east coast. if you cut a hurricane down in quadrants, it is going to be the upper right-hand corner that is going to be the most active in terms of the most dangerous. i'm sorry, my producer said something in my ear. this is the scene in ft. lauderdale. thanks. this the send in ft. lauderdale. can you see the camera shaking. we're starting to see winds pick up, gain strength throughout the day. eventually they are going to have some hurricane force winds. not sure what winds are right now. as we go through the middle part of the day, tropical storm force winds are impacting on the outer bands right there. that means 35 or more. again, the winds in irma right now are 155. it is a cat 4, downgraded slightly. this water right here really warm, so could intensify a little bit. we also have katia, jose as well. again, we're going to continue to watch this. already moving parallel to the northern side of

also watching an eye on our weather looking good day. we do have rain from this. we'll let you know when coming up. >> thank you, lauryn. 8:30 on the dot. here are four things to know about hurricane irma. we broke it down. currently category 4 with winds of 130 miles per hour. make no mistake, this is going to cause catastrophic damage. 23 deaths have been reported so far. the monster storm is expected to start to pass through the florida keys tonight before moving into southwest florida. officials saying there's no place in key west that is safe right now. nbc's sarah rosario reports from ft. lauderdale, which is right in the crosshairs. >> reporter: the message clear. >> you need to go now. >> reporter: in a mass exodus followed as irma showed its strength. >> we were here with katrina. nothing really

this time. >> reporter: warning as the most powerful hurricane in the caribbean taking lives, homes and leaving a million people without power. >> this is a catastrophic storm we've never seen. >> it across the stailt from the zoo to the happiest place on earth closed as irma sets sights on the sunshine state. those who can't make it out are preparing to bear down as the storm hits hoping for the best. . >> nbc news. >> not everyone had the luxury of getting to a hotel or sleeping in their own beds last night. families across

to shelters. >> 46,000 people evacuated. a race against time. news 4's dave culver in florida with a look at lifesaving shelters. >> this is the reality in south florida as folks are preparing in the last few hours for the arrival of hurricane florida. we're at one of the many shelters set up in broward county. the reality is a lot of these people are coming here because they have tried other shelters around the area only to be told they have no room at their shelter. here is one that still has some capacity left but it is filling up quickly. they are bringing belongings they can because they are limited to what they can hold. some bringing blankets and pillows, some bringing chairs. of course, just sticking together as family. they are going to be here through the worst of it. we are going to be down here continuing to cover it, of course, from a safe distance as hurricane irma begins to bring its effects to south florida.

them out, one is respect quiet hours. they want them to have rest because once they get out of there, and they don't know when that's going to be, they don't know what they are walking back to as far as their homes are concerned. they don't know what the condition of their home is going to be. that's something they are just leaving open until they can safely stay through what maybe the worst of it. we're continuing to cover from south florida, live on nbc 4 tonight as soon as the effects start to make their way. that's the latest in south florida. we'll send it back to you. >> all right, david. we're going to see a lot more this weekend as we get ready for irma's arrival. he's going to be tracking the storm from florida. he's going to have his report here here and at 9:00 facebook live on my page, nbc washington, he is going to join us. if you have any questions check in and please join us online. back at home, developing story out of prince george's county. two people dead

in front of fairmont heights high school. you're looking at the scene at 3:00 this morning. the car crashed into a scene. the car and driver died at the scene. police haven't released any more information. police found her car howard county but haven't seen any signs from the teachers from montgomery county. >> feedback on social media, they haven't heard from her since monday. talking to one of her friends about the latest development in this case. >> the biggest heart in the world. she would be the bottom of my list to ever expect anything like this to happen. >> lisa burch has a strong bond, one that comes from being high school teachers together. she said they talked last friday the day before she was last seen, excited about school and laura wallen's pregnancy. wallen, a dedicated award

up for the first day of wilde lake high school in columbia. concern skyrocketed on news her missing vehicle, a black ford escape was found thursday evening in apartment complex off broken land parkway in columbia. it's not far from the high school and a couple miles from mary weather post pavilion. >> it's heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. we're almost numb to it. it's so hard to figure out what to do, to say. i've been calling her cell phone and texting her and sending her messages on facebook. it's just like one of these times she's going to answer. one of these times she's going to respond. >> montgomery county police investigation into wallen's disappearance appeared to escalate after the suv was found, with investigators going in and out of her only condo. wilde lake high school students of conduct their own search for this beloved teacher saturday afternoon at 3:30. in columbia, jackie bensen, news 4. today

j.e.b. stuart high school. the community will gather around 10:00 a.m. to offer suggestion for the new name. news 4 derrick ward joins us live from falls church with the latest development. derrick. >> reporter: good morning. in just a few minutes folks will show up to talk about the name of the school and begin the process of what it will be call called going forward. it opened to controversy, amid opposition to integration and the civil rights movement. this school did not admit african-american students until 19 61. since then there's been an undercurrent of opposition to the name. the name after a confederate general who distinguished himself at bull run and brandy station. the opposition

confederacy and united states for the united states. what we have in the process today is winnowing down. they will come at 10:00 a.m. to submit a name. those names will be put on index cards, and then they will be put up on a screen. no name excluded unless vulgar or derogatory. then they will advocate for the name. they will keep it going so everyone who wants to speak can. no decision will be made a today. t the situation will be saturday the 16th when citizens will vote. have you to show you're in the area, you're a resident. then those names will be chosen. the superintendent will come forward with the name and the decision will be made as to whether or not the school remains as it is named now. now, of course it's expec t

to say. there is security, school security and fairfax county police as well. but again from 10:00 until whatever today folks will decide the future of j.e.b. stuart high school's name. we're lived derrick ward, news 4. back to you. imagine heading to work or school on a metrobus, you look up and see this. >> uh-huh. the video and the story behind the passenger's video and what they caught and their experience on board a bus right here in our area when "news 4 today" returns. it's 8:39.

been trying to prepare for this day... and i'm still not ready. the reason i'm telling you this is that there will be moments in your life that... you'll never be ready for. your little girl getting married being one of them. ♪ ♪ welcome back. organizations across virginia are teaming up to help deferred action for childhood arrivals or daca recipients renew their

daca with a six-month delay. we posted the full list on the nbc washington app. have you to file to renew your daca status before october 5th. it is 8: 42. be sure to watch "meet the press," chuck todd with the president's decision to end daca, how the president it responding to irma. that's going to air "news 4 today." so much news going on. we want to alert you to a program note. we want to invite you next week as we celebrate jim vance. as many know vance died on july 22nd after battling cancer. he'll be remembered at a memorial service at the washington national cathedral monday morning. so many of you want to honor him so we will provide live coverage starting at 10:00 on nbc 4. we'll also be

of course in our apps well. a

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as you wake up this morning, not looking too bad here in our area. plenty of sunshine. temperatures a little on the cool side. they were in the 40s earlier this morning. now we're in the 50s and 60s. we'll continue to warm things up into the low- to mid-70s for

sunshine. we'll keep it going through much of the weekend. however, we'll update you irma, talk about the impact here and when we may see them. that's coming up in just about three minutes. >> thank you, lauryn. 8:46. a family is thankful the daughter and new baby are alive this morning. after the boyfriend set her on fire. andrea was regularnant at the time and she told police he doused her with a liquid inside her apartment in capitol heights and set her on fire. her father was understandably upset when he spoke to news 4 about what happened. >> he's a coward, less than a man. walk away. if you want the responsibility, walk away. >> arthur says his daughter is in critical condition. she did deliver her baby seven weeks early. he says, though, his daughter is expected to be okay. meanwhile, though, the victim's sister talked about

it was to see the toll on her sister's body. >> walking in seeing your sister burned from her face all the way down to her feet. imagine that happening to your family. >> so awful. charges are pending against him but at this point they have not released the man's name. if you're riding a metrobus, this is not what you want to see. take a look at what a news 4 viewer sent us yesterday. a metrobus driver caught on cell phone video reading the paper while driving a bus full of people. he was even turning the pages while the bus was moving. this was on f6 route that left taunton station. he tweeted to metro officials. the bosses obviously not plead with what they saw. metro apologized and says it has identified the driver and pulled him off the road pending a

investigation. a judge delayed a decision concerning the trail. a temporary restraining on the to stop tree cutting. the judge expected to rule on that order try but instead was going to wait to a hearing later this month. the trail is closed for purple line construction. some of the groups have gone to court to try to stop that project. a massive recall may be in the near future for some ford explorers. the government stepped up its investigation into possible carbon monoxide leaks. this morning's susan hogan's consumer investigation is working for you revealing information you need to know to keep the family safe. >> reporter: when do they know is an answer many safety experts and consumer advocates want to know. >> there is a few things that disturb me. >> david freeman, former head of the national hyper safety and now consumers union said not only has

possible exhaust and carbon monoxide leaks for years, ford also sent these technical service bulletins to their dealers on how to fix it. >> that tells me they know something is wrong. >> our news 4 consumer investigation found technical service bulletins known as psbs going back to 2012, 2014 and 2016. check this one out from 2012. explorer exhaust order -- odor in vehicle. model year 2011 through 2013. tsb tells mechanics how to repair the leaks. then in 2014, another tsb to ford dealers that now includes 2014 and 2015 explorers. again, exhaust in vehicle when auxiliary climate is on. then this from ford explorer customers. here is one from june 2011, the vehicle cabin is field with exhaust fumes. another from march 2011. my wife numerous times was having problems concentrating while driving.

in all more than 2700 complaints over a six-year period. three reported crashes, 41 injuries. now many explorer owners are filing lawsuits against ford claiming their car is making them sick. >> i'm still waking up every day with a migraine. >> susan's attorney says cases like hers could fall under the lemon law. >> this clearly falls within the parameters of the lemon law. if people are driving around unhailing this carbon monoxide passing out because migraines and all these things happening to them, obviously that's a serious safety defect. >> news 4 reached out to both ford and nhtsa. nhtsa says it does not comment on open investigations. ford tells us safety is our top priority. we have not found elevated levels of carbon monoxide in nonpolice ford explorers. nhtsa's policeman investigation

or crashes were the result of carbon monoxide poisoning. however, it does say co levels may be elevated in certain driving scenarios. >> if this is determined to be a safety defect, ford will be on the hook for significant fines from nhtsa for failing to address this problem when they already knew about it. >> that was susan hogan reporting. police departments nationwide, including montgomery county, here in maryland, have been taking their out of service temporarily. the suvs are undergoing testing as well as repairs after several police officers across the nation reported getting sick from carbon monoxide leaking into their vehicles. >> i've got to tell you, our entire storm team 4 has been busy, trying to get a handle on where the storm is turning in florida but also keeping an eye on our own weather. we had a cold start to the morning. >> we did. it wo

temperatures in the 40s. we're going to continue to warm up, going to be gorgeous. warming up, we're going to need it after this morning. even tomorrow looking good after another chilly start. next week things get interesting because we're watching for remnants of irma heading our way. go to the maps and show you temperatures. we've warmed up, 60 in washington right now. everybody else in the 50s at this point. 53 in martins burglaerg, 55 t 7 where we'll top out by this afternoon after a chilly start out there this morning. again, we are warming things up and warming it up tomorrow as well. if you've got anything to do outside today, tomorrow you're not going to have to worry about any rain. it's going to be beautiful, comfortable, all those adjectives for the weekend. especially around here. you know we're dealing with a lot as we head into tropics. tropical storm katia, major ic

all talking about, irma. that's the one we're watching closely. 190 miles southeast of key west at this point. the band, outer band, some of those tropical storm force winds at this point have already reached into miami, southern tip of florida, everglades area. winds tropical storm force, we know those will increase as the day goes on. look at that parallel along cuba border there. that will continue to take take turn to the north. the thing is, when is it going to make that turn. we have the latest track, winds 130 miles an hour, still category 4. the water here, upper 80s, lower 90s. the warm water is what feeds into the hurricane to strengthen it. here is a look at future weather as we go through a watch at this time up here you can see it. it will continue to move through the overpass, closer to florida and start that northward turn through the key west

then by tomorrow afternoon looking to make landfall on the southwestern areas of florida by ft. myers, by naples area. hopefully if you have loved ones they have moved out of there and gotten out. again, category 4 by the time it hits ft. myers area, category 3 by tampa. that will be early morning. then it dives to the west and comes back toward our area next wednesday, thursday. we're going to have effects here tuesday, wednesday, thursday, with clouds spreading into the area and also some rain. clouds increasing monday. dry on monday, maybe some rain late monday night, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. some showers and remnants from irma. >> how is it going, everybody? >> yeah, can you tell? they were not expecting that. how is that for a surprise at school? >> we'll tell you where presidt barack obama decidened

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>> northeast d.c. >> his video is popping up everywhere. they had no idea president barack obama was going to stop by. >> hey, how is it going, everybody? >> just so casually, right, like, hey, what's for lunc

literally took the breath away from some students. the former president said he just wanted to stop by at the start of the new school year to give them encouragement. he talked to students about life goals and the importance of giving back. >> that's right. president trump right now and officials are keeping a close eye on hurricane irma. >> that's right. stay with us. we have more on "news 4 today in a mom"en

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. plus hbo for one year and 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