accuweather. cecily, they're saying this could be the worst storm this country has seen in decades. >> jim, you think about hurricane katrina and the devastation it caused to louisiana. well, this storm could be katrina for texas. it's big enough, it's going to be very slow moving. the actual center of the storm, if you look right here you can see the eye is very close, it's only 50 miles east-southeast of corpus christi, it's very close to the barrier islands. it's moving northwest at 10 miles an hour so do the math. this likely will be making landfall before midnight eastern time tonight and with it we're looking at the potential for catastrophic flooding. if you look at this in 3-d you can see the high cloud top. you can see this is a massive storm. the eye itself is 28 miles across. tropical storm force winds extend nearly 300 miles across this storm and likely will actually get bigger as it moves inland. so this is the radar and you can see that houston corpus christi already getting hit

with very heavy bands of rain. they've already seen tornado warnings and it likely will continue to rain there through the middle of next week. and if you look at the buoy report you can see wind gusts 68 miles per hour just off the coast of corpus christi. so, hurricanes come with a whole package of problems. you've got flooding rains, the storm surge and really the rain will be the biggest problem. this storm once it makes landfall will basically stall. it will be a lumbering slow moving disaster so we're looking at some areas that could get close to 30-inches of rain in a period of several days. that's about a year's worth of rain. so, these are the latest facts on hurricane harvey. category three landfall likely tonight on the verge of a cat four. catastrophic flooding, power outages for days and that storm surge could be up to 12 feet. i'll have more details on the storm and also our local weather coming up in the seven day. jim. >> thank you cecily. we're going to go live to center city and "action news"

reporter john rawlins who is at the red cross headquarters. john, is there a role for the philadelphia red cross to play in texas? >> reporter: well, there is and it's already being phased in. the first pair of staffers from here have made it to texas we're told as they were going west, we were at the airport talking about travelers going east trying to get away from harvey. irena simmons of houston flew into philadelphia today to drop her daughter off at temple. back home, her husband and the pets on her mind. >> the worst case scenario something will fall on the house or it will flood. >> reporter: the o'connor family also of houston arrived early here for a family vacation to avoid harvey. >> we don't really know how the house is going to hold up so we'll be keeping in touch with neighbors. >> reporter: at the local red cross packed trucks on stand by. the call center already handling hurricane inquiries. the regional ceo explaining if people want to help consider a

cash donation or give blood. >> if you can give blood giving blood here matters. we will get it to the people who need. >> reporter: two red cross volunteers from philadelphia already on their way to texas, also philadelphia firefighter lieutenant ken pegoric on his way to texas to be part of a federal task force. harvey is barreling down on people and petroleum production. the dots represent refineries. they are shutting down. could the storm impact gasoline supplies. >> production sites want to get back online as quickly as possible but again, we don't know how much damage this storm will do. >> reporter: so, it's too early to tell if gas here selling in this case for $2.45 could go up significantly. past gulf storms have triggered spikes. driver john expects it will. >> prices here will go up without question. >> reporter: for most of us all we can do is just sit and wait and see what harvey does

to people to homes to the frastructure of the petroleum industry there in texas and louisiana. locally, though, the first of the red cross folks, the first two are on their way -- actual are in texas along with a philadelphia fire lieutenant who is also been tapped for this disaster in the making or the potential disaster in the making down in the gulf coast states. live in center city, john rawlins channel6 "action news." >> john thank you so much. of course you can follow the track of hurricane harvey at 6abc.com. you'll also find information on official preparations and details on how residents are managing to cope. fire crews from all over delaware county are battling a blaze in sharon hill tonight. firefighters were called to the 400 block of sharon avenue at 2:30 this afternoon. neighbors say they heard a loud boom and then saw heavy smoke. because of a roof collapse, firefighters have been forced to attack the blaze from the

outside only. the three-story building houses six apartments. the sharon hill fire chief thinks it will have to be demolished. one person suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to the hospital for treatment. a driver lost control, left the road and struck a tree in southwest philadelphia this afternoon. the crash happened along the 5600 block of broomall just after 2 o'clock. the driver eventually came to a stop against the front porch of a home. damage to the car was extensive. debris was all over the place. police have not yet said what led up to the accident. a playground in delaware has been defaced with racist graffiti. new castle county police are searching for the vandals who spray painted ku klux klan symbols on all the equipment. a family discovered the graffiti yesterday. county park staff cleaned and reopened the park today. two men are in custody tonight for a home invasion shooting that left a woman in

critical condition. the robbery happened on the 3000 block of north 23rd street in north philadelphia at 1:30 this morning. police say two masked and armed men entered the home demanding money and drugs. there were four people inside including the 37-year-old shooting victim. police say one of the armed suspects chased her as she tried to run out of the home and then shot her in the back. a cyclist was spotted among the commuters on the schuylkill expressway this morning. an "action news" producer was on her way to work and snapped this picture of the man riding between the left and center lanes. the scene caused delays westbound as drivers tried to avoid hitting him. about 8:30 this morning troopers eventually caught up with the cyclist and took him into custody. there's no word tonight what, if any, charges may be filed. well, philadelphia police are scratching their heads at the theft of a bust of former pennsylvania governor james

beaver who entered office in 1887. and by the way, penn state's beaver stadium was named after this guy. the discovery of the bust this morning did nothing to solve the mystery of how and why it was stolen in the first place. "action news" reporter gray hall has the full story. >> i think there was some work done to get this thing unsecured from the arch and then like i said to get it transported to where it ended up honestly i just -- i have no idea. >> reporter: it's a mystery that has the philadelphia parks and recreation commissioner scratching her head who stole the james beaver bust from the smith memorial bust in fairmount park. she admits whoever took it had their work cut out for them. >> we think it's about 4 feet tall 1300 pounds. this is not the kind of thing you can throw in the back of your pickup truck so we're a little stymied about how in the world someone got up 12 feet high. >> reporter: someone discovered the bust friday morning under the i-95 overpass near fdr park.

at this point there are no clear answers as to who took it, what they did it with and why. those hearing about the theft are just as puzzled as employees with parks and recreation. >> it's very strange and i don't really know what to make of it or even if this is the last we'll see of such an act. i don't think it is unfortunately. >> i don't meaning why they would do it. what did they gain from it? especially if you just dump it a few blocks down the street. you know, i don't understand. it's crazy out here right now. >> reporter: the bust was installed in the early 19 hundreds and leaders with parks and recreation say they don't know of any controversy surrounding general beaver unlike recent controversy with federal monuments in our area and across the country. general beaver served in the union army making the theft even more bizarre. >> i can't say whether or not this has any kind of connection to recent events that have happened. it wouldn't be the first time that we've had a piece of public work or sculpture vandalized or stolen. >> reporter: police tell us they are investigating this crime parks and recreation says there was some damage to

this sculpture. they are working on repairing that and returning the sculpture to its rightful home. reporting in fairmount park, gray hall channel6 "action news". >> major project along the delaware river hit a milestone today. congressman bob brady senator bob casey and other officials announced that they have secured the final $29 million needed to finish the deepening t year. the effort could bring more jobs and more money to the region. deepening the channel to 45 feet will allow bigger ships and more cargo to move through the packer of a marine terminal in south philadelphia. it is an exciting time on campuses across the region. this week as the class of 2021 moves in. this morning at saint joe's university incoming freshmen descended on hawk hill. students and their families were busy toting belongings to their new dorm rooms. classes begin next week. the newest class of hawks hail

from 27 states and 11 countries. the acadia university campus in glenside montgomery county was also buzzing with excitement and anticipation today. 500 freshmen and transfer students took over the residence halls. faculty and staff volunteers were there to help with the move-in experience. the class of 2021 includes high school valedictorians athletes student leaders and political activists. classes begin august 30th. coming up on "action news" tonight, marine officials in south jersey are caring for a young seal that was attacked by a shark. jeff skversky live in south philadelphia, the site of arena bowl 30 this weekend. jeff. >> reporter: jim, the soul are back in the arena bowl. we'll catch up with their record setting quarterback coming up in sports. >> ♪ >> today there was a hint of fall in the air. our high 79 degrees. that's 5 degrees below normal. get used to it. i'm tracking a comfortably

cool weekend. all the details and the latest on hurricane harvey in the accuweather 7-day forecast. >> those stories and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

>> new at 6:00 tonight a nasty shark bite has a young gray seal receiving life saving care by the folks who are best equipped to bring the seal back to health. new jersey correspondent nora muchanic was there today. >> reporter: this is the newest resident at the marine mammal stranding center in brigantine. the badly bitten seal is being nursed back to health after being attacked by a shark. the injured female was found by rangers at sandy hook state park. >> they're flesh wounds right

now. went through the skin down into the blubber arrayment remember mary lee the great white who is constantly tracked by an organization called o search. you can see from the zigzagging graph she spends a lot of time off new jersey in search of food. >> in early spring we had mary lee here in brigantine right where the seals are in the wintertime. so she knows where the seals are. >> reporter: a beach in cape cod massachusetts was closed wednesday when a paddle boarder had a close encounter with a shark. he wasn't injured but his paddle board has a line of teeth marks where the shark bit down. >> i always think about sharks when i go in the water because we know they're here. we know they're in the waters here. >> i don't think it would stop me from going out kayaking or paddle boarding because that's something that i like to do but it definitely -- it comes to mind. >> grabbed like that and the size of the bite was

probably -- the animal had its mouth opened about a foot or so. >> reporter: bob said it was probably a young grate white shark like that that took a bite out of that seal. she and another injured harbor seal are under constant monitoring at the stranding center. the hope is that this seal can recover and return to the ocean. in brigantine, i'm nora muchanic channel6 "action news." >> hundreds of warriors in pink took off on a mission to beat breast cancer today. today marked the start of the susan g. komen three day walk. the journey began at willow grove park mall. they will camp for the night after walking about 20 miles. the event ends in three days at the philadelphia navy yard. >> ♪

if you'd have told me three years ago... that we'd be downloading in seconds, what used to take... minutes. that guests would compliment our wifi. that we could video conference... and do it like that. (snaps) if you'd have told me that i could afford... a gig-speed. a gig-speed network. it's like 20 times faster than what most people have. i'd of said... i'd of said you're dreaming. dreaming! definitely dreaming. then again, dreaming is how i got this far.

now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. now more businesses in more places can afford to dream gig. >> eagles coaches and eagles fans looking back to see how everybody did last night. >> everybody is pretty happy. nice win over the dolphins yesterday in the third preseason game. they didn't play a lot but coach doug pederson saw enough that he's pleased with his first team offense. eagles beat the dolphins last

night. carson wentz connected with both of his new targets. first a 50-yard bomb to smith. his first catch of the preseason. later wentz found alshon jeffery on a 15-yard touchdown pass. nice one right there. wentz and the starters played just one quarter but it was a good one. >> i feel good. i feel confident. i'm thankful for the most part everyone is pretty healthy too so i think this offense tonight was a good showing for us. like i said the interception was unfortunate but we moved the ball well and for the starters it's exciting to start getting ready for washington. >> the birds visit the jets next week. the philadelphia soul have been on a mission this season but that mission is not complete. the soul hope to cap it off with a win over tampa bay tomorrow in the arena bowl. jeff skversky is live at the wells fargo center with a preview. jeff. >> reporter: hey, ducis. the soul are the winningest professional sports organization in the city since 2004 and guess what, they are back in the arena bowl for a

fifth time and they have a rare opportunity tomorrow night to win the arena bowl here on their own turf. this is what they'll be defending tomorrow night. this is what's up for grabs the foster trophy here at the wells fargo center in arena bowl 30 so quarterback he says he knows wait takes to do it again this time here at home in front of his own fans. what would it mean to have one more ring winning back to back arena bowls. >> that would mean everything. you know, that's what you play the game for. it's what you come together as a group of men to do and you really find a way top get along and fight through adversity and you build a special love and trust for each other and it's about playing for them in those big moments so be ready for it have fun and if we're lucky enough for the confetti to come down and be victorious it would be an amazing feeling.

>> reporter: arena bowl 30 tomorrow night the top two teams in the afl and the soul are in a good position here. they dominated the season series against tampa bay three and o during the regular season and they expect come tomorrow night it will be four and the o and the soul hopefully will have some confetti coming down here at the wells fargo center. we're live in south philadelphia, jeff skversky channel6 "action news." ducis. >> we'll be watching jeff. thank you so much. to baseball the phillies begin a weekend series with the chicago cubs tonight. jerad eickhoff gets the start. major league baseball has reviewed the tape and suspensions are in for this fight yesterday between the tigers and yankees. for detroit miguel cabrera gets seven games. pitcher alex wilson gets four and manager brad osmos gets one. catcher austin romine slapped with a two game suspension. >> hm. >> boys will be boys. >> yeah.

all right. philadelphia eagles provided a nice surprise for some of the city's young scholars today. wide receiver nelson agholor with the help of acme supermarkets donated 100 back packs. and they were filled with supplies that students will need to help them succeed in the classroom this year. students are from stepping stones scholars.

>> luckily we're not experiencing the kinds of problems they're going to have in texas over this weekend. >> we have a very quiet weekend here and it's a completely different world right now across the gulf coast. i want to show you our radar and you can see that storm system it's a strong category three hurricane. you can see that eye, that eye

is just 50 miles east-southeast of corpus christi and the eye itself is 28 miles across so hurricane harvey is a strong category three hurricane. it's moving northwest at 10 miles per hour so if it continues that speed it will be making landfall later on tonight across the southeast texas coast. so, maximum sustained winds now 125 miles per hour, the pressure is extremely low moving northwest at 10 miles an hour. the maximum wind gusts now 155 miles per hour and this storm is on the verge of becoming a category four hurricane, only five more miles per hour and that's a cat four. either way this is a major hurricane and it is going to cause some devastation across parts of texas. the spaghetti plots show you really the biggest problem with this -- actually i want to go to my weather wall and show you this. these plots go into next friday and you can see it's just a hot mess. what this storm system will do, it will essentially stall

and when it does that it will produce copious amounts of moisture. we're looking the the potential for 15 to 30-inches of rain. that likely will cause historic flooding and this area is very low. corpus christi is about 7 feet above flood stage. so, you get that rain. it's really hard to get the flooding out. so, very serious situation down there. back at home it's cool and quiet. 77 in philadelphia, millville 80, cape may 77, allentown 72 and wilmington 78. satellite and radar showing we started the day with a good amount of sunshine. we have a piece of energy a short wave that's slowly rotating through but as it pushes east we'll be clearing out tonight. it's going to be another cool comfortable night. 53 in the cooler suburbs about 61 degrees for center city. and the weekend is looking beautiful. mostly sunny skies both days with a double barrel high pressure. low humidity and the high like today you'll like tomorrow on sunday, 79 degrees. that's 5 degrees below normal.

so, if you're on the beach put a lot of sunscreen on. a good a sunshine both days. 76 degrees tomorrow, 75 on sunday. that each temperature is 75. heading to the poconos overnight lows dropping into the 40's in the mountains. take a sweatshirt but otherwise it's really beautiful, that fall feeling up in the mountains that fresh air 69 degrees and sunday loads of sunshine in the poconos very nice with a high of 70. so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, tomorrow it's sunny it's pleasant. great day for outdoor activities a high of 79 degrees. we match that on sunday just as nice and monday cools off even a little bit more. 77 degrees, mixture of clouds and sunshine. we start to run out of luck as we head into tuesday and wednesday. it turns mostly cloudy on tuesday. the high drops to 75 degrees with the possibility of a shower wednesday with a system off shore it could throw some month are showers our way 76 degrees. thursday still a chance of a shower otherwise mix of clouds

and sun with a high of 82 degrees and friday partly sunny and continued cool with a high of 79 degrees. tropical storm allison back in 2001 had a very similar path to hurricane harvey. 41 fatalities, $10 million in damage and that wasn't even a hurricane so this is going to be a serious situation. an update on "action news" at 11:00. >> we're keeping our eyes on that situation all through the night and the through the weekend. thank you cecily. 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 the entire "action news" team i'm jim gardner. we hope you'll join us for "action news" at 11:00. >> ♪

we come on the air. hurricane harvey just hours from landfall. tonight, a category 3 hurricane. winds reaching 125 miles per hour and gaining strength. at this speed, the strongest hurricane to hit the u.s. in more than a decade. authorities now warning of a major disaster. record flooding. up to 35 inches of rain. and tonight, multiple tornado warnings as we come on. mass evacuations. fuel at gas stations running out. empty shelves. our team across the storm zone, and ginger zee is right here with the new track just in. also tonight, president trump facing his first natural disaster test. sending a message -- good luck to everybody. be safe. already saying he plans to travel to texas next week. and the other breaking news.