watermain break. it's expected to take several weeks to get broening highway repaired and reopened for traffic. we have team coverage tonight beginning with abc2 news delia goncalves. >> reporter: you can imagine for many who live in this area, work on that 72-inch main has been slow going as crews begin to haul in large-scale equipment for the long repairs as you mentioned, but the work for homeowners has been consistent and non-stop. 70 to 80 pavements we're told were -- basements we're told. and residents airing out mud-caked items they hoped they could salvage. scott kidwell, he said his basement was flooded with 7 1/2 feet of water. >> devastating. i watched any refrigerator float by. entertainment center floating the other way. i couldn't come down here. to see where the rest -- it

was all you full water. the smell is starting to creep through the floor. you have to keep the windows open to keep it ventilated. >> reporter: he's one of a number of residents in dundalk now struggling with their insurance companies. the state insurance administration we're told will help residents cope with any problems. the county will also waive inspection fee for electrical repairs folks will eventually have. and the county is sending a garbage truck, besides dumpsters in the neighborhood, they are sending garbage trucks starting today and into tomorrow so folks can discard some items that can't be saved after this flood. as of this morning, roughly 38 homes in this area still without power. we're live in dundalk, delia goncalves, abc2 news. >> thank you. the morning after the watermain break homeowners awoke to a new problem. seeing if their water damage is covered by their insurance. our team coverage continues with abc2 news jeff hager.

>> reporter: workers stem the tide of water flooding homes in dundalk when the governor assured residents help was on the way. >> we notified the insurance administration to dispatch offense to get here. >> reporter: for some help arrived in the form of insurance adjustors while for others - >> they have not even had an adjustor. they come out when they first seen us, wrote a few checks and left, enough for food and some clothes and stuff. >> reporter: a claim attorney for state farm insurance, lawrence richardson jr., says no matter what assurances people may have heard from the politicians the coverage comes down to their individual policies. >> insurance policies specifically among competing insurance companies are not one and the same. some companies have policies that do provide coverage. some don't. >> reporter: the governor agrees contracts will determine the level of help victims receive. but the maryland insurance administration sent representatives door-to-door over the weekend to make sure they are getting what they paid

for. >> we want to make sure we enforce the terms of that contract and make sure we recover every penny. we can't go backwards and renegotiate contracts but we can make sure that the terms of the contracts are fully honored. >> reporter: state insurance regulators say whether homeowners are insured or not those with policies should submit a claim in writing and make sure if they are denied they have that in written form as well. they also should keep any receipts for clean-up or contractors since it could ultimately help them should they file a claim with the city to pay for the damage. since the problem stemmed from its watermain. >> whether or not the city honors these claims will depend on the issue of negligence. and that's far beyond the scope of what, you know, what we can determine. >> reporter: in dundalk, jeff hager, abc2 news. >> this happens every time there's a disaster. scam artists come from the woodwork hoping to prey on those trying to recover from

the mess. that is true with the situation in dundalk. baltimore county officials are shooting down claims made by scam artists who say they've been ordered to come in and handle the clean-up. the county says that is not the case. the better business bureau warns similar scams will likely circulate so you've got to arm yourself with information before starting your repairs. otherwise you could pay the price. >> could be shoddy work, work that doesn't last, work that doesn't add dollar value to your home improvements could actually exacerbate the situation so it's all about the money. >> the better business bureau advises that before you pick a contractor and sign a contract find out what your insurance will cover, get multiple quotes in writing and make sure the company you choose is licensed with the maryland home improvement commission. governor martin o'malley has granted authority to the maryland attorney general's office to investigate the activist group acorn. this comes after the release of undercover videos including one

shot in baltimore that apparently shows two acorn employees giving fraudulent tax advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp. the employees have since been fired. dozens of baltimore city cop cars are out of commission tonight and tainted fuel may be the culprit. tonight authorities say it looks like diesel fuel was inadvertently mixed with gas at a city fueling station. but officials are awaiting test results to be sure. so far 68 police cars have been disabled, a city police spokesperson says the department has enough vehicles that operations have not been affected. >> right now we are able to make due with the fleet that we have. and the commissioners made it a priority so the public safety will not be compromised in this issue. >> reporter: the city is draining the fuel from the affected vehicles replacing the vehicles. some have been fixed. it's in an effort to reduce alcohol-related crashes and save lives. lieutenant governor anthony brown was joined by other officials to talk about new dui laws that go into effect

october 1st. a number of bills were passed during the 2009 general assembly to close loopholes. >> we lose about 10 times as many people through fatalities on the roadways as we do by homicide. and we've got to improve the situation. >> reporter: according to the national highway traffic safety administration 152 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in maryland in 2008. city firefighters say any furloughs to the department could cause serious safety problems. the union says the city has not followed the contract and there can be no furloughs until the union and the city discuss alternatives first. union president says furloughs could mean as much as 20% of the fire department won't be on duty. he says restructuring of the department six months ago is already leaving the fire service shorthanded. >> we've already felt the strain from doing the rotating closings. now four to six companies.

last time we checked the response times were slowly but gradually increasing. that would be catastrophic for the fire service in baltimore city. >> city police whose contracts forbids furloughs have been asked to give back vacation time. the mayor was not available for comment, however, city spokesman says they will hold a news conference after wednesday's board of estimates meeting to spell out the latest round of proposed cuts. and we want your two cents. because of these tough economic times should police officers and firefighters take furloughs? log on to abc2news.com. and look at the right side of the home page to vote in our on-line poll. looking to launch a new business? how would you like to buy baltimore's historic senator theater? today the city began soliciting proposals for operation of the baltimore landmark. the movie house which opened in 1939 is listed on the national register of historic places. baltimore took over the theater's mortgage this spring after its longtime owner

defaulted on the loan. the city took ownership of the theater after it failed to sell at auction. good news on the education front tonight. city schools are scoring higher marks. we'll break it down. according to the department of state -- state department of education 931 fewer students dropped out of school in baltimore city in the last two years. than in 2006/2007. the dropout rate for the 2008/2009 year is 6.2%. it's the school system's lowest dropout rate on record they say. the official graduation rate is 62.7%, also a record number. >> for anybody who questions or wonders our enrollment increased in the so, it's not simply that fewer kids - >> there's more good news. last year students in maryland were required to meet the high school assessment requirement in order to graduate.

and 253 more students in baltimore received diplomas. sheila dixon issued this statement late this afternoon -- we are excited about seeing positive results from a changing culture at all our schools and givings us all hope that students can realize their full potential. and baltimore county schools, new data released by the maryland state department of education shows 23 of the 24 high schools met all yearly progress benchmarks of adequate. the graduation rate for 2009 is just over 83%, the highest since 2005. and the dropout rate for baltimore county schools is 3.47 % this year. we had a nice wrap-up to summer 2009. of course the the -- fall begins tomorrow. summer kind of coming to an end. on a nice note though. on our satellite and radar

pictures, really no precipitation anywhere in maryland. even on the far western edge like -- that, nothing that way but we see more cloud cover blowing in this evening out of the south and southwest. temperatures have been in the 70s this afternoon. we're still 74 in towson. 75 baltimore, annapolis, still checking in at 74. still 80 degrees in chestertown. tonight dropping down to 62 or so at bwi marshall. in the city maybe only 63, 64 degrees. so it will be a milder evening out there. we'll talk about a warming trend, into the first days of fall, a little counterintuitive, in a few. making cities greener. congressman elijah cummings says it's a top priority of the obama administration. and today he hosted a summit at morgan state university. speakers talked of constructing environmentally-friendly buildings and homes. that's not all. >> we'll also be talking about how these business folks can

become more involved and take advantage of some of the stimulus money that is available and take advantage of future efforts on the part of the obama administration to address the issue of redouse deucing our against on foreign oil. >> cummings says balm baltimore received $15 million from the package or winterization. coughing, sneezing, sniffing. the flu or something else? we tell you what is going around. and the ravens take charge of san diego. what the coach is saying about the win. >> that was an exciting end to the game. we had great weather. in baltimore. we're wrapping up summer on a nice note. forecast on the money today. >> you had a win too. >> we're trying to win back here. 76 was the high today. that's what we forecast. five days in a row for baltimore's most accurate forecast. that means robbie walls from

owings mills, you're getting an abc2 news umbrella. >> i know robbie. very well! >> can -- i can tell. >> double applause from us. your forecast coming up.

anyone you see or hear coughing or sneezing at work or school these days is under the microscope. the flu? the h1n1 virus? a cold or baby even allergies? ---- maybe even allergies? kelly swoope looks at what is going around. >> reporter: everyone is on the lookout for signs of colds and flu since we live and work in such confined spaces. however, when in doubt don't assume you've got the flu. leave that diagnosis to the

experts. when you walk into the door at patient first in greenspring station they arm you with the essentials. the face masks, tissues and hand sanitizer. internist dr. paul woo says they've seen lots of sick people but not everyone has the flu. >> i hear all the time my sinuses full, my head will pop open. my nose is runny, coughing, sore throat, aches. >> reporter: while many of these seem like flu-like symptoms patient first reports seeing more fall allergy patients than just about anything else as of late. >> allergies don't usually have the fever and the muscle aches. it usually has a lot of sneezing, a lot of runny nose and watery eyes. if you're sick, go see the doctor because they can help figure out whether it's a common cold or the flu. or allergies. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: when in doubt

protect yourself with good hand washing and hasn't sanitizer. avoid sharing cups and utensils. shoot me an e-mail if you've heard about something in your community. with what's going around, i'm kelly swoope, abc2 news. 75 degrees now at bwi marshall. just a gorgeous wrap-up. our last full day of summer 2009. we'll start off tomorrow morning still at summer and then through the day we change seasons in the fall. but wrapping up on a nice note. it will only get warmer the next few days believe it or not. if you look at the statistics, the average high about where we were today, mid-70s. harbor school from owings mills, we find 73 there. a blue sky. right now. high temperatures today, we did pop up briefly to 76 at bwi marshall. actually for about two hours this afternoon. so that is just about average for this last day of summer.

temperaturewise, you had to get to northern virginia in winchester to find 80s but i think we'll see more and more 80s as we go into the first couple of days of fall. a little unusual twist but nothing really that unusual. we will see low 80s, nothing near record temperature but it will be nice the next few days temperaturewise. see a little more cloud cover. 73 dover now. 75 baltimore. 72 in charlottesville. look at the satellite and y locally. in fact the few clouds we've had, not very thick. we had a lot of blue sky today. we're actually getting a break in the clouds across the immediate baltimore/central maryland area. take you out a little wider and you see the showers across the appalachian mountains now. so there is some wet weather but this system not really moving much. kind of holding off to the west. what we're really watching is this -- southerly flow developing. a big area of high pressure over the atlantic. southerly flow bringing up more moisture, also milder air, so

each morning has been a little milder. tomorrow morning much milder. with that more cloud cover and chance for some showers. clearing overnight, then cloud cover builds in as we go into the morning hours. tomorrow afternoon we could squeak out a couple of showers from this. same deal through the day wednesday. on and off light showers possible but not seeing a lot of rain here and it will warm up a little bit each day despite the clouds. high tide 9:30 on the bay tomorrow morning. tomorrow we will soar to about 77 degrees. maybe a couple of scattered late showers but probably not much. the 7-day forecast, shaping up to be a warmer one as we go into wednesday. thursday and friday, the first days of fall 2009 will not really feel like autumn but we'll cool off as we go into the weekend. we've helped people on the 150 yards. that's huge. that's pretty but if you don't win you're sick. you know? the bottom line is, when we didn't let them in that end zone, that's when i said,

that's our victory. >> reporter: you know he could have been yelling about the ravens in his now famous rant. you want to crown them, crown them? they are what they thought they are. yesterday in san diego the defense spent but never really broke. five times the chargers got into the red zone but never punched it in the end zone, 0-5. ravens, on the other hand 3-4 in the red zone. that was the difference. todd heap and kelley washington each scoring. ray lewis ends it. john harbeau impressed with how his team finds ways to win. >> we answered and got a stop. offensively they score, we go down and score again. then go take the lead. then hold on to the lead when they were knocking on the door in their own stadium. you want to be the kind of team that we aspire to be you better

be able to do that in this league. >> reporter: last week ray rice led going over 100 yards for the second time in his career. yesterday mcgahee was the horse on offense. give credit to the offensive line. on both mcgahee's touchdowns. he now has four touchdowns on the season already, three rushing, one receiving. the knock on him last year was that he was never really prepared to play. harbough says it's not the case this season. >> when he came to camp in shape and was able to work through training camp, i don't think he missed a practice in training camp. by his own, he told me it's the best training camp he's had in his whole procareer. it's been a plus for us. >> reporter: the secondary had a rough day, especially foxworth. but frank walker came up big, just and minute, he breaks up -- under a minute he breaks up what could have been the game-winning touchdown. ravens host the browns next

sunday. maryland's football team has a lot of soul-searching to do after losing to middle tennessee state saturday. the sec announced maryland's game at clemson october 3rd. kicks off at noon on espn. and gary receives an automatic extense to his -- extension to his contract recently meaning he'll coach maryland through 2013. he's sixth nationally amongst active coaches now with 625 wins. >> gary and maryland for life. >> that's all right by me. unfortunately it's not wmar - >> you stink! >> , i know, my final day at wmar after three fun and challenging years. >> i'm happy for you. so sad for us. we're going to truly miss you. >> that's very sweet. >> honestly, some of my best few seconds are spent with you every night. >> thank you very much. >> it was a good sendoff last

night. >> before we get to that, let me just say this place will always be in my heart. i met my wife here. i'll be indebted to channel two. >> a lot of people may have missed the news. i'm getting the wrap on this. we have to take time for treatment because this is what happened last night on "sports xtra." >> this is as christian eluded to at the top of the show my final show. i've accepted a job back where i'm from, my hometown in new york up on long island. i'll be covering the new york islanders hockey team. so it's been a fun -- >> congratulations. >> i still smell shaving cream. >> you'll be back tonight at 11:00. the new mcdonald's bacon and cheese angus third pounder.

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tonight at 11:00 -- have you he was walked into work, almost immediately felt congested or a little sick? tonight, evidence some allergies can actually be triggered by stress. that and more tonight at 11:00. but that is all for us on abc2 news at 6:00. i'm marybeth marsden. thank you for joining us. hope to see you at 11:00. enjoy "dancing with the stars" -- that shot. ♪

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