go. thanks. that was easy! [ male announcer ] speed, reliability, and now with our worry free guarantee there's no better time to switch. get your choice of terms. no activation fees. a 30-day money back guarantee. flexible scheduling. professional on-site installation. and 24/7 tech support. all for just $84.99 a month. plus you get a $200 value reward card. so switch to verizon high speed internet and phone, backed by our new worry free guarantee, all for just $84.99 a month. call 1.866.solutions. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.866.solutions. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. only from verizon.

tim, how long has the rain been coming down? i've been inside the building. >> you know, only for a few hours, mary. >> i don't know. >> only a few hours? >> only one or two hours. it got cloudy. but the rain hasn't been coming down. but just for a short time. so you know, batten down the hatches. it's going to be a pretty wet night. and we could hear rumbles of thunder tonight and tomorrow morning. but then we'll start to get clearing. and saturday, not too bad overall. rain will move out quickly. first warning doppler radar tells us what is moving into the area. if you're like mary and have not been outside, you will start to hear this rain, even if you are inside, over the next few hours.

it's going to start coming down pretty heavy. and do not rule out that you'll start to hear some rumbles of thunder with this. look at these brighter colors. stronger storms to the south, towards d.c. down towards fredericksburg. but lighter rain around much of the region. this is all going to move on through. we're not expecting any of this to bring the severe weather that they're having out toward indiana, kansas and toward tennessee. we are going to keep an eye on this. continue to keep an eye on this as it moves on through tomorrow. right now, we're at 53 degrees. still above average. but just a little bit. normal high now is 49 degrees. 41 is your dew point. relative humidity at 71%. south/southeasterly wind at 9 miles per hour. 29.95. low pressure now is taking over the forecast. so the pressure is starting to drop. 51 now in cumberland. 48 in oakland. 47 in elkton. and 48 on the shore. 52 in easton this hour. and 50 is really about the magic number. 50 in columbia, annapolis, kent island, and rock hall.

we have 49 in west mip ster and -- westminster and 48 in bel air. the winds from the south/southeast are bringing in a bit of a mild air mass. easterly component bringing in moisture off the bay and the ocean, depending how far across you are. and we have double digits there. 15-mile-per-hour winds in oakland and hagerstown. and also out toward elkton. what we have in play, warm, moist air coming from the gulf. cold air coming from the north and the top tier of the states. you see all of the blue there. that's still snow. and down here, very warm air. and the jet stream is running right through the middle. keep in mind issue the jet stream is the dividing factor between the cold and warm air. the jet stream is up around where the airplanes fly. it moves at about 140 miles per hour. and when you get that running through the middle of all of this, it's going to create a bit of a spin. and when that spin happens, it starts to spin those storms. the tornadoes start to kick up. and that's what we're dealing with through this evening. the cooler air will eventually win out after tomorrow's rain moves out of here.

we'll start to see some clearing. temperatures will drop. but we'll start to see the sun heading into tomorrow evening. sunset today at 6 02. next high tide at fort mchenry is 1:48. tonight, temperatures go down to 49. it's going to be very mild. then we go up to 65 tomorrow. windy through the day. it's going to dry us out. thunderstorms through the morning. and then the day should not be a total wash. >> thank you. for my personal forecast. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. don't miss today's cbs prime time lineup. it's an episode of blue blood. scott pelley has a preview of what's coming up tonight on the cbs evening news. what makes this 76-year-old a secret weapon on the war on crime? steve hartman goes on the road to find out how she does it from behind the wheel of a car. that's tonight on the cbs evening news. we continue to follow breaking news. anne arundel county executive

john leopold has been indicted. we'll have more details on the charges he faces. passengers have begun to arrive home safely after their nightmare cruise trip. the latest on the americans who spent three days trapped on the costa alegra. eyewitness news at 4:00 continues with denise and vic after this. i'm carol, and this is my cvs pharmacist. i had to switch my insurance plan. but then my prescriptions got more expensive. i felt helpless... frustrated. it was very frustrating. then john... maurice... jill stepped in... made some calls... and saved me hundreds of dollars. that's a lot. it meant a lot to me. taking the time to help you with insurance questions. another reason to transfer your prescriptions today. ♪ i'm carol, and i bring all my prescriptions to my cvs.

it is 4:30. 50 degrees with rain. hello. thank you for staying with eyewitness news. >> here's what eyewitness news is talking about. >> anne arundel county executive john leopold has been indicted. kai jackson is in the newsroom with more. kai? >> denise, we know more about the indictment in those details. let's give them to you. leopold has been charged with

four counts of misconduct in office. and one count of fraudulent misappropriation of a fiduciary. the indictment alleges that he was using his squad for personal and political advantage. he had workers place and distribute campaign signs and also alleges the officers would pick up campaign checks. it also alleges he used his protection staff for his own personal benefit, including driving him to a commercial parking lot and waiting for him while he engaged in sexual activity, with another county employee. again, these are the charges in the indictment. >> wjz is analyzing this complex indictment. we will have complete coverage including reaction from john leopold himself, coming up new at 5:00 and 6:00. we're also following major tornado concerns across the country today as twisters touch down in am alabama, mississippi, tennessee,

kentucky and ohio. this is video from northern alabama. dozens of homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed. roofs were thrown off and trees and power lines were down. today's severe weather is part of a major system moving through the country. the tornado outbreak that began tuesday night has killed 13 across kansas, missouri, illinois and tennessee and battered parts of kentucky. bob is tracking the system that is impacting our area right now. bob? >> all right. we're going to go back this morning to alabama, where the tornadoes formed just north of the huntsville area. take a look at the loop. you see big storms across northern mississippi into tennessee. south of nashville. this is pretty early in the morning. 9:00, 10:00 in the morning. the tornadoes just before noon. just north of huntsville there. as you can see, as it headed up to the east, northeast. and now the line is extended into louisiana. reported very dangerous, very large tornadoes, just in the

last hour over southern portions of indiana. some towns are reportedly totally destroyed. we have light rain and moderate shower activity. developing south of the baltimore, washington area. temperatures around 150. one little heavy echo, popping up here around the city. we're talking moderate showers. and in fact, we just a minute ago, had -- national weather service put a flood watch in effect for all of our region through late tonight. mary is going to pick up another inch of rain. there could be small streams reaching flood stage. so we keep an eye on that. no severe weather expected for us. but we may have thunder overnight and during the morning tomorrow before it clears out in the afternoon. >> and of course, wjz will continue to track these storms throughout the evening. to find forecast updates and live doppler radar any time, log onto wjz.com. finally, headed home. hundreds of people are glad to be off the disabled cruise ship, costa alegra. charlie d'agata reports.

with no power for three days, passengers say conditions became extremely difficult. >> reporter: six of the eight americans on board remain in the shells where the costa alegra was pulled to port after it wiped out power and crippled the cruise liner. for gordon and eleanor bradwell, from georgia, the terrifying moment came when the alarm rang out to abandon ship. they got separated and went to a life boat. >> we all went to our life boat section. and there was a point we thought we were going to have to lower the boat. >> reporter: crews struggled to put on the the fire. but the ship was stranded in an area known to be targeted by somali pirates. cabins soared to 110 degrees. not enough electricity to power the conditions. >> not having enough food. not being able to rest well at night. the heat is unbearable. so we had to spend most of our

nights on the top deck of the ship. >> reporter: in the three days it took to be towed to port, passengers say hygiene conditions became deplorable. >> everything was off. no light, no air conditioning. nothing. no toilet. i mean, that was horrible. that situation. >> reporter: charlie d'agata, wjz eyewitness news. >> this is the second emergency situation this year for costa cruises. in january, 25 people died after the costa concordia capsized after hitting rocks off an italian island. a canadian woman goes on a cruise but never comes back. mary has the latest on her strange disappearance. >> reporter: the boyfriend of the 47-year-old woman said he last saw her early wednesday as the bahamas celebration trip was returning to florida. crews searched for the woman on board but could not find her. fearing she may have fallen overboard, the plane -- coast guard used planes and helicopters to find her. they have since called off her

search. it is unclear if her boyfriend is still in florida. >> the cruise ship is back in the bahamas with different passengers. a hawaiian mother said she was humiliated when asked to prove her breast pump was real. she said she was flagged for additional screening wednesday because of her electric breast- feeding pump. she claims agents told her she couldn't take the pump on the plane because the bottles in her carry-on were empty. when the bottles were full, she was allowed back on the plane. the tsa has apologized. the four gop presidential candidates are gearing up for super tuesday. as susan mcginniss reports for wjz, both rallied supporters in washington state today, ahead of caucuses there. >> reporter: mitt romney got an enthusiastic welcome from supporters in washington state, where voters talk us saturday. >> let's go to work together and keep america, the hope of the earth. thank you. >> reporter: romney and rick

santorum are favorites to win in washington. but ron paul has invested heavily in the state, hoping to get a large share of its 43 delegates. newt gingrich is in georgia, looking ahead to super tuesday. 10 states vote on tuesday and one of the largest prizes is ohio. a new quinipiac poll shows rick santorum with a slight edge over romney there. >> reporter: many ohio republicans will be voting with their wallet. recession hit the state hard, manufacturing the largest part of the economy here, dropped more than 20% and is only now showing signs of improvement. >> david finegar owns this toledo plant that owns metal fence posts. finegar believes too much government is hurting his bottom line. >> he's voting for mitt romney on tuesday. he thinks the former ceo can

best help small business. >> reporter: finegar. more than a third of the state's republican still trying to make up their mind. in toledo, ohio, susan mcginness, wjz eyewitness news. >> on thursday, texas howns announced it will hold its primary may 29th. making it one of the final state contests on the gop calendar. anne arundel county executive john leopold has been indicted on several charges. he is joining us now live on the phone. mr. leopold are you there? >> yes, i am. >> what is your reaction to this news from the state prosecutor? >> the state prosecutor has had his opportunity to present his side of the story. i look forward to my side of the story being heard. in the court of law, all sides have the opportunity to present evidence and argument, as opposed to the grand jury process, which can be

manipulated and sold solely by the state prosecutor. i would ask my fellow citizens to reserve judgment then. ask that they be patient as the process takes force. there is only one proper forum for these issues to be discussed. and i look forward to my side of the story being heard. >> does that mean you are denying any of these charges? >> i think that the proper form to have all of these issues aired is in the court system. and i look forward to the opportunity to doing it there. >> why do you think this came up at this particular time? >> again, there is a lot of information that will come out in the course of the trial. and i look forward to the public learning about all of the different facts that will be coming out at that time. >> and at this point, you're planning to stay in office? plan to continue doing your job? >> absolutely. i've been an excellent steward of the county's resources. and i asked myself to be patient as all of these charges are answered. i have decades of history of

valued public service, where i've been an excellent steward of the county finances and have confidence that the citizens understand that and they know that as i continue in office, that their resources will be protected. >> reporter: well, given the damaging level of these charges, are you able to continue to govern and stay focused on the work for the citizens of anne arundel county? >> there's no question about that. i've been in this position for six years and returned over $60 million to taxpayers. i've cut spending. gotten a triple-a bond rating. i've done, i think, an excellent job of managing the county's resources. and i have no qualms about continuing to do that on their behalf. >> this has to be affecting you personally. >> actually, i'm very confident that once all the facts are aired, the people have a good picture of all of the facts involved in this case. i'm very confident of the outcome.

>> so mr. leopold, we appreciate your calling in. we of course will continue to follow the story and look forward to talking to you more about these charges in depth. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. turning now to the traffic f. you're waiting for someone to get home from the work friday. let's look at the roads from kristy breslin. >> well, traffic has definitely gotten a lot heavier, just in the last 20 minutes. if you're traveling on the harrisburg expressway, in the northbound direction. delays there from shawan road to belfast. at least 30 minutes from 95 to security boulevard. and traveling on the top side inner loop, expect delays there from park heights avenue to harford road. the outer loop also seeing delays in that direction from harford road around the perring parkway. at least 20 minutes to get through there. and northbound 95 just continues to crawl along from eastern -- avenue to whitemarsh boulevard. as far as accidents go, northbound on the jones falls expressway. an accident blocking the two left-hand lanes. in bel air, east wheel road, at fairway drive.

west northern parkway at wabash avenue. and also, maidens lane in the catonsville area. let's take a live look. you can see, things are just crawling there on the beltway, west of york road. this is brought to you by bill's carpet, hard wood and laminate, too. you can call them, 1-877-75- bills. >> we'll be right back.

a small plane crash takes the lives of five people in germany. the aircraft crashed into the woods. three bodies were recovered immediately. and today, two more people were confirmed dead. it is not clear what caused the crash. an investigation is under way. heavy floods sweep australia in parts of new south wales. mandatory evacuations were ordered for hundreds of homes. torrential rainfall has hasn't been this bad in 100 years. thousands are potentially facing evacuation. syrian government troops are showing no signs of slowing down. even as the red cross tries to get emergency supplies to citizens. tina kraus reports for wjz from london. >> reporter: this internet

video shows anti-government protestors, rallying in the rebel city of holmes. until a deadly blast rips through the crowd. syrian government forces fired a mortar on the demonstration, killing at least 10 people, including several children. activists say gunmen loyal to president bashar assad, killed 10 more men in a campaign to wipe out the opposition. britain's prime minister accused the assad regime of butchering its own people. >> one day, there will be a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime. jazz they urged assad supporters to turn their backs on the president or pay the price. rebels withdrew from the bomber district of holmes thursday and troops reportedly moved in to kill fighters who stayed behind. the red cross says syrian authorities have blocked an aid convoy from bringing in

emergency supplies. humanitarian groups say they're desebrate -- desperate to reach civilians in the districts government forces have bombarded for weeks. tina kraus, wjz eyewitness news. now, france is closing its embassy in syria. just one day after two escaped from lebanon. a gunman olds a bank manager hostage. apparently the man stepped out to retrieve an item he he demanded police bring to them. the hostage was rescued, unharmed. well, we're getting our first look at filming for the new movie, based on the hunt for osama bin laden. filmmakers were denied permission to film in pakistan. and converted parts of india to look like lehore, pakistan. they don't want indian soil portraying an enemy country.

the movie, zero dark 30 is expected to be released this october. if you ever wanted to be a baltimore ravens cheerleader, this is your big chance. ron matz has more on what it takes to make the cut. >> reporter: ask any ravens cheerleader, and they'll tell you, being in front of 70,000 screaming fans is a real rush. >> it's amazing to hear all of those fans screaming, the adrenaline pumping through your veins when you're running through the tunnel. >> ravens is the only co-ed cheerleading team. so men and women are both welcome. >> it can be stressful. but if you come in and you're touchdown with your skills, you should be -- confident with your kills -- skills, you should be fine. >> tryouts have been held here

for 10 years. >> number one thing we alwaysed was community. and nothing says community better than baltimore ravens. >> reporter: about 250 men and women will be auditioning right here. the final cuts will come march 17th in a live performance at the lyric theater. >> your parents, your friends, any family members get to come, anybody you work with, boyfriends, girlfriends, get to come and cheer you on. and you do the oddation -- audition in front of a live audience. >> for information on what you need for saturday's audition, log onto our website, wjz.com. i'll bet you need to know something about football, too. >> maybe or maybe not. we're tracking severe storms to the west. >> bob has more on how they could impact us. next.

here's a live look outside right now. what an active day it has been. we can see it's been raining in parts of baltimore already. >> well, we're lucky. >> we've got rain now,ed -- started out bright and sunny. clouds have come in very

quickly. take a look at radar. moderate to heavy rain. south of the baltimore, washington area. moving just through the d.c. region. a few heavier echoes now through the city. look for maybe a quarter inch of rain or more and a little less, south and west. as you can see just west of us, big, big break. in fact, once you get past, there's a big area, where no rain is occurring at all. until we get out to ohio. and in that region, that's where we're seeing these thunderstorms breaking out in that region right there. and they, in fact, are under a tornado watch there. already have had lots of reports. really bad, devastating tornadoes in southern indiana, northern kentucky and tennessee, as you probably already know. in our region, we're not looking at the rain. it will break for a while and pick up late tonight. and yes, you can see thunder. here's thunder, maybe lightning into the night. it will be losing a lot of its potency. and a lot of energy.

take a look at temperatures around the region. we're at 48 now, with the light rain moving in. southeast winds at 3. the barometer, right now holding steady, 2.9 inches. light rain has moved into much of the area. heavier, south of the city. d.c. down to patuxent. pretty good rainfall. could see easily half an inch. and with rain we saw earlier this week, some areas saw 1 to 2 inches easily. there can be some flooding. if you get a quick half inch with some of these heavy downpours, that's when the water runs off quickly. that's when you can see roadways, covered with water. never drive through those water- covered roadways. turn around, don't drown. right now, looks like it will be very isolated. 48 over in columbia. and 50 now in kent island. winds out of the southeast. pushing the water on the west side of the bay. and that's why we have higher- than-normal tides. in fact, we have a coastal

flood advisory. in fact, all of the region, as you can see, under the flood watch. because of the heavier rains earlier. a tornado watch, portions of west virginia. that's west of our region. but all of that because of warm moisture coming up from the gulf of mexico. clashing with some colder, dryer air, coming in from the canadian plains. and the big storm center, right through that region. you can see big storms breaking out, along that frontal boundary. that's where the twisting of the atmosphere is occurring. southerly winds here. west winds here. it's beginning to turn. some of the storms become tornadic. and they are long-tracked and moving very, very quickly. for us, rain moving to the south. we have a break at least through the portion of the overnight. and during the day tomorrow, as the front comes in, maybe a thundershower, a thunderstorm. and it will turn cooler later in the day and on sunday as well. winds on the bay, becoming southwest. and a small craft advisory out there. bay winds will pick up later in the day. bay temp around 46. tonight, showers. maybe a thunderstorm, late,

late. 49. it's going to go up, actually, to about 65, before the temps start falling. and maybe a thunderstorm in the morning. and much cooler and dryer on sunday and monday. >> okay. thank you, bob. still to come on eyewitness news tonight. wjz continues to follow breaking news. as anne arundel county executive john leopold is indicted on charges of misconduct.

[ dog growls barks ] bring your dog to work day... not our best idea. [ barking ] george! stop it! stop. oh. it was a nice thought. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you're good to go. that was fast! thank you. [ male announcer ] speed, reliability and now with our worry

free guarantee, there's no better time to switch. get your choice of terms. no activation fees. a 30-day money back guarantee. flexible scheduling. professional on-site installation. and 24/7 tech support. all for just $84.99 a month. plus you get a $200 value reward card. so switch to verizon high-speed internet and phone backed by our new worry free guarantee all for just $84.99 a month. call 1-888-610-8090. that's 1-888-610-8090. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. only from verizon. coming up next on eyewitness news at 5:00. john leopold, indicted on charges of misconduct in office. what the state prosecutor said he did. destruction and danger. more powerful storms across the midwest and south. and the system is moving this way.

overtime controversy. i'm weijia jiang, with how much baltimore city schools is spending on it. and the surprising answer as to who is getting the most. it's not an educator. that story is next. check in for more on these stories and all the day's breaking news. eyewitness news at 5:00 starts right now. john leopold indict the. >> the long list of charges he's now facing, including this conduct in office. >> hi. i'm kai jackson. >> i'm mary bubala. here's what people are talking about. >> let's update the break news we first told you about. as anne arundel county executive john leopold is indicted. wjz is live with complete coverage. vic carter spoke moments ago