the agonizing wait for answers for her family. it's like a tv drama that you wish you could shut off but you can't. and we continue to track hurricane irma this morning as a category 5 storm continues to make its way to the u.s. we've learned about several more deaths related to the storm. good morning everybody. i'm chris lawrence. starting today in the weather center with sheena parveen. as we have watched these new images of that destruction left behind in the caribbean and puerto rico, what do you expect from the storm moving forward? >> moving forward, it's expected to stay a category 4 or 5. we're not seeing any weakening with this thing until it makes landfall. that could very well be in the u.s. florida still in the cone here. we saw the updates coming in. we'l h

5:00 a.m. we have radar imagery from puerto rico. this is why we're able to see the rain. really showing us an incredibly organized hurricane. still a category 5. the eye of it off the coast of the dominican republic. it will be passing to the north of it. hurricane-force winds. it's not too far from the u.s. it will be approaching florida and the bahamas this weekend. i'm going to show you this track. the next update will be at 5:00 this morning. category 5. potentially the center of it staying north of cuba. in between cuba and the bahamas. water temperatures close to 90 degrees. that's typical for this time of year. the north turn will happen sometime early saturday and that north turn will put florida in the cone. the entire state of florida. anywhere in this cone it could go. uncertain about where in florida. we'll talk more about this plus your loc

this morning, more than a million people in puerto rico don't have power. they have no idea when the lights will come back on. last night irma passed north of the island. officials say there isn't much flooding and the damage isn't as bad as it could have been. it's different when we look at barbuda. 1400 people are homeless. as sheena mentioned, the storm is now headed to turks and caicos tonight. meanwhile, a mass evacuation under way in south florida as potentially millions of people try to escape the storm. take a look at this new video of the highway jam-packed with families trying to leave town. this was north of tampa in pasco county. further south, mandatory evacuations in miami-dade. evacuationsrt

county. that's where we've deployed david culver. he took the pictures of long lines at home depot as people buy supplies. battery section is wiped out. gas is another thing people are trying to stock up on as irma heads their way. >> reporter: we're in pembroke pines. you've heard about the long lines for gas. let me show you this station. you can see folks waiting behind each pump and it looks like it's moving rather smoothly. until we reveal what's waiting down the street. and you can see down there, the line of cars, it stretches back probably about 30 or so cars. this is repeated at most every gas station that you see around the area. i can also tell you that starting thursday at noon, that is when they are going

broward county. they're taking this seriously and there's a lot of concern here. that's the latest from south florida. i'm david culver. back to you. >> thank you, david. some folks didn't wait for the evacuation order to get plane tickets to our area. we spoke with one woman who decided to ride out the storm with her sister here. >> can i come to your house? she says yes, of course you can come to my house. >> i just said i got to get out. i'm not messing with no water, no electricity, no way of getting up and down the elevator. >> more people escaping irma are expected to arrive at our airports over the next few days. florida is bracing for a direct hit on sunday. following this storm's track hour by hour. stay with news 4 for more live reports from david culver as irma gets closer to south florida through the weekend. you can follom

david underscore culver. going back to the breaking news in montgomery county this morning. a section of beers mill road reopened after a deadly accident. a man riding his scooter was hit. that scooter had no lighting. the officer meetly called the accident in and tried to help the man. but he died at the hospital. right now, police are trying to find the victim's family to make a positive identification. developing right now, a desperate search for a missing pregnant woman from montgomery county. friends noticed the high school teacher was missing when she didn't show up on the first day of school. laura wallen's family is now searching for answers. she's four months pregnant and seems to have vanished without a trace much the last time anyone saw wallen was saturday. she texted a friend throughout the weekend and monday morning. her dad went to her house on monday night. hebd

dog running around but no trace of wallen. >> you feel so helpless at that point. it's like a tv drama that you wish you could shut off but you can't. >> any father would feel the same. here's a description of wallen's car. it's a 2011 black ford escape with maryland plates. if you see the car or know anything that can help, please call the police. covering prince george's county, more trouble this morning for the families in the lynnhill condominiums. folks given temporary hotel rooms have to vacate the rooms today. prince george's department of social services -- tracee wilkins reports, those who have been actively looking for new home and participating in services will be allowed to stay in their homes. the families evicted from lynnhill because of unsafe living conditions. if you haven't jumped on the

the time to get on board. for the first time since 2002, the mystics are advancing in the post-season. >> gray heaves it up and that will do it. the washington mystics hold off the young dallas wings. 86 -- >> the mystics beat dallas 86-76 last night. that didn't go without heated moments. at one point tiara ruffin pratt and aerial powers got into a fight after fighting for a rebound. powers was ee strengthly ejected. they're going to face the new york liberty. they're definitely a hot ticket around town. >> yeah. hopefully you can watch one of those. that would be fun. we're also watching hurricane irma. we've been talking about it. it's still a category 5 hurricane. still has florida in the cone. locally, though, we have fog this morning. going to be a beautiful day. if you're about to head out, take your time and keep your distance.

we'll talk about more what we can expect today and a check on irma coming up. we've been talking about this for a few days now. that popular hiking and biking trail closed for purple line construction is back in the headlines. how it could delay even more. it was make it or break it for a local choir director. how the prince george's county man and the greater works choir fared on last night's "america's got talent."

born and raised incian, dr. rrural virginia went to vmi. trained at johns hopkins. an army doctor who treated soldiers seriously wounded in the gulf war. eighteen years as volunteer medical director of a children's hospice. as lt. governor, he's fighting to expand healthcare in virginia. he'll get it done as governor. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, and we need to provide access to affordable healthcare for all virginians, not take it away.

boy, we didn't get the outcome we were hoping for on "america's got talent". that was the moment a lot of folks in our area sure wished had gone the other way. prince george's county's eliminated and will not compete in the finals of "america's got talent." what a journey for the group. you can watch the second round of the semifinals next tuesday night at 9:00 on nbc4. today is the day many of us have been waiting for. the nfl is back. the regular season kicks off

champion new england patriots taking on the kansas city chiefs. you can watch it on nbc4. coverage starts at 7:30. of course, that game is going to be followed by news 4 at 11:00. boy, we continue to keep an eye on irma and taking a look outside. not shaping up to be all that bad of a day. >> it's not that bad, chris. we don't have the rain around this morning. one thing we have is fog from the rain. the good news, we stay dry. the rain from yesterday moved offshore. we're going to be seeing big improvements. i'll show you the forecast plus a close look at where irma is heading coming up. construction on the purple line recently got the green light. that doesn't mean it won't get delayed even more. how the closure of a nearby trail could put the work behind. news just come not guilty from the west coast this morning about a charles manson family member. they were just recommended for parole and what would h

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another update on hurricane irma's track. right now the massive storm heading for turks and caicos and expected to make landfall tonight. we know a lot of you want to know about the track towards florida. stick with "news4 today." we'll have an updated track from the national weather service coming up at 5:00 a.m. welcome back to "news4 today" at 4:00 a.m. i'm

infamous crimes in american history. this morning, one of charles manson's followers is expected to be granted freedom. california parole board voted to release leslie van how ten last night. she participated in the manson murder spree. they posed she is not a threat to society. governor jerry brown has the final say. last year he overruled the decision to parole van outen. officials in australia will send -- to find out if they support same-sex marriage. it comes after challenges were dismissed to the government's power to carry out the postal ballot. the ballots will be mailed out next week. plenty of chants and cheers for pope francis as he

in klum ba. he landed in bogota and smiled and waved to thousands who stood for hours. pope francis is expected to pressure leaders in colombia on social and economic disparities in that country. you may remember seeing similar scenes here in the district when pope francis visited us back in 2015. tomorrow we'll find out if a temporary restraining order will be granted tomorrow. it would block down cutting trees in the park. the georgetown branch trail is now closed and starting to look like a construction zone. sherri bail can barely stand the sight of one of her favorite places. it's part of my exercise routine and my social life. it's gorgeous, beautiful, especially in the fall. >> the trail is slated to be closed for

line. some trees scheduled to be cut down in days unless the court intervenes. a request for a temporary restraining has been filed to stop the tree cutting and reopen at least parts of the trail. >> i think there must be some way that the construction can occur at the same time that the trail or parts of it are left open. >> the judge asked the state and federal government to find out how much it would cost to delay tree removal. an attorney for the state said it could be $13 million a month. the judge decides on the temporary restraining order friday. friends of the trail attorney john fitzgerald explains what happens if the judge denies the request. >> essentially what happens then is all bets are off. the trees are coming down, the trail will be closed entirely. it's going to be irreparable harm in the classic sense. >> the maryland department of transportation told us, the plaintiff's tactic is

abandon a critical project for the capital region. >> truth is, i'm going to still walk on it until someone arrests me. in the district, kristin wright, news 4. kristin tells us the judge agreed to hear new arguments on the 19th. but he added that he may not have proper jurisdiction because parts of this case are also going through the court of appeals. it's a complicated process there. sheena parveen is keeping an eye on the fog swirling around outside our door but the fog. >> that's because of the rain we had yesterday. it's going to shape up to be a gorgeous day and going to continue through the weekend and then we're watching hurricane irma, remnants here. currently, we're watching it still in the atlantic. i'll show you that in a second. before you head out, i want to show you the visibility. we're a half mile visibility at dulles, less than a mile

patchy fog this morning, especially as you get over the higher elevations. temperaturewise, we're cool. i think the kids can get away with a light jacket. upper 50s to near 60 degrees. the bus stop forecast looking good this afternoon. this morning, 60 degrees by 7:00 a.m. areas of fog. by 8:00 a.m., 63. perfect this afternoon. 75 degrees and low humidity. now we're going to look at irma. here it is. we're feeling the radar images out of puerto rico. we're able to see where a lot of the rain is in this thing. it's off the coast of the dominican republic, headed towards the turks and caicos as a category 5. you can expect a lot of buildings and structures to be demolished in the turks and caicos. the cone has not changed too much. we have another update at 5:00 a.m. i'll show you the current cone. it still has winds sustained near 180 miles an hour. still a category 5. as we go through the next 24 hours, it's still expected to be a cat 5. this is going to be

few days now with a cat 5 hurricane. then we're waiting for the northerly turn. still putting florida in the cone, favoring the east coast more. we aren't sure where it's going to be heading. wave height high near the dominican republic right now. going into the weekend, we're not worrying about it yet. temperatures in the mid-730s and sunny. they may be technically adults, but they're still your kids. what happens if your college student ends up in a hospital. how you can still have access to their medical information. we continue to follow a developing story. the case of a missing pregnant woman. enother updat fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network.

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bad news for shoppers this morning. two more major retailers are closing st.

close 200 stores in the next two years. at this point, we don't know if they'll be in our area. it's going to focus on growing brands like old navy and@let a. there are plans to open 2 to 300 of those stores. if you're a parent, few things are worse than this. you get a call saying your college-age child is being rushed to the emergency room. imagine getting the call but the doctors and nurses won't tell you anything about what's going wrong. consumer reporter susan hogan is working for you to make sure it doesn't happen to you. >> as her daughter heads back to college, she'll rest a little easier knowing her daughter has signed a medical authorization form. it's a simple yet significant document saying it's okay for doctors and nurses to share her daughter's medical information with her in an emergency. i mean, yes, they're

considered adults, but i want her in the proper medical hands and i want a say in that. >> the privacy rule of the health insurance affordability and -- act hip a, says the child is legally an adult at age 18, parents have no more right to their child's medical information than to the information of the stranger on the street. >> it doesn't matter whether your child is still on your health insurance or if you're paying the bills. >> health experts at consumer reports say signing a simple document could help smooth things over. >> it's a permission slip, then it eliminates any ambiguity. >> you can find many versions online, there isn't one specific document called a hip a form. they specify who can be given the information, the type of information that can be shared and the applicable date. >> some hospita

medical centers have their own forms. if you know where your child is likely to go, you may want to reach out to them. >> it may better help you handle a crisis. susan hogan, news 4. >> in fact, the best thing is for your child to carry the form tucked into a wallet or backpack. during an emergency, a parent forwarding, a scanned copy may be enough to persuade a doctor or hospital to release that information. all right. it is now 4:26. "news4 today" continues right now with aaron and eun. chris, thank you. that breaking news a a rising death toll as hurricane irma barrels towards the coast. >> new information of devastation left behind by this category 5 storm. take a look at this video from puerto rico. the storm knocked down a lot of trees and tree limbs and

debris litter the streets. roofs have to be dealt with. they're hanging on right now. they're dealing with high winds and heavy rains there. we'll get you caught up on the latest in a minute. but as aaron said, within the past hour, we've learned the storm is now blamed for eight more deaths and more are expected. sheena and samarah mamarra keeping an eye on this for us. >>let check in with them first before we look at the roads with wtop's jack taylor. what's the latest? >> irma is still a category 5. we're watching it closely. eventually, we'll see the impact of it. >> i'm going to have a full forecast of how the day is panning out as well as the weekend. >> little bit of fog. but irma, category 5 hurricane, you see it here, the center of it near the dominican republic. it is offshore. but you see the radar from it coming out of puerto rico. that shows us where some of the rain is. we'll have a

closer into the weekend. it is on a path towards the turks and caicos right now. this is not good because this thing is still a category 5. take a look at the updated track. we'll get another update at 5:00. coming out here pretty soon but it's expected to stay over water as a category 4 making a north turn toward florida. florida is still in the cone. still uncertain as to where the center is going to be. either way, looks as though it will be impacting the state of florida. another update in 30 minutes. let's check your roads with jack tayl taylor. wtop. good morning, jack. >> good morning and thank you. off to a decent start on the beltway. you should find your travel lanes open. again, some of them residually wet and dealing with some fog this morning too. give yourself a couple of extra minutes. drive into those with limited visibility. there is one work zone. it's in virginia on 66 eastbound after 234. prince william parkway in manassas is blocking a singl

hopefully it will be cleared in a half an hour before you hit the road. back to you. >> jack, thank you. it's 4:29. let's go back to that breaking news. the devastating tornado -- excuse me, hurricane irma. it left an incredible amount of damage behind. >> more than a million people do not have power there. they have no idea when the lights will come back on. >> farther east on barbuda, we know that half of that island's population, about 900 people are homeless this morning. eight people died from the storm on the islands in the caribbean and the number will rise. >> we are getting breathtaking images of this monster storm. the eye of the storm churning right there. these are from space. >> pictures from nasa and noaa working together. they show how massive irma is right now. it's north of the dominican republic headed for the turks and caicos. >> chris lawrence at the live desk with what comes next. boy oh, boy guys, i

everything around it. we talked about what florida are doing. there are more island in the path of the storm. it's possible it passes over turks and caicos. 90% of the flights have been canceled. take a look at this. this video is from the islands irma left behind. guadalupe antigua, flooding like we saw from harvey. cars have sub merged. people trying to find something to salvage in a giant mess. irma is still a category 5. expect to see more video like these. there's another model at 5:00. just minutes away. we'll be following any developments right here. >> chris, thank you. it's 4:30 now. a mass evacuation is under way in south florida as potentially millions try to escape the storm. >> this is new video of the highway jam-packed with families trying to get out o