still a cat 5. as it nears florida and the track has closed in w,

expected to be a major hurricane. this is really, really bad news for florida. south florida is watching it closely. it will be be affecting south florida in a big way. this is still a large hurricane. it's larger than the state of florida is wide. if it moves up the center of florida, it will be impacting both coastlines with tropical storm force winds at least. there's a storm right now. the most dangerous side and direction of motion is the northeast side of the eye. at this point, as far as the track is concerned, it looks like miami add the east coast of florida will see the most as far as the tornado threat. here is the track. category 4 potentially, maybe slamming a lot of the florida keys into south florida. this is ever glade territory, this is swampland. it's very warm here too. i'll show you the rest of the track and what we can expect

thank you, stheen heena. we're working all angles. let's give you a look at the satellite eye of the storm. 12 people have been killed and we expect the number to rise. the images we're seeing are heartbreaking. homes have been reduced to rubble in st. martin. cars are floating down the street. thousands of family don't have running water. in puerto rico, more than a million people in the dark for a second morning in a row. this is all a terrifying preview of what could be in store for florida. sara rosario reports how people are scrambling to get out of irma's way. >> hurricane irma pounding turks and caicos. a preview of what the u.s. coast can expect. >> florida will have major hurricane impacts with deadly storm surge and life-threatening winds. >> the race is on. at miami international airport, a flight out of town is hard to

then i refreshed it and it was gone. traveling by car aren't much easier. traffic is snarled and lines are long. >> horrible. >> like everybody else, we're escaping the hurricane. god knows if it's better up there. >> final preparations and precautions are being made for irma's arrival. at president trump's mayresort a push for supplies. >> i got one case for us and i want to have a little bit more. >> taking aim at florida, expected to make landfall saturday. sarah rosario, nbc news, miami. you know, a lot of us have family and friends we're worried about directly in the storm's path. one woman from d.c. says she can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that her 93-year-old dad is out of irma's way. her father lives in south

and left him all alone. marcus had to scram -- she had to get her sister to fly into ft. myers, drive him to tampa and get on a flight to dallas. he's going to arrive there later this morning. >> florida could be a target. he's been there many years and he'll be safe with my brother's family in dallas. yeah. we've seen at our local airports, seen a lot of folks flying up from florida to ride out the storm in our area. our team coverage continues in florida where the state is, in effect, shutting down ahead of the arrival of the storm. david culver is in broward county showing us how they're preparing their homes. you can watch all his reports on the nbc washington app. stick with news 4 as david continues to bring us live reports ahead of the impact this weekend. let's get a check on the other top stories. there will be no charges for a d.c. police officer in a deadly christmas day shooting.

domestic incident on walnut street in northeast d.c. gerald hall was killed after he came to the door with a knife in his hand. he had already stabbed his girlfriend in the arm. when he wouldn't drop the knife, an officer shot and killed him. one officer responding was wearing a body camera. more racially charged graffiti is showing up at georgetown university. this time swastikas spray painted. last week anti-semitic graffiti was on outside walls. there was an e-mail sent out condemning the acts and police are still investigating how they ha happened. the georgetown branch trail controversy, earlier this week a group filed a temporary restraining order. the group that wants the restraining order is asking for a delay in tree cutting along the trail. according to our partners at

only delay the operation by a day or two at most. a longer delay could risk the entire project. suspending the tree cutting operations would give the plaintiffs a chance to have their motion heard. the national park service may have a fix for getting rid of the grime i film on the jefferson memorial. lasers. according, again to our news partners at wtop, a company based in chicago will start working on a portion of the monument. they'll use layers ablation. it should take about four weeks but should see the results almost immediately. again, we're tracking hurricane irma. you're looking at that as well as our weather. >> we can't forget about our weather. we have a major hurricane headed toward florida but our weather is looking gorgeous. cool temperatures. i think you could get away with a light jacket. low 50s on the map. 52 du.

we'll take a closer look at what to expect over the weekend and look the hurricane irma coming up u. even if you don't live in the district, chances are you drive or park here from time to time. getting around isn't easy. not just because of the traffic. the sign or lack of one that has a lot of drivers very angry. it's a story getting a lot of buzz this morning. warming hearts at the same time.

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you got to get a free play for brady. it is caught! >> hearing his voice is music to my ears. football is back. last night the season opener kicked off on nbc4. the super bowl champs new england patriots went up against the kansas city chiefs. but the pats couldn't get the home win. the chiefs went on to win 42-27. the redskins are busy getting ready for their first game of the season. it's going to be a home opener. they'll take on the philadelphia eagles at fedex field this sunday. coming up later on "news4 today," molette green is getting the party started early. she's live from the pep rally and tailgate happening later this morning. a little girl trying to take the mound at every major league baseball stadium. she has a very sci

pitch. she doesn't have her right hand. she has one that was printed on a 3-d printer. she loves baseball. this is video from june when she threw out the pitch at nationals park. she's been there and camden yards and teams want to make her dream a reality. after a bleacher report, all these teams tweeted at hailey asking her to help them out. more than half the teams want her to throw the first pitch. we bet even more will join in. just great stories, sheena. see her up on the mound is pretty cool. >> that's fantastic. she's adorable. you know she's going to go and start playing softball and all that stuff as she gets older. who knows? maybe we'll see her -- >> her first pitch was better than a lot of the adults i've seen. >> hers was absolutely fantastic. kudos to her. i'm sure we'll see her a lot more soon. locally this morning, if you're walking outside, you need the jacket. but if you're in

are bracing for a major hurricane to impact you. we'll talk about the track of it and what we may be able to expect from irma. that's next. president trump's so-called travel ban may be one step closer to the u.s. supreme court. the ruling that fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest... internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a month online for the first year.

d multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier. get out of your contract with up to a $500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. go to fiosgigabit.com 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

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. we continue to track hurricane irma this morning, the

the atlantic ocean is continuing its path of destruction through the caribbean. irma is dumping rain and unleashing rain on the turks and caicos and bahamas. coming up, sheena parveen will show us the track toward florida. welcome back to news 4 at 4:00. a federal appeals court rejected president trump's view of who is allowed into the u.s. under his travel ban. this is one of the top stories we're following this morning. the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that grand parents, cousins and other similarly close relatives should not be prevented from coming into the countries. refugees accepted by a resettlement agency should be loud into the u.s. the ruling will go into effect in the next five days. the gold star father who challenged donald trump to read the constitution at last year's democratic national convention will speak at a church in indiana today. he als

muslims and immigration. his son was an american soldier killed in iraq. he says he's delivering a message of unity and civility at tonight's event. last night pope francis celebrated a huge open air mass in colombia. there were close to a million people in the crowd. the pope is on a five-day visit to the south american nation. he went there to urge colombians to resist the lure of vengeance to move on from latin america's longest running conflict. you don't have to live in d.c. to know it can be a challenge if you ever get lost. it gets worse if a street sign is missing. frustrated residents are calling on district officials to replace some of the signs that either aren't readable or simply aren't there. tom sherwood went looking for the problem streets and asked the city for direction.

well, there are lots of street signs. more than 250,000 according to the d.c. transportation department. but some critics say too many signs are faded or misplaced, obscured or inaccurate. in major intersections like mass avenue or scott circle nearby don't clearly mark the main street names. >> i've run into that several times throughout the course of working downtown. so, yes, i would like to see a level of improvement. >> knowing exactly where you are could be important information for any 911 call. >> street name signs missing and/or the block numbers missing, it's both for tourism, economics, as well as the safety thing for first responders. >> long time civic activist terry lynch has made similar complaints about too many streetlights missing or broken. he says tourism, a big industry for the district, needs more wayfindisi

spent hundreds of millions of dollars on, as well as the grand hotel. there's no massachusetts sign on any corner of this intersection. >> v-dot acknowledges the complaint and says safety is important. the budget is about $20 million over the next five years to repair, replace or install street signs. a spokesman told "news4 today," all signs are now electronic mapped to allow us to consolidate requests for sign maintenance. so far this year we've installed 34,000 new signs and on track to close 6,100 service requests. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. well, as you step outside this morning, a little cool, but otherwise, boy, great september day. >> yeah. it's a little cool outside. i think a lot of people could easily get away with a light jacket. temperatures are mostly in the 50s right now. we're going to look at the temperatures in just a second. all eyes are on hurricane irm

it's still over the turks and caicos. it's on the way near the bahamas. the center will stay north of cuba. not good news for florida. it's expected to stay over these very warm waters. it's only going to stay as a major hurricane before it impacts the state of florida. the most recent update coming out at 5:00. the most recent from last night, 160 miles an hour sustained winds is still on the path toward florida as a potentially category 4 hurricane. it could remain a category 3 as it moves inland. just because we have the everglades here, it's very, very warm swamp larland. that would be late saturday into early sunday. it would quickly move inland and weaken rapidly because of the land interaction. we move more into the u.s. as far as on a coast was concerned yesterday. if it stays more inland, we would have less impacts. still showers in the forecast.

around the storm. the red shows the hurricane. the orange shows the to tropical storm force winds. the next few days, it's still a major hurricane. the hurricane-force winds, closer to the center of the storm. we're still look at 123 miles per hour wind gusts in interior sections of florida, even hurricane-force winds as far out as ft. myers and tampa. hurricane watch for the areas in pink. hurricane warning, meaning conditions are expected for all of south florida, including the florida keys. there is a storm surge warning here as well. waves possibly 7 to 10 feet. that would be storm surge above sea level. that's rushing inland from the ocean through the florida keys. of course, we'll be watching that closely. here, though, cool temperatures. 58 degrees in washington. 52 dulles. 52 in clinton. 50 degrees in leesburg. expect a day like yesterday. 75 and sunny. across the week, mid to low 70s. any impacts from irma wouldn't be until about tuesday.

that, sheena. it is a dark piece of our country's history. pretty soon it could be gone. the area city giving neighbors the option to decide what happens to this auction block. if you're just waking up and turning on the tv, we continue to follow breaking news in mexico where an 8.1 earthquake has already claimed the lives of several people. we're keeping an eye on hurricane irma as it inches closer to the u.s. and forida.l

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as our nation grapples with what to do about confederate statues, one symbol of our past sits in our own back yarld. it's a slave auction block in the middle of downtown fredericksburg, virginia. julie carey reports, city leaders are getting ready to ask

>> this fredericksburg trolley takes you to dozens of historic sites. but this slave auction block, it can be troubling. >> they would get the slaves in pens in the basement of the hotel. brought them up here and put them on the block and sold to the highest bidder. >> he usually avoids the auction block. >> because i've had painful reflections of it in times past. >> he meets us here today to talk about a new push to have the artifact removed, placed in a museum. >> that is my desire to have it gone. i don't need a reminder. i wouldn't think that those that enslaved our people would want april constant reminder of what they did to us. >> emotions stirred by the violence in charlottesville has others questioning the future of the block. about 100 faith leaders and residents gathered here last month to pray about their concerns. >> i thought it was a tragic reminder of our history here in virginia.

and good that we would be having this discussion right now in this moment. >> but in this city steeped in history and historic preservation, others argue the auction block inspires important conversation. >> if it goes to a museum, you have preserved it but only to people that go to the museum will talk about it. >> it was a point this visitor from boston tried to make to reverend turner. >> i'm really sorry that this happened to your people. i really am. >> that doesn't need to be a con stabt reminder to me. >> what i'm saying, other other people who it didn't effect, need to know the horrible things like that happened. >> in this spot, right here. >> city council getting ready to roll out a plan to solicit public opinion and that may result in a proposal to consider by the end of september. in fredericksburg, i'm julie carey, news 4. a lot to consider there. it is now coming up on 4:26. "news4 today" continues right now wit

that breaking news out of mexico this morning where several people are dead after a massive earthquake. take a look at some of the first video coming in. the 8.1 quake hit just off the coast of southern mexico, just a few hours ago. the earthquake is already being blamed for killing at least five people. within 40 minutes or so, we learn tsunami waves have been measured. and the other breaking story we continue to track hurricane irma, which is still hammering the turks and caicos right now. pretty soon we could see scenes like this in florida. 4:26 right now. good morning everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. we're working on the breaking stories and much more for you on this friday morning. >> before we get to all that, let's get a look at your weather and traffic. wtop's jack taylor is keeping an

commute. >> we begin with sheena parveen and somara theodore with the latest on the track. >> if you were watching at 11:00 p.m. after the game, we had an updated track which computer models were shifting a little bit more to the west. >> that's right. i'm going to look at storm surge. that poses one of the greatest threats to life and property along the coast. >> really good graphic you have coming up to explain what storm surge is. florida expecting a lot of storm surge. here's a look at irma right now. here's the updated one. we have another one coming out in 30 minutes. you want to stay tuned for that. current winds 160 miles per hour. still a category 5. could it make landfall as a 4? the florida is in the cone still. but it's gotten smaller. the consensus with a lot of the models, saturday it will take the north turn. the exact area for landfall is yet to be determined. we have to see when it's going to be turning north. that's going to greatly impact wherever it hits,

it could stay a major hurricane moving into central florida and then it will move inland. that would lessen our impact locally. coming up, talk more about the hurricane and what people can expect from it and storm surge as well as your local forecast. let's check the roads on this friday morning with jack taylor. good morning, jack. >> sheena, good morning. heads up for drivers in the woodrow wilson bridge area. this will look different in o 10 or 15 minutes. there's a scheduled opening for a tall ship to head toward baltimore. the bridge will be up for 10 or 15 minutes. you never want to do that to the beltway. we have a couple of prep trucks on the shoulder. plan ahead. work zone, outer loop, topside after georgia avenue. two right lanes get by. there's work at old georgetown road. only the left lane getting by. volume still light. back to you. >> jack, thank you. it's 4:28. we're getting new video from the site of that massive earthquake. >> chris lawrence at the live desk with informatiut

chris, good morning. >> boy, guys, this struck while most of us were sleeping. it may have been the most powerful earthquake to hit mexico in 100 years. we've learned that at least five people have been killed, two of them children. the earthquake had an instant impact, knocking out electricity for more than a million families. homes were damaged and massive cracks in the earth. this is new video. the quake measured about 8.2. there have been several aftershocks making things even worse. >> chris, is this causing problems for countries around, even mexico and countries in central? >> most definitely. it was felt in guatemala. the problem now is the tsunami threat. there's a warning issued for el salvador, costa rica to he can dore. waves already coming into mexico and they're telling folks to get out of their homes as quickly as you can. >> we know you'll be watching those dop

we've been watching all angles of hurricane irma for you. let get a look at the live satellite images coming in of this category 5 storm. it's pummeled small islands in the caribbean. >> 12 people have been killed by the storm. that number is likely to rise. the images we're seeing of the damage just breathtaking. look at that. from barbuda to st. martin. homes reduced to rubble and cars floating down the street. thousands don't have running water right now. in puerto rico, more than a million people are in the dark for a second morning in a row. this is all a terrifying preview of what would be in store for florida. >> right now, people in florida are paying attention to the warnings and the evacuation orders. thousands trying to get out of irma's path by land or air. you take a look at the lines for gasoline. we've heard reports of people waiting in line for two hours here. some gas stations have police officers patrolling. once folks fill up, they're stuck in