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wind were powerful, and the lightening was almost constant. and throughout the area, damage was substantial, trees coming down, taking power lines with them. it is tuesday night and the big story on "action news" tonight is the tri-state region falling victim to powerful and destructive storms. they moved in the western edge of the region about 5:00, raced across the area with thousands of lightening strikes and wind topping out at over 70 miles an hour. but the most extraordinary sight was this, the calm after the storm a magnificent sunset in center city philadelphia a. but before that beauty came extensive damage, from king of prussia to wilmington and points in between the wind brought down trees and power lines, and at this hour, hundreds of thousands of homes have no electricity. this is the way it looked on the 200 block of north madison avenue in cherry hill where a tree felon top of the house and in gulph mills montgomery county a large branch crashed

through an apartment. "action news" viewer was rolling on lightening bolts in center city and caught this. it appeared that billy penn, took a direct hit atop city hall. the storm even did a number on our station. sweeping outdoor furniture across one of our patios blowing over chairs and umbrellas. jamie apody recorded this scene as storm rumbled past windows of the "action news" sports department. it was another scene tonight in wilmington delaware where toppled trees brought down electric lines right on to a car with a person still trapped inside. fire fighters had to carefully get the driver out with the help of the del marva power crews making sure lines weren't energized and crews will be busy reconnecting the power like here along route nine in new castle delaware. 32,000 del marva power customers and new castle county are without power tonight. at this hour nearly 224,000 peco customers are in the

dark. atlantic city electric says it got more than 195,000 customers, without power at this hour, and pse&g is reporting nearly 82,000 outages. these are big numbers. "action news" reporters dann cuellar, chad pradelli and sharrie williams are in various locations tonight some of them very hard hit. of course, adam joseph has full double scan story and latest from accu weather. lets start with dann cuellar live from brookhaven delaware county where the mayor has declared a state of emergency. >> reporter: that is right jim. and everyone is without power in brookhaven. in one has power. they are walking around with flashlights trying to watch recharge their cell phones on their cars, and this is largely the reason y you see this giant white oak over a hundred feet tall, came crashing down on power lines and suv, this is the scene that is very predominant across brookhaven tonight. it is sheer mess. they are asking people to stay

outside unless they absolutely have to be inside here tonight. first the strong wind moved in shaking trees all around, and then they, seemingly turn tonight as skies darkened and unleash a torrential downpour. brian mason was on his way to the softball game when he he saw storm clouds heading his way. >> i saw lower clouds were moving very fast underneath me or underneath top cloud. i ran back to go get the kid. i a said this is in the good. >> reporter: you knew that was trouble. >> i knew right away that was trouble. you just got that feeling. >> you could see it form and it just came right down, right at close to here. >> it poured like crazy and wind, you could see it looks like fall up in the air. there was so many leaves and branches and stuff from the sky. >> reporter: phil, soon a strong gust of wind. >> and i saw chairs just flying through the backyard, and then the tree roots i saw tree roots coming up first.

>> i saw the fence lift up. i didn't notice the tree. then i saw tree just start laying downward. like it wases in slow motion. >> reporter: wind also ripped siding off an apartment building off gray lane and shingles off rooftops. >> it was pretty bad. the wind were kind of straight line and the trees were going back and forth and then we started to lose shingles and we could see them flying over the top. >> reporter: many people were left without power based on reports from emergency responders on the widespread damage the mayor declared a state of emergency. >> we called in extra police officers tonight to patrol and make sure everything is done. we have a whole emergency people that we could get a hold of. >> i could hear sirens, emergency crews. >> we have them all out there we have the best first responders around. >> reporter: back here live in brookhaven where mayor tells me there were three minor injuries but they were able to drive themselves to the hospital and treated and

released. they are going to be okay. they have quite a clean up tonight. we are live, dann cuellar for channel six "action news". >> thanks, dann. "action news" reporter chad pradelli is live in gibbstown gloucester county, new jersey tonight and chad we know some folks there are insisting that they had a tornado this evening. >> reporter: yes, jim, that is what residents believe. we likely won't know for sure until tomorrow, once the damage is assessed but let me show you damage here. we are at gibbstown shopping center. look at this awning, it was completely ripped off the front of the building. it also mangled right here. there is more damage over this shop rite but power is out and cannot see from it our vantage point. but right there is a pet store, front doors were smashed out with this storm and the building had to be evacuated. the storm hit with such fury, one home owner called it the worst storm in 40 years in gibbstown. metal power poles were twisted and mangled. wood ones snapped like pens also. >> it was awful, the sky got

dark. this rain wind just devastated our backyard. our neighbors. the shingles were blowing off. the trees were falling down. all of a you had is even a huge burst of win pushed me back. i said it is here. >> reporter: melony's neighborhood off harmony road trampolines were hurled in the air and trees were uprooted seemingly every where. >> and then it took down that tree like nothing. >> i grabbed my kids and ran in the basement. it was terrifying. it was loud. it was something out of the movie when you see debris going around and around. >> reporter: gibbstown shopping center is a shell of the former self, the power is out, backup generator is down as well. so employees at pets plus had to hurry to get the pets to somewhere safe, the storm was fierce. assessing the damage will take sometime. >> the animals were you could tell they were stressed. we were stressed. i'm just glad they were all safe and we had great people around the community to come out to help to make sure all

of the animals were okay. >> reporter: reason the backup generator is down here at gibbstown shopping center is it operates on natural gas and that had a leak, a major leak, fire fighters had had to respond, shut off that gas and as you can imagine crews around the region are now working to restore those utilities. i'm live from gibbstown, chad pradelli for channel six "action news". >> chad, thank you. meteorologist adam joseph is live at the "action news" big board. adam you guided us through a pair of tornado warnings between five and 6:30 tonight with a couple thunderstorm warnings mixed in as well. >> right now thankfully all that weather is off the coast it is quiet now after a really violent afternoon and evening across a widespread area of the delaware valley. double scan confirming all of the storms off the coast and we have a clean radar sweep. 4:30 this is when storms fired up near lancaster county, berks county. as they entered chester county that was first tornado

warnings. you can see storms with it very vivid lightening between allentown, philadelphia, chester county. as it pushed through philadelphia, another tornado warning with this was issued for southern new jersey in camden county and gloucester county and that is when the line started to bow out. that sent that rush of wind in central and southern new jersey in excess of 70 miles an hour and pushed through dover and cape may between 7:00 and 9:00 o'clock. we have got flooded with pictures. thank you for sharing them with me on my facebook and twit are page this one from nicole in wildwood. you can see the arc in the storms. that is a mess owe cyclone the rising air sinking air up draft and down draft. we have seen this stadium structure to the storm. it shows a very strong, powerful wind heading away from the storm and in fact, in philadelphia 71 miles an hour wind gusts. the top fifth strongest win gusts in philadelphia's history. and jim lightening strikes over 12,000 across our area this afternoon and this evening. >> thanks, adam. >> yes. egg harbor high school's

graduation saw some of the worst of the weather tonight but actually it started with the oppressive heat. several people were overcome by high temperatures, and humidity, and had to be tend todd by medics and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. dozens of others sought refuge at cooling stations around buses. then storm cloud gathered and the skies just opened up. as they cleared the football field cap and gown became more of a protective uniform. everybody got soak but everybody is okay. part of the building under construction in the fishtown section of philadelphia collapsed tonight when the winds blew through this happened at intersection of the delaware and columbia avenues, four people suffered minor injuries and so clearly the city of philadelphia was in the spared the fury of this storm. live on dod friday avenue in frankford tonight is "action news" reporter sharrie williams. sharrie what have you seen touring city neighborhood tonight.

>> reporter: a lot of debris, mostly tree clippings and branches and pieces of the trees. on this particular street, jim, car after car has been coming down hoping to go through but they cannot because they are being met with this. a gigantic portion of the tree forced to the ground by mother nature is blocking the entire street and we have seen this scene playing out all over the area. throughout the city, evidence of the storm is hard to miss n wynfield along park side avenue emergency crews helped navigate traffic away from trees blown over and blocking streets. in west philadelphia, along forty-second street a similar scene where down power lines and even a broken metal light pole posed a danger. here in the frankford section of the city clean up is underway. this family picking up the pieces after a large tree branch in their yard began to snap apart. >> it was crazy wind. they were coming straight down

the street. i was actually on my porch. it was scary for a couple minutes. >> reporter: rest events up and down wakeling street in frankford took a hit with the storm possibly making a straight line right through here this giant tree completely ripped off of its base, and then landed on the house incomes door where brandy massic lives. >> my daughter maggie and write standing on the front porch watching wind blow and rain come down. we heard this crash. we saw the top of the trees just past the front of our faces. >> reporter: few blocks down philadelphia police called in a tree that is totally shattered, likely struck by lightening. throughout the area, utility crews with peco are trying to restore power just another sign of the storm's impact. >> i got, you know i was just asking to find out to see if they were about how long, you know, because there is nothing i can do.

>> reporter: that is the big question how much longer will power be out. you can see here streetlights are out and that is the story for resident here. they don't have power either. only lights in the area coming from frustrates, our tv camera and channel six van is brightest light in the area we have seen families using candles and sitting in their cars tonight trying to cool off tonight, jim. live from frankford sharrie williams for channel six "action news". "action news" viewers have been sharing photographs and videos that they took of the storms tonight. like these pictures of the car flipped over in the parking lot of the deptford mall. a tree came down on the car park in the driveway in pitman, new jersey. this is some of the damage left behind in the thoroughfare section of the west deptford gloucester county. side wall of the building ripped right off. and then this video from honey brook chester county with gusty wind and heavy rain, and one way too chosen counter with a bolt of lightening.

deluge pushed so much water in the sewer system and wind was so powerful that an "action news" viewer recorded a manhole cover being lifted up in a parking lot along route 73 in voorhees, camden county. even meteorologist david murphy pulled out his cell phone during the storm and swept through drexel hill and captured a limb cracking and falling off a tree, fortunately nobody was hurt there. we thanked the a "action news" viewers who have shared photographs and videos of what it looked like in their neighborhood tonight. we posted dozens of them on six abc to the come tonight and our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the storm. please remember to send us your photographs on social media with the hash tag six abc action. still to come on "action news" tonight it is music to their ears delegates to the vatican announced a concert important pope's visit to philadelphia brian taff has details from rome.

plus a delaware, a lot of the state of delaware legalizes marijuana product for children, adam. jim, we have over hurricane force wind in medford new jersey, 70 miles an hour. seventy-five. seventy for glassboro. king of prussia long beach island. wilmington 67 miles an hour. we have much more calm are weather in the seven day forecast. ducis rodgers with the death of the well men beloved figure to all sixers fans, that and more when "action news" continues tonight.

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>> reporter: there is no question at all that pope francis is the big draw for this september's world meeting of families but this morning here in rome organizers announced a few more big names with the promise oven more to come. >> it has every characteristic, of a huge, international, concert. >> reporter: that is the assessment from a near giddy philadelphia mayor michael nutter with the word that famed italian tenor andreas bocelli, juanes, and philadelphia orchestra will be among the perform ers on the ben franklin parkway the night before the papal mass. >> the parkway has seen many great performers, of course. i think though we can all agree that this will be different. >> reporter: artist, some known better around the world then here in philadelphia, played with an enormous global following insuring that the event reaches audiences every where, some people think religious is more of a experience or not important in today's world. but religion is not a very broad category it business responding to the beauty of

the world in which we live whiz god created. >> reporter: organize hours met in closed door planning meetings in the vatican confirmed that francis will not only appear on the parkway the night before the papal mass but will also speak there. they are quick to point out it is not a prayer service but more of a party at months fear. the hope that this event closed the door on the difficult chapter for the catholic church in philadelphia and rest of america and opens the door to a more vibrant future. >> i think it is a turning point for us. we have had a very difficult history the last few years and although we have to make sure that we're responding to all of the issues in an ongoing way, i think this will give us an indication to make a commitment to a broader kind of experience of ourselves. >> reporter: that noise small goal for this week long event in september but both archbishop chaput and pope are optimistic this will be a transformative event for the church that we will talk about for generations to come n rome, brian taff channel six

"action news". let's get that accu weather forecast for the next seven days, from adam joseph. >> it will be much more quiet despite some wet weather to go through for the upcoming weekend but storms are off the coast, looking good here on wednesday. as we look at double scan live radar, again confirming, all of that color is off the coast and those lightening strikes that passed through this evening. double scan, catching a break after a very active, afternoon. in fact the hardest hit area developed in eastern lancaster county where there was a report of a funnel cloud just to the north there in the northeastern sections of lancaster county. the 70-mile per hour wind, a few funnel clouds trees down, power outages chester county, delaware county, northern new castle county and wilmington, center city and right through camden gloucester county burlington county northern parts of the atlantic county down toward mullica we saw a widespread area of damage.

again, it 12,000 lightening strikes in our area this afternoon. facebook and twitter getting so many pictures. really appreciate giving me that feedback what happened in your neighborhood. this fridays gary from center city showing that lightening bolt connecting right with william penn pen there and avoiding taller structures which are typical buildings that do get struck. this severe weather day came after heat wave number one. officially for the year. you had to have three consecutive days of 90 or above. sunday monday 91. today 95 degrees. 10 degrees above average. we have that real tropical humidity that also helped fuel those strong storms. right now it is still very muggy every where. low 70's at the shore. lower 70's north and west. it will take sometime but late tonight and tomorrow we will dry the atmosphere out with respect to humidity. new england got hit by tornado warnings as well right through the mid-atlantic. cold front off the coast.

clearing skies coming from the north and west. those dew points, measure of how much moisture in the air still 70 in philadelphia. notice 50's coming from the north and west. that is that refreshing air that will be in place tomorrow with high pressure, ape high of 86 degrees. wall to wall sunshine, a breathtaking day here for our wednesday, so get out and enjoy. if you are at the shore 72, warm ocean waters, tomorrow there 82 degrees. a land breeze no sea breeze. sunny and nice. a picture perfect day to hit your favorite shore town. the exclusive accu weather seven day forecast 86 with low humidity tomorrow. on thursday morning sun afternoon cloud build in as the tall ships arrive, down the delaware around 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon. 86 degrees. we have very late day showers or thunderstorm but the bulk of that rain comes in thursday night early friday temporarily drying out friday afternoon at 79. a lot of clouds saturday, sunday, on and off showers, very cool, lower 70's. not the best of weekend.

then we will dry out monday and tuesday near 80 degrees. those mammatus clouds we he saw this evening breathtaking spectacular sunset i explain compactly what they were on my facebook page so go out and check it out. >> i will. >> right after this newscast. >> thanks, adam. on health check at 11:00 delaware has legalize aid form of medical marijuana for sick children. governor jack markell signed riley's law this afternoon which allows doctors to write prescriptions for marijuana oil for minors. legislators say extract does not have enough active ingredient thc to get somebody high. it is intended to be used to treat seizures and other symptoms of epilepsy and several other medical conditions.

phillies once again competing against yankees and being competitive. >> phillies are looking for their third straight victory. we have in the seen that too many times this season. something has gotten to the phillies or should we say someone. miguel franco has been on the tear and does it again tonight against yankees. bad weather in our area, caused an 81 minute delay to start this one. first pitch of the second inning garrett jones belts a solo home run off sean o'sullivan, a towering shot to the second deck. yankees take two to nothing lead. brent gardener tags o'sullivan as well. this home run has phillies in a three-one hole. cameron ruf has been getting more playing time and this is how you a make most of it. first major league home run. good thing he did those extra weights, it just does get out. game tied at three. later in the inning, here's franco. he had two home runs last

night. how about another one tonight. a three run home run franco is making a push to get on the nl all-star roster. six-three phillies. now six-four, alex rodriguez they love him again in new york. solo bomb. right now we are tied at six eighth inning. mlb trade deadline is in six weeks and rumor mill is turning. nearly everyone on the phillies is a available but most attractive name is cole hamels. there are reports yankees and rangers increased their interest in the lefty. hamels has a limited no trade clause. he will block trade to 20 teams. rangers are not on that list. reports say he is opened to joining either team. hamels will pitch against yankees tomorrow afternoon. sixers lost a ledge toned day, long time employee harvey pollack died. known as super stat pollack was team's director of stats and information. he was longest tenured employee in the entire nba. pollack a temple grad and

member of the basketball hall of fame. he started with the philadelphia warriors in 1946. harvey pollack was 93. still ahead baseball catch you have to see to believe and then even then you might in the believe it. plus we will hear from the nba draft >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85 i have an important message about security. write down the number on your screen

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sixers select third overall the guard is not afraid to mix it up inside there was a report russell did not want to play here in philadelphia. not true is what he told espn. >> i never would say anything like that. i mean i know where i come from and i know what i have been through. it would be a blessing just to play in the nba. work out was great. what guy wouldn't want to play for any nba team. >> finally tonight wild catch in baseball you may not have seen from a couple days ago. billings montana mustangs outfielder zach field hit it to center field. would you look at this, he makes the catch there, bear handed. how about that. that robs what would have been a grand slam. keep your eye on the ball, jim. >> nice catch. jimmy kimmel live next on channel six followed by night line. jimmy's guest john ham lindsey kaplan, and music from sheila e. "action news" continues at 4:30 with tamala edward, matt owe done will he will,

meteorologist david murphy and karen rodgers with traffic. for ducis rodgers adam joseph cecily tynan and entire "action news" team i'm jim gardner good night. >> ♪♪