. you're watching the station that works for you good morning maryland at 4:30. it's the july 4th holiday but the work doesn't stop for bge. they are keeping their eye on storms headed our way tonight. what it could do to get everybody back online. >> a mixture of hot temperatures and no power creating huge lines across the east. >> celebrating the 4th of july. retail stores celebrate a different time of year. the kid are spending. details on that but happy 4th of july and thanks for joining us. i am megan pringle. >> i am charley crowson mike masco is in for lynette charles. it could be wet later. >> it could be. we could see a few storms but i think as we head towards latterportion of the evening and tonight things will calm down. 78 in town. west northwest wind at 7 and that has been picking up due in part to storms to the north. a few of them are moving into

tawnytown and it will cross into westminster. no lightning being detected on maryland's most powerful radar. swinging towards the north, there's a banned of be -- band of steady rains on the pennsylvania side of the boarding crossing into northern maryland northern baltimore county in the next 25 to 30 minutes. everything pushing from northwest to southeast motion and this is going to move through rapidly so this morning on the wet side. but we will dry out as we head into the afternoon hours. and we will get the sunshine to go to work. the breeze is out there 3 to 5 and the temperatures starting out very, very mild. 70s on the way later today. 98 degrees. and excessive heat advisory has been posted and we have hundreds not just one, but a couple of them in the 7-day forecast. we will show you that coming up in little bit. >> more than 108,000 people remain in the dark this morning without any water without any air conditioning and without heat. >> crews from the area

andsurrounding states have help to get the power back on. linda so is live with the efforts. >> reporter: good morning. rob joins us this morning to give us the latest. where do things stand. >> we have 108,000 without power. we restored half a million customers and the big number is if you are out of service and that's that 108,000. we will be out here all day. it's not a holiday for the guys. they will be working the entire operation today. we will make some progress today. we are worried about the weather. and that's a concern to us. we will have to see how that plays on the system tonight. storms are out there. so we will have to watch it. >> reporter: if we get the storms, what could happen? >> well, it could elongate the restoration process. it depends. so two days ago in the morning about 2 a.m. we had storms roll through and we lost 12,000 customers from a small celled storm that rolled

through. you have storms that bring through more powerful punches, and it could affect it. but right now we will keep our fingers crossed and keep working the plan that has us taking it into the weekend. but right now that's the plan. >> reporter: we are down to about 100,000 customers now over the next couple days you hope to make a lot of progress, but after that, you say the progress might not be noticed that much? >> yeah. you may look at our website and say why aren't the numbers dropping as fast as the other numbers and that's because right now today and tomorrow, we work the feeder systems and the equipment that feed electricity to the neighborhoods. we feed -- we work on those that have a thousand or 2 or 3,000 types of customers. we get into the home to home engagement where we have one customer or five or 10 customersit takes the same a work to clear the trees and put thepoles and wires back up but not getting as many customers back in service. >> reporter: thanks for joining us. this is one of two staging

areas for bge. this is where the crews report for the 1 to 16 hour shift during the day. again today is july 4th holiday but the work will not stop for the crews. they will be out there hoping to get everyone back online. but they are keeping the eye on storms that could be be approaching tonight. no saying what that could do to the total outage. we are live in linthicum linda so. more and more people areseeing the lights come back on. we have been tracking an area in towson for a few days that has been without power for four days. until last night when the lights came back on, bge expects to have about 3,000 more customers in the area back on by today. >> my daughter and i drove and saw the heights in the front and screamed right? we screamed and said yeah, we have power. >> all right. so some customers have reported the power has gone back out after it was restored. bge says it's a temporary outage while neighbors homes are being fixed. one person died in the

aftermath of friday's storm. emergency management officials say a contractor died after falling out of a tree in garrett county monday. the contractor was he removing limbs from a storm damaged trees in oakland when he fell 30 to 40 feet and died. this is the state's fourth storm related death. closing date has been pushed back for the three baltimore fire companies set to shut down. truck 10 in west baltimore, squad 11 and truck 15 in east baltimore will remain open until monday july 9th. the three were originally set to shut down july 1st but that was pushed back to assist with storm cleanup efforts. the code read heat -- red heat alert is extended until tomorrow. cooling centers will remain open throughout the city. if you don't have power, you are encouraged to go to the closest would be for free water and a place to -- one for free water and a place to sit. the list of senters are on our website. click on the hot weather guide on the home page. another way to cool down on

the 4th of july is by heading to a city pool. they are opening for an additional hour today. park pools are going to be opened from 1 to 7, walk to pools open from 1 to 5. we should mention drew it's hill and clifton park pools and central rosemont city springs remain closed due to the power outages. tonight is the night the sky will light up with july 4th fireworks. after last year's outbreak of violence, baltimore city police say they have a new plan to keep the peace. a perimeter fence and bike rack also circle the inner harbor in an effort to control the crowd. police will watch the visitors with cameras also they will watch by helicopter. >> we wish people were adult and would conduct themselves the right way. but when they don't, we will do our jobs. >> police expect more than 200 you to people to flood the inner harbor for the fireworks show and ten times the size of

the new year's eve crowd. coming up this morning at a 5:45, we will talk to livefireworks experts. they will tell us about safety tips and what's legal and illegal in the state of maryland and demonstrate how to use fireworks in a safe manner. stick around for that. once again coming up at 5:45. when severe weather strikes, everyone comes in to help out. >> stay with us this morning. people in parts of florida are getting assistance in the aftermath of tropical storm debby from an unlikely place. >> why hundreds are lining upoutside stores in the scorching temperatures exactly what they need. we will fill you in good morning maryland continues

now "good morning maryland" at 4:30. >> some convicted criminals are helping northern florida stay dry from tropical storm debby. prisoners on work release are

getting a lot of credit for helping out in the aftermath of that storm. flood waters did damage to about 400 homes and 100 roads are closed due to the flooding. the men packed more than 12,000 bags of sand. >> they were happy to do it. anything toer is of the community rather than being inside -- anything to serve the community rather than being- side watching the clocks tick. >> it's all volunteer work. time for a check of the forecast. hey, mike. >> hey, here's what's going on. we have a couple showers maybe perhaps a couple of bolts of lightning out of the one cell crossing into northern carroll county and northwestern baltimore county. nothing severe, but there arestronger storms well into pennsylvania. i don't think that will affect us. a heads up manchester 4:47 on top of you. you can see at the line, nasty weather moving through. heaviest back out toward the west. we will be watching that through the course of the morning hours. but expect just steady rains

this morning. 78 in town. a pair of 7s in dc. a mild start as we expect temperatures to climb into the 90s. section he isive heat advice-- excessive heat advisory in effect. north and east of town for good reason. we will go from 92 at lunchtime to 98later today with the real feel numbers feeling like 102 degrees. we have temperatures that will hit 100 later this week. we will talk about that coming up. lauren cook is off and check out her facebook page, and like it. while you are at it, like masco's page. megan and my page and like everyone's page. but if you like lauren's page you will register to wayne $600 gas ward -- win a $600 gas card. we are giving the first one away this friday and we will do it all summer long a great way to get your hands on free gas. >> just like us. >> like us. all right. >> we like you. i like you. >> i like you too. >> mike i like you. >> thumbs up. >> all right.

there you go. like us too. stay with us this morning. with the scattered power outages seniors are scrambling to find refuge. >> the relief they got thanks to a major supermarket chain. >> some stores are hearing the ring of the school bell. what that is all about. we will explain. you are waking up to what's new in maryland.

now is time 4:44 and five things to know on this july 4th. members of the anne arundel fire department are going door to door today to check people's smoke detectors. homes without the detectors will have one installed and this is in response to the fire sunday at the area that killed one person. a carroll county soldier is almost at the end of the bike ride across the country all to raise money for wound veterans. he started in washington state in april and is hoping to end

in ocean city on saturday. the money raised is going towards wounded warriors group. >> and be weary of the red light runners on july 4th of the national coalition for safer roads ranks maryland as one of the top states for running red lights during the -- during the holiday. 38% more red light runners occurring during this week. the maryland live casino brought in 28 1/2 million dollars sense it opened more than twice as much as the state's two other casinos imide. maryland live is near arundel mills mall. actor andy griffin is remembered by celebrities who worked with him and people who loved his shows and his movies. he died at north carolina on tuesday. he was best known as playing sheriff andy taylor and also the defense attorney ben mat lock. andy griffin dead at 86. time for a check on the weather. i know that we need it for a

cool down but we need it for the plants. it's dry out there. >> it's very dry out there. but it's not going going to cool things down. if anything it will heat things up. >> a sauna. >> a steam bath. go outside for an hour and relax. >> a little yoga. >> we have plan. >> you in? >> i am in the parking lot. >> pass. >> you are passing? >> pass. >> megan we will do it. 78 degrees outside our studiodoors. we are talking about a morning with showers and showers and you know most of that is toward the west of town. so again not a big deal but it's a big deal with the heat. 78 in town and we have the excessive heat advisory. we have hundreds in the forecast. a lack of power coupled with high temperatures making generators a hot commodity. >> hundreds waited outside a

star in charleston, west virginia at a store that hasn't opened. they stood outside for hours hoping to get their hands on generators. many stores are running out as people go longer and longer without leb triggsity. >> the areas are so hard hit we are not open for business but let's get materials and items the community need. >> the store had to get special sales licenses for this to sell the generators to those waiting in line. abc2 has helped out a senior home that has not had power since friday. our photographer pete o'neal who runs a christmas store drive joined a partnership and when he heard about the situation they jumped into action. >> we are proud of our heritage of serving the community with giant and it's the right thing to do here. >> giant donated more than 100 of the generate -- one of the generators to the store that they use when it was a tower. and remember you can always go to abc2news.com our website

with places to cool off in the who the weather. wee-- hot weather. wee a hot weather guide. a virginia man accused in a deadly hit-and-run for memorial day will stand trial in september. he has been arraigned on 10 counts including neglect homicide by car, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. police say that he hit and killed 22-year-old matthew chesswick. witnesses say he kept on criesk and they ran him down. neighbors on north hilton street thought the storm had something to do with vacant house that fell down. but city fire department says it's been collapsing for a while now. no one was hurt as that house came tumbling down. remember that jetblue pilot who left the cockpit and went on a rampage? he has been found not belty by reason of insanity. he had a meltdown in march when he left the cockpit in rant

incoherently about religion terrorist and september 11th attacks and the plane crashing. he is going to be at a federal mental health facility in fort worth texas and further examination. he's expected another hearing sometime in august. -- expected to have another hearing sometime in august. if you look closely you can see a dog on the cliff in oregon. it took rescuers several hours to get daisy to safety. crews tried to lower a trap containing food to get her out but that didn't work. they climbed down the mountain and rescued her. the owner says she disappeared about a week ago and it's unclear how daisy ended up on the cliff. while you might be stock up on 4th of july celebration items, there are stores stocking up on something else. >> they are hearing the sounds of school bells, school bells and it's july 4th. we have the story. >> reporter: pools, picnics and pyrotechnicians have place at

the summer table. >> i didn't come here for back to school supplies. >> reporter: but summer make room for sales of back to school bags, books and bics bombarding customers in this target in lehigh county noid july 4th. my good-- >> it's only july 4th they are rushing it. >> reporter: several weeks and school and target staples and radio shack are stocking for september. what do you think of the back to school stuff on the shelves. >> it's crazy since we basically just got out of school. >> reporter: it may be -- they may be onto something. the national retail federation says between july and august 70 billion dollars is spent on back to school merchandise bigger than any other holiday except christmas. the early arrival of fall merchandise may be a surprise to some the strategy for stores. >> for the customer to make sure they get what they need in time and when they come in we are not out of something and sold out. >> reporter: like this pencil

box for soon to be 9th grader danny warner. >> it will be one so i will graphic it. >> reporter: is this akin to christmas decorations in september. >> i think it is. i think they do that three or four months before. >> reporter: for those like allison weber, the season belongs to buying stuff for summer. >> i just ignore it. i am looking for the pool items. >> people might like back to school weather. >> you know. i was at macy's and they are rolling out the christmas stuff. >> no they are not. >> stop it. >> my mom tacked about this in dallas a -- talked about this in dallas, they are rolling out thanksgiving halloween and christmas garb you are right. >> that's insane. >> yep. >> here's what's going on this morning. 78 degrees. it's starting very mild. nice visibility right now. but it's a line of showers now even maybe a little lightning being detected over northerncarroll and baltimore county as this slides to the south a lightning shore toward

the north of westminster and manchester. and there may be a few bolts of lightning but not talking at severe levels. 78 in town. 77 towards dc and going towards the eastern shore a very muggy morning with temperatures into the 70s. heat index of 81 in town and we expect it to feel between 100 and 105 and we have the heat advisory in effect. that's for up and down the 95 stretch towards philly and excessive heat warning where they may test that 105 to 110 real feel numbers. so it's a batch of showers moving through right now. it's a quick moving batch and it's out of here around 6 or 7 in the morning and we will see the sunshine come back out. but again, it's all about the heat that's been situated over the center portion of the country. 100 degree weather from the mississippi river towards the rockies and that will stay situated but branch off some. we will see that heat pushing towards the east over the next several days. that is going to allow for our

temperatures to jump. in fact we are talking 90sthis afternoon. showers -- 90s this afternoon. showers gusty thunderstorms and tomorrow's forecast well into the 90s pressing to 100 across the area. forecast for this afternoon, we will go 98 degrees. hot and humid with the spotty storms developing after the 2:00 hour. you know i. think everything is good for the fireworks but it will be a muggy and mild night when the sticky uncomfortable night 75 degrees for the overnight low. here's 7-day forecast. 98 today. we will go 100 on thursday and 100 again on friday. and i was going to put 100 on saturday and i couldn't fit it. 99 showers or a storm out there a dangerous heat and i expect those code reds to stay in full force through the weekend. 100 degree weather with the heat indexes 105 to 110. >> and people without power out there. >> let's hope they get it back. >> all right. thanks a lot. here's fireworks shows going on in our area. the one at the inner harbor is

scheduleed to start at 9. in catonsville over at catonsville high school and annapolis, the fireworks will go off over the annapolis harbor. 4th of july tradition carries on on coney island. the nathan's famous hot dog eating could be test. the 10 minute all you can eat competition features 30 contestants five time camp joey jaws chestnut from san jose, california who will try to defend -- defend his title and so will the female champ from alexandria virginia. the winner gets 20,000 dollars in cash. nearly 40,000 people are expected to turn out just to watch people ruin their intestines. >> it's over. >> you can look now. >> you know this. i don't have many things like things. i can't watch