countdown to what could be one of the most destructive storms in the history of the u.s. >> tonight the clock is ticking for residents to leave. florida's governor said today "we are running out of time." we have team coverage for you as hurricane irma bears down. "action news" reporter and anchor brian taff live in okeechobee tonight, gray hall at philadelphia international airport where folks of course are trying to escape the storm by coming here. >> let's begin with meteorologist cecily tynan who has been tracking irma tonight and she has the very latest. cecily. >> rick and monica, i just got an update from the national hurricane center and it brings hurricane irma into the florida keys as a cat five hurricane. now, it has weakened somewhat today. maximum sustained winds 155 miles per hour, that's only 2 miles per hour south of the cat five but what happened is because it was an eye wall replacement cycle. so, what this means, the maximum sustained windy creased a little bit but it expands the storm. the eye wall went from 25 miles across to 40 so that will really spread out the

hurricane force winds, a much broader area so that is bad news. you can see the center of the storm right now north of cuba and what's happening, it's moving into warmer waters. waters south of miami is about 90 degrees so that likely will intensify the storm. this is the latest track, we just got this in and this brings it into the central keys of florida near marathon as a cat five hurricane early in the morning on sunday, 160-mile maximum sustained winds, that is the strongest category hurricane. it pushes inland near naples marco island and continuing to push it up the spine, west of the spine of the panhandle as a category one hurricane, cal storm near jacksonville and then pushing near atlanta, that will bring some flooding rains, also some storm surge. so, we do have now hurricane warnings across all of south florida from west palm beach to naples area to the south. the watches from melbourne to tampa. part of the problem its a

storm surge, it's inland flood, iind. this is going to be a widespread high wind event. we're looking at wind gust near key largo sunday morning 122 miles per hour. i'll have more details on this storm coming up in the full accuweather forecast. back to you. >> thank you, cecily. obviously there is a dire warning tonight from the chief of fema who says hurricane irma is going to "devastate the united states." more than 8 million properties in florida are now said to be at significant risk for potential wind damage. right now the focus is on getting the people out. elected officials are making sure that message is heard loud and clear. >> nobody in florida that i know has ever experienced a category four or five storm making landfall. the nation has only seen three category five storms since 1851. >> 1.3 million people have been ordered to evacuate florida but they are having a hard time leaving. in miami alone, nearly 40 percent of gas stations are out of fuel. and when it comes to air travel, airlines are adding seats but many flights are

still completely sold out. >> all right, "action news" anchor brian taff traveled to florida this afternoon. >> he joins us livow from okeechobee florida with more on the situation on the ground. brian. >> reporter: hi, guys. it's been an extraordinary day, an extraordinarily eerie day. typically travel related delays come with a lot of frustrations. not the case today. these frustrations are completely understood as everyone is simply trying to get someplace safe. ours began this morning quite frankly before we even left philadelphia. our flight delayed because of a crush of last minute air traffic trying to get into florida to get people safely out of florida. obviously it's not just air traffic that's an issue here today. take a look at some video, some incredible video showing the scene on the florida turnpike here today. you can see the northbound lanes absolutely jammed. the southbound side, though, you could put a bowling ball down those lanes. there was no one on those lanes save for us, save for first responders and police

trying to get safely where they're going. obviously all those cars that are heading north need gas. and to that end we just launched drone6, a few minutes ago here where we are. we're at a rest stop in okeechobee florida, just about 115 miles north of the miami area. take a look at what we saw from this bird's eye perspective, a line of cars which goes back out to the highway, police officers trying to maintain an orderly process of getting gasoline and fuel to these cars which are then trying get out as quickly as they can. let's come on back out live here and i'm going to introduce you to lieutenant lester colter from the florida highway patrol. lieutenant thank you so much for joining us. >> yes, sir. >> obviously your message has gotten out there. people are heeding your warning. you must be pleased. >> we're pleased. we're glad people are leaving going to a safe location. our job is to get them there safe. >> people tend to be in good spirits. what are you encountering here. >> well, yes, they have been

in very good spirits. we've had a few here and there but for the most part everybody's been cooperative. we're just trying to keep an orderly fashion so that we can keep the traffic from backing out onto the main line so we can keep that open so right now as you can see, it's pretty successful. there have been times where it's come close, though. >> finally lieutenant what do you expect the next 24, 48 hours to bring for you and your team. >> well, we're going to be doing a a lot of directly traffic, we're going to be making sure that people aren't broke down on the highway. we're going to be assessing the highway and making sure we can help people anyway that we can. we'll be out all the way through the storm and ride it out as best we can. >> okay. our thanks to you and your team, sir. thank you for the good work. keep it up throughout the weekend. florida very much counting on people like lieutenant colter and his team. some of them frustrated as they try to get out. it's difficult to get north in this state today. of course we are heading south as we continue to tell the story of this storm, a story

very much yet to unfold. we are live in okeechobee, brian taff, channel6 "action news." guys. >> all right, brian, thank you again. and as brian mentioned folks are trying to get out any way they can tonight. this is a live look from the flight tracking web site flight radar 24 showing all of the flights headed out of the area. and as you can see, many of those planes are headed away from the miami area and up the coast. many airlines have added planes to try to get as many people out as quickly as possible. and many of those evacuees coming to philadelphia. "action news" reporter gray hall joins us live tonight from philadelphia international airport with that part of our coverage. gray. >> reporter: well, rick, as you know many people in florida scrambling to get out of that state right now many evacuees heading here to our area. many folks we talked to say the scene in florida right now is chaotic. >> it was the hurricane, we can't stay there so it's too dangerous. >> everybody keeps thinking we'll be okay, we'll be okay.

many friends and family members decided to stay but, you know, to me i don't even -- i don't even want to see the rain, i don't want to hear the tornado warnings, i just don't want to know. >> reporter: for those who cut their vacation short to those evacuating florida hurricane irma is a furious and dangerous threat. all public schools, universities and state offices in florida are closed today as the state braces for a direct hit from hurricane irma. evacuees are happy that they are out safe but worried about those left behind and what they will return to. >> i'm just scared about the size of it because it's going to go up the middle now so it's going to take out a lot more. we were hoping it was going to go east but i don't think so. >> reporter: many in florida have been kicked out of their hotels and are showing up to the airports hoping for a flight anywhere out of harm's way. airlines have added over 10,000 seats since wednesday out of the miami and fort lauderdale areas. thousands are trying to leave before airport operations shut down and they are stranded. those who made it safely and here to our area are counting their blessings.

>> it depends where we're hit. in the keys i'm not too often, i hate to say that but we'll see what happens. we go back next week and see what happens. >> reporter: donna olsen greeted her family from florida with tears and hugs. >> we don't know how long they're going to be staying 'cause we don't know what they can go home to. but at least they're here and like the governor said, you know, he said we can replace your homes, we can replace your cars. you can never replace your family. >> reporter: all right. so, back out live we can tell you that several airports have already announced they will be suspending service as the storm gets closer to florida. we can tell you that the last flights here at the philadelphia international airport from fort lauderdale gets here at about 10:30 tonight. that's the latest from fort lauderdale from philadelphia international airport, gray hall, channel6 "action news." monica. >> gray, and of course we're tracking the path of hurricane irma for you in our 6abc app. we will alert you to any updates as the storm progresses. you can also get the latest

from our team of meteorologists on any possible impact here. that's 6abc app a free download for your mobile device. >> breaking news out of medford, new jersey, now, where a helicopter has crashed killing two people. of those killed, was troy gentry of the popular country duo montgomery gentry. this happened just before 1:00 this afternoon in a field near the runway of the flying w airport. gentry was 50 years old. we still do not know if he was the pilot or the passenger or what led to the accident. the band had been scheduled to perform this evening at a venue at the airport. we will keep you updated throughout the evening as more information becomes available. >> a disturbing story out of delaware county where more than two dozen bags of the deadly opioid fentanyl were found in a parking lot of an elementary school, those bags were found by parents waiting outside saint bernadette school in drexel hill waiting for their children. vernon odom live at upper darby police department headquarters with the latest.

vernon. >> reporter: good evening, monica. deadly narcotics found in the lot of a small catholic school here in upper darby, appalling and frightening and angering are the words being used by many parents in their reaction to this. police tell me they are now closing in on a prime suspect. today upper darby police released these pictures of 29 plastic bags of fentanyl packaged for sale. they were found yesterday by a parent in the parkinging lot of the saint bernadette school in drexel hill. fentanyl is a deadly opioid derivative more powerful than heroin. police believe it was dropped at the school accidentally. >> when you look at where it was found and you look at the circumstances in which it was found in my opinion based on my experience i believe there was probably a parent of one of the children or a guardian of one of the children who dropped it. >> reporter: superintendent chitwood emphasized that the

saint bernadette school handled the situation perfectly immediately call police. the drug itself is extremely dangerous if it's inhaled or even handled. this stash was locked tight in baggies. many parents would not discuss the threat but those who did are quite upset. >> i am shocked. you know, if i found out that there was a parent or a guardian of one of the students, i would be appalled. >> reporter: again, monica, rick, police say they are focusing on a prime suspect tonight in this case. i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news," live in upper darby. >> vernon, thank you for that report. time now for a check of our "action news" traffic report for your friday night. >> all right, take it live to matt pelman again in the "action news" traffic center. what's new, matt. >> oh, boy, rick and monica, we've reached the hour mark on the travel time on 42 northbound. that's about eight times what it ideally should be. it's a milestone we didn't

wish to reach but miles and miles of jammed solid traffic on route 42 thanks to this. my friend donna on twitter tweeted this picture. it's right here in the work zone taking out two lanes along 42 northbound side. so, we are at a standstill coming north of coles road up to that accident scene with delays, bad delays spilling back onto 55 and 295. you want to avoid this whole area around the curve this afternoon. stay on roads like route 30 the white horse pike, 47, even 130. 295, 55 and 42 are an absolute mess. in delaware it's getting better. overturned vehicle southbound on 95 in wilmington is gone. and in pennsylvania, just the normal fair but that means still single digit speeds along 95 and the schuylkill expressway. we'll check it again, rick and monica, coming up in the next half hour. >> will do. more still ation news" fridu about the award that will further their mission.

>> later philadelphia now has competition as it vies to become amazon's second world headquarters. why the state of delaware says it is the place amazon should call home. that and more when "action news" comes right back. >> ♪ ♪ leave it to the pros?

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>> health check tonight a group people in our area are working to improve the lives of others. now they're hoping to help further their mission. >> ali gorman joins us at the big board with details. hi ali. >> hi guys. be well philly which is part of philadelphia magazine has its annual health hero challenge under way. it's a contest that helps support local charities and also shines the spotlight on people making philadelphia a better place to live. the nominees are in and voting has started. fisher editor of be well philly says this year's health hero challenge highlights a wide range of local people working to improve the lives of others. >> we have some really, really interesting people. so, who are hitting healthcare and health from all different angles. >> from a librarian fighting the opioid epidemic a nonprofit helping kids get dental care. these are just a few of the nominees. it's narrowed down to 10 semifinal lifts. vote for your favorite every

day until september 18th. then three finalists will emerge. >> i think just voting that act of voting is giving you an opportunity to help make change in philadelphia. >> the finalists will be rallying for their charity the winner gets a $10,000 donation. the two runners up each get $2,500 from philadelphia magazine and partner independence blue cross. she says they received hundreds of nominations. the contest now in its sixth year gives well deserved recognition to good people doing great things. >> hopefully it gets the community more involved in issues they might not have known were issues or in issues they're already passionate about. >> and you can read all about each semifinal lifts and what they're doing to help the community as we said voting is now opened and going until september 18th. we have a link on 6abc.com/health check. rick and monica. >> all right, ali, thank you. >> terrific. >> quick break, more news right after this. stay with us. >> ♪

>> they cut the ribbon on a brand new acme in south philadelphia today. it's on snyder plaza on snyder avenue. swoops and the eagles cheerleaders were there. customers got to enjoy some free good food from the grille

and raffles as well. an acme gave the first 150 shoppers into the store free bag of groceries. well, we told you yesterday how philadelphia intends to submit a proposal to become amazon's second world headquarters. now delaware is getting in on the action as well. the state's governor announced today that the diamond state will make a pitch to amazon to locate its new headquarters there. governor john carney says the state offers a nurturing environment for business and a great place to live and work. amazon announced it's building a second headquarters and is accepting proposals from cities throughout north america. >> the city of philadelphia celebrating international literacy day. it was established by the united nations 51 years ago. the goal of course helping people reach their full potential regardless of geography race gender or class. mayor jim kenney delivered remarks during today's event at city hall. he says there will be a number of city wide educational events throughout the entire month of september. >> much more still ahead on "action news" at 5:30.

a check of the forecast for you on a friday. >> let's take you live outside, sky6 hd is looking from penn's landing at the ben franklin bridge looking good. meteorologist cecily tynan with that weekend forecast and the latest on hurricane irma when "action news" comes right back. >> ♪ do you really use head & shoulders? no, not really. i knew that not the one you think you know the tri action formula cleans removing up to 100% of flakes protects and even moisturizes for sofia vergara hair

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>> amazing new images this afternoon of hurricane irma and hurricane josé as seen from the international space station. check this out. the space station flew over the storms before noon today. you can see just how imposing the eye of the storm is from space even. >> wow. >> hm. >> time for the accuweather forecast. meteorologist cecily tynan has also been keeping a close eye on irma. you've got some pretty interesting pictures your way as well. >> i want to talk about the wind damage with irma and the scale which is all about wind and potential for damage. we'll head over to the "action news" weather center and i'll show you when we're talking about a cat one, this is the lowest category of a hurricane. we're looking at minimal damage as far as the winds. major potential for flooding when you have a cat one, could be some tree branches brought down, but that's about it. then you become a cat two. this is when we have extensive damage, a lot of damage to structures, a lot of trees will be brought down. a cat three is when it's a major hurricane. this is when the storm surge

gets involved and this is also when we can see roofs blown off of homes, exterior walls of homes can be destroyed trees can be snapped and then a cat four. this is catastrophic. this is when a lot of homes can be actually destroyed, trees can be uprooted, cat 5's also catastrophic. and this is when we can see the homes flattened and this is actually what the national weather service is is calling for when irma makes landfall across the florida keys. so, this is something we really have to take very seriously. also, the the size of the storm is about the size of texas and the eye wall has been getting bigger. it's about 40 miles across so that will spread out the most intensive winds along the eye wall to a larger surface so this is just all bad news and there's pretty good consensus with the commuter models. when you look at the spaghetti plot you can see how they're really concentrated right across southwest florida, across key wet near fort myers

east of tampa and this is where the national weather service is saying most likely track will be over the week. and it's really a three-way punch. we have the wind damage i showed you that at the top of the forecast, we have the storm surge, the southeast coast we're looking at five to 10-foot storm surge. the southwest coast even more than that, up to about 12 feet and then the rainfall causing the fresh water flooding east of the center, rain about 10 to 15-inches and the flooding rains will continue to push into even georgia as the storm weakens to a tropical storm. back at home, it's a beautiful day. 72 in philadelphia. 75 in millville. 71 in allentown and reading. 71 definitely a cool day. satellite and radar showing some clouds bubbling up as a reinforcing shot of cool air moves in tonight, another cold front. tonight if you're heading to friday night football games great weather for it. a few clouds, a little bit on the breezy side, winds up to about 12 miles an hour.

kickoff temperature 68. by the fourth quarter, 62 degrees and we, of course, will have game highlights on high school huddle after "action news" at 11:00 tonight. your forecast for saturday is looking nice but it is going to be cool. down the shore bright sunshine, 70, be careful. high risk of rip currents thanks to irma. a lot of lifeguards aren't on duty any so good idea to stay out of the water. philadelphia 71 degrees. the poconos, take a sweater, the high only 60 with overnight lows in the 40's. so, the five day at 5:00 showing tomorrow mix of sun and clouds, great football weather, 71. sunday 74. monday 76. on tuesday, clouds thicken, some rain arriving tuesday night thanks to irma, 73 degrees. and wednesday some rain from irma but here it's just like we're really not getting a big impact with a high of 74. we'll have more details in the seven-day forecast a little bit later on. back to you guys. >> all right, cecily, thank you. much more still ahead in our next half hour of "action news" at 5:30. >> that's right. we'll be right back so stick

around.

>> ♪ >> "action news" continues with meteorologist adam joseph, jaime apody, rick williams and monica malpass. >> ♪ >> hello again. here's what's happening on "action news" tonight. the body of a cherry hill

sailor killed on the u.s. mccain last month has now returned home. the search is on for a gunman who killed a spring garden father right in front of his young daughter and hurricane irma has people fleeing florida ahead of her weekend arrival. meantime the category four storm is on track to hit florida sunday morning and of course millions of people are in its path. >> in fact every single flight out of miami today was sold out. some people say they couldn't get a seat and are now planning to ride out the storm at the airport. meteorologist adam joseph is live at the "action news" big board tonight with irma's latest track. >> the latest track shifted a little bit to the west from earlier this afternoon. right now still a category four storm but only 1 miles per hour shy of a cat five. it's at 155 miles an hour moving to the west at 12 about 345 miles away from miami at this point but the latest update brings it in as a category five, would be sunday morning at this time period with winds near 160 miles an hour sustained, winds gusting

to near 200 anywhere near key largo, marathon to key west and then towards naples florida and then it will that continue to work up the western coast of florida but still affecting the entire state giving the shear -- given the shear scope and size of the storm, even near fort myers as a category four and then it's down to a tropical storm in northern florida near jacksonville and then becomes a tropical depression by tuesday in atlanta. storm surge, so it's the kind of triple threat you have the wind storm surge and fresh water flooding. even on the east coast of florida five to 10-foot storm surge, that's a wall of water that comes in with the actual hurricane. six to 12 feet on the west coast which includes marco island and as far north as fort myers and also the keys. in addition we're taking a look at the wave heights with this particular hurricane anywhere between 20 and 30 plus foot swells near the center of the storm but notice how at this point florida is being protected by the island

so all those really large waves are propagating and funneling their way north and through some of these islands and that continues all the way up to the carolinas and even propagating as far north as the midatlantic where our swells are coming up to around 5 feet so that's our concern locally here this weekend if you're heading to the shore very dangerous rip currents with large swells and again, those wave heights in florida really start to increase once that hurricane starts to round the bend around cuba as well as the bahamas. we'll have much more on our local forecast and updates with irma and also i'll give you a quick little tidbit on josé coming up in that seven-day forecast. rick. >> quite a busy night weather-wise. thank you adam. we'll check back in later. the airports in florida are packed at this hour especially miami international. people are trying to escape before irma hits and the airports shut down because of dangerous winds. florida's governor is warning residents in south florida they only have hours to get out.

abc's molly hunter joins us from daytona beach another area that's also bracing for the monstrous storm. >> if you're told to evacuate leave, get out quickly. >> reporter: florida governor rick scott pleading with floridians and tourists to get out and get out now any way they can. >> evacuations are not convenient. but the goal is for them to be safe. >> reporter: at airports across the state, desperate vacationers are showing up without reservations. >> i was trying to find flights and it's just been awful. we haven't slept, barely eaten since we've been here just trying to find a way out. >> reporter: long lines and angry passengers airlines have added nearly 11,000 more seats trying to bring in bigger planes. american airlines adding more than 4300, united more than 1500 and delta more than 5,000. airlines even capping fares starting at $99 amid complaints of price gouging. >> like everybody is evacuating everybody has to

go. >> reporter: but right now every single flight sold out. look at this screen shot this cluster of planes more than 300 flights leaving florida today. >> are you planning to ride the storm out at the airport. >> if need be this is where i'll be 'cause i don't want to be in the middle of it. i want to go home but it's nothing else i can do right now. >> reporter: and that's exactly what officials want to avoid. miami international's just announced they'll bring passengers without flights to shelters in the area. and for those who hit the road we're up on i-95 it's one of the main freeways moving north and up near us it's moving fine, down south. officials say 4,000 cars an hour are passing through before it's too late. molly hunter, abc news, daytona beach. >> walt disney world is closing its doors this weekend in florida. disney officials say the parks will be opened tomorrow but all the fireworks shows are canceled. all four of the theme parks will be closed sunday and monday. the plan is to resume normal

operations tuesday. all the resorts will stay opened themselves so guests have a place to stay to ride out the storm. "action news" anchor brian taff just arrived in florida this afternoon and he will have another live report for us at 6:00 as well as throughout the weekend as that storm bears down on the u.s. irma by the way, isn't the only hurricane in the atlantic. there are two others captured by nasa's satellites today. hurricane katia expected to make landfall early saturday morning. hurricane irma in the bahamas making her way towards florida as you know and hurricane josé, a category three storm near the leeward islands. this is the first time since 2010 that there have been three active hurricanes in the atlantic ocean. we are also tracking the path of hurricane irma for you in our 6abc app. we'll alert to you any updates as that huge storm progresses and get the latest from our team of meteorologists on any possible impact here. the 6abc app a free download

for your mobile device. >> a developing story. troy gentry of the duo montgomery gentry has died in a medford burlington county plane crash. chopper6 hd flew over the scene at the flying w airport and resort along fostertown road. the helicopter went down just after 1 o'clock killing two men on board. one was pronounced dead at the scene, the other at virtua memorial hospital. montgomery gentry was scheduled to perform at 5 o'clock at the resort. gentry's family says they and appreciate the kind thoughts and prayers reason asking for privacy tonight. as we get more details we will bring them to you. turning to other news, police continue to look for the gunman that killed a spring garden father in front of his two-year-old daughter. happened last night along the 1500 block of mellon street where the victim lived. "action news" reporter bob brooks joins us from that neighborhood with the latest on the investigation. bob. >> reporter: rick, the victim is 38-year-old girard

grandzol. i spoke with so many neighbors around here, they have nothing but amazing things to say about him and according to police, he made the ultimate sacrifice for his daughter. according to police girard grandzol gave his life to save his daughter's. it was last night around 8:00 p.m. calls from the 1500 block of mellon street in spring garden came. in a man had been shot in the head. he wouldn't survive. then police would start to reveal details that it was grandzol and he was approached by suspects in their late teens or early 20's while parking his suv. police first say they took his wallet then they wanted his suv but his daughter was inside and investigators say he wouldn't give it up. >> they wanted the car. he wouldn't give up the car. and they shot him for it. >> reporter: one of the neighbors here says he watched it happen after the fact on security footage. >> they had him by the arm. he wasn't resisting or anything and then the one just pulled the trigger and they both ran. >> reporter: neighbors we spoke with here spent a lot of day consoling each other. they also tell us grand sol

worked hard to make sure everyone felt at home here. >> he was the party of the block too. he just brought everybody to life. >> reporter: and what he loved more than anything was his daughters and his wife. >> and he would walk his daughter to school down this street every morning pushing the daughter walking the dog and then walking -- in the afternoon walking her home again and he would always whistle, too. he was always the happiest man. >> reporter: you can see many families live here on this street. i'm also told grandzol was a member of the spring garden civic association that he worked very hard to make this a safe place to make this a safe neighborhood to prevent situations like this happening here. reporting live in spring garden, bob brooks channel6 "action news". >> bob thank you for that report. the body of a south jersey sailor killed during an accident at sea has returned home tonight. today the warriors watch riders gave kenneth smith an

escort back to his native cherry hill. the naval electronics technician was one of 10 sailors who died when the u.s.s. john mccain collided with an oil tanker in singapore. the 22-year-old smith attended cherry hill east high school. he was posthumously promoted to the rank of second class. >> time right now for a check of our "action news" traffic report on a friday. >> try to get that that weekend started right as folks try to get home on a friday. let's get the update on the commute home tonight. matt. >> this is not how you want to get it started sitting in traffic on 42 and my, oh, my, what a delay rick and monica, now 60 means an even hour as you try and head northbound that's about eight times what it should be to come north on 42 and it's all thanks to this. a truck on its side right in the work zone by 295. two left lanes blocked. this happened just after 3:30 this afternoon and my friend, donna, was traveling northbound on 42, stopped in the jam, she took a picture of the undercarriage of the truck. no opportunity to upright it

yet so the lanes are still blocked. the traffic comes to a standstill at blackwood-clementon road and that really bad delay continues up to 295. the delay spills back onto 55, back onto 295 and southbound's also extra heavy with a gaper delay so those delays spilling back onto 676. back across the walt whitman bridge. if you're coming into jersey this afternoon don't take the walt. head up to the ben, even the betsy or down to the commodore and once you're in the garden state think roads like 130, 47, route 30, the white horse pike. 42, 55, 295 are all to be avoided. this is the pennsylvania turnpike westbound near valley forge. a crash. looks like they just have it pushed off to the side but it's still heavy westbound away from norristown and in solebury township bucks county bad crash has closed windy bush road all afternoon near aqua tong so 32 or 202 would be better bets. on the big picture typical friday afternoon fare with plenty of single digit speeds on 95 and the schuylkill but have a good weekend nonetheless, rick and monica.

>> we will. thank you, matt. >> still to come on "action news" tonight irma isn't the only natural disaster wreaking havoc. >> that's right. we'll take you to mexico where crews are looking for survivors after the most powerful earthquake in a century there. >> the pennsylvania spca is offering some free adoptions right now. find out which company is making that possible. >> and meteorologist adam joseph tracking the latest in the "action news" weather center this evening. >> yeah, we're tracking a quiet weekend for us. we're also tracking irma and also josé which is a major category four hurricane as well heading towards the leeward islands but for us right now we're in the low 70's. just a few clouds out there. we'll talk about, again, our weekend and the tropics coming up in that seven-day forecast. >> a lot going on plus jeff skversky tells us how the eagles are getting ready for their first regular season game. all that coming up next. >> all right.

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>> ♪ >> developing news out of mexico tonight where crews are digging through the rubble of buildings that collapsed during what was the most powerful earthquake there in a century. the quake was an 8.1 magnitude and struck off the country's southern coast in the middle of the night local time. at least 35 people were reported killed but officials expect that death toll to climb. the quake is stronger than the one that hit mexico city back in 1985 which killed thousands

of people. >> jeff skversky here for ducis. eagles less than two days away from the big game sunday. >> got off to a great start last year trying to do it again this year down in d.c. the eagles are 100 percent healthy heading into sunday's season opener in washington as carson wentz and the eagles trying to avoid losing six straight to the redskins something that has not happened in 33 years. wentz wants to put an end to the issues with the redskins. torrey smith and alshon jeffrey will make their debuts. wentz will be targeting jeffrey who can make those one handed grabs. >> i'm excited. can't wait to get started. can't see -- we going to be out there. can't wait. >> we know he'll get his touches get his receptions and yeah we're not over excited but we know what he can do. >> tough break for john dorenbos. eds open heart surgery immediately to repair an

aortic an aneurysm. now the saints want to rescind the trade because it was a preexisting condition. the former eagles teammates feel for dorenbos. >> the situation that he's in it could be a blessing in disguise just given the fact that, you know, he thought he was, you know, going to want to be here and play another year but you look at a situation in the short term doesn't seem to quite make sense but in the long term look at what's happened now and so, you know, it could have saved his life possibly even so, you know, i think so often we look at things at such a short sighted view and don't see the big picture and this could be one of those times. >> the eagles on the road temple football is coming home. the owls play their home opener tomorrow against villanova at the linc. temple spent all week in practice trying to recover after allowing over 600 yards to notre dame. now they face a high scoring villanova team who they will

play for the first time in five years. ducis rodgers going one-on-one with temple coach geoff collins. >> how dangerous of an opponent could this be. >> the second you turn on the tape you know they're a really good opponent. they've got nine returning starters. the quarterback quarterback is a lefty. big offensive line. on defense they do some things we might not see the rest of the season so we need blitz packages you need coverages in front some really good players especially that secondary they got some really good players arguably one of the best safeties in the country number 4t we got a healthy respect for him. our players the second the game was over at notre dame lee johnson son came up to me and said one name. he said villanova. >> more on the temple-villanova game tomorrow in the 9:30 half hour of "action news." phillies and nationals back at it tonight in d.c. j.p. crawford in the lineup.

flyers goalie anthony stolarz is out indefinitely after having surgery on his left knee to repair a meniscus tear. bad news for him as he's trying to fight for a job and get meaningful minutes in the nhl. we'll see what happens but he may be stuck down in the ahl all season. >> when are you leaving for the eagles redskins game. >> tomorrow. >> quick break and we'll be right back. megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a month online for the first year. plus hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier.

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>> if you're thinking of adding a furry family member you'll want to head to the pennsylvania spca right away. zappos is sponsoring free adoption. the offer is only good through closing time. zappos is covering adoptions for 11 weeks in different cities. >> time to check that accuweather story. good for us, awful for florida. >> hard to talk about such great weather for this upcoming weekend here when you're thinking about our folks in florida as well as the leeward islands which josé is barreling down on. there's a lot to talk about as we look at hurricane irma first again as a very dangerous category four hurricane entering the warmest waters that it has encountered and that warm water is basically like water vapor. it is the fuel to these type of storms and that water that

is just to the west of the bahamas and just to the south of miami is very deep as well so it can kind of pull up the warmer waters once it uses those warmer waters at the surfaces and then it replaces it and that's what's going to maintain the strength of the storm if not deepen it even farther. winds right now sustained 155 a cat five would be 156 so it's basically there at a cat five. pressure 925 millibars moving to the west at 12 with maximum wind gusts up to close to 200 miles an hour. as we track hurricane irma it will come very close to the northern coast of cuba but stay over the open waters, the eye that is. that would be tomorrow afternoon. then early sunday morning around 2:00 a.m. we'll start to approach -- it will start to approach key west marathon florida all the keys as a category five with winds sustained 160 miles an hour. the last time i think the keys saw a storm of this magnitude was probably 1935 with that labor day hurricane and then it will head towards fort

myers as a strong category four. still sustained 145 miles an hour winds on sunday afternoon and then cuts across across the entire state of florida monday and on tuesday starts to fall apart in atlanta and also east of this track where the low is the actual center of the storm you'll deal with a lot of tornadoes on the east side of the eye. in addition, we are tracking hurricane josé which is a strong category four hurricane heading towards some of the islands that were affected by irma. they're already devastated and you're talking about a category four near barbuda antigua and also clipping parts of saint martin and part of the british virgin islands and then it heads out to sea. as we look at the forecast right now here locally at home we're all in the upper 60's to low 70's, really a nice friday evening. a few cumulus clouds, a few scattered showers up towards the lehigh valley but this will fall apart overnight tonight and just a few clouds will be around for the remainder of your friday night. cool, crisp, 40's in the

suburbs, 56 for the city and then for the weekend, high pressure comes in and this is what protects us from irma and rips it apart once it heads into southern parts of georgia. 74 to 75. 74 saturday, 75 on sunday but a high risk for rip currents if you're heading to the shore due to irma and also because of those winds wrapping around the high. the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast again a really nice weekend. low 70's for highs. monday still equally as nice at 76. a few light rain showers coming in late tuesday, tuesday night, early wednesday because of irma put again, not looking at heavy rain here and then beyond that looking really good thursday, friday, just some sunshine and clouds and still way below average and very comfortable in the mid 70's. we'll have more "action news" coming up right after this break.

>> ♪ >> right now the "action news" team is standing by with these stories and up next at 6:00. florida is barreling down as

residents prepare -- hunker down. we'll have a live report from "action news" anchor brian taff. >> deadly drugs are discovered at a delaware county elementary school. we'll have those stories and much more on hurricane irma coming up next at 6:00 for adam joseph, cecily tynan jaime apody rick williams all of us i'm monica malpass. join me for "action news" at 6:00 next.

>> ♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program. with ducis rodgers, meteorologist cecily tynan and jim gardner. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> friday night, jim is off. i'm monica malpass. and in the news the deadly drug fentanyl is found at a delaware county elementary school.

country music singer troy gentry killed in a chopper crash today in south jersey. but the big story on "action news" tonight is the final preparations for irma's impact on florida. more than 660,000 residents must evacuate and find hurricane proof shelter. the county plans to open 43 shelters with room for more than 1,000 people by tonight. hundreds of thousands have already fled in anticipation of irma's winds and storm surge. many roads leaving the state have been jammed with traffic. florida governor rick scott is warning residents in south florida they only have hours left to evacuate. "action news" anchor brian taff is in florida with more on the evacuations and hurricane preparations. gray hall is at philadelphia international airport where folks are arriving on some of those final flights from florida but first let's get the latest track of hurricane irma from meteorologist cecily tynan. >> monica, the national hurricane center is sending out dire warnings to the residents in the florida keys to get out now because t