three states are putting residents on high alert ahead of irma's arrival. it's wednesday night and monica is off and sharrie williams is joining us. >> we have live team coverage tonight. cecily tynan is tracking where the storm may hit but first abc's maggie ruly in new york following the warnings and evacuations coming out of the southeast tonight. >> reporter: rick and sharrie, what we see out of the caribbean so far from irma so far are devastating and the category five storm has the u.s. set square in its path. hurricane irma barrelling on as a category five. one of the strongest the atlantic ocean has ever seen. the storm's bearing down on puerto rico, the island has not seen the storm of this mag toot in 100 years. >> i covered hurricanes for 25

years, this is unlike anything i have seen. >> having seen the path of devastation irma left behind in the caribbean. >> this is nature at its most fierce. >> we are on the sixth floor the flooding is amazing and the win and rain is bringing it through the sliding doors. >> and florida is preparing for a direct hit and miami sits right now in the bull's-eye. floridians are running you of the necessities. >> the manager told us they don't have water in yet so i'll pick up other nonperishable items and get prepared for the storm. >> gas is running out everywhere right now, so i'm just a little too late trying to get it. >> lines for water are wrapping around the block. >> i went to costco and they are sold out of water. >> and homeowners are scrambling

to board up win doze. and many areas are under mandatory vacations near ford laut and miami. >> and the latest path has it moving up the coast of florida and slamming into the carolinas. but they urge that the storm is a couple of days from hitting the u.s. and these are only best guesses. channel 6 "action news." >> maggie thank you. now to meteorologist, cecily tynan, in the weather center with the latest track of irma. >> reporter: what is mind blowing about this storm is the staying power. irma has maximum sustained winds of aabove 185 miles per hour for more th more than 24 hours, and that has never happened in the atlantic basin. if you look at the eye it's not weakening, it rolled through the northern leeward islands and the british virgin islands and it's passing north of puerto rico now and as we widen out this storm

is 400 miles across and on a collision cross with the turks and caicos islands. now the hurricane force winds extend 50 miles out from the center. puerto rico will not get a direct hit but getting tropical storm force wins, heading north of hispaniola and a direct hit at the turks and caicos and could be hit by the northeast quadrant the worst part of the storm. they could deal way storm surge of more than 20 feet and then the southern bahamas if it avoids cuba great news for them but a catch 22 it won't be rip add part by the mountains of cuban the water temperatures in the upper 80s what is like jet fuel for the hurricanes. this likely won't weaken much. this is the latest. it keeps the storm as a cat five through turks and caicos north of cuba and once it moves through the southern bahamas,

making the turn where and when is very important. a lot of people noticing the center saying it's going to hit miami. have you to look at the whole cone, we are looking at 175 miles of that kona cross. it could hit western florida or eastern florida, or hit the carolinas, we'll talk more about irma in the full accuweather forecast. >> thank you. meanwhile, 41 members of the pennsylvania task force are making their way south ahead of irma, they headed out on a bus from northeast philadelphia this morning. 19 people in the group are with the philadelphia fire department meeting up in alabama with other members of the task force sent to texas to help with harvey and they will be deployed to florida by fema. irma is causing public problems for air travelers, american airlines added flights from the caribbean to get people out before irma hits many tonight the airline canceled all lines in and out of the miami hub this

weekend. the action cam found several people today evacuating to philadelphia to stay with family and friends and others opted to evacuate through atlantic city. the action cam found people getting off flights from the southeast with smiles on their faces getting out of the path of irma, that includes two local teenagers that started their freshman year at the unver of miami just two weeks zblag everybody is stressed out this week trying to organize plans to get out of miami but the university did a great job of notifying everyone and keeping everyone updated on the hurricane. >> they made sure everyone had a plan to get out. but other than that, they said you could stay on campus and if they had to evacuate they would go to government shelters. >> we are tracking hurricane irma on the 6 abc app. the 6 abc app say free download for your mobile device.

in washington today. the house overwhelmingly passed a $7.9 billion aid package for the victims of hurricane harvey. lawmakers say it's the first of several bills of assistance on the way to texas. today's vote sends the aid package to the senate whose approval will send it to president trump's desk and federal disaster reserves are set to run out at the end of the this week. the money would go to emergency needs and more money will be funneled once damage estimates are complete. back here mayor jim kenney wants philadelphians to do their part for texans in need. >> cash donations are the best way to quickly and effectively help survivors because it gives them the most flex ibt. >> reminding people to donate by dealing directly with a charitable organization like the red cross and the outpouring

continues to be overwhelming. >> and if you want to help, abc is giving you another opportunity next week. next tuesday we'll simulcast a telethon where all proceed goes to those affected by harvey. stars like dodge clooney and beyonce and julia roberts, it's called in hand in hand a benefit for hurricane harvey relief here on 6 abc. although the cleanup progress is well underway in texas. drivers in the country are feeling the pain at the pump. gas prices are sitting at 3 -- $2.44 gray hall is live in north philadelphia with more on the sticker shock for drivers. >> reporter: hi sharrie. we don't have to tell you.

people are not excited about the increase in gas and looking behind me at the sunoco here in north philadelphia. the price is 30 cents higher than the national average, that is what we see across the area where some exceptions. but there is good news as we move into fall prices are expected to drop. if we fill up a few times a week it's a car payment. >> if you filled up lately you feel the pain at the pump and most of it to be blamed on hurricane harvey. >> it cost me $65 to fill up this f-150 here t was costing me $40. >> the national average is $2.66 but look at the price here nearly $4 at this doylestown bp. he sells "action news" they have to increase the prices because

the company they get their gas from. no one shows up to get gas they opted for gas across the street which is a dollar cheaper. this station is always higher. >> from extracting it out of the ground and getting it delivered. if anything disrupts that flow it immediately ripples like rubbernecking at an accident causes a two mile traffic jam. >> dr. cheryl with the fox school of businesses that gas prices are easily impacts because of storms and consumer fears. >> we saw a 40 cent increase in average prices across the state because of harvey. >> and when the refineries in the gulf coast reopen they will begin to stabilize, but until then the prices go up to the average consumer. >> we don't do as much travel as we usually do, and utilizing

septa more to save. >> we can tell you that the experts tell us to expect the higher prices throughout the month and we checked across the tri-state area, there are no reports of price gouging. gray hall, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you for that report. it is wednesday night lets get a check of the "action news" traffic report. lets go live to matt pellman. >> hi guys, we are watching higher travel times now that school is back in section. you see the slow zones on the area highways and watching a crash on 42 southbound by 130 by the walt whitman bridge, luckily they got it pushed off to the shoulder. let look live at fishtown, just happened and involving a school bus and this vehicle. doesn't look too serious blocking a lane on richmond street and police are on the scene. extra slowing and 95 is right over here as a point of

reference. a crash on 422 as well. westbound side in berks county past 662, blocking a lane the red zone there, pottstown on high street near the brick house and issues continue in allentown. no parts of 78 and eastbound side is blocked and westbound a gaper delay and lane restriction. stay up with the crowd on 22. and stay local in allentown on this wednesday afternoon. we'll check it again in the next half hour. >> thank you matt. more ahead on "action news" at 5:00 tonight. more fallout after president trump announces the end of doca. coming up at 5:30 how lawmakers are responding after the white house handed off responsibility for the so-called dreamers. >> first health check chances are you heard about the health risk associated with sitting too much but is standing too much also a hazard? ali gorman breaking down a new study.

health check tonight, we heard that sitting too much of the time isn't good for our health. but it turns out too much standing is not good either. >> so what is?

health reporter and registered nurse ali gorman is here at the big board with more. >> it's an interesting study and making things confusing. over the past 15 years too much sitting is linked to cancer and heart disease and diabetes and now a study of canadian workers raising concerns of too much standing. in the survey people withstanding jobs are just as likely to develop heart disease as people with sitting jobs because blood pools in the legs and the heart has to work harder to pump it up. the best option is to mix it up. break up sitting and standing periods and try to walk around as much as possible. >> reporter: well, there may be good news about the zika virus, known for bad effects causing devastating birth defects but may be useful in battling brain cancer. in lab tests in st. louis and san diego. the virus was shown to target

cells in a deadly form of brain cancer and those are difficult to kill. the testing is in early stages but the research is promising. >> coming up tonight at 11:00 flash parks were a summertime staple but could they be hiding a dirty secret. we teamed one an independent lab to test the water in splash parks across the city. the results may not be what you want your kids splashing around in. it's a special report tonight on "action news" at 11:00. >> all right ali thank you very much. in the meantime. they raised money today for the many kids that get treated at alfred i. dupont hospital in wilmington. the help our kids ride yo thon. the philly fanatic stopped by.

100% of the donations go directly to the kids in the hospital's care and they were hoping to top the amounts of last year just over $33,000. well, the william penn foundation launched a new plan to bring learning opportunities to children in need. the called the learning initiative and connecting more than a dozen cultural groups with low almost communities to give kids a chance to learn outside of school. the initiative is expected to reach 1300 kids in philadelphia. and a brand new musical making the premier in bucks county. facing off this fall for the mirror ball trophy in dancing with the stars. >> and "action news" is about interaction with you. follow us on social media to

communicate with us, on facebook facebook.com/6abcactionnews and twitter at 6 abc.

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philadelphia arts programs that teaches people to expand

crea creativity presents awarded to the philadelphia music school and the museum of art. more than $11,000 will help them expand their programs for pre-k students. they packed meals by the thousands to help people in need. chase bank and the aarp hosted the event to combat senior poverty and hunger. the goal was to make 27,000 meals for the food bank of delaware senior nutrition program. george went is starting in a new musical and making the world premier in bucks county. wentz and campbell will host it. based on the story of dj allen freed known as the father of rock and roll. and how the genre rose to

popularity. >> "dancing with the stars" has revealed the cast of celebrities competing this fall for the mirror ball trophy. that announcement was made live this morning on "good morning america." it's a big milestone for the show celebrating 25 seasons on the air this month. and the lineup includes, former philadelphia eagle, terrell owens and pop icon, debbie gibson and for the full list go to 6abc.com. >> i think they have a married couple. >> the lachey family. >> still to come a check of the accuweather forecast. >> looking live now at the coast of puerto rico. feeling the effects right now of hurricane irma. as we look at the caps, the waves there. meteorologist, cecily tynan, has more on that storm. and our local forecast coming up. ♪

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time now for the accuweather forecast. >> immediameteorologist, cecily in the weather center with hurricane irma. >> want to talk about the wave heights. we talked about the winds and the size but the wave heights near the center of the storm 40 foot waves near puerto rico.

the wave heights 27 feet and the storm surge is the most deadly part of a hurricane and we are looking at a storm surge, 15 to 20 feet along the path of the eye. rainfall could get up to 20 inches in the track and catastrophic win damage and targeting the southeast u.s. by the end of the weekend and early next week. so this is the latest spaghetti not. they have really shifted from yesterday. yesterday the highest concentration was from the florida keys through the center of the florida peninsula. it has shifted more to the east, and the shift could continue back and forth, really anyone from florida to the outer banks has to watch the dangerous storm as it gets closer and it's time frame earlier in the weekend. and yes we have lingering rain essentially i-95 and areas to the north and west. west of media crossing route 3

norristown a batch of rain towards lands dale. and no thunder too cool for that and this is the stalled front pushing out through the overfight hours. what a difference in the air mass, yesterday 88 degrees is the high. philadelphia feels like fall. 65 degrees, allentown 60 and wilmington 71. satellite 6 along with action radar showing the stalled front that brings us moisture this continues to push to the east as we head through the overnight hours. future tracker 6 showing keeping umbrellas by 8:00, 9:00 we have heavy downpours down by the shore. tomorrow morning a lot of left over clouds and the clouds are clearing and sunshine is back and low humidity and sunshine as high pressure moves in. we have the weather through the weekend. five-day at 5:00, morning clouds and afternoon sunshine and 75 degrees and partly sunny and high of 73. great football weather at the

linc feeling like football weather 71 and sunday on the cool side. 74 degrees. and monday sun mixing with clouds with a high of 76. by the middle of the week we could get an impact from irma, we'll talk about that more in the seven-day forecast. >> thank you. we'll take a quick break and more news after the commercial messages. ♪ having a baby. caring for your parents. learning you have a condition. these are moments when people realize that where you get your medicine matters. and they look to us. cvs pharmacy. for advice. and ways to save money. plus, get up to fifty extrabucks each year just for filling prescriptions. switching is easy. we're here for you. join us. at cvs pharmacy. ♪

"action news" continues with meteorologist, adam joseph, jaime apody, rick williams and monica malpass. >> hello again, monica is off tonight and sharrie williams is joining us and here is what is happening on "action news" this evening. hurricane irma is still a deadly category five storm and charges towards the lane land and popular tourist destinations and we have the latest track. and a new jersey senator accused of using his political power for financial gain is now on trial. we'll hear from menendez before he heads back to court. >> first, hurricane irma continues to roar across the caribbean. heading towards puerto rico and

the bahamas and florida right now. >> but reads are moving north in anticipation of the monstrous storm. meteorologist, adam joseph, is tracking irma's movements. with the latest from double scan. >> including florida you want to prepare in georgia and south carolina and north carolina. and they could also take a direct hit from irma. we look at the satellite we see the circular eye and the good out flow of the clouds that continue to fuel this storm right now it is moving to the north of puerto rico. puerto rico is going to be spared from the hurricane force winds but move ago way from the u.s. and british virgin islands and up next is the turk and caicos to take the direct hit. hurricane warnings include turks and caicos and the southern part of the bahamas, and tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches and extends into the central and northern part of the bahamas, still a category five

storm for more than 24 hours, winds sustained at 185 miles per hour. that say record for any hurricane in history. in the atlantic to maintain that strength for this long. and again turks and caicos is friday afternoon as a category five, it squeezes its way through cuba and parts of the bahamas, but the question is, it gets foggy later in time. does it make the very sharp right hand turn and if it does, how sharp is it? it can go anywhere sunday and monday into this cone and uncertainty. and we'll watch this entire area. if it squeezes east of miami. it can make the direct hit in georgia or south carolina also. we'll have more coming up.

john lions posts this video on his instagram accounts, you see how hard the wind is blowing and how heavy the rain is. >> if hurricane irma makes the anticipated hand fall in florida. comcast is opening 137,000 exfinity hot spots in the state of florida. anyone that needs to connect to the internet whether they re subscribers or not will have access through september 15th. and we are tracking hurricane irma through the 6 abc app. we'll alert you to updates, and get the latest from our team of meteorologists for any possible impact here. it's a free download for the mobile device. other news of the day. the federal corruption trial of new jersey senator, bob menendez

got underway today. he is accused of helping a florida doctor in exchange for money. and here is more from newark today. >> bob menendez came to federal court with his son and daughter by his son and supporters applauding him and telling him to stay strong and fight until the end. he is charged with accepting bribes and trips and stays at luxury hotels in exchange for helping a florida doctor with medicare payments. a huge donor for the democratic party. the senator spoke defending his name and his record. >> i have committed my entire adult life since i was 19 to fighting for the people of new jersey. never, not once, not once, have i dishonored my public office. i have spent decades giving voice to those that are

voiceless. >> now, all the jurors who are seated were asked by the judge if there was anything that would make them fair one side over the other and all of them said no and they were all seated. the senator earlier asked if he could be excused during the trial to go back down to washington, d.c. for a major critical votes, that request was denied. >> that was tony reporting from newark. >> in other news tonight. dr. james kauffman accused of bran dishing a gun during a police raid was indicted on weapons charges today. it happened at the office and home of kauffman, authorities alleged he pulled out a 9 millimeter handgun and refused to come out of his home. he is also charged with obstruction. >> new details tonight about a crash involving a dart bus in newcastle. police say that a ford mustang swerved into the path of a ford f-150 pickup truck, it hit the

bus stopped to pick up passengers 273 at east indenburg drive. none of the people on the bus was hurt. police say they issue the multiple citations to the driver of the mustang. now, to the backlash and call to action after president trump announced an end to doca. the obama era -- protected young people from deportation. emily is live with more on that. >> reporter: rick, the back and forth between democrats and republicans is really heating up. the big question now though is will the two sides be able to come together and get something done on daca in the next six months? >> no second points. >> president trump holding firm on his decision to phase out the daca program despite 24 hours of

growing backlash. protests across the country. politicians past and present condemning the move. >> a despicable act of political cowardess. >> meaning the end of the legal status for young people brought to the country as children leaving them at risk of deportation. president trump giving congress six months to come up with a solution. >> president trump was right in his decision, made the right call and gave us time to work out a consensus. >> and the democrats ready for a fight to protect the dreamers. >> we are prepared to attach it to other items this fall until it passes. >> it seemed ready to act as hundreds of families hang in the balance. >> i will be sent back to a country i have never been to.

>> on board air force one expressed confidence in congress believing they care about this and will get something done. in washington, channel 6 "action news." >> okay thank you. people here in our area that are against the repeal of daca made their voices heard outside of republican pat meehan's office in delaware county today. dozens of people brought signs and stood outside demanding he protect dreamers from being deported. david muir will have more on the fallout from the daca decision including opinions and options lawmakers have. watch that following "action news" at 6:00. all right time now for an update on the commute home for your wednesday evening. >> all right lets check in with matt pellman. >> it's really soggy and slow now on 422 westbound side. this is the spot that would be normally busy by route 43, and

extra slow with the wet conditions, westbound from 202 out to collegeville. that 21 minute travel time is going on four times what it should be in the westbound lanes of 422 and farther west on 422 in berks county we have the crash past 662. giving us restrictions and speeds in the teens. and pottstown the crash at high street is cleared out and making progress finally in the lehigh valley. some traffic is now squeezing by the scene of the crash on 78 eastbound squeezing by slowly, 5 miles per hour as you come eastbound from the northeast extension at this point it's not much better on 322 eastbound because people are detouring up there. stay local through allentown and hamilton boulevard will be some possible alternates. willow avenue that sounds like it's in the process of clearing

out and richmond northbound near girard has cleared as well. slow speeds on 95 and the schuylkill. they are not going away any time in the next half hour. and northern delaware north of greenville, look for a crash at 82 and plenty of slowing at the route 1 oxford bypass through the on going work zone but if you want to head to the depford center mall the crash on 55 southbound ate depford blocking the off ramp has cleared and that ramp is now reopened. back over to you. >> thank you matt. still ahead on "action news" at 5:00, more animaled displaced by hurricane harvey are making their way to our region to find shelter and hopefully new homes. we'll give you a look. >> and the school bell was ringing for a group of youngsters in northeast philadelphia and meteorologist, adam joseph, continuing to track the movements with hurricane irma. >> and we'll have that path and the local forecast that has a

huge change from yesterday. upper 80s yesterday and low 60s today and we are still dealing with the rain along the i-95 corridor. we'll look at the local forecast and more on the tropics coming up. >> jeff skversky is coming up with sports including news from eagles phillies and the sixers when "action news" at 5:00 comes right back. i will never wash my hair again. i will never never wash my hair again now, i fuel it pantene: the first shampoo and conditioner system with active pro-v nutrient blends that puts in what other shampoos just strip out. fueling 100% stronger hair. don't just wash your hair fuel it because strong is beautiful. no wonder elle calls pantene "the biggest shampoo breakthrough in 30 years."

there were so much animals rescued from the flood waters in texas. the shelters are overflowing and many are shipped out of the state to hopefully get adopted. 27 dogs from austin arrived at in westchester early this morning at the spca. and they have a saying adopt one and save two. every time someone adopts a dog at brandywine valley it means an opening for another dog from texas. and the spca says that they are in need of donations as well. >> meantime, help is needed for those recovering from hurricane harvey. abc is joining other televisionthet works to put on a benefit next week. beyonce and blake shelton and barbara streisand is participating. it's next week on tuesday september 12, here on 6 abc at

9:00. and jeff skversky is here to talk about the real deal. >> carson wentz says that the team is ready to go and he is in a much better mental state than this time last year. sunday in washington may kick off a new season but carson wentz and the eagles may have a bad taste for the to losses last year and he called the losses frustrating and coach doug peterson maintains he will be aggressive with wentz and the play calling and he wants to send a message he is confident in those guys and just as big as a game at the end of the season with the playoffs on the line gl they are all must wins and i think have you to -- the opener is a very important game, you can set the tempo for the rest of the season and it's the first part of the year and i talked to our guys about starting fast.

>> and going back into offseason workouts and training camp and preseason games we have all sorts of reps and different opportunities against different looks and the dolphins came up and we got to practice against them and ready to go and hopefully start the season off right. >> tackle lane johnson missed both games last season because of the suspense was talking trash and saying they will go down to washington and whoop some butt. >> he is crazy but i don't really care. he is the guy that sets the tone and gets guys going, so be it. all it is is trash talk and it's an edge and mentality. it's a brad new season we need to take it week one. >> the eagles are ready to ball and linebacker, jordan hicks shooting hoops after practice. they looked nice and loose.

and the nfl talked about moving the miami tampa bay game to philadelphia but instead the nfl postponed the game in november during the team's by weeks. >> the phillies are back in new york against the mets and look who is back in the lineup. jt crawford back at third. crawford calls last night's debut and his first career hit a dream come true. and the phils are playing .500 baseball over the last 50 games. while the eagles open this weekend, the sixers are not too far behind. joel embiid and company tip-off training camp if three weeks and they are already talking playoffs and brett brown believes that confidence is a good thing. >> how can it not be? i look forward because our players feel so good about themselves, and that is a great thing. and we'll help them achieve their goals. when they talk like that, you

sort of have a platform to remind them this type of action doesn't equal playoff performance. >> maybe that is brett brown's playoff beard. brett brown looks good like that. >> let them all stay healthy. >> thank you jeff. back to school for one charter school in northeast philadelphia. the keystone academy charter school welcomed back the students for the year and a new building on long shore avenue. the kids in grades k through eighth were back. it's been operating since 2007. students at rowan elementary at west oak lane got a big surprise. scotty's facial tissue partnered with the nonprofit kids in need. gave backpacks to 500 students, each was given their new backpack and sent to the

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-and we slide! -whoo! nah. like this. grab a large or extra large freshly ground, freshly brewed hot coffee for your chance to win. get your celebration ready. dunkin' donuts. this is coffee. this is winning. meteorologist, adam joseph, is here now with a closer look at kind of an interesting forecast. we are dealing with rain and some sun coming out later. and maybe some irmarie lated rain. >> at the end of the forecast the possibility of rain here but at this point not a direct hit

anywhere in the mid-atlantic. we look at the weather center and hurricane irma continues to be a machine revving on high. you see the perfect circular eye. moving to the north of san juan and over saint martin and the british virgin islands and move ago way from puerto rico. they only see tropical storm force winds there and still nasty weather in parts of the caribbean and leading to the dominican republican and haiti not taking a direct hit. winds sustained at 185 that is 24 hours at this magnitude. unheard of for storms of this size. pressure 914 millibars. that continues to drop that is an indication that storms are trying to strengthen or maintaining their intensity. moving north-northwest at 16

miles per hour and gusts of 200 miles per hour around the eye wall. as we move through the caribbean, the turks and caicos will take a direct hit and after that somewhere either florida, georgia, south carolina or north carolina. we are talking about florida a lot but this cone of uncertainty. once we get into the weekend it's so far away, it could be anywhere in this cone path here. miami looks to be a hit right now but if it moved a little to the east it could take a direct hit somewhere near the carolinas, a trough over the weekend from the mid-atlantic to the northeast. way to far to kick the storm out. if the trough is farther south it would move irma away. we have the high pressure protecting us new england and high pressure protecting the deep south near houston. you can't move a hurricane into an area of high pressure, it forces itself between the areas, that is why this whole zone in

the southeast is targeted. as we look at stormtracker 6 live double scan a very wet evening on tap here. and steady showers, philadelphia all points to the north but where it's dry in most of of south jersey rain fills back in as well. it's damp and cool and humid this morning and not the case now temperatures have fallen to 60 and allentown 64 and philadelphia dropping 20 degrees in the last 24 hours, big changes from summer feeling to a fall feeling. there is the rain coming up from the south, a wet night on tap. future tracker 6 with rounds of rain from 9:00, 9:30, early tomorrow morning. by the afternoon tomorrow, the sunshine taking control and a cool breezy day with highs only in the mid-70s. as we look at the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast, a very fall like seven day here. clouds and sun tomorrow and as you go into the weekend, it's quiet and really nice. low humidity and highs 10 to 12

degree below average at times. and clouds start to build and no matter the track of irma we'll see some light rain at minimum next week with temperatures around 74. we'll have more later here and at 10:00 and 11:00 tonight.

right now jim gardner and the "action news" team is standing by with these stories next at 6:00. hurricane irma battered the leeward islands and now taking aim at the united states. >> also, a pennsylvania task force that helped texans in the wake of harvey are shifting their mission to florida. that and more coming up next at 6:00. for monica malpass, meteorologist, adam joseph, cecily tynan, sharrie williams and the entire "action news" team i'm rick williams "action

news" is the 6:00 is next.

"action news" delaware valley's leading news program. wednesday night pennsylvania and delaware join a lawsuit to fight president trump's plan to drop daca. but the big story on "action news" tonight is the thoroughly destructive path of hurricane irma, the category five hurricane is raking across the leeward islands in the caribbean and is heading west.

authorities are already trying to assess damage on islands like saint martin and guadeloupe. and taking a serious toll on puerto rico. the big question in this country where will irma hit the u.s.? preparations are well underway in florida. 25,000 people have already evacuated the florida keys and broward county is under a voluntarily evacuation recommendation. there say rush on stores and gas stations and florida obviously is preparing fort worst. lets get the latest on the storm from meteorologist, cecily tynan. >> the focus is on florida but anyone from florida up to the carolinas needs to start preparing for the storm. this storm system has not lost any of its power. it rakes through the northern leeward islands through the british virgin islands and you can see that eye wall still clearly defined and north of puerto rico and continues to push north northwest and