thanks for joining us on this monday morning. this is a live picture of ocean city where you can see they are getting socked with heavy winds and definitely heavy rains. that area getting to feel the brunt of sandy right now as she makes her way towards our area. >> we will have team coverage throughout the course of the morning for you at abc2 news and abc2news.com. keeping you ahead as best we can. ahead of sandy but it appears ocean city the rains have come. >> absolutely. and i don't think they will stop any time soon. that is storm that we have heard and we don't know how bad it will be but we know it's going to be bad. >> lynette charles is standing by with a check of the forecast. you are not surprised by what you are seeing in oc. >> no. not at all. and it's going to keep going downhill. it's not even close to making landfall yet. so, the hurricane hunters flew into the storm and this is what they got from it. the wind sustained at 85 miles an hour. it's moving to the north at 13. and the pressure has dropped at 9:46. that's -- 946 and it's 300 miles east southeast of ocean

city maryland and it's pounding that area as of now. also, those outer rain bands moving into our area as well. we are looking at some heavier rain especially around the eastern shore. this will continue as we go throughout the day. so it's not going to be letting up any time soon as we go in through time, and when i say time, i mean like thursday and friday. that's when things will begin to improve but in terms of rainfall, look what we picked up across the area. about .06 in sparrows point and towards annapolis .08 so lots -- .08 -- .80. so that's the trend continuing through the day. let's check the traffic with lauren cook. >> reporter: good morning. the worst is yet to come. we are starting to see the effects out on the roads. in ocean city, route 50 is completely shut down heading into ocean city. checking in and looking live at the draw bridge, winds going to be a factor. that camera is shaking right now. we have a wind advisory in effect for the key bridge as

well as the bay bridge. and big problems in howard county where we are starting to see some downed trees in the area. route 40 now going to be shut down at rogers avenue. and several roads in baltimore city are now shut down in anticipation of heavy flooding. this includes meadow mills business park and alsanna at carolina streets falls road near the streetcar museum and dundalk north point boulevard at cane street. that's your traffic. now over to you. hurricane snd sand -- sandy is affecting air travel in and out of bwi. >> linda so is live in ann aid run -- anne arundel county with more on the cans layings and delays. you've been pounded by wind throughout the morning has it picked oup. >> reporter: it has. we have been out here since 3 and i can feel the wind and rain getting stronger and heavier. just a minute ago i saw a plane take off at bwi and we are near the airport. and right at the end of the park lot is one of the --

parking lot is one the main runways but that's not going to happen a who. we checked the boards here and they have -- a lot today. we checked the boards here and they have canceled 200 flights in and out of the airport. if you have someone coming in today or if you have a flight leaving that is scheduled, you need to check with your airline first to check the status of your flight because, again, more than 200 flight have already been -- flights have been canceled there. are a few number that are still on time that we have checked. we have been told that airline carriers will make an individual decision on if more flights will be canceled later in the week tuesday and wednesday when we are expected to get pounded by the storm. we have also learned in the last 30 minutes that most major airlines will be waiving change fees so what you need to do airlines such as air tran, u.s. air, and united and southwest, they will be waiving change fees if you have to make a

change so contact your carrier. we are told if you call the number most likely you will get a busy signal so the best way to do it if you have access to a computer or online use the smart phone do it that way and it will be quicker. live here at bwi, linda so, abc2 news. in baltimore city much of the concern regarding sandy involves flooding. >> sherrie johnson joins us live in fells point an area that always sees flooding. >> reporter: that's right. flooding is nothing here for the folks in fells point and that's why they are getting prepared. look at the giant sand pile here. they have already been stocking up on sandbags. people that live in the area, and also local businesses. they are bracing for hurricane sandy and some heavy flooding. and, of course, you know on friday and saturday, many people loaded up on the sandbags. they dumped a pile of sandbags here and city workers gave away 6 bags per person and also checked identification just to keep track of the bags. they want people to be ready

because of the magnitude of the storm. now it's quiet out here right now. not many people out and about i was good thing. police officers have been patrolling this area. the mayor actually deployed officers throughout the city for any incidents to take care of. so, basically we are seeing they are out and about and they are patrolling. a number of businesses in this area have sandbags in front of the stores inside the doorways and just making sure to try to prevent flooding. we have learned within the last few minutes that baltimore city has opened six shelters throughout the city to help people during hurricane sandy and no shelt -- those shelters open at 9 this morning. everyone is bracing and preparing. reporting live, sherrie johnson, abc2 news. your kids are out of class for day. >> yeah and districts around the state are preparing for protension disasters. what cool leaders are doing to keep -- school leaders are doing to keep the buildings safe. >> check out what's going on.

i have the mobile phone in front of us. go to our website down load the app and get the alerts. we have the rain coming in from sandy. also, look at the forecast two alerts and click that there and it shows you what is going on across the area. basically we have high wind warnings and aerial flood watch across the area. that is great time to get thestorm shield app. (bell rings)

hi. yes? you know those delicious granola bunches in honey bunches of oats? i love those. we've added more to every box. really? wow! honey bunches of oats. make your day bunches better. mayor: casino owners in west virginia are spending millions against question seven. that upsets me. and that upsets jonathan ogden. you don't want to upset

jonathan ogden. ogden: no you don't. mayor: question seven means thousands of jobs and millions for our schools. but these west virginia casinos want to keep it all for themselves. we're not happy about that. ogden: no we aren't. mayor: so join us and vote for question seven. and west virginia, don't make me send jonathan ogden over there. mayor: vote for question seven. ogden: for baltimore. vo: for cold and flu season, honey, don't use your sleeve. there's clorox bleach.

parents looks like kids will have a day off from school a number of school districts calling it a day as a result of sandy coming n we have with us on the phone -- in. we have withous the chief communication officer for baltimore county schools good morning. >> good morning. >> hi we were wondering a lot of times districts are criticized for waiting too late to make the decisions. you made it early. how did baltimore county make the decision what was

theprocess through it. >> the thing. [audio not understandable] we consult with transportation crews and what the roads will be like. the first priority is to make sure students and staff will be safe and the superintendent when he saw the forecast it was a easy call for him. and wemade the call very early yesterday and wet meet this morning and afternoon to look at tuesday. but clearly, safety is always the top priority and we will take the criticism. >> talking about the day you guys are looking to tomorrow that's when forecasters are saying the storm could be at the most powerful here across maryland. are you look at the possibility of maybe a wednesday or thursdayor possibly friday inform fees -- if necessary? >> early on we had conversations looking out that far. we will take it day by day for sure and look at tomorrow today. and clearly, based on what we are seeing in the forecast, there will be conversation throughout the week about whether we will be in school later in the week or earlier.

i think at this point we will deal with tuesday but certainly wednesday is going to be in the covings today as well. >> all right. -- conversation as well. >> all right thanks so much for joining thus morning. >> thank you all. >> evacuations turned ocean city into ghosttown. >> the biggest threat is storm surge. a live report is straight ahead. >> and we have rain across the area. and some snow back off towards the west. we will talk totals coming up. >> reporter: the storm shut down route 50 entering ocean city. many other roads in baltimore are closeded. i will have the details coming -- closed. i will have the details coming up coming up on good morning maryland.

this is your abc2 news to go. thanks for joining. looking at a live picture outside the abc2 studio on york road. you can see the winds blowing and rain has been coming and going. >> we have team coverage all day. let's get to it with meteorologist lynette charles who has been following the storm. you are coming up on a week with the storm. >> i know. and it's finally going to be here as we go through tonight

and tomorrow morning. but, when i say it's going to be here i am talking about landfall. we are feeling the effects of it. we can see on maryland's most powerful radar the wet weather coming in and some of this really heavy especially along the eastern shore. we are seeing back off towards the west some snow and that's courtesy of the cold front that's moving in. so we are talking about snowfall totals maybe about 2 to 3 feet in west virginia. we are going to be dealing with some snow in western maryland as well. and our viewing area the snow will stay away from us. but this is what we are looking out in terms of rainfall when it's all said and done up to 6 to 8 inches of rain across the area. and also with this storm, we are going to be dealing with some very windy conditions tropical storm force winds as we go throughout the day and also along delaware up towards the north we are going to be dealing with hurricane-force winds as we go through the remainder of today and tomorrow. let's check the abc2 timesaver

traffic with lauren cook. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. mta service has been suspended until further notice. and governor ohaly is asking everyone -- o'malley is asking everyone to stay at home. conditions are bad. especially on the eastern shore. route 50 is going to be shut down heading into ocean city. that is live look at the draw big. notice the camera shaking. there's a win feck for the key bridge and by a -- there's -- many roads are shut down in anticipation of heavy flooding. monument street will be shut down at pulaski. we have a crash downtown at lombard street at pen street. 6:46. the live team coverage continues. >> we have live report in ocean city and if you can hear us

right now, how are things going there this morning because as we have been with you through the course of the morning, storms on ocean city have gotten worse and worse. >> reporter: it seeps like it has. wind is gusting and the rain coming down and the tides are very high i would say about 10 to 15 feet and now the streets are desserted because there wasa mandatory evacuation. that is low lying area. they are concerned about the impact of the storm surge we will have here. we are actually expecting the hurricane will make landfall tonight it's affecting 60 million people and folks are hunkered down trying to stay indoors and get out of harm's way. >> bradley reporting -- reporting live stay safe. >> businesses in rehobeth beach they are getting ready after the order to evacuate.

>> they are talking about 5 to 10 inches in the area expected to fall starting late tonight and for many business owners, boarding up and moving out it's a familiar feeling. >> we did it last year for irene. >> yeah in a and we decided to board up then and there was no damage. >> to requestingen the ehave a -- quicken the evacuation, tolls were waved. waived. >> bge sent out a call to get help and crews responded from 10 states and crew and crewmen are here. >> linda so is here where the staging area is. how is it look. >> reporter: it's getting very busy in the last hour we have seen the crews arrive. we are counting 7 school buses all of those buses transporting crews from hotels here to the staging area on dorsey road by the airport. let's show you the huge tent

they have set up. in that tent is where the crews are reporting for the morning. so they are getting breakfast and safety briefing and assignments. out of state crews will be matched up with bge crews who work here and they will head out for the day. i just spoke with two guys actually three guys from missouri who have a great attitude about this. you can only imagine how difficult it is to work in these elements with the wind and rain and they said that's the easy part of the job the hardest part is driving here and going back home. they say with the trucks. they are bringing the trucks some from as far as texas to respond here and they say that's the hardest part. making the trek out here and then going back home. but again, the crews will be heading out for the day. we have been told crews were out overnight just being there being prepared if help was needed. bge expects massive outages with the storm because with the

rain and heavy winds, which we saw pick up since we have been out here at 3 a.m., they expect trees to be down and power lines to come down a lot of people who lose power. so these crews have been brought in and they started coming in over the weekend. and they are in place and they are ready to go and here at the staging area they are heading out getting the assignments. and getting ready for what's to come. live in linthicum linda so. maryland is under a state of emergency and governor o'malley is keeping a close eye on the storm. he is expected to give us a updates happening at 10 in the morning. we want to let you know on our station, we are going to be covering the live so we will continue the coverage for you starting early at 9 a.m. and we will stay on until the governor is finished to make the announcement. get the latest information on abc2news.com. all right. nightmare for passengers this is on board a disney cruise. look at this.

the ship off the coast of florida watered. >>ed the bar area. -- waters flooded the bar area. it was a mess for people on board. the captain told passengers stay in your cabins and disney is offering passengers a discount on future cruise ships. so they can basically ease the pain of the rough trip. >> sandy shut down parts of new york city and that is live picture of times square. sandy has its sights set on the big apple and almost half a million people were ordered out from the mayor. also, the new york stock exchange and nasdaq are closed for the morning. the subway is shut down because of the threat of flooding and all broadway perform ands have been called off. crews are look for a ship 90 miles -- looking for a ship 90 miles off the coast of carolina. >> 17 people are on board the hms bounty. this is the last location and proximity to the storm last

night. the owner of the ship lost contact with the crew. that happened sunday night. the coast guard reports the boat is taking on water. >> we want to show you a photograph of the hms bounty. this was used in the film pirates of the caribbean. but more importantly, to you, you might recognize this ship. it was docked in annapolis back during sailabration if you were down at the state capital you may have checked it out. >> we will stay on top of that and we will keep you posted on updates. as the east coast braces for sandy people in the caribbean are dealing with the storm's aftermath. as many as 65 people have been confirmed dead and 51 in haiti. deaths have been reported in cuba, jamaica, puerto rico and bahamas. now rivers are receding, authorities are getting a better idea of how much damage was caused. bridges collapsed and crops were ruined and homes were under water. all right time for a check on the weather because i know a the love you want to know what to expect and when. >> lynette is standing by with a answer. give us a ball park idea about

when this could if you can. >> when it's going to make landfall? >> when it's going to hit my house? >> well, you are feeling the effect we are getting the rain already. we are not seeing a dry spot across maryland right now. we have snow in west virginia and that will be moving into western maryland as well. but this morning, we can zoom in on some of the areas that's getting heavier rain across at area. so we are talking around the eastern shore severna park and cambridge and also harford county really getting pounded this morning. we can see it around havre de grace and perryman and bel air and jarrettsville and along i- 83, cockeysville and towson getting in on heavy rainfall. and this continues as we head through the rest of the day. now we are talking about the track and we wonder when it's coming in. and i got a question on facebook when it's going to make the westerly turn. and it will do that going later into the afternoon through late

tonight and by tomorrow. that's when we will see land falling conditions around southern new jersey. it will be onshore and it is going to still reek havoc as it works its way off towards the north. so, still dealing with tropical storm force winds well after this. so i am talking about wednesday still very breezy outside. but for today, this is what we are going to be working with. we have a high wind warning that is in effect today through tuesday due to the fact that those winds are already gusting across the area and will gust even higher. so, storm wind arrival this is what you can expect as we go throughout the day. as we go into 3 this afternoon, gusting to about 50, and we can see these will be even higher as we go through time. so with that, we have that power loss potential a high threat on the eastern shore and inland, and even as we head out west with the wet snow coming in across the area. let's check the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.

mta service has been suspended and we are dealing with some downed trees across the region. in ellicott city rogers avenue is shut down at route 40. down on the eastern shore, we are dealing with very song winds as we check in and look live at route 50 at the ocean city draw bridge. traffic is now shut down. expect a pretty difficult ride across the bay bridge as well. there's a wind warning there as well as for the key bridge. here's 95 downtown at 395. several roads closed in baltimore city. some include north point boulevard at cane street and falls road near the streetcar museum. for a list of closures check out my facebook page or go to abc2news.com. if you have a moment and if you are safe, like we mentioned a few moments ago, post us a picture on facebook. let us know how you are dealing with the storm. also keeping the social media in mind, you can always stay with us even when we are not on the air at abc2news.com and your mobile app available on smart phones and ipad.

>> let us know what you are up to. kids are out of school. so, are you planning something fun? who knows. >> right. >> maybe hurricane activities. we will keep that in mind. but remember we go going to send you to good morning america but we are going to continue to stay here and watch the storm. we will come back on the air at 9:00 this morning. governor o'malley will be giving a press conference and we are going to take you there live this morning. that's going to happen around 10. >> look at the waves coming in. this shot once again north carolina you see the size of the waves coming in. you know you talked about beech e-- beach erosion and you can see the angle dropping off and that's what's happening in north carolina. and closer to home, megan, it's not good in ocean city. >> that is picture in ocean city. you can see a lot of rain falling in that area. and the waves are rough there. that's definitely going to be the situation throughout the next day or so because sandy has not arrived yet but we are feeling the effects. >> all right lauren has you covered on the road and lynette with the weather. we are back throughout the

course of the morning now good morning america.