hurricane irma. we have new video from puerto rico and other islands in the caribbean showing the shear power of this historic storm. leaving towns in ruins and thousands of people homeless. >> the national hurricane is getting ready to release its latest information on the category 5 hurricane making its way through the caribbean and is expected to hit florida in a matter of days. >> it's a very business thursday morning around here, folks. good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. we're bringing you the most up to date information on irma. we want to go to sheena parveen in the storm center. >> good morning, guys. i'm sitting here waiting for the 5:00 a.m. update from the national hurricane center. we've been watching the cone. it has been pretty similar over the past several days here. just kind of putting florida in the trek. the real question is what side of florida is the storm going to favor. the last update, again, which was from last night. we're still waiting for the newest update coming out any minute now. someti

minutes after 5:00. right now, we're still waiting for that. personally, i don't think it's going to change too much from what it looks like right now. it's favoring the east coast of florida more than the west coast of florida. many, many computer models are favoring that side of florida. still, it's too far out. we have a big pretty big spread from the bahamas. the consensus with most models, we're watching the east coast of florida closely. i'm going to go back in time and show you this storm. this is the current update. now, we have not received the 5:00 update just yet. i'm saving this to show you. there might be jerkiness. in case you missed it earlier, it's taking a minute to load here. here's the tropical trek. we're waiting for the 5:00 a.m. update. this looks a little different. the center of it still a category 5 off the coast of the dominican republic. i think this is the update. n

please excuse some of boxes in weird places. it shows you the time, category 5 by friday afternoon in between cuba and the bahamas. this is very, very warm water. this is why cone is expected to stay in this general vicinity as still a major hurricane. now, here is the most recent update. i will say it looks very, very similar. the only thing, don't keep your eye on the red line. that's the center of the cone. it has shifted just a little bit to the west. that is not a big movement at all. just a little bit west of miami. that would be not many miles. so, again, doesn't look very different. that would still be into sunday afternoon. we'll be watching this. it's expected to be a major hurricane because atmospheric conditions are favorable. we'll be watching it closely and seeing what it does after that. could be headed to parts of the georgia coastline or south carolina. let's check your local forecast now. we have fog around if re

let's take a look at that somara. >> for those hitting the roads, we have patchy fog. for those hitting the pavement for their exercise routine, you'll see grounds a little damp from yesterday. overall, a lovely day. breezy conditions around noon. temperatures rising into the mid to upper 70s throughout your thursday. mostly sunny conditions. i think that this trend is going to move all the way into the weekend. we're really setting up for a nice weekend. the beach forecast a little later. jack, over to you. >> hey, somara. we've got a quiet start, thankfully. hopefully the fog burns off. otherwise, that's the only thing you'll potentially find in your way. the beltway is quiet. local through lanes, everything is looking good. a live look in virginia. the epitome of 95 and 395. up around king street through landmark from springfield toward the 14th street bridge, volume is still very light. so far so good. we'll see how things continue on this thursday morning drive. back to

it's 5:04 now. hurricane irma moving towards the turks and caicos islands now. it's still not showing signs of slowing down. this is a powerful category 5 hurricane. >> almost all the flights to and from turks and caicos have been canceled in puerto rico, which is getting the remnants of the storm right now. more than a million people do not have electricity. >> we know hundreds are homeless in other islands in the caribbean at this hour. >> to get a sense of how damaging the storm is, take a look at these pictures here. just incredible images >> these images from nasa and noaa. they put up videos of the hurricane from space. as we said, it is massive. you just see what looks like a cloud herement incredible size here. devastating wind and torrential rain as well. >> chris lawrence is at the live desk with more. you know more about the damage this is leaving behind. just terrible. >> yeah. i can't get over that image you just showed. before most of you woke up, we got some new numbers. eight people have now died on the island

just the past half hour, we got in new video from the island. now, this is a part of the island that's controlled by the netherlands. some homes still intact. this is a tremendous amount of debris. trees down and roots damaged. the docks have been hit especially hard. a lot of the boats overturned. france's interior minister is sure that even more people have been killed. we don't know how many yet. as we get that information, we'll be sure to let you know. aaron? >> chris, thank you. meanwhile, a mass evacuation is 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. bumper to bumper there. this was north of tampa in pasco county. farther south, mandatory evacuations for parts of miami-dade county are happening right now. >> evacuations start this morning in broward county. that's where we've deployed news

here. long lines at a home depot. people buying supplies to board up their homes. take a look at the battery section. no batteries left. and gas, another thing people are stocking up on as irma heads their way. >> reporter: we're here in pembroke pines, florida, outside of lauderdale. you've been hearing about the long lines for gas. let me show you this station. you've got a few folks waiting behind each pump and it looks like it's moving rather smoothly. then 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're going to begin evacuations on the east part of broward county. each farther north from mi

they're taking this very seriously and there's a lot of concern here. that's the latest from south florida. i'm david culver. back to you. some people did not wait for the evacuation order and secured plane tickets to our area. we spoke with one woman who left miami yesterday to ride out the storm up here with her sister in montgomery county. we caught up with her just after landing at reagan national airport. >> 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 going to mess with no water, no electricity, no way of getting up and down the elevator. >> smart move. more people escaped irma are expected to arrive over the next couple of days. florida is bracing for a possible direct hit from irma on sunday. we know many of you have family in the storm's path. stay with news 4 for more live reports from david culver as irma gets closer to south florida through the weekend. you can also follow him on

culver. it's 5:08 now. breaking news in montgomery county this morning, a section of veers mill road just reopened after a deadly accident. >> we are told the man riding a scooter died when an unmarked police cruiser hit him last night. megan mcgrath is live at the scene with more information. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this crash happened on veers mill road. if you look behind me here, you can see the fence that has been taken out here along the side of the road in all of this. it was about 9:45 last night. a 74-year-old man, according to police, was driving a small motor scooter. he was over on monterrey drive and was trying to cross veers mill, take a turn. he got successfully across the westbound lanes but when he got to the eastbound side of veers mill, that's when the scooter was struck by an unmarked montgomery county police cruiser. now, the police officer was on duty at the

he immediately gave assistance. the man on the scooter taken to the hospital but was later pronounced dead. now, who was at fault in this accident? that is all under investigation. apparently several witnesses did stay on the scene much they did give some statements to police. so they're trying to piece together all that happened here. but a 74-year-old man has died. back to you. >> all right, megan mcgrath live for us. thank you. 5:09 now. developing right now, the desperate search for a missing pregnant woman from montgomery county continues. friends notice the high school teacher was missing when she didn't show up on first day of school. now, laura wallen's family is searching for answers. she's four months pregnant and vanished without a trace. her father went to her house monday night. he found the lights on and the dog running around. but couldn't find his daughter. she did speak to her sister earlier that day. >> i spoke her on saturday. through text

and then briefly on sunday and then i had one odd text message in the morning on monday. >> here is a description of wallen's car. a 2011 black ford escape with maryland plates. you can see the tag number there. if you see the car or know anything that can help in search, call police. news 4's justin finch is following the story and will have the latest in a few minutes ziefrnts today, we could find out the ruts of a mental competency report for the man accused of killing three little girls. antonio williams will be in court today and whether he will be out on bond. he's charged with killing his 6-year-old sister and their two young cousins at a home in clinton last month. williams confessed to the crimes but did not say why he killed them. back here at the live desk, we're getting new video of the wildfire burning in oregon. we've been talking about this for a few days now. conditions from the eagle creek fire were getting better. now firefighters thinks

going to get worse again. it is threatening hundreds of homes. they only have it 5% contained right now. there are winds in forecast that could whip this fire up even more. the red cross is helping evacuees. they've accounted for them in the shelters. i just tweeted out a picture of a firefighter. 18-year-old firefighter completely collapsed from all the work of fighting this fire. kudos to all the folks out there working so hard. eun? indeed, chris lawrence thank you. more trouble for the people evicted from the lynnhill condominiums last month. people given temporary hotel rooms have to vacate today. prince george's department much social services provided the hotel rooms for the displaced residents. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins reports those who have been actively looking for new homes and participating in services will be allowed to stay in their rooms. the families were evicted because of unsafe living conditions. are you ready for some mystic fever? for t

the mystics are moving on in the post-season. >> gray heaves it up. and that will do it. the washington mystics hold off the young dallas wings. >> all right. show mystics some love. they beat dallas 86-76 last night. that didn't go without heated moments. at one point tiara ruffin pratt and ariel powers had a fight there. this is after fighting for a rebound. powers was eventually ejected. >> there's a lot of passion. they face the new york liberty on sunday. >> 5:12 now. > ♪ >> it was make or break time for a local choir director. how the prince george's county man and the greater works choir fared in last night's

got talent." good thursday morning. we have patchy fog out there. coming up, beautiful weather through the weekend and then we could see the impacts of irma. i'll show you that forecast straight ahead. news just coming in from the west coast this morning about a charles manson family member who was just recommended for parole and what would have

born and raised incian, dr. rrural virginia

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.

let's give you another update on hurricane irma. right now, that massive storm is passing the dominican republic headed for the turks and caicos. it's expect today hit tonight as probably a category 5, maybe a 4 hurricane. >> after that, the storm will continue on to florida, where it is supposed to make landfall on sunday. i'm chris lawrence at the live desk with some breaking news. protesters fighting with police in south korea. this is another consequence of the rising tensions with north korea and the u.s. there was a protest over south korea's defensive missile system. the one north korean leader kim jong un says is in a front. dozens of people were hurt, including six police officers. south korea and japan have called for stronger punishment of the north's threats.

thinks the trump administration does want to diffuse the situation. >> chris, thank you. it is now 5:17. they committed some of the most infamous crimes in american history. >> this morning, one much charles manson's followers is expected to be granted freedom. the california parole board voted to release leslie van houten last night. she participated in the killing of a couple during the manson murder spree. the parole board found she was not a threat to society. governor jerry brown has the final say. he overruled the decision to parole von haugh ten last year. there will be mail ballots sent to residents to find out whether they support same-sex marriage in australia. this comes after challenges were dismissed to carry out the postal ballot. the decision to conduct the survey has been unpopular on both side of the issue. ballots will be mailed out n

week. plenty of chants and cheers for pope francis as he arrived in colombia. he landed in bogota. he smiled and waved to the thousands of people who lined up for hours along his motorcade route last night. pope francis is expected to pressure colombian leaders on social and economic disparities in the country. you may remember similar scenes in the district when pope francis visited in 2015. we didn't get the outcome on "america's got talent." take a look. >> all right. that was the moment we wish went the other way. prince george's county's damon and greater works choir eliminated and will not compete in the finals of "america's got talent." what a journey it was for the group. i know this is not going to be the last we hear from this group. just incredible showing. you can watch the second round

night at 9:00 here on nbc4. >> they were already pretty popular. now in national exposure -- >> he was pretty funny too. 5:19. our time right now. we got the latest update on irma. the winds have slowed a tiny bit. but still an incredible story. >> still a category 5 storm and still headed to turks and caicos. i was saying earlier, when you know when you google images of the turks and caicos, you see the beautiful huts over the water on stilts. i don't think a lot of those are going to be standing by the time this goes through. the good news, hopefully they can rebuild them quickly. they usually can with those types of things. this still a major, major hurricane. it has been a category 5 for a couple of days now. the updated track has florida in the entire cone. it has not changed much. computer models struggling a little bit with when it's going to take the north turn, if it impacts the east or west coast of florida. if you're about to leave the house, patchy fog to tell you

dulles. looking pretty good in the district. 3-mile visibility, not bad in warrenton. don't be surprised if you hit a little fog. 57 dulles, 60 quantico. 59 gaithersburg. 59 in clinton. before the kids head to the bus stop, could get away with a light jacket. i had to wear one this morning when i came in. 7:00 a.m., if you're exercising outside, by lunchtime, more sunshine. 5:00 p.m., fantastic outside. sunny, 75. here's a look at irma, the center headed towards the turks and caicos, north of the dominican republic. we'll continue to see this take the same track we've been watching. the center of it between cuba and the bahamas. still a major hurricane. then taking that northerly turn. florida still in the cone. it's expected to stay very, very strong. the owning thing that weaken it is land interaction. the computer models favoring east coast of florida. a lot of them will spread. not sure when it takes the turn. through the weeken

looks gorgeous. irma wouldn't impact us until next week. we'll be watching it closely. let's check your roads with jack taylor. good morning, jack. >> good morning, sheena. accident number one potentially. outer loop of the beltway after connecticut avenue toward 355. reported to be along the left side of the roadway. otherwise, a decent start. had an early accident on 66 eastbound. out near lynn street. as you come out of rosalyn tunnel, police are on scene. no lanes blocked. be aware there's the potential always from the flashing lights early on especially to cause potential delay. for now, volume is light. aaron, eun, back to you. >> jack, thank you. it is a new report that tells us something we perhaps already know. you don't get enough sleep. don't we know it too well. leading reason most women have sleepless nights and what you can do to get more shut eye. donald trump jr. heads to capitol hill today. coming up

expect when the president's son meets with members of the senate to

football? the nfl kicks off a new season tonight. the new england patriots taking on the kansas city chiefs. you can watch the game on nbc4. coverage begins at 7:30. be sure to watch news 4 at 11:00 after the game. did you get a good night's sleep last night? you didn't? you're not alone. aaron and i barely get a good night's sleep. >> not complaining though. a new report shows one in three women in their 40s and 50s don't get enough sleep. one of the reasons appears to be hormone changes leading up to and during menopause. but sleep experts say

one way to drift off. log off long before your head hits the pillow. >> we recommend that at least half an hour before bedtime we really need to take a break from electronic devices to be able to then fall asleep naturally without using medications. >> we tell this to our kids, right? but we have to follow. it's recommended that most adults get at least seven hours of sleep each night. preferably eight. >> that only happens on vacation. seven hours, i've never seen that. snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness is apnea and should be evaluated by a doctor. >> it can be hard. i got two of these things. >> my mind, i have a hard time shutting down my mind. so many to-do lists running. >> what are you going to do? 5:26 is the time right now. seems like something out of a bad dream but it was real for commuters in atlanta. >> a tiger spotted running down ay

now we're learning where it came from. we'll fill you in. here's good news. we're starting to see visibility increase in some areas. we're back up to about four miles down towards manassas. i'll have your full forecast denoting the perfect weather to come. we continue to track hurricane irma. it is barreling through the caribbean right now. >> new video of (vo) there's a freedom about asheville. an unspoken invitation to discover who you really are. here, the world is a big, beautiful place filled with adventure. take it in. visit lonely planet's best destination for 2017.

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it's just about 5:30. we're tracking hurricane irma. the category 5 storm is still setting records as it blasts across the caribbean. >> this is new video from anguilla. it's one of several islands where thousands of people are without power as they wait for floodwaters to recede. we know the storm already killed at least eight people. it is still too early to tell the impact it will have on the u.s. though. >> we do know there are a lot of you with questions about irma. people have family in florida, especially because this is the most powerful storm reported ever in the atlantic. sheena parveen is here to answer a lot of your questions. people want to know if it will stay strong as it enters the u.s. >> yes. we expect it to stay strong. there's nothing that's going to weaken the storm except landfall at this point. this storm has favorable atmospheric conditions. the

develop is over 78, 79 degrees. the water temperatures is in the mid to upper 80s. this is very favorable. it's very organized and has an organized eye and still a category 5. until it makes landfall, nothing is going to weaken this thing. >> i know you just got the update in the last half hour. we can see it's massive in terms of width. any idea where it's going to hit in florida? >> woe dooent know exactly where that's why we have the cone of uncertainty when you see the hurricane's track. it's over 350 miles wide. it covers the entire state of florida. >> everywhere in florida. >> especially through the center of florida. it's going to impact both coastlines. the strongest side of a storm, the hurricane is the right side. around the eye is where you have the strongest width. whoever is on the right side of the storm will see the worst impact, as far as wind and rain is concerned. that direct hit is going through south

east coast of florida. however, the west coast of florida is in the cone. i have family and friends in tampa, orlando, miami. it's expected to be a major hurricane and we don't know where it's going to hit. it's going to take the north turn and florida in the path. >> we talk about category 5 and the largest storm in the atlantic. what makes that type of hurricane so dangerous, the winds, what else? >> the rain, the storm surge. storm surge is number one talking about a hurricane. storm surge, weave already seen reports in the virgin islands when the storm was near there yesterday of waves crashing near 30 feet. the storm surge is going to be tremendous am that's the problem with flooding. if it nears the florida keys, they expect the keys to be underwater because of the storm surge. low-lying areas there. the water level in miami is 6 feet above sea level. we're talking about major storm surge water coming in. heavy rain falling. but the winds now right now with the category 5 hurricane, here's video of what

antig antigua, we have video there. you can see the flood thag it caused. storm surge -- the wind alone in the category 5 is like an ef-4 tornado. if you think about that over the area and on the way to the turks and caicos right now. >> sheena, thanks so much for that information. very valuable there. >> we know you have more questions too. you can tweet them to sheena or @nbc washington and see the ever changing forecast in the nbc washington app including when we feel the impact here at home. 5:33 our time right now. let's turn to our local weather and check on the commute too. >> wtop's jack taylor is watching the roads and somara theodore is looking at the local weather. >> actake a look at the current temperatures. winter back here. 45 degrees out towards oakland. 57 in dulles. 61 in washington. the good news heading throughout the da

work in our favor. highs in the mid-70s. we had patchy fog this morning. it's continuing to burn often. that will improve throughout the day. mostly sunny, breezy at times. i think we're going to ride this perfect weather into the weekend. hey, somara, we've got an accident on the eastbound lanes of 66. headed outside the rosslyn tunnel towards lynn street. apparently the vehicle lost its axle. we have a lot of equipment on scene. for now, in decent shape. what you'll also find is the first of hopefully not many accident activity on the outer loop of the beltway. before 355. two incident on the area, on the shoulders, flashing lights could cause a delay. but we're in decent shape. the volume remains light and with some of the wet roadways, hopefully people are keeping speeds down. nudge nudge wink wink. aaron, eun, back to you.

>> here at the live desk, i tweeted out new information on this fatal collision in montgomery county. a montgomery county police cruiser hit and killed an elderly man riding a motor scooter. we've learned he was 74 years old. he was trying to cross over veers mill road. an unmarked cruiser was being driven by an on-duty police officer. they collided. they've been on the scene trying to figure out how this happened and why. multiple witnesses were on scene. the police are saying that scooter did not have its lights on. we'll get more information on this and bring it to you as soon as we find it. eun in. thank you, chris. it's now 5:35. a maryland man will spend the res of his life in jail for a series of killings that left our area terrified. eulalio tordil murdered

outside a high school in beltsville. we saw this video for the first time yesterday. it shows tordil walking up to his wife, gladys tordil's car at the same time their daughter is coming out of school. the girl drops her bag and runs towards the car. prosecutors say gladys tordil told her daughter to turn around and go back to school. next comes the heartbreaking 911 call from the daughter telling police that her mother needs help. tordil shot and killed his wife and injured a man who tried to help her. changed the way the cathedral looks in washington. the church has begun removing four stained glass panels honoring stonewall jackson a robert e. lee. they'll be placed in storage. they're an obstacle to church teaching the pastor says. thrown to the ground and handcuffed. an nfl player says he was the victim of excessive force. we'll tell you the story behind the video you'll beee

plus, a lot of us have seen the deer on our way to work. how about this wild animal. a tiger spotted on a highway. now we know how it ended up there. stay

take a look at this. a tiger roaming the streets near atlanta is dead.

apparently a dog tried to fight the tiger and was hurt. >> officers were able to save the dog. but they had to shoot the tiger because it got so close to a school bus route apparently. the now closed ringling bothers and barnum & bailey circus reported this tiger missing. she escaped after being transported from florida and tennessee on her way to join a european circus. an nfl star and critic of police violence says this video from tmz sports shows las vegas police using excessive force on him. >> seattle seahawks defensive end michael bennett says he was leaving the mayweather mcgregor fight last month when he started running because of rorts of gunshots. then police pointed guns at him and threatened to kill him. officers thought bennett was involved in the shooting. they are promising a full investigation. bennett says the recent violence in charlottesville persuaded him to sit for the 2017 season du t

sweeps through the caribbean. >> people in florida are backing up and heading out. more on the mass exodus and why many are coming here to d.c. coming off of yesterday, today looks amazing. temperatures rising into the mid-70s. we're talking sunshine. how is the weekend shaping up? that's coming up. southbound d.c. 295 before east capitol street, a new crash blocking the center lane will cause slowdowns. northbound 210 fwf the beltway, an early crash causing early slowdowns. give yourself extra time. more after the break. >> reporter: she's a school teacher, a mom-to-be and she is missing. we're live in montgomery county with the search for laura

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irma. the monster of a storm still swirling through the atlantic. we just learned at least one person died in anguilla. raising hurricane irma's death toll to at least ten in the caribbean. the latest track still shows this is a serious threat for millions of americans. >> florida bracing for the next big impact here. thousands of people evacuating and many are headed here. we caught up with a few taking cover in the d.c. area. >> it's becoming a popular app in times of emergency. will zello work when you need it the most? we'll break down the facts and fiction before you download it. we will get you right back to the latest on hurricane irma in a minute here. first, donald trump jr. heads to capitol hill today. >> he's expected to face a grilling today on a meeting he had last year at trump tower. tracie potts is live on capitol hill. tracie,

will he face today? >> lawmakers want specks. they want to -- spisks. they want to know what happened behind closed doors. according to his e-mails, he said the meeting was about getting damaging information from hillary clinton on the russian -- from the russian government on hillary clinton. but the statement he released said the meeting was mostly about russian adoptions. lawmakers want to get into the details of that. this meeting today has been a long time in the making. they've been going back and forth with his attorney. they wanted donald trump jr. to testify publicly about what was said with this russian lawyer. that's not happening yet. according to sources, the committee still wants to see that happen. but today it's behind closed doors with staff, with lawmakers. the first time they'll get

president in his inner circle in the context of this larger investigation on russian influence in the election. >> tracie potts on capitol hill this morning. tracie, thank you. a federal judge rules tomorrow on whether there will be more delays for the purple line or whether a popular trail will stay closed. this is a story we've been following closely for you. a group upset that the georgetown branch trail is now closed for construction of the light rail project has asked the judge for a temporary restraining order. teresa long the scenic route would not be cut down. purple line officials say the decision could cost them millions of dollars. we could find out the results of a mental competency report for the man accused of killing three little girls. antonio williams will be in court today. we could learn whether williams will be allowed on bond. he's charged with killing his 6-year-old

cousins. williams confessed to the crimes but didn't say why he killed them. now to this developing story. laura wallen is a teacher. her parents recently learned they were going to have a grandchild. they feel helpless as authorities search for their daughter. >> justin finch is live in olney, maryland, outside laura's apartment with more about the search. justin? >> reporter: aaron, good morning. as you mentioned, she's four months pregnant, she should be home prepping her lesson plan for her new students. she's not been seen since 8:30 monday morning. an hour later that same day, her family got a text from her that they described as being troubling. so her father came back to her condo that same day, finding no sign of her but then another red flag. that next day, tuesday, laura did not show up for work at wild lake high school in columbia where she teaches law and

they also can't find her car. a 2011 black ford escape suv with maryland tag m 522473. laura's sister said it's not like her to up an vanish. >> she was real excited to be a mom. that obviously puts an enormous amount of worry on us because she's out there somewhere and she has a baby. that's a really scary thing. so we need to -- we need help finding her. >> reporter: very scary indeed. neighbors also say they've been out searching for lawyer's car as well for several days finding no sign of it at this time either. police say if you see it or laura, give them a call. as for the text message, it's not being revealed just what it said. back to you. >> justin finch live in olney. thanks. now to a story only on news 4 this morning.

the missing children in d.c. this week the district started implementing changes in the way those children are helped by providing more safe beds and shelters such as sasha bruce. news 4 sat down with one young girl who found help there. the decision to get help was not easy she said. >> even though i didn't want to stay there, i knew i had to see that this is the only way that my life is going to get better. >> if you are a teen or a family in distress, you have the information you need on our nbc washington app. search, missing teens. more trouble today for the people who were evicted from the lynnhill condominiums in temple hills last month. people given temporary hotel rooms have to vacate today. they provided the rooms for the displaced residents. the bureau chief, tracee wilkins report that those actively looking for new homes and participating in services will be allowed to stay in their

lynnhill because of unsafe living conditions there. now, back to our coverage of hurricane irma at 5:51. a mass evacuation under way in south florida as potentially millions of people try to escape the storm. we take a look here and you can see video of highways jam-packed with families trying to leave town. this traffic could get worse in the coming days as more vac wags go into effect. right now, mandatory evacuations for parts of miami-dade county are in effect. evacuations start in broward county at noon. many school districts have closed until further notice. some people didn't wait for the evacuation order and secured plane tickets to our area. we spoke to a woman who left miami yesterday to ride out the storm here with her sister in montgomery county. >> we caught up with her after she landed at reagan national airport. >> can i come to your house? she said yes, of course you can come to my house. i said i got to get out. i'm knot going to

water, no electricity, no way of getting up and down the elevator. >> smart for her to get out. lucky she has somewhere to go. more people escaping irma are expected to arrive at our airports the next couple of days. florida is bracing for a possible direct hit from irma on sunday. we're working for you to give you the download on the app that many of you hear about on social media. it's called zello and promises to work like a walkie-talkie. it's getting use -- what your friends and family need to know, the app requires wi-fi or phone data which may not be available in emergencies. zello representatives tell the "washington post" that at one point this week, they had 120 people registering every second. zello became the go-to app for first respondersn

on social media, empty store shelves all over florida. these pictures are causing amazon to push back on accusations that it isn't doing enough for price gouging. twitter users shared screen shots of a $63 jug of water. you've got to be kidding me and a $100 pack of water. the company says low price items are sell out, leaving high priced items from third party sellers. amazon says it does not price surge. our parents are in tampa and said this was probably monday or tuesday, out of water in tampa. orlando, the same thing. i mean, it's just -- you know how we have snow days, we have hurricane days. >> everything is pushed to texas and louisiana. everybody else is trying to replenish. florida, still have a couple of days to prepare. >> still a couple of days to prepare. but people have taken this into full force as far as

>> they want to get ahead of this. >> any time there's a -- florida, they know what happens when water rises and storm surge is the number one thing in florida as it gets closer. i'll show you the track in a second. before you head out, here's what you need to know. maybe your kids 'neath need a light jacket. i needed one. 61 degrees in washington. many of -- 55 now, leesburg. 59 in clinton. 57 in manassas. if you're in frederick, your temperature is 57 degrees. bus stop forecast looking pretty good. we're dry but areas of fog by 7:00 a.m. by noon, recess can definitely be outside. dry, more sunshine by the afternoon. sunny, mid-70s. we're staying beautiful across the week. if you're heading to the local wineries, sunny, temperatures around 70 degrees. here's irma. category 5 hurricane staying north of the dominican republic. it's not going to be weakening. it's heading to turks and caicos right now with 180 mile an hour sustained winds toward

here's the track. north of cube and the bahamas. potentially impacting florida. florida is inside the cone as potentially a major hurricane will be -- 75 for a high today. the weekend looking fantastic. if irma comes here, which we expect the remnants to be impacting us, it will be tuesday and wednesday with increasing rain and wind. let's check the roads with jack taylor. good morning, jack. >> sheena, thanks. good morning. our crash early outer loop of the beltway after connecticut avenue. everything is on the left shoulder, but the flashing lights will cause a delay. the speed will decrease through the roller coaster. maybe not a bad idea to keep the speeds down. southbound. d.c. 295 into the district before east capitol street. accident activity in the center of the roadway. the left lane is getting by causing sizable slowdowns. closed the westbound lanes of 100 at i-97. all traffic right

getting by on the right shoulder. all traffic diverts on to southbound i-97 until further notice. plan ahead for that. back to you. jack, thank you. it is 5:56. a brand new nordstrom rack is opening in prince george's county. it's in wood more town center. that is the same one as the wegmans. this is the first high end store to move into the area in 30 years. more stores are closing. gap and banana republic plan to close 200 locations in the next three years. we don't know if any of them are in our area. the company says it will instead focus on its growing brands. old navy and@let a. >> next at 6:00, a royal first. the future king of england starting his rein in the classroom. we'll show you a look at prince george's first day of school. >> reporter: we're here to get the scoop on

barbershop talk here at the first ever on campus barbershop at howard university. [ applause ] >> we've got music from whro radio, cheerleaders on the way. all of this and more on "news4 today." we continue to track hurricane irma. we're showing you the damage and the preparations ahead. plus, sheena parveen shows us the latest from the hurricane hunters inside that storm in 90 seconds.

right now on "news4 today," tracking irma. the strongest storm in atlantic ocean history churning towards the u.s. breaking down the newest advisory and taking a look at the damage already left behind. >> plus, more breaking news. a man killed in a crash involving a police officer. news 4 is there live with the new details coming in while you were sleeping. just about 6:00 a.m. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. we have a lot of details to start your thursdayment we begin with hurricane irma. >> barreling through the caribbean this morning and leaving a ton of damage in its wake. our team coverage begins with storm team meteorologist sheena parveen. >> sheena just receed

latest advisory from the national hurricane center. what does it say, sheena? >> it's not looking too different from before. we didn't expect it to change too much. computer models are agreeing. it's going to take a north turn into the week and then it's going to be impacting part of the state of florida. that still has yet to be determined. here's a look at irma from the puerto rico radar. you can see the rain and it's still a very, very big hurricane. the center of it is nearing the turks and caicos right now. it's going to stay on the path to florida going through the next couple of days. mass winds 180 miles an hour. expected to be a major hurricane even as we go into saturday morning between cuba and the bahamas. that would leave this over very warm water. favorable for it to stay a major hurricane as it impacts the state of florida. the entire state is in the cone. so it's not yet clear on where this thing is going to be hitting. we'll be tracking it. more updates throughout the day. we'll talk more about this in a bit. let look at the local weather, what you can expect for your thursday. >> good morning, sheena. good morning to the folks at