on hurricane maria. it's restrengthened again. >> all the interaction with puerto rico diminished it a bit. but now it's over the warm waters of the caribbean, it's going to keept eyewall off the coast of the dominican republic. the turks and caicos, they're all in harm's way the next 24 to 36 hours as what is a very strong hurricane now. maria, category 3 storm with winds at 115 miles an hour. the track is for it to maintain major hurricane strength. 3 or higher through saturday. as it goes on the east side of the bahamas. monday and tuesday, cap hatteras, north carolina and bermuda there. it's going to try to thread the needle. we'll keep a close eye on this and let you know about your forecast as well. >> thank you, chuck. as chuck showed this. ma

over night. now the deadly storm is closing in on the dominican republic. it's packing incredible strength. look at the damage it left behind in puerto rico. hundreds of homes have been destroyed by the storm. millions of people without power. dan scheneman has the latest on the breaking news. >> reporter: hurricane maria, the most powerful storm to pound puerto rico in more than 80 years left its mark. for hours, 155 mile per hour winds damaged buildings and knocked massive trees to the ground. power is out throughout the island. maria brought a deluge. at least 20 inches of rain fell on puerto rico. residential streets quickly turned into streams. in san juan, many residents rode out the storm inside a sports coliseum. the buildings were not strong enough to withstand the wrath. when the storm moved on, residents could see what t

marinas damaged, waterfront buildings in ruins. >> i've never seen devastation like this one. the human spirit is going to have to rise up real high. i'm sure we have the strength to do it, but we have to find it within ourselves. >> reporter: a message of strength and resilience that will be needed for the long reconstruction ahead. dan scheneman, nbc news. another team of local first responders is preparing to help victims down there. news 4 cameras were at maryland task force loading up in montgomery county last night. they'll find out where they're headed today. they expect to be gone at least a couple weeks. virginia task force one is safe after riding out the hurricane in puerto rico. they tweeted out this photo to let everyone know they're ready to get back to work. the elite group of first responders was originally sent to help hurricane irma victims. chuck bell has

maria. he'll have the latest in about ten minutes. look at that effort. we continue to follow breaking news out of mexico city where rescuers are frantically searching for survivors. you can see they need to keep quiet to listen for people who may be inside that rubble. emergency workers say they've pulled at least 52 people from collapsed buildings around the city yesterday. at least 230 have died following the earthquake that hit mexico city on tuesday. we're working for you this morning with some of the other top stories you need to know before you start your day. later this morning, the massage therapist accused of violating customers will be in court. another accuser came forward after watching our reports on the first alleged sexual

she said he touched her inappropriately at the massage envy. she alerted the owner on september 5th. a different woman says the suspect abused her 12 days later. massage envy fired him after his arrest. today we should find out what the new name of jeb stuart high school will be. the superintendent is going to put the recommendation online. it comes after the community voted on potential new names over the weekend. the leading name is stuart or stuart raiders. they will present the recommendation to the school board sometime next week. how about this for a shocker. we live in one of the worst areas of the country for how long it takes to get to work. the census bureau said it takes d.c. and maryland commuters 13 minutes each ay

the areas with the best commute in the commonwealth were arlington, fairfax county and alexandria. they are the closest to d.c. no shock. the worst is stafford county. but all the commute times were worse than the state average. try to pick your jaw up off the floor. i know this is a complete shocker to you. >> what, there's traffic in washington? it's unbelievable. i would have never guessed. my commute, courtesy of some crazy hours, my commute takes less than ten minutes. >> there you go. >> it helps when it's 2:30 a.m. when you pull out of the garage. we're going to have a nice and sunny day. our stretch of incredibly warm weather is set to continue. we'll be every bit as warm today. manassas towards warrenton, not much of an issue. a complete check of the forecast and a look on through the

coming up. cue up the r.e.m. as in the '90s band. what some say will happen this weekend that will mark the end of the world as we know it. the escape from jail only to sneak back in a few hours later. why officials ink ath

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ralphcandidate for governor,rtham, and i sponsored this ad. they're studying for 21st century jobs. but ed gillespie supports donald trump's plan to take money out of virginia public schools and give it to private schools. as a washington dc lobbyist, ed gillespie worked for lenders trying to keep student loan rates high. and ed gillespie's plan to cut taxes for the wealthy could cut virginia school funding, too. ed doesn't stand for education.

it's still trending on twitter this morning. tears of joy for a ventriloquist darcy lynn after hearing she won "america's got talent." she's only 12 years old and won a million dollar prize. mom and dad got to be happy about that. after hearing her name, darcy's brothers rushed the stage. she beat out angelica hale, only 9 years old. >> chuck how about with this. tacos, burritos, chimichangas. you love those at 3:00 a.m. what kind of beer you'd want to pair with those at taco bell? >> i think too much beer is how you end up at taco bell at 3:00 a.m. >> i think it's a high-end brew. >> you know, at 3:00 a.m., i don't think you're really -- >> you really care. >> i was looking for an

3:00 a.m. >> the fast food chain plans to open hundreds of new locations with alcohol on the menu. food and wine magazine reports they'll offer beer, wine and spiked slushies. the cantina-style restaurants are designed to attract the hip, urban clientele. if you've been on social media lately, you've probably seen that some people are nervous about saturday. a man is claiming that a constellation will be revealed over jerusalem signaling the ends of the world. he said it was referenced in the bible. he told the "washington post" his words and doesn't think the world is going to end. i don't know. >> he's appreciating the social media. >> may want to pare down that seven-day forecast. >> we'll leave monday of next

>> what's coming up? >> it's going to feel more like summertime than fall around here. the autumn equinox comes tomorrow. but on in through the end of the world or the weekend, it will be toasty warm. about 10 degrees warmer than -- there's the hour by hour. how about mid to upper 80s again for today. >> like august. tough talk when it comes to turf. it was recently found that the fields kids play on, a group of parents say they should have known sooner. it's the move that has

this is a jail break story. three inmates broke out of jail in mississippi. not for freedom but to commit another crime. the men hopped over a fence at the jail. they were caught on camera at a dollar general store stealing everything they could get their hands-on. the escaped cons pocketed cigarettes, lighters, phones, anything that could have value in prison. after they stocked up, they hopped back over the fence into jail. of course, they got caught. now they're facing more charges, likely without owl those goods. look out.

oh, my goodness. pretty scary moment for folks at yankee stadium when a child was hit by a foul ball. the moment hitting everyone f everyone hard, especially todd frazier. he's the one who hit the ball. he kneeled, took off his helmet after he saw what happened. officials delayed the game for five minutes as medics took her to the hospital. jank ease manager says he was told she was doing okay. in fact, frazier tweeted after the game saying he's going to be thinking about her and her family and ask that people keep her in their prayers. most of you who have kids who play on a turf field practically every day, whether during recess or sports practice, there's a new concern after some schools in d.c. failed safety tests. the problems were first discovered in july. but as aimee cho explains, parents weren't notified until last

>> the mom is the first to tell you her boys love to play. when she heard the neighborhood turf was too hard, it had her worried. >> you don't think they need to be wearing life safety gear to go to recess. >> her oldest son is in first grade. their turf field is one of 16 in d.c. that failed recent safety tests. >> we haven't had any information in terms of follow-up of what they're planning to replace it with. >> we understand their concerns. >> d.c. general services promising action. they'll be fixing the field in the next few weeks. some parents wondering why they weren't told of the problems sooner. >> we give over our kids to the schools every day and have to put a lot of trust in those educators. so obviously life, safety and security are high on list of priorities. >> when it comes to children's safety and

their stance. >> one teacher did an experiment to show her students how important it is to wash their hands. she used three pieces of bread and wore a plastic glove to put the first piece in a plastic bag. then she let everyone student touch the third piece without washing their hands. look at that. you see the results. look what the dirty hands did to the bread after sitting for a little bit of time. chuck, everything we needed to know we learned in kindergarten. wash your hands. >> you know, truer words have never been spoken. >> the touch tests around the kitchen. you put the invisible stuff and cook your dinner and find out all the places you touched your hands dirtiest thing in almost everyone's house, remote co

because everyone touches the remote. weatherwise, chris we have a real taste of summer weather continuing here. it is a tail end of september. the first ten days of september, our temperatures have been nearly 7 degrees colder than average. boy, we have turned that around. the way things are going in september, we'll have an above average month. each and every day, we'll be close to 10 degrees warmer than average. summer keeps on going. temperatures way above average for today. the autumnal equinox is tomorrow afternoon. maria remains a strong and dangerous hurricane in the caribbean. we'll keep an eye on that, see if it threatens the east coast next week. for now 69 degrees under a clear sky in washington. get outside the city here and it cools off quickly. into the upper 50s in the shenandoah valley. each mid-50s warrenton. where the temperatures are below 60 this morning, we have a little bit in the way of

fog. visibility under a mile now in frederick, maryland, as well. patchy fog first thing. it won't last long. sunshine starts to finish and highs mid to upper 80s today. northerly wind courtesy of jose. still a tropical storm out here off the coast of massachusetts. so northerly wind. we'll be a little on the humid side today. but with that north wind, it will put lower and lower humidity air in. we won't be cooling off but not as humid. 88 today. for tomorrow, once again well up into the mid-830s tomorrow afternoon. your weekend looks really nice as well provided you like it sunny and warm. saturday and sunday both mid to upper 80s both days. you're going to pull a chuck bell for the weekend? yes, indeed. should be today, friday, saturday and sunday. i'll fix those days of the week. that's my fault. friday, saturday, sunday at the beaches, temperatures around 80 degrees. full sunshine and the ocean is still at 72 degrees. i'll

forecast coming up at 4:50. my colleague, sheena parveen is out playing in the hayfields. we'll see her coming up. it was the development of their dreams and now it's nothing short of a nightmare. what one community in prince george's county was promised and what they're getting instead. why some claim the change will impact their quality of life. we continue to follow that breaking news as hurricane maria continues to churn in the atlantic. take a look at the massive cat 3 storm. teother upda with chuck as

tacking a look at the items -- the online giant is under fire after british reports say algorithms are

the items were apparently advertised in the frequently bought together section of the site. this report obviously comes a week after a homemade explosive went off in london's subway system. >> here at home, they bought into a neighborhood they thought would take off. a new development in prince george's county potentially anchored by a wegmans grocery store. looks like it's not going to happen. they're not happy in upper marlboro. jackie bensen was there as hundreds of residents gave the developer an earful. >> it is frustrating. >> a grocery store, a dry cleaners, maybe a locally owned shop or two. that's what residents of the beach tree community in upper marlboro had been long awaiting on this spot on leland road near the entrance to the development. but the hundreds of residents who came to a meeting called by the developer were told no retailers, none, had expressed interest and that town houses

>> we always wished there would be a retail there. it would financially help us if it was retail there. the market is not there. >> residents say the rationale that there isn't enough population density in the area to support a retail center it flawed. >> they said that because of everything from not enough traffic, therefore, not enough money coming through, that the market is still suffering. we were told we had data from 2014 or '15 with regard to how they were pitching it basically. >> bring the market data current and then tell us what's going on. don't pull data from a couple years back, three years back and say this is what we're going to use. >> homeowners established a social media campaign and facebook page to push their agenda what they'd like to see. southern prince george's county residents in action. jackie bensen, news 4. you can understand their

of the most coveted tickets in town. you won't need a ticket to attend the national museum of african-american history and culture. at least the first anniversary celebration. the two-day event on the grounds of the museum is free and open to the public. things kick off around 10:00 in the morning this saturday and sunday. our own molette green will be there on friday with a preview. more than 2 1/2 million people have visited that museum since it opened last year. we're coming up on 4:26 in the morning. "news4 today" continues right now with aaron and eun. > rescuers racing through the rubble in mexico hoping to find survivors. a masseuse accused of sex l sexually assaulting a client. another woman comes forward. police want to know if there are

we know the commute is bad. depending where you live, it's worse. how long some people are spending driving to and from work. >> wasted years of our lives stuck in traffic and looking for parking. >> i drove from farragut square to hear yesterday, took me 22 minutes. less than four miles. >> a little before 4:00. >> that's when it all starts. forget about it. >> because we come in so much earlier in the morning, we probably save 15 or 20 minutes each morning coming in. >> exactly. >> it's giving you six months of your life back. >> one of the perks about getting up in the middle of the night, right, chuck bell? >> i can drive massachusetts avenue with the cruise control on in the morning. at this time of the morning. you bet. >> get past the -- hello? >> sheena is out in virginia this morning. but pretty nice weather. >> she's at cox farm. she'll be doing the hayride and all kinds of

i'll be doing all the work in the studio, sheena, don't you worry. temperatures are in the cool comfy zone for now. if you're at or below 60 degrees right now, you may have patchy fog. not at issue in the city, we're at 69. 55 in warrenton with fog there. 61 in frederick, maryland. fog up there as well. as you plan out our day, patchy fog early this morning. not a big widespread issue. sun is up just before 7:00 a.m. this morning. once it's up, that fog won't last long. we should be full sunshine. how about 10 degrees warmer than average today. high near 88 degrees. what about the traffic? weather looks good. let's go to rob at wtop traffic. >> good morning, chuck. some problems going on this morning so far. i-95 northbound. route 606 thornburgh. a crash blocking the right lane. response on scene. in maryland, edge

east of -- blocked to the -- so far on the beltway, things are looking good in maryland and virginia. live from the traffic center, i'm rob stallworth. >> let's catch you up on hurricane maria. you're looking at the dangerous storm from the satellite image. >> the storm regained strength overnight and back up to a category 3. it pounded puerto rico yesterday with winds up to 155 miles per hour. leaving the entire island without power this morning. nbc news has confirmed that one death in puerto rico, at least seven in dominica and one in guadalupe. the full extent of the damage is unknown at this point. >> we know that rescue crews are ready to help

they can. news 4 cameras were there as members of maryland task force one loaded up in montgomery county. the urban search and rescue team will find out where they're headed later today. meanwhile, virginia task force one is safe after riding out the hurricane in puerto rico. they tweeted out this photo to let everybody know they're ready to get back to work. people in our area are praying for those affected by hurricane maria. at an assembly church in prince george's county, the storm victims were on everyone's mind. pastor mitchell is waiting to hear from his relatives in dominica. as is this northern virginia woman. she's worried about her 77-year-old mother whom she still hasn't heard from. >> it's very agoniz

the last time i spoke to my mother was monday night. nobody has been able to get any communication to or from the island. we're all sort of hoping we can hear something in the next few days at the very least. >> hoping that they hear word soon. at least seven people have died on that island. emergency crews are having trouble getting relief supplies to people because the airport and seaports are closed due to heavy damage. staying on top of the breaking news out of mexico city where rescuers are frantically searching for survivors. we're also getting new images of those intense rescue efforts. >> chris lawrence is at the live desk. what are you seeing? >> the images are unreal. they're trying to free a little girl trapped underneath the debris of her own school. ta