joining us now in the studio is the #eu fc. you're asking people to conserve today. >> exactly. last night, about 10:20, 10:30, we lost power at two of our plants. and that's what pumps the water out to our 2.8 million customers. and we didn't start getting the power back until 8:00 this morning. and usually what happens is people use a lot of water during the day. and they go it sleep. and we start filling the system. moving it around, getting ready for the next day when people get up and start their day.

well, we couldn't do that. because we couldn't make water. >> right. >> what people don't realize is we have 1,000 square miles of territory. and we have lots of other things that make the water move around, other than just those original plants. we have water pumping stations that move the water uphill. we've got to load up the tanks and so forth. and they were hit by power outages as well. so once we got the plants back online and were able to create the water to make the water, we haven't been able to move it around in the distribution system, as much as we had liked. so we went with mandatory conservation efforts today, asking people, hey, no outside use of water. don't water the lawn. don't do the shrubs. don't top off the swimming pool. and on the indoors, cut back. postpone. washing dishes, washing clothes. if you're going to take that shower, make it the old- fashioned marine two-minute shower.

>> have people responded? >> they have. it's varied throughout the day. but it's safe to say that no one should stop conserving now. we're all in this together. that we have to continue to conserve in order to keep water moving to our customers and importantly, we're responsible for fire protection. we've got 20,000 fire hydrants in prince george's, montgomery county. i mean, you're at your house. you want that hydrant in front of your place to have water, to be at pressure, so when firefighter comes and hook up, they can fight that fire. it's not just let somebody else conserve the water. everyone has to conserve water. >> what was it? lightning strike? what knocked it out? >> i don't know if it was a lightning strike or not. i presume it was. but it was major. we had 75-mile-an-hour winds. and probably at one time, we had close to 50 different facilities that were out. >> and again, right now, what is the status? >> status right now, people have water. there could be low pressure in

a few areas. but people do have water. and it's slowly building in some areas. and we think -- think, we're going to be okay. but we're not out of the woods yet. >> that's why they continue to conserve. >> and that's probably going to continue for several hours. >> right. and we said it more than once. nice to see you again. former colleague. thanks for coming in. >> no shortage of damage in the d.c. area. you know that if you live in the area. trees and power lines all over the place. dodging branches in the show. big tree. fell on the house. unfortunately, no damage on the house. and obviously nobody hurt on the inside. this is east beach drive here. this is shepherd elementary school. you can see where the tree came down. large branch came down on the pole in front of the school. and wires came down with it. this was the scene, closer to the station. not far off albemarle street,

where you saw where power lines are down. and a mail man, actually trying to deliver the mail and dodge the wires here. this was the scene throughout northwest washington, where you got these big, old, gorgeous trees, when they're standing up right. but they always seem to come down, when they get this kind of weather. fortunately, we can say, in these areas, nobody was injured. and certainly nobody killed. >> right as the storm was starting, the electricity went out. >> right. and never came back on. it flickered a couple of times and that was it. >> she says, you're never really prepared for a power outage. but she says she'll survive. and i think a lot of people are saying that tonight. joining us right now, by phone, dan genes, from dominion power. are you there? >> yes, i am. thank you. >> bring us an update. how many people in the dark and what does it look like in terms of people getting along without electricity.

>> the numbers are bouncing around now. we have to sometimes cut people off to turn more people back on. and folks are coming home, finding they don't have power and calling up. so the number is right now about 376,000. it was down to about 362,000 at one point. >> dan, help us understand. put it in perspective. how bad is this? does this go back to hurricane days? or is this an anomaly, something you just haven't seen before? >> this storm is one of the top 10 that dominion virginia power has had in its recorded history. >> right. >> it is very close to being a hurricane irene. >> okay. i got from pepco, seven days before power is fully restored. from dominion, virginia power. what's your number? >> you know, we are still in the process of assessing our damages and trying to put together a good restoration plan that we can reliably -- allow us to reliably tell our customers when we expect to have them on. right now, we are saying this is going to be a multiday outage. we should know in about 36

hours, have a much better picture of how long it's going to take. >> so at this point, 376,000 people in the dark. but you can't say other than multiple days before they get power restored? what's the problem with narrowing that down, dan? >> the problem is that we had 80-mile-an-hour winds come through the northern virginia area. and there are places where we can't even get into because the roads are blocked with fallen trees to figure out what is wrong with our system. so it takes a while to put together a plan. and until you have that plan and you know what kind of damages you have, and that you're dealing with, you can't make a good estimate as to when you're going to get power back on. >> got that. >> i don't want to build up false hopes. so we're just saying multiday outage. >> people appreciate the information. dan genese, thanks a lot. and we'll get back to you. virginia dominion power. if not later in this broadcast, tonight, because we want to keep people posted on the latest information. dan, thanks for the latest on

that. >> no problem. >> i'm not here to defend the power companies. but what we had yesterday was one in a 30-year event. 80-mile-per-hour winds. not just in pockets. normally, we have thunderstorms and maybe two will be severe. and maybe it will cover two or four squire mile area. but this was across the board. very, very unusual. more power out with this than hurricane isabel in '03. >> and you're right. we're just trying to get the best information. >> and we had a similar situation with blizzard. you're not just putting in new mother boards. they're going to have to put in what they call sticks. and that's by hand. you just can't do that quickly. so it is what it is. and again, the good news is, that happens much more often in the midwest and not very often here in the east. but it does seem over the past 15 years, we've had some interesting weather. and of course, it goes back to the flag day storm of 89. this is even more widespread. we have some warnings, bruce.

they've extended the warnings to 7:45. and it now includes rockingham county and orange and green and madison until about 7:30. this storm has hail and gusty winds in it. and this is one storm. and this is what we're more used to. we're tracking one storm across a couple of counties. we can do that. last night, different story. we were tracking one huge storm across states last night really. this is going to slide between orange and culpepper. head towards fredericksburg. spotsylvania. you're also under a severe thunderstorm. get ready. here's a live look downtown. it is nice. 95, not so nice. but the dew point in the low 60s. that's bearable. that's pretty good. winds calm. pressure 29.79 inches of mercury. 97 downtown. high was 96. 90s up at rockville. 91 in leesburg. these are almost 10 degrees cooler than they were yesterday. so not quite as hot. but some storms are still possible tonight.

each when -- even when these goes on -- go to the south of us. we had the chance of a storm. not quite as muggy all night. sunday, we do it all over again. storms are possible, heavy, and possibly severe as well. check out just how hot it is across the nation. 100 in casper, wyoming. hundreds through the plain states. through the mississippi valley. and almost to the southeast and mid-atlantic. again, we won't be quite 100 degrees tomorrow. for tonight, partly cloudy and muggy. some storms possible. those that develop. well, we've said this all week. could be heavy. lows in the 70s. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy, hot by lunchtime. 72 to 92. so not blistering hot as it was on friday. but still, no bargain. by afternoon on sunday, partly cloudy. very hot. some storms. and again, some of those could be heavy. some of those could be severe. highs 95, to 100. now, the next three days, our 9 weather alert codes will stay yellow. we went red last night. because of heat and

thunderstorms. 90s tomorrow. upper 90s on tuesday. next seven days. the temps actually go up. we had some hope last night of a break in this a little bit by the end of next week. not so much today, bruce. we're looking at temperatures spiking back in the upper 90s. and then possibly hitting 100 again next saturday. just with some isolated storms. so pretty typical july 4th, 95 with storms. nat is in town next tuesday. >> all right. back in a minute. stay with us. before copd...

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ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. we want to go back to scott broom. he's in river dale park,ed, maryland. where not one but two multistory apartment buildings located in the 5400 block of river dale road had the roofs torn off. the residents are convinced it was a tornado. >> well, they were at least 80- mile-per-hour winds is what the roofing contractor says. but you know, nobody has it hazy with this. we have over 1 million people without power in the region. most of those people with no

air conditioning, obviously. but for these people here, the 800 people in the two buildings. and tonight, they are homeless here in river dale park. let me show you some of the sights and sounds i shot earlier today, starting with the mayor here. vernon archer. well, we have a disaster. a significant portion of the roof. apartment building, tore loose last night. we had to evacuate the building. i don't know the exact number. but i'm estimating 700 to 800 people live in this building. so we've got a lot of dislocated people. a number of them are being relocated to northwestern high school. and the county social services and red cross, and emergency management have done a good job of getting relief and refugee centers over there to handle the folks. >> yes, it was a tornado. people were outside. and they said the winds were

just swirling around. >> yeah. to go out without no shoes. >> look at my feet. >> it's starting to get hot now. you got a car load of kids. what's the plan now? >> hotel. >> apparently the kind came from the southwest. completely took this part of the building off. landed in the parking lot about 300 feet away. on this building, we're standing on, we had about 3800 square feet. on the building behind us, more of the roof blew off. but it was less struct urlt damage. >> must have been in excess of 80 mile approximate hour winds. -- 80-mile-per-hour winds. i think the tenants will have to stay here for at least a week. >> we have to stay here. and relax. >> reporter: let me tell you tonight. we've had deaths in the region, obviously. but this is huge roofing material that came down from seven stories up last night, driven by 80-mile-per-hour winds in a crowded parking lot, with a lot of vehicles. it really is, according to a

lot of the people here, a miracle, that no one got killed. now, many of them have dispersed to family and friends. as you heard, some have gone to hotels. and there is that evacuation center here in prince george's county, that set up at 7,000 adelphi road. they're doing their best to take care of folks. but just like the power companies, the folks here can't make any sort of estimate beyond at least a week, when they get the roof on these buildings and get people back in. bruce? >> thanks, scott for that information. several 911 emergency systems were knocked out by the storms. emergency calls in arlington, fairfax, prince william, and manassas park, all went downar downar -- down after the storm. residents are being told if they face an emergency and cannot get through to 911, they should head to their nearest police or fire station or go to a hospital immediately. much of northern virginia, cleaning up after the storms. two people died in springfield, virginia, when trees fell on

top of them. surae chinn has more on this. >> reporter: this is what is so dangerous and deadly about these storms. the two trees that came down involve large types of trees this. one is a lucky case. this is in helen groundy's backyard. it came crashing down in her backyard. listen to her story. she said she was in her rocking chair, and thought, i'm going to go downstairs. she make its halfway down the stairs when the tree came down, knocking her to the ground. listen to what she had to say. >> if you had been there one second longer -- >> one second longer, i would have been a goner. no more helen. [ laughter ] >> reporter: what are you thinking this afternoon when you see that. >> i'm thinking i'm so thankful. someone out there must be looking out for me. >> reporter: charred roots of this huge tree. well, neighbors suspect that lightning struck it down. well, helen hasn't been able to get in touch with her insurance

agency. so now her concern here as we head toward the evening hours, that she hasn't been able to remove the tree. and she's worried about more storms coming down. that is the concern here because we're not out of the woods yet. so we're holding tight here. and most of these people are without power, in the dark. back to you, bruce. >> all right. thanks a lot for that. and thank god for helen. we're back in a minute.

you know, on a day like today, people could use a helping hand from neighbors. and that's exactly what happened in the spring valley community in the northwest. where there was significant storm daj. -- damage. dave oen withs is here with us. >> no power. you probably didn't want to take a chance out of eating anything out of your refrigerator. so no food. a lot of restaurants were closed. what were you supposed to do? one local deli saw a need and sprung into action. >> we've got one grilled chicken breast. >> it's where folks can get refuge after a long night. wax shaw deli in the spring valley community in the northwest was without power itself. so they decided, why throw away food when they could just as easily give it away. >> we have been in this community for 86 years. so we can't let the neighborhood starve. >> reporter: just what these folks needed. >> we're still without power. >> we have a no opening the refrigerator policy now.

>> reporter: free food. and most importantly, water. all wax shaws asked in return was a donation. >> this is what people are basically dealing with out here. massive trees like this that have been essentially uprooted and frawlen onto real estate and more importantly, power lines. if you think this is something, i'm going to take you around the corner to another home. the home of joe gidderman. >> this behemoth of a tree fell on his roof. miraculously, everyone got out safe. more good news. upon inspection, it looks like minimal damage to the roof. he and his neighbors are lucky. they got power. for now. but with this limb hanging continuously over a power line, that may not last long. >> they were certainly one of the lucky ones in that neighborhood. back to wax shaws for just a second. when we got there, the lines for food were winding down just a bit. most people we spoke to said they were surprised they were giving food away. but the deli said, these

customers do so much for us, it's the least woo could do. >> let's hear it for wag shaws. we're back in a minute.

okay. >> yeah. people have already been through a lot. >> right. >> going to be going through tonight. >> right. >> and the first full night. >> i mean, some good news. it's not quite as muggy tonight. >> we'll take as much good news as we can. >> a little less humid tonight. so some areas will go in the low 70s. you can sleep in low 70s. and you want to kind of flip it, it's better than if you were cold and if your pipes were freezing. so kind of put that in the back of your mind in case it were wintertime. let's take a look at live doppler. we are still looking at severe thunderstorm warnings, to the southwest of us. all right. so this is down to the southwest, down towards fredericksburg and thornberg and culpepper. they're moving south and east, away from the immediate metro area. it does include fredericksburg. king county, george, northern

neck. spotsylvania, and stafford. for about another half hour to 45 minutes. and there is some hail in that storm, especially around orange. i just checked that a minute ago. for that, those storms need to take cover as well. but these storms are covering a much smaller area. and we're used to a little of this. as opposed to 100 mile area of severe weather. live look outside. gorgeous in the immediate metro area. brought to you by michael and sun. dew point, 60. that's not too bad. winds are calm. 29.79 inches of mercury. temperatures, 97 in rockville. 89 in fairfax. that's downright refreshing. 91, in leesburg. 93 in old tbown. and also looking at 93 up in laurel and college park. tonight, here's the deal. not quite as hot. but some storms are still possible tonight. not quite as muggy tonight. sunday, we kind of do it all over again. and some storms that develop are heavy or severe.

it's just the nature of the beast, with this high type of heat and this type of instability. good air in the country, to kentucky and tennessee will be over the century mark again. so we're not alone in the heat. some storms possible. some heavy to severe in the low to mid-70s. tomorrow morning, partly cloudy. hot. certainly by lunchtime, we're talking low 90s. winds west/northwest at 10. and partly cloudy. very hot. some storms. some could be high or severe. record high at dulles at 98. that is sort of in jeopardy. so the day planner. looks like this. 70s to start. and then 88 to 93 by noon. and then 95 to 100 by evening. and an isolated thunderstorm is possible. next three days. my weather alert. yellow, yellow and yellow. and of course, we reserve the right to change it to red as we did last night. but 97 monday. then back up to 98 tuesday. a little spike in temps, tuesday, wednesday and thursday

of next week. in fact, wednesday, the fourth, maybe a thunderstorm. temps to mid-90s. that's not hot and crazy. back in the upper 90s for us on friday. then, well, we were hoping it would go down. going back up to maybe 100. isolated thunderstorm next saturday. so it's not good. but it could be worse. it could be worse. >> we'll keep that in mind. thanks a lot. we have a special one hour edition of 9news now tonight at 11:00. we'll see you then. if you have copd like i do, you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate.

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