they're all in effect right now. we're worried about flash flood watches that will be in effect until at least midnight. we are especially concerned with the possibility of damaging winds. meteorologist cecily tynan is live at the "action news" big board and has the full story. >> and jim, this line of storms arrived really right on schedule. 6 o'clock tonight it's just west of the i-95 corridor and these storms are being fueled by the high humidity. these dewpoints in the 80's in some areas today. the fact that we saw some sunshine today and also a cold front that's moving in, that's helping provide lift. so we've got severe thunderstorm warnings essentially right along. i-95 corridor right in front of the line of storms and these are in that be effect until 6:45. this is because any of these storms can could and taken in addition to the heavy downpours and the lightning also wind gusts more than 60 miles per hour, winds and also you get the hail. so, this is what we're looking at right now. this is what's heading towards

philadelphia, bala cynwyd it's hitting you right now overbrook, wynnefield, germantown, olney, north philadelphia, this view alone 31 lightning strikes it's rolling across the schuylkill expressway, also the blue route and this line extends well up to the north. it's just now moved through doylestown. it's west of trenton currently. 329 lightning strikes so you hear that thunder, get indoors and it has been causing some flooding as well. the rainfall rate of two to 4 inches per hour. so, this is the scene in why miss wyomissing. corey took this photo. this is state street. you can see how these cars they're not going anywhere. there are water rescues going on. we have flash flood warnings in effect for parts of berks county, we've got flood watches for our entire viewing area and that severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 9 o'clock. after that these storms should be rolling off the coast. i'll talk about what to expect behind this system also have a look at the eclipse later on.

>> you can get the latest forecast any time on your phone or tablet. the 6abc app provides realtime views of storm tracker6 live. the app is a free download for your mobile device. this doesn't come as a complete surprise but the highly controversial steve bannon has left the building. president trump's chief strategist apparently outstayed his welcome after only seven months on the job. he was seen as pushing much of trump's populist and america first agenda during before the campaign and after. he was the man behind trump's travel ban and th decision to pull out of the paris climate accord. also seen as promoting much of the discord and in fighting among the west wing staff. sources say bannon has been on shaky ground for weeks and that grounder began to rupture after the arrival of chief of staff john kelly.

much more on the departure of steve bannon next at 6:30 right here on "action news." philadelphia police have charged wally ramen with criminal mischief and other offenses for allegedly vandalizing the frank rizzo statue across from city hall. john rawlins has more on the deface. >> reporter: the spray painted words black power went up last nig as the skylight tend this morning crews rinsed away that paint. this afternoon this protester and impromptu guard. he wants president trump impeached and the statue of rizzo to stay. >> mayor frank rizzo is not racist. >> reporter: helen gym sent this tweet saying the statue must go. it was 1998 when this larger than life bronze of the man who was mayor was placed across from city hall. for its t mayor had this to say.

>> no new developments in the rizzo saga. we're obviously we're trying puc wants to do whether or not members of the public want to pursue a conversation about its the the focus omportant to some. others saying that debate a raectiourrent politicians should focthe futurg >> what hapner: so you who, to are ward. >> you need to look forward. >> reporter: and.ive the people. >> a statue thasot paying my bills. >> reporter: no. outh clothes on my packood in shoes on my feet. not worried about it. there's more important issues to worry about. >> reporter: some say this statue should go. others say it should stay and still others say philadelphia has more important things it should be working on. in center city, john rawlins channel6 "action news." >> and as the debate over

whether to remove the statue grows, many are wondering what was it that prompted this kind of reaction. mayor rizzo has a complicated legacy that dates back to the decades of some of the most turbulent times in philadelphia so we suggest this. go to 6abc.com for a look back at rizzo's career whine some say the statue should go. a firefighter and two pharmaceutical representatives ple today as part of an ongoing federal investigation into prescription benefits fraud involving several jersey shore communities. michael pepper atlantic city firefighter and pharmaceutical representative tho of marlton admitted to bilking state benefits programs and other insurers by committing fraudulent claims for unnecessary prescriptions. two others including matthew

tedesco pleaded guilty yesterday. >> ♪ there is a lot of excitement about monday's solar eclipse and it's made those dark eclipse glasses a hot commodity. "action news" reporter trish hartman has more on the search for those elusive glasses. >> reporter: the line at the franklin institute flowed out of the science store into the lobby. >> i had my girlfriend waiting in the car i'm almost on e i ran in and they were selling them for five dollars a pair and limit five of them. i want my daughter to see this. >> reporter: a shipment of 3500iso compliant eclipse glasses was delivered today. customers could purchase up to five pairs at $4.99 each a relief for anxious eclipse fanatics waiting patiently in line. >> this is perfect timing. i'm taking off next week starting monday so this is wonderful. my whole family. >> reporter: the glasses will allow eclipse viewers to look at the sun safely on

monday. stores have had trouble keeping them in stock. main line is expecting a shipment. people want to reserve them. this 7-eleven in camden is getting more glasses tomorrow too. employees say they've sold 500 glasses in one day. >> they are very popular. we are getting calls for them. we'll get another shipment on saturday morning. >> reporter: in center city we met linda foreman who picked up her glasses at an event months ago but she says she probably won't use them. >> i don't really actually plan to look because i'm concerned about my retinas the. i'm scary. >> reporter: are you going to give these to somebody else. >> probably. >> reporter: whenever you get your glasses make sure they are iso compliant. they have a list of reputable retailers. we've posted that list at

6abc.com. as for the franklin institute they're sold out. reporting at the franklin institute trish hartman channel6 "action news". >> meteorologist adam joseph is traveling to missouri bring you the best views of the monday great american eclipse. his live reports begin sunday on "action news" and be sure to tune into 6abc on monday. abc news is going to be bringing us coast to coast coverage of the great american eclipse beginning at 1 o'clock, that is right after "action news" at noon. a plane caught fire today at philadelphia international airport but this was a drill. firefighters started this blaze on purpose as part of a live burn training exercise. the drill gives crews hands on experience to practice their response in case of a real emergency. the fire department says the exercise was a success. mayor jim kenney welcomed attendees to a public conference on public housing

in center city this morning. it is the opening doors to opportunities resident conference. the conference is hosted by philly seeds, that is the subsidiary of the philadelphia housing authority. and coming up on "action news" tonight it is just days away until back to school but hundreds of students are getting into the school spirit today thanks to a fair put on by the philadelphia school district. and the eagles starters struggle in their preseason home opener. ducis rodgers has reaction from members of the team today. >> we certainly have a very stormy friday night. a line of storms heavy downpours lightning be damaging winds. i think you'll like the forecast for the weekend. i'll explain in the accuweather 7-day forecast. >> those stories and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> dozens of physician assistant students took part in rite of passage today. the philadelphia college of osteopathic medicine held its white coat ceremony. these students then recited their professional oath. physician assistants perform many functions that a doctor can including physicals, diagnosing illnesses and even prescribing medication. the philadelphia school district is trying to get thousands of youngsters in the mood to go back to school but that's just the beginning. "action news" reporter katherine scott has the story of what happened today. >> i'm going study hard. so i can get all a's. >> reporter: believe it or not class is right around the corner. today the school district of philadelphia hosted a back to school fare at school of the future in that parkside. the students and their families across philadelphia can be ready to go for day one. >> my goals are to get all

a's, honor roll and just be the best student i can. >> i'm excited for the school year because i get to meet all new friends and i get to learn more. >> reporter: from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., more than 100 vendors were set up at the school on parkside avenue. games for kids, information booths vouchers school supplies thousands of back packs to giveaway free screenings including dental and eye exams were available whether or not you have insurance. >> every child that will be seen will not be turned away due to an inability to pay. that's the wonderful thing. >> we're making sure they have all the support and resources they need so that they can go back to school ready. >> reporter: this is the district's ninth annual back to school education day and it's a resource some families have come to rely on. >> some people don't have a lot of money to get school things for their kids so i think it's a good -- it's a good thing for them to just come out here and give us all this stuff. >> paying rent and just struggling just to get day by

day, when somebody like this help you out it is such a blessing. god is good. >> reporter: supplies and information now in hand it's time to enjoy the rest of summer while it lasts. in parkside, katherine scott, channel6 "action news. >> there was a big birthday bash for a chester county woman today who is about to mark a major life milestone. carmela millie pinto waved to her family and friends who'll sang happy birthday. millie turns 105. some of millie's children and eight great grandchildren were on hand at the party in honey brook this afternoon. the philadelphia native once built radios for rca.

>> bright moments but cause for disappointment. >> it's week two. week two of the preseason. not often you feel conflicted about a victory. the eagles did beat the bills but the first team offense did

not pass the eye tense. they were only supposed to play a series or two. they played four series. pederson giving them an opportunity to show him anything. the players insist they aren't too worried. >> it's a preseason game. you got to keep working to get better. >> over the course of a four quarter football 60 minute football game you know you get teams that wear out, teams that get tired and then usually that's when you see the big plays come. >> we haven't been playing long enough in a game for that to happen. >> we haven't been playing enough. just we know we have the guys like i said, we know we can be something special. >> ronald darby made his eagles debut last night and he did not disappointment. darby picked off a pass in the first quarter. he returned a 48-yard deep into buffalo territory.

he loved the moment and he loved playing in the link at night. >> you know, feel like prime time, you know. -like a great feeling. you get a lot of energy, build you up. >> he's definitely going to help us in the back end. great to see our defense come up with take aways and put the offense in good situations. >> before the game eagles safety malcolm jenkins raised his fist in protest of racial injustice. during the national anthem teammate chris long put his arm around. long who is from charlottesville respects jenkins' right to protest and has been moved by what's happening in america. >> i support my peers and if you tone see why you need allies from people that are fighting for equality right now, i don't think you'll ever see it. so, you know, my thing is malcolm's a leader. and i'm here to show support as a white athlete.

>> eagles cornerback ron brooks took a knee during the national anthem. rough road trip for the phillies. they've lost all four games on it and five straight overall. zach eflin will try to stop the bleeding tonight in san francisco. aaron nola was roughed up last night. the giants tagged him for five runs in five innings. the phillies lost the game five-four. less than a year ago penn state's james franklin was firmly on the hot seat. today he has a new contract extension and a lot more job security. a six year deal worth more than $34 million. this puts him in the top five of the highest paid coaches in college football. franklin led penn state to an 11-three record this past season and a trip to the rose bowl. temple football team is letting loose. at the end of practice yesterday they set up a giant slip and slide and had a water balloon fight. the owls open the season in

two weeks at notre dame. that's what happens at the gardener household. >> every night. but only after dinner cecily tynan with the accuweather forecast when we continue here in just a moment.

>> so the storm is now right over philadelphia. >> yeah. can you hear? we had some thunder. ducis and i heard it. this is a lot darker than it will be on monday during the eclipse when you won't even notice the darkness but there we go, we just had a lightning strike live on sky6 as the

storms continue to push in from the west and they're really holding together pretty well. double scan live showing the line of storms right over the i-95 corridor right now. here i am. and you can see that continues to push to the east at about 30 miles per hour so we have severe thunderstorm warnings lining right along with that front. what this means, any storm can contain wind gusts up to about 60 miles an hour, also hail. we have had some like that but really i think the bigger threat is the fact that the atmosphere is loaded with moisture and they're dropping a lot of rain in a short period of time. so, this shows the line advancing right just to the west of i-95 right now, trenton's going to be hit at 6:29. it will be hitting edgewater park, fairview, tullytown bristol and burlington. we've had 142 lightning strikes. we can show you the rainfall rates and you can see that rainfall here just to the east

of jenkintown 4.5-inch its per hour so that's torrential rain. anyone who is driving in it, it's a good yessed to -- idea to pull over. this line extends down to the south and i am tracking this batch of thunderstorms right now. we can flip this back over, it's moving out of maryland. this has a lot of lightning. this is heading into new castle and the kent county, delaware and that will also be moving into salem and cumberland county. ray takes a lot of great drone shots captured this over chalfont today and you can see that very vivid cloud to ground lightning strike and these can strike about 10 miles in advance of a storm so if you're out and about, you hear that thunder get inside even before it starts raining. what the rain is doing is cooling off the air at least temporarily. ahead of it we have heat indices near 100. behind it though we have heat indices in the 70's. so, it feels a lot cooler once the storms roll through, kind of cool off the atmosphere,

evaporative cooling. this line of shores ahead that of cold front will sweep through overnight. timing out the storms future tracker showing if you're at the coast right now you're okay until about 8 o'clock or so. about 8:30 a line of storms right over the coast with a lot of lightning heavy downpours and gusty winds and then by midnight, it's out of here. overnight it will be very muggy. tomorrow morning you wake up, partly cloudy skies. it will be humid in the morning but as we head through the afternoon the humidity will be dropping, temps rising up into the upper 80's, near 90. it's going to be a hot dye but it's going to feel a lot better today where we had dewpoints in the 70's and 80's. if you're down the shore tomorrow mix of clouds and sunshine. most of the day tomorrow you'll be getting a land breeze so the green heads will be biting, 86 degrees. sunday mostly sunny and a little bit cooler 83. that ocean temperature very warm, 80 degrees with a low risk of rip currents. if you're heading up to the poconos tomorrow afternoon and evening could get a pop-up thunderstorm. otherwise partly sunny, 78 degrees and sunday should be beautiful, sunny and pleasant 77.

so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast tomorrow partly sunny. humidity dropping as we head through the day, a high, a pretty warm day, 89 degrees. sunday nice, 88 degrees, lower humidity and monday sun with a few fair weather clouds, 89 degrees. so, great weather for the partial solar eclipse. it begins at 1:21 peeking at 2:34 ends at 4:01. we have close to 80 percent coverage. remember you need those nasa approved glasses to look directly at the sun. tuesday the heat and humidity return, 92 degrees. some thunderstorms popping up. i think we have a better chance of storms on wednesday as a cold front slices through, 88 and behind out very comfortable on thursday, 82 degrees with low humidity and friday almost a hint of fall with a high of only 79 degrees. those storms will continue to push to the easton night. be careful. the rest of the weekend looking really nice. >> thank you cecily. dozens of volunteers came together today in trenton to create a fun and safe space for children.

they built a playground at the foundation academy charter school. the project was made possible by let's play, an initiative by the dr. pepper snapple group and the nonprofit kaboom and good sports. the organizations donated $100,000 worth of sports equipment to local schools and community organizations. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir next on channel6. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl17 with brian taff, sharrie williams adam joseph and ducis rodgers. then please join us for "action news" at 11:00 here on channel6. for cecily tynan ducis rodgers and the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪

tonight, breaking news. the white house shakeup. steve bannon is out. president trump's chief strategist says he resigned. what happened? and, this photograph. everyone on the president's team pictured here, now gone, except for the vice president. also developing tonight, the second terror attack. another car plowing into a crowd. the hero policewoman who took the shot. reportedly killing 4 out of 5 suspects. and in barcelona, the american husband who was reportedly shopping for souvenirs, separated from his wife in the chaos. what we've learned. then, word coming in today of another gruesome and deadly attack. the man wielding a knife. we have new reporting tonight. severe storms hitting in the northeast as we come on the air. we're tracking them. rob marciano is live. and, after the cancer returned, the new message