>> i'm leon harris. the same line of storms has already killed more than a dozen people. tornadoes killed four people in texas over the weekend. we'll be getting a live update on the destruction in missouri, but first let's get you up to speed on the weather alert here. >> starting in the storm center with doug and tom. where are the storms right now? >> we've been watching this and tracking this since late last week. biggest potential is wind later this evening, but we're not overly concerned it's going to be a widespread event. but it is may 1st, storm season, this is the time of year we start to see them firing up. >> nothing out there now as far as strong storms go. a few showers and there were thunderstorms in charlottesville, but now no lightning, no thunder. this is rain. back to the west, you notice the tornado watches in

parts of california, including franklin and fulton county, west virginia, one tornado warning north and east of pittsburgh. our weather is coming from down south in towards north carolina. so i think we've got about one or two hours before things really start to kick off. and that's when things are gonna get a little dicey. this evening, a breezy tuesday. we'll talk about the winds for tomorrow. a big storm late week and then a much cooler pattern. we're setting records over the weekend. not going to be anywhere close this weekend. that's coming up in a few minutes. if you don't have the nbc washington app on your phone, this is the time to download it as the storms move through the area. you'll get alerts. as the storms get clo

that and get the forecast and a look at the radar. even if your home loses power. a husband and wife are in the hospital after a domestic dispute. police say there was a fire this morning at the couple's home in the hampton oaks subdivision. one of them had to be airlifted to the hospital. detectives are still trying to figure out what happened. congress passed a $1 trillion funding bill to keep the government open through september, but it took several concessions from the white house. the bill increases defense spending by $25 billion, but does not provide money for the border wall. the bill also keeps funding for planned parenthood and nearly every federal agency. u.s. marshalls are taking over the search for an escaped prison inmate. david watson got away from authorities on friday. today investigators are asking businesses to check their su

been increased to $10,000. across the country and around the world, people are taking part in may day marches. immigrants are using this day to rally against the trump administration's tougher deportation policies. one of the biggest may day marches happened here in the district. protesters marched from dupont circle to the whitehouse. >> meagan fitzgerald talked to organizers about the message they're trying to send. >> reporter: yeah, these protesters are calling for racial and social justice. they want the trump administration to stop deporting undocumented immigrants that don't have a criminal record. these protest erds, over 10,000 of them are descending on lafayette square. they have the stage that is set and ready for those speakers that are expected to energize this crowd. ♪ ♪

>> reporter: what was a small group of protest erds around noon at malcolm x park grew to hundreds of people. many carrying signs. and chanting as they made their way down u street heading towards lafayette park. these may day demonstrators are here for many reasons. some say they want to bring attention to what they consider discriminatory practices against people of color and the lgbtq community in the workplace. others say they want the trump administration to stop painting trump as the enemy. >> the hypocrisy of the way they brought workers into this country to work in service industries and then pretend like they're not supposed to be there, when everybody in that white house ancestors came from someplace else, were immigrants of this country. >> reporter: as these protesters start to fill in lafayette park, they will b

of congress who are expected to speak, along with dnc chairman tom perez in the next hour. they're trying to energize people to get out and vote in the midterm election next year. >> thank you, meagan. may day protests turned violent in france today. molotov cocktails were thrown and police fired back with tear gas. the march also included calls to block far-right presidential candidate marine le pen from winning the election. that election takes place sunday may 7th. a gunman remains on the loose in dallas after opening fire on a paramedic. police say firefighters and paramedics responded to a call in a residential neighborhood. someone came outside and opened fire on the ambulance. a neighbor walking outside was also hit. dallas police say the scene remains active and they're still

police say the paramedic who was hit is now at the hospital in critical condition. now at 4:00, three teenagers facing charges accused of vandalizing about three dozen cars in montgomery county. police tell us the teens smashed in the windshields of cars that were parked in a couple of apartment complexes in gaithersburg. investigators say the teens jumped on top and kicked the windshields with their feet overnight along christopher avenue. there does not appear to be anything missing from any of those vehicles. promoting healthier eating was former first lady michelle obama's signature cause, but today the trump administrations agricultural secretary came to loudoun count ty to announce he easing up on school nutrition rules. julie carey was there. >> reporter: here in loudoun county they meet or exceed the obama era school lunch nutrition standards but today the trump

grains is resulting in food that kids don't want to eat. so he's proposing a change. after lunching with students at catoctin elementary, the secretary will relax the rules that were about to get even more strict. >> this is not reducing nutritional standards whatsoever. it's pausing here to evaluate whether or not the progressive standards of moving even further are appropriate or not. >> reporter: coming up, i'll tell you more how the specific rules would change what your student gets in the school lunch line. and we'll hear from parents who say this change will make for far less healthy children. well, summer is almost here and mosquitos are back. and with them, the risk of zika. some steps you can take in your home and around the yard to stop the spread.

a few hours ago until entertainment writers hit the picket lines. and we have storm team4 coverage as a le of storms in

balmy and breezy on this monday afternoon. good afternoon, i'm tom tom kierein tracking a line of thunderstorms from west virginia all the way up into weastern pennsylvania. out ahead of that, line rain to moderate rain showers coming out of rapa han uk county, into northern fauquier county, to loudoun, prince william and fairfax in another half hour or so. a brief shower coming through. that's not the severe storm. this is where we're watching

carolina, that's going to be rapidly coming up our way in another couple of hours. the impacts, very low chance for tornadoes, but a pretty good chance of high winds and a low chance of hail and some brief heavy downpours. we have the hour by hour timing in a few minutes. well, the start of the month of may also means the start of mosquito season. experts say the early warm-up we've had this year means more mosquitos for summer and there are increased concerns about zika. >> that's right. new numbers from the virginia health department show there have been 115 cases of zika in virginia since december of 2015 all involving people who traveled to a zika-affected area. the disease can cause serious birth defects. >> and with that in mind, health officials want you to do whatever you can to combat mosquitos around your house or business. also take precautions when

you'll find ways to protect yourself in the nbc washington app, just search zika. orange is the new hack? a hacker has posted unreleased episodes from the new season of the hit series "orange is the new black" online after claiming that netflix failed to meet ransom demands. the hacker who goes by the dark overload also claims to have pirated shows from abc, fox, and national geographic. we have storms in the nation's heartland, a look at the damage as people there try to figure out what to do next. >> and those storms are heading our way with thunderstorms bearing down on us. team coverage from storm team4, first at 4:00.

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. maybe that's why we've been ranked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. and now you can love fios too. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. all for $79.99 per month online, for the first year with a two-year agreement. it's the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. plus get hbo for a year and free multi-room dvr service for two years. and verizon wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, data-free. get the best. go to getfios.com

potential for strong storms in our area. these are live pictures. >> doug and tom say the storms could be here in the next few hours. doug will have the updated forecast in a couple of minutes. the system headed our way has already killed more than a dozen people in the south and midwest. >> you can see some of the damage in missouri. jay gray is live this afternoon in the town of west plains. set the scene for us there, jay. >> reporter: yeah, pat, leon, we want to

at some of the damage. we are in the basement of an antique mall. floodwaters sdroig everything in their past. so many pouring through the rubble and uncovering stories of hope and survival. >> reporter: a desperate race and dramatic rescue caught on cell phone video. >> we got a baby, call 911! >> reporter: a dad and his two children trapped inside an overturned pickup with floodwaters rushing in. more than a half dozen good samaritans struggled to save the family. one of the children is finally free, but is limp and not breathing. tom mitchell puts down his cell phone and starts cpr as others start to pray. >> give him breath, lord! >> reporter: and the little girl starts to breathe. at the same time, the second child and their father are pulled

stories of rescue and recovery stretch as far as the debris from the storms. communities across 16 states starting the difficult process of cleaning up, then coming back. >> we started with a big bag, and we walked dishes down here. >> reporter: at times, pulling keepsakes and memories from the mess, the flooding tornadoes left behind. >> we found somebody wedding picture earlier and somebody's wallet. >> reporter: saving what they can. while 80 million brace as the violent storms move to the north and east. evidence of the deadly fury scattered from the deep south through the midwest. and as you can see, there's still standing water here despite efforts here to clear this out over the last 24 hours or so. forecasters warn more severe rain could be on the way here and across the strike zone over the next several days. and doug, the system that did all this, now on its way to you guys. >> that system moving in right

that area is going to see more rain later this week. the same system that's going to affect us next thursday and friday. i'll show you what's happening in our area. this line of storms, you can see a very long line extending from up towards canada right on down to south carolina, georgia as well. and along there, numerous severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado watches, but nothing going on in our region. the exception, light rain towards fauquier county, luray, but here's future weather. 6:00, notice where the strong storms are, just to our west. petersburg, west virginia, you'll be seeing them there. storms ahead of that line, but notice how it kind of breaks up. this is for a couple of reasons. one, the area of low pressure, way up by the great lakes here. so it's a little too far to get the sustained storms, but there are a couple of storms here, even around the 10:00 hour, a few more storms. so i'm not anticipating a widespre

that do develop could produce strong winds and that's going to be what we watch for, the winds. by tomorrow, breezy, but we see sunshine, a nice day on tuesday, but out there right now, well, we're dealing with the cloud cover. that continues, temperature wise, 82. up to 84 last hour. so coming down, but still a very warm day, humid too. winds out of the south at 17 miles an hour, mostly cloudy skies. as we move through the next few hours, temperatures back to the west, 70s. 82 in d.c., pawtuxet river, 84 degrees. the rain, just to the west. here's the bigger storm around chicago. this storm, way back to the west. so it's kind of outrunning the storms themselves. outrunning the energy from this big upper level low, the same area of low pressure that brought all the rain to the south and over a foot of snow to places like kansas. this is a man stoonster

ahead of it, very warm. behind it, in the 50s. and look at the 30s back to the west. the storm is moving to the north and east. so we'll stay on the wild side of things. as you make your way out tomorrow, still looking okay. a nice afternoon, breezy. winds upwards of 30s with a high of 76 degrees. so it will be nice and warm. average high in the low 70s. if you're heading to the nationals game, very important. because we could have storms around the time the game starts. 79 degrees, a good chance for storms around game time. so i think they'll get the game in, but we may have a couple delays with the storminess. 76 degrees around 9:00, 73 around 11:00. if you're heading to the game, know that. if you see any lightning, make sure you get under the concourse here. 76 degrees, 68 on wednesday. then to the next storm, thursday and friday. a big storm that brings heavy rain, late thursday into friday morning. high of 75 degrees. rain likely. and then look at the highs. only in t

a big pattern change. next ten days, not going to feel very may-like. >> big change. thank you, doug. when you're sick, antibiotics are supposed to help but a new study shows that for pregnant women, they could have tragic side effects. plus, a story that's just beginning to get some traction on social media. disturbing images of a racially motivated message showing up on a college campus. who they're targeting, first at 4:00.

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first at 4:00, an act of hate here in northwest washington, someone hung bananas with a sling in the shape of nooses on the campus of american university. >> campus officials found these bananas in three spots in morning. they were all marked with the letters aka, which happens to be the letters of alpha kappa alpha, a sorority whose members are predominantly african american. authorities are investigating and have called the incident racist and hateful. jackie bensen is on campus with a report later. if you plan to head to georgetown tomorrow, there will be a detour of traffic for the

pennsylvania bridge over rock creek park way, affecting westbound traffic only. eastbound traffic will continue to use one side of the bridge during construction. repair work is expected to last for seven months. some of your favorite tv shows could be in danger. the folks responsible for writing them are threatening to strike if their demands aren't met by midnight. writers are asking major studios for better pay and health benefits. a decade ago writers walked off the job for 100 days, losing $300 million in compensation. nbc universal is a member of the trade group representing film studios and the tv networks in talks now with the writers union. princess charlotte is about to celebrate her second birthday. to mark the occasion, the royals, mom and dad released this photo today. mom took the photo on the grounds outside the family's country home. charlotte is mighty cute

decorated with blue sheep. got a little navy clip in her hair. she's adorable. go ahead, you can say, aaw. >> she's adorable. some say she looks very british, what do you think? >> i think she looks cute. >> i couldn't agree more. she looks sweet. speaking of sweets, how about that for a segue? >> that's great. >> getting rid of all that candy, ice cream and other stuff around the house. >> because news4 is going sugar-free this week. help us out. several members of the news4 team will limit sugar, the intake of it, to just ten teaspoons a day. can you do that? that's how much the world health organization recommends you eat to stay healthy. but it's a challenge. because nearly everything we eat has sugar already in it. coming up in our next hour, news4's doreen gentzler shows us why sugar is so tough to avoid

back. >> and everyone says the same thing, it's the toughest thing to give up, the wine. good luck, guys. it's almost that time of year for hot summer days, but that sunshine can come with a risk. we're working for you with the four things you need to know to stay safe in the sun. and it's a weather alert monday. we're tracking storms as they move closer to the washington area. we'll go

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. maybe that's why we've been ranked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. and now you can love fios too. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. all for $79.99 per month onlinefor the first year with a two-year agreement. it's the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. plus get hbo for a year and free multi-room dvr service for two years. and verizon wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, data-free. get the best. go to getfios.com

now at 4:30, a preventable war? president trump's comments about the civil war and a former president are raising a few ey

when your life is on the line, you'll do anything to survive. even if it means flying to the hospital. the new investigation revealing more people getting stiffed with a bill that insurance doesn't always cover. plus, storm team4 tracking an intense line of storms with a dangerous history. now on our doorstep. >> the storm team4 weather alert day. i'm leon harris in for chris lawrence and i'm here in the weather center with tom kierein. >> good to have you with us. >> great to be here. >> good to have you in the weather center too. and we are tracking some strong storms moving in here by later in the evening hours. the afternoon commute will be fine if you're expecting anybody home from work over the next hour or so. everything's going to be fine. just maybe a bit of rain in the metro area. but the main line of strong storms is in west virginia and farther south and west. right now, getting a few sprinkles. northern prince william

just about to loudoun county. another area of rain coming out of rapa han uk county moving into southern prince william and west of the 95 corridor. but this is the line of strong storms we're watching carefully here in western north carolina. there had been a warning there, but it looks like now that has sdip ated, but this is coming our way later. very low chance for tornadoes, but high wind risk for damages wind and a low-risk of any hail. maybe some brief, heavy downpours. doug is back with the hour by hour timing in just a few minutes. >> thank you, tom. to the new spending plan that prevents a shutdown and keeps the government running through the end of september. but just as that potential crisis is averted, congress is also hoping to vote on a plan to repeal and replace obamacare. blayne alexander is digging through both bills to find out how your family might be affected and

>> good afternoon to you. when it comes to health care, really so much of this comes down to pre-existing conditions. and how those will be covered. that's what so many americans are watching and that's really proving to be the sticking point for lawmakers. but still republicans say they are very close to a deal on this. and they're hoping to have a vote before the end of the week. on capitol hill, it's a budget deal. lawmakers overnight agreeing to a $1.2 trillion spending plan to keep the government funded through the end of september. >> this is a down payment on border security. it's a down payment on his ability to rebuild the military. >> reporter: the budget also includes a $25 billion increase in military spending, a win for the president, but also some losses. 1.5 billion for border security, half of what he requested, with no money for the wall. and the national institutes of health get a big boost that the president did not want up

republicans predicting a possible vote this week. >> there will not be a vote unless there are 216 votes for it. the worst thing you can do put up a bill and watch it be defeated. >> reporter: a major sticking point, coverage for pre-existing conditions. the president telling cbs news -- >> pre-existing conditions are in the bill. i mandated it. it has to be. >> reporter: but that mandate is not in the current bill which allows states to opt out, a possible return to insurance practices before obamacare. >> essentially charge deterrent pricing. extremely high rates, three, four, five times what the normal rate would be. >> reporter: today the white house says it feels good about the bill's direction. and on that spending bill that will avoid a government shutdown, the fight over funding for the border wall is not over, it's just being pushed until the fall, that's when lawmakers will need to negotiate another spending bill for the next fiscal year. the civil war is trending now because

comment from president trump. the president and his staff have often praised andrew jackson. well, he made these statements when talking about jackson and the civil war. here's what mr. trump said. he suggested that if jackson had been president, quote, a little later, you wouldn't have had the civil war. he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the civil war. he said there's no reason for this. here's the reason why that statement is so confusing. andrew jackson was a slave owner himself, he was president from 1829 to 1837. he died in 1845. the civil war didn't start until 1861. you do the math. pat? women who take antibiotics early in their pregnancies are more likely to miscarry. researchers found five types of antibiotics increased the risk of miss carriage by 60%. the misof antibiotics is there on your screen. doctors who need to

infections in pregnant women should try other options if at all possible. the study found common antibiotics like penicillin were not linked to miscarriage. today is national melanoma monday. according to dermatologists, one person in this country dies every hour from melanoma. with that hot summer sun just around the corner, news4's amy cho now has four things you need to know to stay safe. >> skin cancer is probably the most preventable type of cancer. >> reporter: the first step is simply staying out of the sun. and of course avoiding tanning beds at all costs. >> there's still a misconception that the sun is safe and good for you. it is good for you, but you have to be smart about it. >> you think wearing clothes would be enough to protect you from the sun. but if your outfit has thin material, you'll want to wear sunscreen under your clothes as well. spf 30 or higher

bet. anything over 50, studies show it doesn't make a difference. so you're better off having an spf 30 and reapplying it than some of 100 and thinking it's going to protect you all day. >> reporter: finally, check your skin once a month. see if it fits the abcde test. if the answer to any of these is yes, you'll want to see a doctor right away. >> because if you catch it early, you really save your life or a loved one's life. >> reporter: in chevy chase, amy cho, news4. all right, let's talk sports now. a huge, huge, huge game for the caps tonight in pittsburgh against the penguins. >> that's right. difficult to say how huge. sherree burruss is live in pittsburgh for game three. the caps really need this win tonight. there are a lot of crossed fingers this afternoon. >> reporter: you can say that again, pat. the capitals need

playoff series between the capitals and penguins. in the nine previous, the caps, they only won one and they're still looking for their first w in this series. so in order to get that w, washington is hoping to start tonight's game the same as they did in game two, but play that way the entire game. >> we played fast. we played determined. we were on the right side of the puck. we did all the right things. we just didn't execute and get the puck past flurry. i think that was the only thing missing. >> we gotta make sure our game extends for 40 or 60 or how long the game presents itself. that's the difficulty. that's the mental you have to fight through all the time. i think we're in a good place. we understand our situation, our reality. we're down two games to the penguins. and we gotta come here and win

>> reporter: new to this series is kevin shattenkirk. and coming up at 5:00, his experience of what it's like to finally beat a rival. live in pittsburgh, sherree burruss, news4 sports. >> thanks, sherree. >> more than just fingers crossed here. former president barack obama's former home is on the market. first at 4:00, our first look inside the townhouse that the former president once called home. a local church in northern virginia celebrates a century and a half of saving souls and being part of the

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and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. storm team4 right now tracking showers and thunderstorms. right now, though, just looking at cloud cover around the region. i've talked about this a lot, we need the sunshine to help the energy in the atmosphere to get the storms out of there. right now, nothing but cloud cover, courtesy of shower activity to the south. there's one storm developing in culpeper county. the line is back to the west from buffalo through parts of west virginia, watching these storms down to the south. again, starting to fire. we'll continue to keep you posted. and tom has more in just a few minutes. >> thank you, doug. former president barack obama brown stone is on the et

$4.3 million. >> at the time it was a multi family home and the former president lived on the top floor. since then, according to curbed, the five-floor home has been used as a single family unit with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. >> i bet you it goes for more than that. >> yours for the asking. >> there you go. they can save your life, getting into the hospital much faster than an ambulance, but you could get stuck with a huge bill, even if you have insurance. we're working for you. susan hogan will join us with what you need to know. plus, it's a new tribute coming to arlington national cemetery and the group it will honor for the verfirst time. y

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here are four things you need to know if you're just joining us. american university is investigating racial messages targeting a sorority. bananas were found hanging from strings in the shape of nooses in 33 places around camp -- three places. the letters aka, which stands for the school's african american sorority. the co-president of fox news channel is out. bill shine resigned today and will leave within the next few days. he replaced roger ailes, after

sexual harassment claims. the may district attornay r wrapping up, they're calling for social and racial justice. they want the trump administration to stop deporting undoumed immigrants. the death toll is climbing. this is from fruitvale, texas, one of the places hit hard. 13 people are dead and now the same system is heading our way. >> it's a storm team4 weather alert day in the washington area. tom tom kierekierein is in the center. where are the storms now? >> way down into western north carolina. these are not going to produce the kind of damage we saw yesterday. that was devastating there. these storms are weaker, but they could be producing some wind damage. and certainly it's an ominous-looking sky. live view for reston camera, showing dark clouds cruising over the region r

right now, we're all dry. just getting a few areas of light rain across virginia and some thunderstorms here in west virginia. bit of a warning there in northwest virginia. few sprinkles for leesburg. farther south, one storm coming into culpeper county, maybe closer to warrenton in the next 15, 20 minutes. but the main line we're watching is this line of severe storms, earlier produced some warnings in north carolina. that is going to be tracking up our way here as we get into the evening hours. the hour by hour timing, the colored areas are heavy downpours and potential damaging winds, around 6 to 7:00 p.m. east of there, maybe just a few light showers for 7:00 p.m. around 8:00, we may see isolated thunderstorms popping up in the metro area along the 95 corridor

panhandle of west virginia, and a few others. then by 9:00, we still may have a few downpours with some thunder and lightning, and maybe some damaging winds in the metro area, and just to our south. and from fredericksburg south down the 95 corridor. by 10:00, crossing the bay and the eastern shore by 11:00 p.m. the main risk will be high winds. very low-risk of hail or any tornadoes and some brief, heavy downpours, that's between now and 11:00 p.m. that will help to wash some of the pollen out of the air. high range for tree pollen and grass too. weeds are low. mold spores are in the moderate range right now. temperatures are cooling a bit. hovering around 80 degrees. for the evening, chance of severe storms around 8:00 p.m. on 9:00 p.m. or so. by down tomorrow, mid 60s. then near 70 by 11:00, breezy and mild tomorrow

commute. by noontime, near 70, and breezy in the mid 70s after that. then we'll have a storm coming through as we get into thursday night and friday. it's after that that we could get heavy downpours into maybe friday morning with maybe two inches of rain by the time it ends midday friday. much cooler next weekend and into next week. un-may-like in those final days in the ten-day outlook. >> thanks, tom. three teens facing charges after the windows of dozens of cars are smashed. that's just one of the stories we're working on for news4 at 5:00. jim and wendy are in the newsroom with more. >> this is one of those, why i oughta nuisance crimes. windshields of three dozen cars smashed last night. >> tonight the people who did it and the

and today picking the college to spend the next four years of your life. and susan hogan will join us in the studio with more on the best ways to pay for that education. it starts today. and something doreen gentzler will be reporting on all week, as some people here undertake a sugar-free challenge. >> i'm taking part. doreen and i are too. we'll find out what makes sugar so hard to track. it's not -- the hardest part for me is no wine. >> i'm going to bring in a vodka spray. [ laughter ] >> we won't be seeing any smiles from this guy for 3three days. see you in a bit. service member who is flew helicopters during the vietnam war will soon have their own memorial at arlington national cemetery.

at the tomb of the unknown. a retired air force colonel spearheaded that memorial campaign. the u.s. relied heavily on helicopters to move troops and support ground forces during vietnam. the non-profit vietnam helicopter pilots association is paying for the monument. when your life is on the line in an emergency, you'll do anything to stay alive. sometimes that means using an air ambulance or a medical helicopter. >> but a consumer reports investigation reveals a spike in patient complaints after getting saddled with thousands of dollars in surprise ambulance bills. susan hogan is here with what you need to know about that. >> just when you think you've heard it all. what's even more troubling, consumer reports says in many cases, those helicopters might not even be necessary. just a warning, some of the following images you see may be disturbing. >> reporter: it's the call no parent wants to get. genie's daughter was badly burned in their backyard. >> i could hear her in the ck

and i knew right then, i was like, this is a lot worse than it sounds. >> reporter: paramedics rushed to the scene. the nearest burn center was 40 miles away. so they decided she should be taken by air ambulance. >> there are four paramedics standing in your bathroom saying, we're going to fly. this is what's going to happen. you just go, okay. >> reporter: ashley made a full recovery. but two months later, they received a bill from the air ambulance company saying they owed more than $18,000. >> in a true medical emergency, if you call a ground ambulance, your insurance company is likely to pay most of the cost. but air ambulances charge such huge bills they're only willing to pay a fraction of the cost. that means you are stuck paying the rest of the bill. >> reporter: and that cost can be high. consumer reports says the average bill for a medical helicopter is more than $30,000. even more shocking, consumer reports finds m

by air ambulance could have been safely driven to the hospital in a ground ambulance in the same amount of time or even quicker. >> this is so unfair for consumers. in an emergency situation, the last thing you're thinking about is how you're going to pay the bill for the transportation that takes you to the hospital. consumers often have no idea they'll be on the hook for such a big deal. >> you have health insurance for a reason because when something catastrophic or life-threatening happens, that coverage is supposed to be there to help protect you financially. even with all of that in place, it just didn't. >> reporter: they've spent four years challenging the bill, which has hurt their credit. >> consumer reports suggests that you ask your insurance company to advocate on your behalf to challenge that bill directly with the air ambulance provider and to bolster your odds, file a formal complaint with the appropriate agency in your state government. i mean, how crazy i t

professionals there, telling you, this is what we need you to do, we think this is better. >> and getting a nasty surprise at the absolute worst time. >> i know, right? and $30,000, the average, it's crazy. >> thank you, susan. a century and a half of making history, despite its share of challenges. the big way that house of worship celebrated a at dominion, we're putting our energy to work creating a cleaner environment by using cleaner energy sources like solar, wind and natural gas. we've reduced carbon emissions by nearly 25%, which is the

cleaner air and cleaner water. it's good for all of us. dominion. depend on us for more than energy.

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founded by slaves after the civil war, the little church by the side of the road is still going strong today. >> mt. zion baptist church in dun frees is celebrating its 150th anniversary. >> derrick ward takes a closer look. >> reporter: from beginning in 1867 when 22 members gathered in the wild woods of rock hill, virginia, to this massive complex in dun freeze to more than 4,000 members. they've endured and grown over the last century and a half. >> through all kinds of trials and tribulations, it stands as a beacon of light, a beacon of hope. >> reporter: since moving here in the 40s, the growth continued. they're no longer the little white church by the side of the road. >> two years after,

civil war, but this church has been at the forefront. >> reporter: the governor and his wife joined in helping the congregation, but the stories of the families who have attended across the years, represent a living history. >> it's just amazing. it takes so much hard work, but we have such a strong tradition. our ancestors are very strong. so anything is possible. and what with those original 22 members think of how far this house of worship has come? could they have known it would endure, when the congregation split, when a fire destroyed the structure in 1873? could they have known it would carry on into the millennium? >> i would hope so. we want to make them proud. >> reporter: derrick ward, news4. and the news continues now with jim and wendy. and good evening, i'm jim handly. right now at 5:00 tonight, a hurtful message. we're workin

where students are reacting to a racist incident on campus. and it's not the first time in recent months that the school is dealing with racial issues. but first tonight -- >> news4 begins now with storm team4. >> and i'm wendy rieger in the storm team with the very busy guy right now. take it away. what's coming? >> we're seeing the storms firing to the south, and we'll continue to see that through the rest of the evening. storms now are not too strong, but they could become severe. storm team4 radar tracking these just to the southwestern zones, through parts of northern virginia. culpeper county, warren toton. i'm going to zoom in. no lightning associated with this just yet. but we are seeing enhanced cells moving to the north and east, and they're moving rapidly. culpeper county right now, fauquier county. rapa han uk

hour. so any of these storms that produce rain can produce windy conditions. look what's happening down to the south. and again, here's the line. tornado watch just to the north and west. we are not in a watch at this hour, but take a look at the storms developing now. just to our south and west. and these are all moving our way. next couple of hours could be a little bit bumpy, especially west of i-95. we'll keep you posted and have the latest with the radar in just a few minutes. american university is investigating a racist incident on campus in the northwest washington campus. bananas were found hanging from strings in the shape of nooses in three locations on that campus. news4's jackie bensen has the latest on this. >> reporter: wendy, a disheartening discovery here, just as the stress of finals begins today. now what we know, the university confirms there are three locations on campus where