sandy has already wreaked havoc in the caribbean and its path is still evolving. but it's headed this way. good afternoon. i'm pat lawson muse. >> and i'm jim handly. first up it's already being dubbed by some a frankenstorm. hurricane sandy is now being blamed for 29 deaths in the caribbean, 11 of them in cuba. sandy is now barreling north, posing a possible threat to anyone living between virginia and southern new england. utility companies are warning people tonight that there could be widespread outages for several days, both maryland and virginia have already declared states of emergency. >> tonight our live team coverage stretches from florida to maryland. we're checking on the preparations and finding out if your power will stay on. but we begin this afternoon with storm team 4, which has been ahead of sandy all day long. let's go right now to meteorologist veronica johnson for the latest on the new models. veronica? >> thanks a lot, pat. a lot of folks wondering why is this a frankenstorm?

we're seeing all the right ingredients to make it just that. we've got a hurricane moving up the coast, possibly becoming a tropical storm by the time it gets near us. we have high pressure up across new england that will block that storm and push it inland. then we've got a weather front coming in from the west. all interacting, giving us a whole lot of rain throughout the area. the winds are at 75 miles per hour, sitting just off the coast of florida. watch it as it makes its way northward. a category 1, perhaps even weakening before it makes landfall. so what's changed now from the last time we hit air, and from some of the new guidance that comes out, is the fact that it's going to be lagging by about 12 hours. so the brunt of the storm, the worst of the storm now probably late monday through tueay morning or at least midday. and coming inland somewhere

perhaps around the southern shore of new jersey on tuesday. all right. you can see the radar there. the spin, showers already hitting areas of southern florida. as far as hurricane sandy then, the rain probably starting late on sunday. but the heaviest rain now, monday late through tuesday, with still some big rain and some big wind expected around the area. our weather, of course, we've had clouds, sunshine today. we'll talk more about wind conditions deteriorating, what you can expect throughout the weekend in a few minutes. from memories fresh from last year, folks along the east coast are gearing up for the worst. danielle? >> reporter: good afternoon, jim. i'm standing on a restaurant patio here on chesapeake beach. it wasn't long ago that you walked around this patio it was filled with tables and chairs. they've all been moved in in anticipation of this storm. behind me are dock slips that

are empty as people move their boats off the water. the time to prepare for sandy is now. strong winds, rain and a rising surf from hurricane sandy are already lashing out on the florida coast. a jet skier caught in the surf needed rescue. across the caribbean, sandy has left dozens of people dead. it rips through houses, downs trees and flooded entire communities. models have the storm smashing right into the northeast in days. >> common sense says you should start taking precautions. get ready just in case. this is a potentially dangerous storm. >> reporter: emergency workers say anyone from virginia up through new england should get ready now. on long island new york, we found people filling up sandbags. in manchester, connecticut, homeowners were preparing to lose power. snatching up generators, flashlights and batteries. >> i'd rather spend the money on the generator and know i have heat and a full fridge of food for my two kids.

>> reporter: in sussex county, delaware, boaters pulled their vessels out of the water. in maryland, coastal restaurants emptied their patios. sandy is expected to bring unusually high tides, intense waves and coastal flooding. further inland it could down trees and knock out power. energy companies are already calling for backups. >> all of the utilities have reached out beyond our borders, and put contracts in place already. from as far away as washington state. >> reporter: memories of hurricane irene last year that left billions in damage have people determined not to get caught offguard. in addition to virginia and maryland, new york has now declared a state of emergency in anticipation of this storm. people are being told to prepare for the worst. five to seven days without power and the loss of fresh water. reporting live in chesapeake beach, maryland, danielle lee, news4. utility companies across the region are rounding up extra

repair crews, some as far away as texas, to make sure power outages are dealt with quickly. keith russell has a look at how pepco is gearing up for sandy's arrival. >> we're getting ready. pepco says you will see a difference in the way they handle this storm as opposed to their previous performances. today in forrestville, maryland, pepco workers are testing out that equipment. the utility has already put out a request for a total of over 3,000 additional workers. almost three times their current number. while they're still trying to secure commitments, pepco's own workers have been told to be available until this storm is over. and pepco officials say this time in their words, they see it coming. and they won't be caught by surprise. >> whether your job is in administration, whether it's in accounting, whatever it is, you have a second job now. a lot of us live here. you know, these are our families, these are our friends, these are our neighbors.

so we're trying to do work for our community. that's the real message that i can give, that we're 100% committed to safety, peace and restoring service quickly. >> pepco warns unlike the derecho back in june, this storm is supposed to hit and sit. so before they can restore power, they have to make sure their workers are completely safe. the words that kept getting thrown around today, multi-day event, meaning pepco means they're ready for whatever and however long. keith russell, news4. back to you. like pepco, other utilities in the region are also gearing up. they've all begun mobilizing thousands of support staff and field staff. they requested thousands of additional line crews and tree removal experts from out of state to supplement their efforts. utilities are also reminding customers to have a plan in place to protect your family, to

protect your property, just in case you have to go without power for an extended period of time. and be sure to report any outages or downed wires. metro, meanwhile, is checking all drain pumping stations in preparation for heavy rains. crews will also put sandbags around the system where high water is possible. metro says it will have additional support personnel working throughout the storm. transportation across the metro area is expecting weather related problems. at 5:00, transportation reporter adam tuss will explain how trains, planes and buses plan to respond. >> stay tuned to news4 and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage all throughout. we're also posting constant updates on facebook and twitter. in the next few minutes we'll be joined by the weather channel's jim cantore live from florida. he'll explain why this is such a one of a kind storm. police are trying to piece together why a nanny killed two

young children in new york city. they say the children's mother came home with her third child from a swim class around 5:30 last night. she found her 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son stabbed to death in the bathtub. officers say their 50-year-old nanny was lying nearby, she had self-inflicted wounds to her throat and a kitchen knife nearby. the children's father is an executive at cnbc. we'll have much more on this family tragedy coming up at 4:30. for the latest in the presidential race today, where the focus is ohio and the economy. new numbers out today show improvement in economic growth. but mitt romney and president obama argued over whether the glass is half full or half empty. steve handelsman joins us live from capitol hill with the latest. steve? >> reporter: pat, thanks, good evening. a reminder, no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio. and this year's nominees campaigning like he thinks that's still the rule.

mitt romney took a break from his ohio marathon and went to iowa. >> we're going to create 12 million new jobs in just four years. we'll see rising take-home pay. and we'll get america's economy growing at 4% a year, more than double this year's rate. >> reporter: the former governor has improved his poll numbers because, since the first debate, more voters like him. >> mitt romney used to be upside down in terms of his likability. that's no longer the case. >> reporter: back in lebanon, ohio, a pretty town in the key swing state -- >> that's true. >> reporter: -- these sisters sell furniture. kathy voted for barack obama in '08 but decided to switch after she went to see mitt romney. >> i believed his promises, and that he would do his best. i think it's time for a change. >> reporter: the president ended his campaign marathon in ohio last night. and today he's arguing 2% growth in the third quarter of the new number out today is better than expected. stick with me and my plan, the

president urged radio listeners. >> governor romney's economic policies are reverting back to the same policies that i inherited that led us to the slowest job growth in 50 years. >> reporter: president obama still leads in ohio by just two points. >> if you have the same result five times in ohio, what do you do. you know he's going to carry ohio. >> reporter: but if romney takes ohio and florida, north carolina and virginia, he could win. but so could president obama, even if romney wins ohio in those other states. the tiebreaker would be colorado. meaning whoever wins colorado in that one narrow scenario, romney winning ohio, and those other states, that candidate would win the white house. but the new nbc news marist poll shows colorado right now is exactly tied. i'm steve handelsman, news4.

prosecutors ready to name some names once again. the important step they're about to take in the so-called zumba prostition case. a family is puzzled and disturbed after catching a woman doing something strange to their lawn furniture. and we're still tracking sandy for you. here's a live look at west palm beach. our live team coverage continues from florida, plus veronica will be back to tell us just how much damage this storm could do to our region. stay with us. anncr: five hundred and thirty seven.

the number of votes that changed the course of american history. newscaster: florida is too close to call... anncr: the difference between what was... and what could have been. so this year, if you're thinking that your vote doesn't count. that it won't matter. well, back then, there were probably at least 537 people... who felt the same way. make your voice heard. vote. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

welcome back. as we continue our live team koench of sandy. here, a live picture from west palm beach, florida. heavy cloud cover there. you know, even miles off the coast, sandy is already having an impact on florida. >> the weather channel's jim cantore is live in singer island, florida. that's near west palm beach. jim, ha have you seen there today and how long before florida is out of the woods would you say? >> reporter: well, you guys picked the perfect time to come to me, because we're getting into a pretty heavy squall here. winds picking up 30, 40 miles an

hour. this is what we expect. the fringe impacts with the center of sandy over 200 miles away. now, remember, by the time this thing morphs into a different animal, it will have a wind field of about 800 miles wide. so 400 of those miles are going to basically encompass the megalopolis on monday/tuesday. that's when it gets crazy and horrible for the northeast. we'll probably deal with this for a good part of the afternoon and early morning. they're very concerned up in jacksonville where the game between florida and georgia is going to go oun. at high tide we actually had the water come all the way up to these chairs. you know, wood floats, plastic floats for a little while and the next high tide is about 7:00 this evening. already the wave run-up coming up pretty high. i don't think people, certainly at these resorts, planned on this kind of an impact from this

storm. they knew it wasn't going to be a direct hit, but you can see we're still getting a lot of big waves behind me and the rain squalls and wind. we're just keeping people from the beaches. other than that, florida deals with storms and tropical systems all the time. the big impact will be as the storm heads off to the northeast. we expect a big improvement in toward sunday. but boy, you know, even a storm like this, it didn't hang around a long time, has really chopped off the beach. you can see as i walk down a couple of steps how much more of the beach we really lose in through here. a lot of that with each high tide is going to get lost. and the bigger issue for the northeast is, these same kind of waves will be breaking into the jersey shore, along the maryland coastline, certainly up into long island, perhaps new england. we're going to have an astronomical high tide. the water will be that much higher, especially monday's high tide cycle, so you'll add the waves on top of that tide, on top of the surge and that means we're going to have big erosion problems in through here. in all my professional career, guys, i've never seen a

meteorological scenario come together like this. where you really have a true perfect storm. part tropical, part nor'easter, part winter storm. because there will be snow, potentially a foot of snow in the mountains of west virginia before all is said and done. this thing's got the whole can of worms. >> jim cantore, thanks a lot. we see the picture behind you. and you know, the worst is going to happen farther to the north as he just pointed out. it's coming our way. >> but we will still see some very heavy rhiain and heavy win around here. by the time this storm system gets here, when it makes landfall, it will be a storm system that will start spreading out more and more, affecting more and more people. very broad from the coast all the way inland with that heavy rain, and then, of course, eventually the snow when the cold air comes in. the other thing is, this will be a long-lasting storm for us. that's why we're talking about the showers starting on sunday. and the storm system going into wednesday. so a halloween storm, swi

probably why you see it online some of the print media calling this a frankenstorm. let's talk about the course of the track with sandy as we take a look outside. we've had, once again, a day with fog early in the morning. mixture of clouds and sun, really more clouds than sun again today. but probably getting a little bit more of that sunshine before the sun does go down. sandy, again, its winds at 70 miles per hour. so barely holding on now as a hurricane. the winds, again, at 75. probably going to lose some of its intensity and gain intensity again before weakening when it makes landfall. i told you earlier that, right now, the latest is, from national hurricane center, that this storm system probably coming in just north of our area, just north of d.c. that's better for us, but not so good for areas north where the strongest winds will be, up around coastal new jersey, up around the areas of long island, new york. they're going to have a

battering easterly wind for a long time. let's talk about that wind. the winds started cranking up here. early sunday morning, we're a little breezy for saturday, with a cold front that's going to be moving in. early sunday morning, a lot of folks, of course, participating in the marine corps marathon. could see winds gusting up to 29, maybe 30 miles per hour. by the end of the day on sunday, could see some wind gusts just over 40, maybe 50-mile-per-hour gusts near the coast. monday now, through tuesday morning, where we'll really see the storm start to make its way inland. the winds ramp up with the center just to the north. early monday morning, winds over 55, maybe close to 60 miles an hour. noontime, look at the wind gusts. look at the field how far to the west it goes, with coastal areas around annapolis, easton, cambridge, ocean city, and rehoboth, seeing 70-mile-per-hour winds, or greater coming into the area. as far as the rainfall goes,

we'll have a few showers on saturday with that front. again, it's going to kind of stall just back to the west. the bigger rains, though, there you can see them starting to make their way into the area on sunday. then it kind of just grazes areas along east of i-95 for most of sunday. i think we'll have some showers around, even about noontime for the marine corps marathon. by the time we get to the evening and especially late sunday night. more rain, moderate rain, and even some heavy rains coming our way for early monday. the numbers that you see changing here, the forecast on rainfall totals of what we could see. at times we could be looking at one and two-inch rain rates coming with this system on monday, into early tuesday. five-inch rain possible by the time we get to monday afternoon. and it's late monday, early tuesday where that snow could potentially start piling up in the higher elevations in the west. so big problems and a big impact with this storm system, from the coast now inland. that means, too, power outages

are a possibility. we've got a live web chat going on between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. all of storm team 4, many of us will be answering your questions today. upper 60s to around 70 degrees throughout the area. 60 to 64 for your evening forecast. if you take a look at tomorrow, 51 to 58 degrees with areas of fog. tomorrow we're up to about a high of 65 to 69 degrees with a mostly cloudy sky. there's sandy on your four-day forecast. you can see how cool the temperatures will be. upper 40s to around 50 monday and tuesday. again, the brunt of the storm, a little later now by 12 hours or so. coming up in a couple of minutes, we'll talk about more of the travel impacts in this area, what you need to have, what you need to do. >> thanks, veronica. when we come right back, take a look at this man. who literally brought a broom to a fight. we'll explain. we're also helping you to prepare for hurricane sandy with

some gadgets that could keep your cell phone charged even if the power goes out. you're watching continuing coverage of hurricane sandy. we'll be right back. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware.

and this is maryland. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring table games to baltimore... generating hundreds of millions for schools. and that money has to go to education. it's the law. so vote for question seven. so we can stop spending all that money here, and keep maryland money in classrooms like mine.

we've all been told in the event of a storm, you should be prepared with things like nonperishable food and flashlights. but what about the technology that can help you weather a storm. here we have some tips and a whole bunch of gadgets. >> thanks for having me. >> thank you for being here. aside from flashlights and battery-powered tv or radio, what are the essentials? >> for my generation, get a jet pack. this is a mobile hot spot device. essentially what you do, you get internet when comcast or verizon is down. you get 4 gl speeds. we've got team mobile broadband cars, stuff like that. >> it's going to keep your phone working and on the internet. >> exactly. i can't live without facebook. >> now, if you don't have a land line and you do lose your power,

what's the best option for the phones or other things that need those usb charges? >> i would first just get a multipack. these multipacks are amazing. this one in particular is going to hold four charges of most phones. your power goes out, you're good to go. it also charges other things, too. like any cell phone, anything with a usb port really. >> we're talking joy or iphones or whatever. >> exactly. you've got a car charger right here. that way, plug this into your car, charge your iphone. again, any phone really. but also, other things, ipads, stuff like that. >> okay. you suggest surge protectors. what will that do for your equipment? >> surge protectors, i've got a couple right here. first, i've got this huge battery backup. i don't know if you can see that there. this huge battery backup is actually going to give you up to 45 minutes of battery, so like if you're -- you run out of power, you can still use your

computer, desktop, tv, have it plugged in, and it will also protect against surges. with this storm coming up, there might be some electrical currents going on. if you get a surge in your house, your products are protected, your electronics are protected. they're not going to get blown out. >> that's always pretty important. a lot of equipment gets damaged when the power comes back on. >> yeah. i used to work in geek squad, and like after every storm, my device went out. >> people can also charge their phones in their cigarette lighter, but make sure you open your garage door. that's a good thing to do before the storm hits. put it on manual. >> make sure you're safe when charging your devices. no electronic is worth a life. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. >> good to see you. more on sandy right after the break. coming up, vmeronica will have n update. and what you can expect for the

marine corps marathon this weekend. a devastating story, a mother comes home to find her children dead, apparently stabbed by their nanny. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's...

and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives.

turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. a live look at ft. lauderdale, waves kicking up. they've already seen some erosion on the beach as we just showed you from west palm beach a little farther to the north. sandy off the coast. but still kicking up some winds there. welcome back, everybody, at 4:30. i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. hurricane sandy is churning north, killing at least 29 people. >> utility companies up and down the east coast are warning for the potential of widespread outages for days, folks. both maryland and virginia have already declared states of

emergency. and in virginia, the navy ordered all ships in the hampton roads area to move out to sea away from sandy's path. >> because this hurricane is being combined with a strong cold front from the west, that in the wake of this storm, as opposed to excessive heat, we're expecting cold temperatures, 50s during the day, 40s at night, and in some of the western parts of the state, in the 30s. in fact, there's actually a threat of heavy snow in the western part of virginia, as well as west virginia, maryland, pennsylvania and other places. >> let's get the latest on sandy's projected path and the possible impact on travel in the washington region from storm team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson. >> we're really talking about a big wet mess that will settle over the area for days. the mid-atlantic, areas throughout new england, sunday late for us, monday, tuesday and even wednesday. let's talk about where sandy is right now. again, just off the coast of

florida. winds right now at 75 miles per hour. so it may be downgraded to a tropical storm by the 5:00 update that comes out. you can see that track off to the east and northeast. and then back to the north. and back to the west inland, perhaps somewhere with the center just north of us, late monday, early tuesday time period around the coast of new jersey. a lot of rainfall as we've said all throughout the hour. also the possibility of some snow in the higher elevations of western maryland and west virginia. along the bay, tropical storm force winds monday, tuesday time period, possible storm surge. we've got a full moon coming up on sunday. we're still going to see the moon very full, and having an effect on the tides at the height of the storm on tuesday. at the beaches, hurricane force winds and a huge storm surge is what we'll be seeing at the beaches in terms of travel and its impact on travel.

high impact areas, richmond, norfolk, virginia beach on monday, right through our area, and tuesday, too. again, a slower moving storm system, philadelphia, new york, areas of boston could be impacted a great deal and affect millions. we'll talk more about the marine corps marathon forecast in a couple of minutes. >> and stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage of hurricane sandy. and get the latest information down to the minute on facebook and twitter. and still ahead, we'll have more on the major preparations now under way. an update now on a crime that is shocking new york city, and the nation. two young children in manhattan allegedly killed by someone their family trusted to protect them. nbc's chris clackum has more. >> reporter: late thursday afternoon, 6-year-old lucia krim and her 2-year-old brother leo were found stabbed to death in their family's manhattan

apartment. the killer, according to police, their nanny. they say the gruesome discovery was made by the children's mother after returning to the apartment with her 3-year-old daughter, whom she had taken to a swim lesson. >> she sees that the lights are out. she goes downstairs to the lobby. she's assuming that the nanny may have gone out with the children. she goes down to the lobby and asks the doorman if they had in fact gone out. he said no. she goes back up. the apartment is dark. and she goes into the bathroom and that's when she discovered the bodies. >> reporter: according to police, the mother walked in on the 50-year-old nanny as she was stabbing herself with the same knife she had used to kill the children. the nanny was rushed to a nearby hospital where she's listed in critical but stable condition. while neighbors try to grasp the reality. >> unbelievable. unbelievable. i can't imagine what the mother's feeling. >> you have to believe in the best in people.

you have to believe they love your children just as much as you do. and it really is -- it's a betrayal and it's very, very scary. >> reporter: the mother of the pediatrician was taken to the scene in an ambulance. the father was away on business. but has since been reunited with his family and the surviving daughter. chris clackum, nbc news. still ahead, why the tsa is pulling a controversial security measure from the nation's airports. and the man who fought off two gunmen using a broom. we'll be right back.

steve harvey fans, starting monday we're launching a sweepstakes for two vip tickets to be in the audience of his new talk show. the prize includes air and hotel in chicago where they record the show. we'll have a secret question and answer on news4 at 4:00, all next week. you'll then be able to logon to

nbcwashington.com for your chance to win. the transportation security administration is now replacing some of those controversial x-ray scanners at airports in major cities. the devices were known as back scanners. privacy advocates say the images from the machines are too explicit. they're replaced with a newer model that produces a generic image of your body. news4 has learned the new scanner is already in place at reagan national airport. no word yet on when the scanners might be changed at dulles. tsa says it is making the switch to speed up lines in crowded airports. much to the delight of a lot of passengers. >> specially when we've got the weather coming at airports, too. much more on hurricane sandy. veronica, one of our top questions on nbcwashington.com today has been about the marine corps ma a thon which takes place this weekend. >> sandy just a little slower now, by about 12 hours, we've pushed the rain a little later. some showers around the area by

noontime on sunday. but it's not looking like a big deal. we'll have less wind, breezy conditions, definitely cool, in the low 50s. when i come back on the other side of the break, an hour-by-hour forecast of hurricane sandy coming through our area to help you plan. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs.

that's what the plan george allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies... that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising.

for people who live in the hunting done neighborhood, it's like groundhog day, the same thing over and over again. >> when the big storms hit, the streets flood. news4's megan mcgrath visited the community to see how residents are preparing for sandy. >> almost over here. you can see how i got it ready. >> reporter: he's put plywood and waterproof tape over his basement windows. if nearby cameron run should flood, he's hoping to keep the

water out of his house. >> i'm going to the gas station to get some gas to put in the generator. to be ready. >> reporter: residents in the huntington neighborhood -- >> a whole lot nervous. yeah. because every time it rains, we go through this. >> reporter: the huntington community has flooded many times in recent years and residents have learned the hard way what precautions they should take. heading to work this morning, latice brown headed to work, but when she returns tonight, she's parking far away up a large hill. a lesson learned after losing everything in the last big flood. >> i lost one of my cars, everything that i owned in the basement. >> reporter: residents here are keeping a watchful eye on hurricane sandy. they're also paying close attention to a bond measure on the november ballot. it would build a levee to protect the huntington community from future floods. residents have put up signs encouraging people to vote yes

to the storm drainage improvement bond and they hope it passes. >> we need it. this is a wonderful community. i've been here about two years. and it's just a great place to be. >> we have water trickling down to us, but we need money to tri trickle down to help us. people own homes here. we have families here and we're part of this community as well. >> reporter: but will the levy pass. it's expensive, about $30 million. and the levee would only protect this small area. let's get the latest on the weather right now. veronica? >> we're going to start with a live view of ft. lauderdale, florida. you can see the winds increasing. you can see the waves crashing ashore. and those waves will just get bigger. we're going to see the same scene, perhaps even bigger waves coming to the outer banks as sandy makes its way up the coast. probably still a hurricane by the time it gets to the outer

banks sometime on saturday. all right. let's talk about our forecast around here. we've had some clouds around the area, for 9:00, 11:00 p.m. this evening, partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. low to mid-60s, tomorrow morning, starting out in the mid to upper 50s. some of you might need a jacket. on the radar, we are definitely quiet. but open it up, and you can see two distinct areas. we've got the spin of what is sandy, with this rain band coming ashore. there's the outer banks of north carolina. again, as this storm system tracks up the coast, the waves pick up, the rain comes ashore, and this area of rain, ohio, down through kentucky, that's the cold front that we've talked about that could be stalling out right near the area allowing more rain to continue to pool all through the same area. here's your hour-by-hour

forecast for sandy on saturday. it's not going to be that bad of a day at all. we'll have overcast skies. highs in the mid-60s. even overcast at 11:00 p.m. after morning fog. for sunday, we're cool, humid in the early part of the day. showers starting moving in east to west about noontime, with just breezy conditions. we don't get that heavy wind until late in the day. we don't get the heavy rainfall either until well past sunset, i think. and as far as monday goes, here we go. because we're going to expect almost similar conditions, if not worse on tuesday, especially tuesday morning. 6:00 a.m. on monday, heavy rain, winds gusting to 40 miles per hour. same thing at the noon hour. increasing for monday afternoon. and looking at power outages, flooding as well throughout the area. so there's a look at your forecast for the next four days. monday and tuesday, wind and heavy rain, and one big wet mess that, again, is going to lingering over this area, and areas north for several days.

so if you're traveling north to areas like philadelphia, boston, new york city, conditions are likely to be worse there than what we see here. but the thing for tuesday and wednesday, areas west could be looking at some snowfall. halloween storm indeed. by the time we get to next week we're going to be drying out. but highs only in the upper 40s to low 50s. overnight temperatures, it's going to turn chilly behind this storm system. >> veronica, thank you. >> we've got the live web chat between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. stay up to date even if the power does go out, download the nbc weather app, in itunes are on the android system. when we come back, the so-called zumba prostitution scandal grows bigger today. a woman caught on video doing something really strange to a family's lawn furniture. i'm wendy rieger. coming up at 5:00, a mad dash to get everything you need in case

your power goes out. and we are checking in with the airports on travel plans for potential cancellations. at 6:00 tonight, the d.c.'s bloomingdale neighborhood has dealt with its share of flooding. with sandy on the way, some people are pitching in to help prepare for rising waters.

more names are being released today in a prostitution scandal involving a dance studio in maine. police say a zumba instructor ran a prostitution ring out of her business and kept detailed records of clients, even taping the encounters without the clients' knowledge. names of the johns are coming out slowly every two weeks, as prosecutors go through the records and file charges. a former mayor, and a high school hockey coach are among those arrested so far. what was this woman thinking. a woman caught on camera walking up to the front porch of a family's home in albuquerque, then rearranges their outdoor

furniture. it happened twice in the last two weeks, in broad daylight. at first the homeowners thought their teenage daughter did it as a prank. then they took a look at their surveillance camera and saw the woman walking down the street. she then heads up their driveway, starts moving the chairs around again. the family said if it happens again, they'll call police. odd behavior in your neighborhood. >> she just didn't like the way the chairs were placed. >> bugging her. coming up next, a man who took a broom to a gun fight. and survived.

a st. louis bar owner fought off two men while sweeping his front entrance. the men were armed and tried to rob him, but he had a weapon, too. he had his broom. elizabeth matthews shows us the whole incident caught on video. >> that's the car right there. coming around, turns around. i'm not paying attention. just pulls up on the other side of the tree. i look up. see him? >> reporter: in the next 20 seconds tommy will fight off the masked gunman protecting his bar and his wife. >> i just hit hit hand with the broom right there. he takes one shot, another shot. >> reporter: thankfully the shots missed, but just around the corner more shots were being fired. tommy's friend was helping him clean up when he, too, was approached by a masked gunman.

his friend took off on foot and that's when the two brazen bandits decided to bolt. tommy and his wife own a pub, the target of the tuesday morning attack. they say this is the first criminal behavior they've seen in the area. >> he told me to get out of the way. i took my broom i had and hit his wrist. >> reporter: he didn't knock the gun out of the man's hands but did crack the broom. these gunmen were up against a champion, u.s. olympic boxing champion who isn't really familiar with backing down. after all this, janice said she's proud of her husband and to the would-be robbers -- >> really, you're going to kill people for a couple hundred, or a hundred dollars? yeah, that's what's scary to me. the big question tonight, will sandy deliver a direct hit on our area? we have the up-to-the-minute track for you. >> if you haven't stocked up on all the essentials, you better

hurry up, because the stores are jammed with people worried about the power outages. and what is already feeling the effects of sandy right now. team coverage up and down the coast. she is on the move and we are tracking sandy. good evening, everybody, i'm jim handly. >> and i'm wendy rieger. storm team 4 is tracking sandy with the latest. people in florida all the way to new england, they are bracing for what could be a storm for the books. this is a live look right now at the waves down in florida. there was already beach erosion in west palm beach. here's a live look at one of the boardwalk cameras in ocean city. both maryland and virginia have declared a state of emergency. we have live team coverage tonight. pat collins is in montgomery county, and we're going to start with our storm team 4 meteorologist doug kammerer. >> we continue to watch this storm. it will continue to evolve. some of the latest information now changing the time period just a little bit. but it's not going to change the overall effects of this storm.