30 feet high destroyed my house. some families tried to reach higher ground before the powerful wave hit and some were swept away. a man asked what happened to his wife said, i can't find her. i've been looking everywhere in the hospital. i can't find her. second of state hillary clinton is en route to the region for a prescheduled trip and she will enforce president obama's pledge for aid. death toll continues to rise from the earthquake. students here from baltimore were heading there but their trip was canceled at the very last minute. the students were ahours away from landing in chile and they literally had to turn back around. they said that the trip was like one big roller coaster ride. they best baltimore friday and saturday night they were back where they started. the group of 30 students was

almost to santiago and the pilot said they were turning around. the massive earthquake had damaged the runway and power was out at the airport. the students were heading to chile for a week-long trip. >> i was disappointed about the trip and so sad about what happened in santiago. >> reporter: they had been on the plane for about 30 hours before they finally arrived back in baltimore and a group from tennessee also had their trip canceled. all new, a huge announcement from the ash disease that baltimore is expected to reveal today about the organization of the catholic school system and which of the 64 schools is going to close. you're looking at towson catholic one of the schools that close the last he year because of financial troubles and now another school may

close. they educate about 23,000 students. they're facing dwindling enrollment and rising costs. around the house, repair projects are taking a backseat in this economy. but if you want, to do you know which ones are good for do-it- yourselfers and which ones are not? >> reporter: more and more of us are trying to do basic home repair ourselves. a dyi job can save you hundreds of dollars. before you open up the toolbox, there's some projects where you should leave to a pro. marion has decided to do it here self. we found her buying a drain cleaning stick rather than paying hundred dollars for a plumber. marion has i didn't knowed the millions of americans trying to save money in the recession by

making basic home repairs themselves. this hardware store manager said more homeowners are tackling projects from rewiring lamps to patching the driveway. driveway sealings, dirty but simple and safe. not okay. roofing. unless you've been trained to safely walk on a pitched roof. and dyi okay, changing a wall light switch as long as you turn the circuit breaker off. turn the power off. but to change the switch most of them are two or three wires, easy enough to do. >> reporter: not okay, putting new electrical wiring for the walls. that is a job for a licensed electrician. he said many people are attempting a plumbing repairs today. so we went to what is dyi okay and what is not. >> most people can repair their

own chicken faucet. >> reporter: newer faucet use interchangeable ball values. and dyi okay, cleaning a clogged trap under the sink. >> you can disconnect these from the two nuts and pull the trap lose and reason the cable through the back part of the dry and replacing the flush next nix inside the appoint lot. not okay, amateur flumers should not attempt copper pipe repairs that require sodderring with a hot torch. >> if you don't get it all in, it will create a leak. >> reporter: a big no no, anything that involves natural gas that. leave the gas to a pro. eye number of websites will help you find out in a project is an easy dyi job and you can find books at home depot and lows that will give you step-by- step instructions and will alert you if a project just may be too fissle for most people

that way you don't waste your money. 5:34. the sagging economy and work force has many people staying indoors these days. but some people are making the best of it. you don't have to have an expensive night out to enjoy yourself. how people are having fun without spending a lot of cash. and the cash-strapped archdiocese of baltimore is going to make a big announcement. how it will affect your child's education. here is justin to let you know what the weather is going to look like. 35 degrees and we got ourselves a quiet morning even the winds are out of the west at 12 miles an hour. they will gust today but we will see the sun. it's going to be a decent start to the week and to the month. we'll talk about march in like a lamb in a moment. and now to the mta. >> reporter: good morning. light rail is dealing with a delay. it's running 125, 20 minutes late in the southbound direction. subway on time but on the buses look for number 20 to be diverted in fred hilton pass

and frederick due to construction. i'm mark jones.

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this monday morning. let's get right to the weather with justin. march 1st and brand-new month. let's take a look at it with perspectives with climate. this is what we expect for this first day of march. records from rangeed from 11 in 190 and 80 in 1972. the sun comes up at 6:39 and goes down at 5:59. after today, we get ourselves 6:00 sun going into the spring season. and it's officially three week as way till spring begins a according to meteorologists, spring actually begins today. the winter season is january and february today is the first day of meteorology spring even though it doesn't say so on your calendar. we have strong winds, ten to 20 miles an hour. and it will be a breezy day. but we should be on the sunny

side of things. and occasionally we'll have clouds filter in. but overall, we should have our decent day in baltimore and in mid-portion of the state with more clouds filtering in in the afternoon and the 2-degree guaranteed high of 48. we'll have a strong breeze and winds gusting at 30 miles an hour. but rather uneventful start to march. that is 5:40 on the clock and let's see what is happening on the roads. it is fairly quiet as the monday commute gets started. no problems around any of the major roadways. it is checking in cleanly as you come up from the north. still dealing with a couple of incidents earlier in rockville. and we have a crash on the left bound lanes. the police are trying to get that cleared away as quickly as possible. and out see debris on furnace branch road and the travel

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expensive nights out can be a complete budget buster. but that doesn't mean there's lesser socializing going on. cheap thrills are getting a new meaning. >> reporter: now it's chic to be cheap. >> people are shifting away from big cover charges to $15 martinis to let's make drinks at home. >> reporter: brian wilson knows about formal entertainment. he hosts parties once a month at home. >> this is free and it's easy to show up to you're not paying 10 bucks to get in and another five bucks for a beer. you just show up. >> we come together and gather in this home and sit on the

floor and just kind of listen and talk and share drinks and food. >> reporter: everyone contributed to the food. he hosts different speakers are gets people in the group to talk about different topics but he has other money saving, socializing things to do. >> folks within four or five different block radius and every month we alternate whose house the supper club is located at. so one you're cooking for home and friends and you spend an entire night hanging out and we were able to save money on that scale. >> reporter: these events are growing across the country. some are referred to as recession parties and a quick search of the web for different venue. the ways is endless. >> we're done on our luck and let's sort of slum it sort of

thing or do things on the thumb or as cheaply as possible. >> reporter: the common theme is having fun and show who you are in a whole new way. >> before it used to be get someone to bartend your party and now it's up to you to be the mixologist. but now with the expansion of cooking shows, people like to do these things on their own. >> reporter: the budget conscious alternatives are a fun option that won't let you feel left out if you can't dole out the cash for a pricey party. >> and to make it feel equal. the associate gifts that we spoke with said this is a great way to make people feel connected again. i propose we have the supper club at your house what do you say? >> okay. you got it. we'll clean the kids out and

ship them off somebody place else. and we got ourselves 35 degrees and we got ourselves a temperature that is above freezing. i want to point out that we have been above freezing for most hours for the last five days. even though we had the snow that came in early on the morning on friday, basically, we've been above freezing even with the showers offer of the weekend. so we start to modify the air mass and it gets harder and harder in the month of march to get ourselves some substantial snowfall. you got to consider that the ground to absorbs some of the warm stuff and it's hard for the snow to stick. i keep mentioning that because we may have some in the forecast. but it may not be what you expect. snow showers and rain mixed in across north newening. we're currently clear and clouds may start to filter in because of a strong northwesterly flow and because of this strong storm hitting across the south. and around dallas/fort worth where the backside of the storm could bring them snow later on

today. it will ride across the deep south and part of the carolinas with the snow and it heads up across the atlantic. the issue about this particular storm is that like the last storms going to be a close call for us. as we check out our forecast model, you see the rain spread ago cross the deep south and the timeline takes us into tuesday morning. we'll watch this come up the coast tomorrow and across mid- alantic. we could get some rain or snow showers tomorrow evening. but most of the day will be dry. the big question is what happens as we head into wednesday morning. and the backside of this storm will pull in cold air and we may get clipped with snow early on the more than on wednesday. but with the temperature -- think about what happened on friday, we had 40, 50 miles an hour and we had snow but a lot of the roads were in fine shape, a lot, not all. keep that in mind. that may be coming our way by the middle of the week. no major big storms. and i know there have been

rumors running around about that 43 and seasonable and clouds and filtering in sun this afternoon. over cast by daybreak tomorrow and down to near 30. we've held on to some of the heat. as we bring in a mostly cloudy day tomorrow and 42 degrees. we should stay dry. tomorrow evening we'll bring in the chance of maybe a rain or snow shower and that will take us on in through wednesday morning. most of that storm passes on to the north and east. but i think they'll have wet roads even with maybe a couple of inches of snow further to the east. 38 on wednesday, 42, flurries and thursday. and we'll aim for 50 with sun over the weekend. no major big problems this morning as the monday morning commute gets started. the earlier crash that we had in rossville and rossville boulevard has been cleared. but you're still going to see some debris in the roadway on ritchie highway southbound. that will be at furnace branch road. here on the travel times on the

outer loop. 95 southbound between the boulevard and the beltway about a three minute trip. nine minutes away from 6:00. 35 degrees and stay with us. we'll be right back. and now cheer presents "brighten bay" episode five: "sandy sees the light." (gasps) are you an angel? (laughing) no, i'm doctor dan. but your clothes, they're so bright.

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effect of the devastation of chile hits home. a group of students was headed to chile but they're flight was stop mid-air. more of their story in the next half hour. governor o'malley is in baghdad visiting maryland-based soldiers and that is causing some criticism from formerrerrer. he said that he would not have made the same decision because the trip is during the legislative session. a spokesperson said that the pentagon was responsible for the scheduling of this trip. if you have a child in the

catholic school, you want to know if their school is going to stay open. the archdiocese of baltimore is going to announce which of the 64 schools it will close. archbishop o'brien has pledged to offer a new place at any new school for any student is a enrolled in a school that is going to close. the archdiocese is facing declining enrollment and declining costs as people have moved to the suburbs and the sister teachingss have dwindled. president obama has been given a clean bill of health. he underwent his first physical as president yesterday. they have advised him to quit smoking and reduce his cholesterol but otherwise deemed him fit for duty. getting your house fit for

a storm can be a challenging task. and now scammers are wanting to steal your money. and a car slams full speed into a police officer and drive. the whole thing caught on dashcam tape. it wasn't the house or the car the first lady of south carolina asked a judge to grant her in her divorce. we're going to tell what you she's asking for when we come back. we start off this week temperatures in the upper 40s. there's a chance of rain and snow showers with the storm passing off the southeast coast and it looks like a glancing blow but not a direct hit. i want to make that point clear. here from the storm center, we don't see a major storm this week. we aim our sites for 50 by next weekend. how about you aim your sights for "abc 2 news." -- "wjz eyewitness news, morning edition." i have a report of a hazard in glen burnie and i'll get you

caught up when "wjz eyewitness news, morning edition" starts at 6:00.

stories of her row already heroism -- of heroism in chile. it was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime for some loyola students heading to santiago only to have their planes turn around when the earthquake hit. no miracle on ice for the u.s. hockey team as we wrap up the 2011 winter olympics. i'm megan pringle. jamie is off this morning. it is march 1st. and it's supposed to come in like a lion. but i think we've had our lion's fair share. yes the problem is comes like a lamb but it may go out like