news" tonight is the relentless march of hurricane maria leaving utter devastation in her wake. >> maria was just downgraded to a category two storm but was a monster category four when she roared on to puerto rico's shore this morning many the hurricane parked winds of 155 miles per hour wiping out power to the entire island and tearing down cell towers and snapping trees and now there is fears of flooding and maria is the strongest hurricane to hit puerto rico in more than 80 years and the death toll is not yet known but the carnage left behind is beginning to become rather clear. meteorologist, adam joseph, standing by with where maria goes from here and fears it may strengthen again but lets begin with walter perez and the story of local families worried sick

about their loved ones stuck in this storm. >> reporter: that is right brian. before this well thing is over at least a foot of rainfall will be dumped on puerto rico and that is after this hurricane devastated other smaller islands including dominica. melissa is from allentown but attending medical school on the island of dominica. and the last time she spoke with her daughter was monday night a short time before the storm made landfall. >> now that she is out of the way she is stressful not knowing what the situation it like. nor is she safe or any of the kids safe? >> of course hurricane maria set its sights on puerto rico. and police captain javier rodriguez says a huge portion of his family is there and after seeing what it did to small islands in the caribbean he is

terrified. >> some pueblos are condensed and you don't know what the damage will cause once the rivers start to overflow and how long it will be before the roads become impassable. >> council woman sanchez who also as family on the island says it will be no surprise if the population rises over the coming month. >> there say growing population of puerto ricans and we expect that to be amplified we expect more people to leave as quickly as they can after the storm. >> but fundraisers and charity events are organized for the many people that remain and rebuild. >> we are utilizing it's upcoming cultural events for what is going on in puerto rico and more importantly to raise monetary donations. >> and that was donna here in south philadelphia referring to september being spanish heritage

month and no shortage of opportunity for people to help and give what they can including the puerto rican parade that airs life on 6 abc this sunday. more on those developments coming up in the next several days. water perez channel 6 "action news." >> walter thank you. meteorologist, adam joseph, is tracking the hurricane's destructive path and where it is headed tonight. what is the latest on this. >> the center of the storm is back over the open waters of the atlantic now and fuels itself once again as it passes north of puerto rico. a huge storm that takes over from the dominican republic back to guadeloupe here still feeling the effects of the storm as it slowly lifts to the north and west. we have many historical storms this particular hurricane season, we have harvey and irma that broke a lot of records and now maria doing the same and dominica monday night at 9:15 made landfall at a category

five. the first five to hit that land ever. and early this morning in the southeastern part of puerto rico made landfall at a cat four with wins of 155 but winds of 166 would be a category five. a strong four and weak five making it the strongest landfalling hurricane in 85 years for puerto rico. and it encountered land now weak and don't to the category two but over water favorable environment to pump it back up to a three near the turks and caicos on early friday morning, winds of 120 miles per hour be weaken to a one as it hits colder waters off the coastline of north and south carolina. and this needs to be monitoring early next week wednesday and thursday as it passes somewhere by our coastline. how close too early to tell this. we'll have much more on maria as well as our local forecast summer like in the full accuweather forecast.

>> adam, thank you. meanwhile jose may be moving farther from our coast at this hour but the tropical storm left behind floodwaters and a lot of beach erosion. chopper 6 hd surveyed the jersey shore with the ponding is back behind the dunes of margate because of the pounding waves and several streets in strathmere were swamped. gray hall is live in north wildwood one of the towns in cleanup mode trying to repair the damage to the beaches from the rough surf. what is the story there? >> reporter: we don't have to tell that you jose did not make a direct impact but caused millions in damage when it comes to beach erosion. seeing it from the ground does not do it justice. have you to see it from the air. drone 6 flying above the darth here in north wildwood, new jersey. you see the damage caused by the lashing of jose as it hit the coast and took tons of sand out

to sea. >> we brought sand in here the last two years and both times it has been completely wipe add way. frustrating and expensive. north wildwood mayor says that beach erosion is a constant problem and drone 6 showed the damage churning off the coast. and ate away at the beach eating away at the erosion and take $2 million to repair the damage. the wildwoods are the only area in the state of new jersey not under the army corps of engineer under a state project. they saw the impact from high tide, the seas causing flooding and water jumping over the sea wall. >> last night the waves were crashing over the gazebo and it was rather frightening. >> i was scared. in montreal we are not used to that. >> not everyone saw jose as a menace. surfers told "action news" they live for this type of weather

and caution this is dangerous. >> my friend starts surfing and won't go in the water. have you to respect for the ocean and know your limits. >> crews are working to repair the sand. and in jeopardy of collapsing because of the erosion and the mayor wants to move away from a sand solution repair and hopes to use heartening structures like a sea wall. >> the erosion we saw in these couple of blocks was the most significant we have seen in over a decade here. >> back out live, drone 6 giving you another image of the erosion damage here in north wildwood. the mayor says that workers are out tomorrow to try to replenish the sand at the beach ain plan underway for the city to work with the army corps of engineers to replenish the beach here and all eyes are now on hurricane maria, that is the latest from here in north wildwood, channel

6 "action news." >> thank you. the rough weather along the shore line is causing tidal flooding further inland. chopper 6 hd was overthis stretch of road in salem county. mill road are both closed right now because of flooding from nearby creeks. you see one driver took a chance getting through and that did not work out. that driver was able to get out of the car fine but two other drivers made the wise decision to avoid it and turn around. we'll have more on the hurricane devastation and the mexican earthquake that is coming up after "action news" tonight on world news tonight with david muir. these are the suspicious looking devices that sparked a scare in the east oak lane neighborhood today. word into "action news" news moments ago is that they do contain explosives. the bomb squad confiscated the evidence from fair hill street. and the pipe bombs were discovered when sheriff's

deputies were serving an eviction notice when they were warned not to touch anything in the basement. the devices were incomplete and did not have a fuse and charges are pending tonight. prosecutors say he was all set to take a plea deal for mocking and sucker purging a man with cerebral palsy. and barry baker told a chester county judge he would not admit to certain details about the may assault outside of the westchester 7-eleven he claims this stemmed from a previous confrontation at a nearby bar. and meanwhile the bucks county man in the childs sex abuse in the so-called gifted girls case about spend the next 40 to 80 years in prison. handed down to lee kaplan of feasterville. he fathered two children with

one of the victims when she was just 14. coming up at 6:00 tonight another financial black eye for pennsylvania piling on the top of the budget crisis and big rig? big mistake. we hear from police why this tractor trailer ended up on the boardwalk. at a cemetery in mount holly police say as many as 200 bronze grave markers for veterans have been stolen and police are on the lookout for who did it. and sunshine was back today and that moved up the temperatures well above normal. 86 degrees today when the normal sits at 77 and get used to summer we are talking 90 for part of the weekend coming up in the seven day. ducis rogers with the eagles gearing up with the giants. ♪

health, is having the freedom to do what you want to do with your life, every single day. so at aetna, we promise to keep finding new ways to join you so nothing gets in your way. because no matter where it is you're going, or whatever stage of life you're in. we believe that when it comes to health. you don't join us. we join you.

sfx: t-mobile mnemonic sfx: netflix mnemonic sfx: t-mobile mnemonic sfx: netflix mnemonic sfx: t-mobile mnemonic sfx: netflix mnemonic t-mobile's unlimited now includes netflix on us. that's right, netflix on us. get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now, netflix included. so go ahead, binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network.

the nearly three month stalemate is making it worse for the pennsylvania deep he ening financial crisis. standard and poors cut the rating again. making it more expeng pensive for pennsylvania to borrow money. the house passed the funding plan but senate leaders don't like it and considering raising taxes instead. it was an almost unbelievable sight on the ventnor boardwalk, there it is. a big rig driver from dallas texas got lost and turned on the boards at albany avenue in atlantic city and kept ongoing for two miles. the cab had to be detached and benches and railings had to be

removed. and the driver was not intoxicated but issued one ordinance violation. investigators in mount holly call it a heartless crime. it was more than just the metal that the thieves were after. nora muchanic has the story. >> it's just grave robbing -- >> jimmy johnson says it's as low as you can go. stealing grave markers from veterans. they estimate 200 were plucked from the graves on the property. >> they fight for our country and they are disgraced. >> it is grave robbing, they are taking the identity from the graves. >> there are military graves in mount holly that go back to the civil war and cemetery president jimmy johnson says that the thieves pulled the markers out

of the holder and sticking the flags back in the ground. >> they cost $65 bran new and that is $7,000 brand new and they will get $150 scrap. >> he went to a number of scrap dealers in the area to give them the heads up to be on the lookout for the stolen grave markers, usually someone with a criminal history along the lines, easily converted to cash and cash can be used at that time to buy illicit drugs on the street. >> they responded to a report of 250 more grave markers stolen from sacred heart in hainesport. and people that want the flag holder get a plastic one or an aluminum one, they don't like them they can't get money for them. >> they are actively investigating the grave marker thefts. nora muchanic, channel 6 "action news." facing an epidemic

fueled by opioid painkillers. vanessa: in honor of september being recovery month, we want you to know that recovery from addiction is possible, but you need to know the signs. they can be hard to spot: social withdrawal, financial problems, irritability. christie: if you see these signs occurring together or suddenly, you may have cause for concern. the signs you spot today... vanessa: ...could save a loved one tomorrow. christie: call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj.gov.

pdrc properties made plans for the abandoned hat factory for a retail space and partnering with the vo-tech center getting the students' hands dirty. ducis rogers is long with us tonight. dare i say there is cautious optimism in eagles nation. >> this is a game they should win. you don't want to get overconfident against the new york giantses. the eagles have their issues on the offensive line. backup lineman chance worked out as the guard today. and isaac did not have a good game in kansas city this past sunday and the same goes for the entire offensive line and carson

wentz was sacked six times in the game. >> i said this from day one i amex extremely confident with the depth we have had throughout camp and whoever is out there, whatever five guys out there i am confident they will do a good job. >> as for the giantses their offensive problems is on the offensive line. >> we have to make sure we do our jobs, no one game is easy. never like that. i think the mind set is we have to get to him and read our keys and run our game plan. >> lately the phillies have had the dodgers number tonight the two teams meet again and they look to make it three games in a row. reece hoskins drove in four of the team's six runs, a based clearing double in the sixth

inning and the eventual game winner. he has 43 rbi in 39 games. meanwhile the phillies won seven of their last ten games. >> we are competitive and i think it's -- just to see, i think it's good that we are not shy ago way from the big game. especially fence one of the best teams in baseball. it's fun and good for us. >> seeds are better than gatorade. >> penn state is on a role. the nittany lions good to go against iowa. they are back up to fourth in the nation and the iowa auceyes are not a good football team but playing their at night could be tough. >> that place is going to be rocking saturday night. their sidelines are very tight. the fans are going to be right up against you we want to get our players prepared for that and ready for the noise. >> catch penn state at iowa

tonight on 6 abc coverage begins at 7:30 and temple is at south florida thursday night. thanks. tonight we have learned the theme for next year's philadelphia flower show. it's wonders of water and what better way to make the reveal than along the sea front. they announced a special exhibit focused on the river's watershed and conversation. and 8:00 tonight "action news" looks back at the history of the ben franklin parkway for the centennial celebration, our one hour special parkway 100 airs tonight after jeopardy. fran grenier.

new jersey born and raised. like his father before him, he served our country with honor in the navy. came home and worked his way up from floor technician to supervisor at the salem power plant.

as a husband and father, grenier knows how families struggle to make ends meet. that's why he'll fight to cut our taxes, and stand up to career politicians like steve sweeney. if we want to change trenton, there's only one way. fran grenier.

meteorologist, adam joseph along with us here today and it was a beautiful day and in for a good stretch. >> a summer stretch is on the way despite falls begins on friday. a few photos in and i noticed this myself. a very crystal clear deep blue sky overhead and when you looked to the north and east you almost saw a wall of clouds, a wall of white especially towards trenton and burlington county and as you worked toward the long beach island area and there was a definitive line where the clouds were to where there were no clouds whatsoever. basically what this is, is the leading edge of jose. what is happening over the open waters with storms of that magnitude you get a lot of rising air and as it rises up it creates clouds and rain but what wises must fall and around the

storm the air sinks, rising air and sinking air. we are right on the edge of that s substannance. sinking and warming and drying out the at pose fear. i put a post on my facebook page. >> look at the temperatures, 85 in philadelphia and 86 millville and 85 in wilmington and cooler along the shore with temperatures in the up ever 70s and that is even running a bit above normal. we can take a look at that rising air, sinking air on satellite. you see the storm spinning and it stalls here to the south and east of cape cod, boston and nantucket and all the rain off cape cod. there is the rising air and storm. and you see the cloud line set up north and east of philadelphia on the western edge so the air sinks there and that is why the sky was so blue today. because the storm continues to spin and really churn up the waters, we have one more high

tide of concern with minor flooding between 8:00, 9:00 ocean side and delaware bay 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. mild and 64 in the suburbs tonight and 69 for center city with the northwesterly wind and jose's remnant low will hang on and fall apart and churn the waters with rip currents for the weekend. and high pressure to the north and west kicking the secret jet stream to the north. maria a two and back to a three and one. it needs watching into the middle of next week. does it curve out to sea too early to tell and what is something we continue to follow. and that is at least a week away. we look at the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast

it's pretty easy to kind of ingest here every day is the same. the humidity will be dropping as we get into friday and the weekend but the temperatures rise for the first weekend of fall including the eagles home opener and they are sweating, 90 degrees the second half of the weekend and staying well above normal in the mid-80s for the beginning of next week. >> summer stretch. thanks. abc world news tonight with david muir next on channel 6. and okay continues at 10:00 on phl 17. and then join us for "action news" at 11:00. for cecily tynan, ducis rogers, jim gardner and this guy too adam joseph, i'm brian taff. join us tonight at 11:00. see you then.

did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's up to 16 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to faster downloads with internet speeds up to 250 megabits per second. get fast internet and add phone and tv now for only $24.90 more per month. our lowest price ever on this offer. but only for a limited time. call today. comcast business. built for business.

tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. hurricane maria's direct hit, slamming puerto rico as a category 4. one emergency official tonight saying the island is destroyed. the entire island without power. a curfew in place. and the new models tonight. the track as hurricane maria gets closer to the east coast, and the timing. also breaking, we are on the scene of a frantic rescue operation in mexico city. children trapped in a school. the catastrophic earthquake. buildings collapsing. the explosion. the death toll rising tonight. just in this evening. north korea responding to president trump, referring to kim jong-un as rocket man. what they're saying now. the horror late today at yankee stadium. the foul ball and the little girl. the players shaken and in tears on the fiel