>> boo. >> that's what making news in america this morning. definitely not that case. >> stay with us for good mornin if you drive a ford escape, don't head out the door until you hear about a defect that's causing a major recall. get ready for some fun in charm city this weekend. what you need to know before heading out. wicked weather, heavy rain, lightning and wind leaves behind flooding. you're looking at sherree johnson. she's live this morning. she'll tell us about no power. all of that straight ahead, but breaking news out of aurora, colorado, right outside denver where police say at least 20 people have been injured at a cinema showing of "the dark knight rises" that

opened at midnight. >> big deal right now because there are crowds out there. we're working on getting a live picture for you later in the show. as soon as we get it, we'll bring it to you. let's get you the information we know so far that we heard from police, they say one person was taken into custody, pu it's unclear right now as to more people are involved or not. now, the bomb squad also on the scene. our scripps station is at the scene right now and they're going to bring you live updates throughout the morning. we'll keep you updated not only on the air, but at abc2news.com. so much to get to on this friday morning. lightning a big issue, the capitol building, look at that lightning strike. what a light show last night. if you were out and about around 10:30, 10:45, maybe 11:00, you saw things like this right around our area. >> yeah. spectacular sights in the sky. but that also leads to major problems for people worried about their homes. >> yes. >> and power. >> we're going to talk about lightning, exactly why it's been going on, why we've seen so much lightning coming up in a little bit.

but we'll deal with flash flooding again this afternoon. the weather service said, you know, we need to issue a watch. they did it in the last 15 minutes. let's go to the boards and show you. a flood watch for everybody through the course of the afternoon. not a widespread rain event, but a hit and miss deals where we could see a thunderstorm that will develop and drop copious amounts of rain this afternoon. here's what's going on with temperatures this morning, 74 in town, 77 down along the eastern shore. there's a ton of clouds on top of us right now. maryland most powerful showing that band of showers from last night pushing onshore. there is another front following along a stationary boundary and that's going to bring us a shot of a shower or maybe a gusty thunderstorm. we'll time it out on future trend. let's get a check on traffic with lauren cook in the traffic center. how are we doing, lawrp? >>reporter: we have standing water on the jfx in the cold spring lane exit. a water main break in downtown baltimore continues to shut down light street between baltimore street is and lombard

street. there is a detour in place, but you will want to allow extra time. art scape road closures are in effect. some of the roads in effected dolphin street at mount royal avenue. all closures on abc2news.com. you're taking a live look at i- 95 at 395. everything up to speed there. no delays driving through the fort mchenry tunnel. 695 also nice and clear. 11 minutes on the west side from 795 down towards 95 and the jfx, no delays to talk about heading into the city. but as i mentioned, that standing water certainly going to be an issue. megan and charley, over to you. you may be a little tired heading off to work this morning, there was a lot of thunder and lightning overnight. >> it knocked out power to thousands of our area. at the peak of the storm, bge now reporting at the height 4,000 people were in the dark. that number seemed to steadily

drop. parts of baltimore saw flash flooding because of these storms that hit so quickly around 6:00. >> sharree johnson is live and they've seen some flooding. >>reporter: we're here in felds point and let me tell you something, this area saw a lot of rain, heavy wind, and, as a matter of fact, you know, it caused flooding in some areas. take a look at this video that a viewer shot, it's on youtube. and it shows here there was severe flooding in the inlet here. you see a lot of cars driving through heavy water and near the camden yards area at the hilton, guests got a big surprise there when the water proved too much for the ceilings to hold. firefighters from across the u.s. in town for the annual expo had to clear out while hotel staff cleaned up that mess. firefighters say they saw the ceiling come crashing down. >> there was significant water damage coming in. we saw the ceiling, you heard some drippings, and then all of a sudden you saw the ceiling, just came crashing in, water pouring everywhere and it started flooding the lobby.

>> we don't have something to respond to, obviously we create something to respond to. >>reporter: johns hopkins hospital also saw some problems too with the heavy rains near there in the emergency room area. a lot of folks will be doing a little cleaning up this morning. reporting live in feld's point, sharree johnson, abc 2 news. seems like a rough night for hotels in other parts of the u.s. as well. >> check out louisville, kentucky, winds clocking in at more than we're talking 60 miles an hour. it ripped off the roof. this is the crown plaza hotel. debris was scattered all over cars in the parking lot. nobody was hurt, but certainly a lot of cleanup there. the sound of an explosion brought people running from their homes, looking up the street they saw a neighbor's house on fire. that fire had two people trapped inside. firefighters pulled both of those people out, but they later died at an area hospital. it is believed lightning once again was to blame for this fire. and, mike, it seems like we've been reporting this over the past five, six days. >> a broken record.

>> going pack to this past weekend, bel aire, smoke, fires, we saw the photos, lightning to blame. >> what's going on, why is there so much lightning? that's been a question i've gotten on facebook and it's because we have so much humidity. lightning likes to attract -- you know the opposites attract, the saying. it's the same deal in weather, positive charge, negative charge, you get cloud-to-ground lightning. but when you have a lot of humidity, humidity in the atmosphere, the lightning goes from cloud to cloud, so you get these brilliant displays and you can see this is from cattensville, we got this from youtube. this is july 11th, showing us a crazy amount of lightning. again, just all the humidity built up and, depend, every heat wave has been accompanied by humidity. so that's why we tremendous amount of lightning out there. it's kind of spread out, the water attracting the -- attracts the lightning and you can see how it crosses the sky. it's wild stuff and it's dangerous. again, you can always keep tabs

on the weather 24 hours a day, seven days a week at abc2news.com. we have some great apps. if you text us to wmar, i dpot a throw that back up, 64862, i think. depend, we have some great apps and that will keep you informed. if you lose power, you can always go right to storm shield and our interactive radar. guys. >> mike, thanks a lot. if you drive a 2013 ford escape, don't drive it to work today. ford is recalling about 11.000 of these suvs. the company says it found a defect in the fuel line that can cause a fire. you should not drive this car until this suv is fixed. three fires have been reported so far. no one has been hurt. ford says it's going to let owners know if these cars and the drive loaners will be fixed as soon as possible. wal-mart is certainly not feeling the love in harford county, at least. an auditorium was packed. fans wanted to hear a proposal

about plans to build a fourth wal-mart store. most didn't have very nice things to say. [ chanting ] >> the flu wal-mart would be on route 925 near plum tree road and those who showed up last night say it's unnecessary. they worry it's only going to cause more traffic headaches. >> during rush hour, i don't dare do it because i will get t- boned. i don't think your traffic studies take that into account. >> we as a community want this, none of us want it. >> you might be wondering how wal-mart is responding. they say they are promising road improvements to people to keep them safe and there will be another public meeting before the plans can ever be approved. we'll keep you posted on that. get your speed dial ready, tickets for single games go on sale at 10:00 this morning. you'll be able to get in by calling 410-547-seat or by heading to the ravens website or ticketmaster. you'll also have to have a

quick trigger figure. for the last 11 years, single game tickets have sold out in 38 minutes. a tree snaps and stops one driver dead in his tracks. >> how this driver managed to escape after his car was almost hit by this falling tree. a really important warning for you from the cdc. this year could be one of the worst for whooping cough. we have details straight ahead. >>reporter: everything is nice and clear here on 695 at harford road, but we are dealing with standing water on the jfx. i'll have the details coming up next on "good morning maryland." you are taking a live look at new york city. beautiful way to start the day. stay with us. there's much more coming up. wççñçñ

4:41 right now. a man out for a drive found himself buried after a tree

broke and fell directly on his car during a storm. this video is incredible. louis shackan says he was driving a car. now all he can do is look at the damage and thank the people who rushed over to help him out. scary video there, all captured on security cameras. the car completely totaled, but he says all that matters is that he walked away uninjured. we're going to be talking this morning about the lightning for a long time. it was a spectacular sight last night. >> it was. you were just saying how crazy it was. >> it was an impressive night. if you were up about 10:30, 11:00, you got a show. >> and that scares me when i think about the lightning, i think about it hitting a tree and i think about me in the car driving. >> hitting your house. >> that's why they say wait at home, don't risk it. just give it an hour. an hour could make a huge difference in everything. here's what's going on, more flooding. that's what we're going to have to address today. the weather service says we'll have to put out another watch and they have, flood watch in effect through the course of your day. nothing going on this morning, but that's going to change as we head deeper into the morning

hours going into your afternoon. flash flood watch in effect. again, a shot downtown, looking dry right now. 74 in town right now, d.c. at 76 and a pair of sevens as you head towards the eastern shore. this is the setup. we have this stationary boundary situated right on top of us. so some cooler, dryer air trying to punch in from the north. then you have a lot of humidity down to the south. so, again, that's not a good combination, and this low is going to push along the front and help bring in the rain and even some storms. we'll talk more about that and kind of map it out for you in just a little bit. lauren cook, you know, we got the flooding out there. so what's going on in traffic? >>reporter: yes, mike, we do have the flooding and also a downed tree in anne arundel county you want to watch out for, right in pasadena, that's going to be on magazee bridge road near route 100. be careful if you are traveling in the area. right on the jfx there is a lot of standing water near the cold spring exit. as we head north, taking a live look at the harrisburg

expressway no reports -- delays to report on shan road. it will be clear from the state line onto the beltway. once you get onto 695, this is what it looks like on bel aire road headed up towards 893. that's a look at your abc 2 time saver traffic, over to you. if you love art, music and food, you might want to head to mount royal this weekend. >> we'll have a live report on what you can expect when you head out to art scape that kicks off here in charm city. plus she weighed less than a can of soda, she's finally home. we have an amazing story, an incredible story of survival. you're waking up to what's new in maryland.

five things you need to know on this friday, the u.n. security council votes today on a resolution threatening syria's president bashar assad. it's an attempt to force the a sad regime to deal with violence in that country.

the first lady campaigning in virginia today for her husband. she's speaking to supporters at an event in charlottesville. she'll then head to fredricksburg. one of the many clothing manufacturers in baltimore getting a visit from ben carden. he'll talk about the need to keep more jobs here in the u.s. spend the day at ocean city today to help the dolphins. this is done every single year to see how well dolphins are reproducing and get a feel of the overall health of the ocean. you can count the dolphins along the beach. this is happening at 40th street. the holy month of ramadan begins today. it is the holiest period of the islamic year. muslims may not eat or drink during daylight hours. a lot to talk about as far as the weather goes. mike has going to update us on that, but, first, traffic because lauren cook is here to get you out the door safely this morning. >>reporter: unfortunately the weather is going to really have an impact on your commute this morning. we've got a downed tree in anne arundel county, that's going to be right in pasadena on magadispl ee bridge road.

a lot of standing water on the jfx. if you are traveling on 83 this morning, do be extra careful. we, of course, are dealing with art scape closures, complete list of everything that's shut down is on our website. be sure to go there. >> abc 2 news to go for you right there, also updates throughout the course of the morning and on facebook for you. weather wise? >> weather wise this is going to be a day where we will be dodging the rain. but i saw rivers down in the inner harbor last night from all that rain, we saw two to four, five inches of rain from these storms that moved through. there's the shot downtown, it's cloudy, mild, 74 right now with those humidity values way up there. so we'll plan out your day, 75, goes to 80 around the lunchtime hour. again, scattered showers and thunderstorms becoming more numerous during the course of your afternoon. a two-degree guarantee of 85. it's muggy, mild and wet. flood watch in effect through the afternoon hours. we'll pan out the rest of your weekend forecast, we do have good news, believe it or not, that's coming up in just a little bit. guys. >> mike, thanks a lot. back now to breaking news out of aurora, colorado.

right now 250 police on the scene, a number of people injured, confirmed injured after a shooting broke out at a movie theater. we're getting information for you right now. this a live look courtesy of kusa, again, aurora, colorado. >> this shows you how chaotic this scene is. we're told multiple police units are there right now, a lot of people hurt. what we hurt earlier today is that smoke, grenade or tear gas went off in that theater. 10 people dead we're told by our executive producer. this is going to be a huge story, not only this morning, but for days to come because imagine how many people are going to a movie theater like this to see a showing. >> megan, you talk about the tear gas canister that was thrown in the room, i was listening to jeff. >> we don't know if it's smoke grenade or tear gas and they don't know if there's possibly more than one shooter. but what we do know is that somebody or some people went into a crowded movie theater, put the tear gas in there or possibly a smoke grenade and started shooting. this is definitely a serious situation out of colorado.

>> we'll go back to the live shot in just a bit. this is from the popular movie "the dark knight rises." 10 people confirmed dead. stay tune today "good morning maryland" we'll keep you updated throu the course of the -- through the course of the morning. >> our web department will be updating this story. news time 4:49. the performance displays, art scape. >> we want to switch gears. if you've been there, it's a great festival. if you're wondering if it's kid friendly, it absolutely is. >> we're still on that breaking news, linda, my apologies for that. you're getting ready for a big weekend down there, getting ready for art scape. >>reporter: yeah. there's plenty of hands-on activities to do for the kids. don't worry, tons to see. we are live outside of penn station. you've got these neat sculptures that have already been set up, the kids are sure to enjoy that, lots of exhibits that they can look at. this is a pretty neat display here of luggage pieces.

and who doesn't like ferris wheels, right? especially the kids. we've got that set up right in front of penn station. the best part it is all free. you can make your own arts and crafts here. they'll have areas set up for the kids to draw with markers, crayons, they can do the stickers and stands. there will also be mini workshops for kids to learn new skills. there will actually be trained instructors on hand to teach kids professional handmade crafts. there's also a storytelling corner for kids. artscape, here we go, kicks off later this morning at 11:00. it runs until 9:00 tonight and then again tomorrow from 11:00 to 9:00, and then it ends on sunday. the hours on sunday are from 11:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. now, one thing to keep in mind, a lot of the areas, a lot of the streets around this area are closed off because of artscape, and then if you remember the water main break from a few days ago, a couple of streets down just from here, you're going to expect traffic delays in the area, they're

expecting 350,000 people to come to artscape this weekend, so just keep that in mind, try to avoid the area where they have those ongoing water main repairs, and this area, keep in mind, there'll be a lot of streets that will be closed, so traffic could be a mess this weekend as artscape gets under way. live in ploor, linda stow, abc 2 news. >> linda, thank you so much. lauren cook has put together a list of road closures and alternate routes you may want to consider if you're heading down for art scape. you can find that in the traffic section of abc2news.com. it is a loss that no spouse or no child wants to bear. we have sad news to pass along. today a baltimore woman and her family, they're dpreefing the death of their husband and father, sergeant daniel rodriguez was a decorated soldier killed by an i.e. d. in afghanistan. this happened on wednesday. this was his fourth tour of duty. sergeant rodriguez has received two purple hearts and an army medal. he was 28 years old, again, a ploor man right now being grieved by his family and wife.

an arrest has been made in the case of a little girl grabbed right outside her home in philadelphia. carlos segal turned himself in after being pursued and basically persuaded by his family. we showed you the surveillance video yesterday of the girl being grabbed right in front of her house. she fought back, biting the man, then screaming for help. segal is now facing several charges, including attempted kidnapping. it's nothing any parent would want to hear, their child coughing visibly in pain. now from doctors whooping cough is on the rise. this year could be one of the worst in 50 years with nine children already dying. the spike in cases is calling into question the effectiveness of the vaccine. it was introduced in the '90s because of concerns of side effects from the older vaccine. doctors say parents and adults spending time around children to get the booster shot as soon as possible. an amazing story that

miracles do happen, a baby weighing less than a can of soda is back at home. peab kena moore is back at home. doctors told her mom not to expect much. >> there were days when it was really, really scary. there were days where i didn't know if we were going to get another day. >> now six months old, kenna weighs only six pounds. she's on oxygen and a heart monitor. kenna's mom hopes sharing this story will give hope to parents of other premies. mike massco in for lynette, taking some time off. again, this is something to bring to life for you. anytime mike shows up, you can expect severe weather. >> at this point, really, i mean, this is getting a little ridiculous. another day where we're expecting some thunderstorms and even some flash flooding. this is what's going on with our statistics, 74 degrees in town right now, that dewpoint way up there, 72 degrees. a little fog on the roadways, by the way, but this dewpoint, the amount of moisture in the air, that