recovered, he had gone boating saturday. 9news clean up begins with a look at things in montgomery city-county building county. a second day of traffic problems is expected for commuters. delia is live along georgia avenue in silver springs. how are things there? >> reporter: would you believe literally stood in front of the camera to do this live shot. within the last two minutes it was like the heavens opened up and the lights came on. i guess you can call it now 199 traffic lights not working inmont testimoniry county. the lights have been on for the last couple of minutes and traffic seems to be moving smoothly. you can see all the cones they had here, folks were treating this as a four way stop. and literally, because it was a darkened intersection, the cones were creating lanes for folks. on the way here, traveling down

jones bridge road, connecticut avenue, heading toward this way, we ran into a number of darkened intersections. i have to say we are talking about four lane roads, major intersections and thoroughfares that will be absolutely packed and very busy today. it was pretty treacherous, and a bit scary even, thinking that i'm driving at 3:30, 4:00 in the morning, of course there is not a lot of traffic, but goodness you know, at the height of rush hour, you can imagine the confusion that it will cause. thankfully, folks that are going to be traveling through georgia avenue at seminary and columbia road, well for now, things look good. we'll take another look at some of the other intersections in the area and hopefully bring you another update. >> hopefully, moving to another intersection will bring you good luck. thank you. pepco's post storm performance continues to be the

subject of discussion from several local leaders. on monday, dc's mayor vince gray weighed in. >> he called pepco's performance disappointment. >> frankly, i think most would agree, friday is just not good enough to be able to restore power to our people here in the city. >> unfortunately, this is going to happen again. >> gray says he is anxious to meet with the governors of maryland and virginia, as well as local county executives to come up with a plan of action to hold pepco response. >> they are saying maybe the weekend but the clean up continues there. they have 1000 extra power line workers from other states teaming up to help restore power. jessica doyle, we see some light behind you there. >> reporter: that's right mike. this is the situation that you

are seeing in northern virginia, montgomery county and the cyst, all -- and the district, all throughout the washington area where the lights are out. it is the case of the haves, with power, and the have nots. we are right here at this intersection at route 7 and glenn forest road. as you can see, these little are out -- lights are out. this is a situation throughout the washington area. of course you see a dark intersection, you are supposed to treat it as a four way stop, in this case a three-way stop. but a lot of folks, i'll tell you, especially with night driving, are not doing so. we are seeing them sort of blow through this intersection. the problem is at night, or early morning, you can't even see that there are lights here, unless you are used to this area. so we want to give a cautionary note to folks, seeing somebody drive right through now, you are supposed to stop in those

situations. between novak and dominion virginia power currently 87,000 folks are still in the dark. that represents about 10% of total customers in northern virginia. so virginia dominion, i'll tell you, is working really really hard on this situation. they have about 4000 line workers at work. you are not going to see a lot of them at night and in the early morning hours, that is when folks are going to try to get some rest, they have been working 12 to 16 hour shifts, looking still like the weekend before the outlying power comes back. guys i'm going to send it back to you in the studio. >> good luck. if you are at a hotel and you still don't have power or you are someone still in the dark or you know someone still in the dark, here are some of the phone numbers you can call to report and check the status of power out annuals in your neighborhood. pepco customers 1-877-pepco 62.

dominion 1-866-.com help. and the bge number is 1-877-737-2622. verizon says most of its 911 service has been restored in northern virginia now but arlington county still has some issues with wireless emergency calls. the building that controls those calls lost power during friday's storm and that was the issue. fairfax county board of supervisors chair says it is unacceptable for 911 service to be out for this long. >> the ripple effect of power outages, they have led to the consolation of some local fourth of july celebrations. gadget thergzburg has canceled it's vent at the montgomery county fairgrounds. city leaders may reschedule the events in kensington, german town and rockville have also been canceled. if you still don't have air

conditioning, there are plenty of cooling centers across the region to give you help and relief. we have a full list of them, including the cooling centers where you can also bring your pet. just go to wusa9.com. the whole list is there. the metro area isn't the only part of the country recovering from stormy weather. southern new jersey suffered its worst storm in decades, leaving several townships without power. just like here in the mid-atlantic, a number of residents rushed to local hardware stores to buy generators for their homes. local utility companies are working to restore power, but it isn't expected to be back up for several days. firefighters are starting to get the upper hand on the most destructive wildfire in colorado's history. the flames, now more than 50% contained, thanks to 1500 firefighters on the job right now. the fire has destroyed nearly 350 houses so far. there is a 1200-acre fire burning right now in shenandoah national park. several trails and shelters are

closed on neighbor mountain in page county, virginia. 200 firefighters are trying to put it out. no structures have been damaged at this one. the wildfire is only about 20% contained. the supreme court wouldn't take it up around maryland's redistricting map. opponents submitted more than 65,700 signatures on the petition to get the issue on november's ballot. the state board of elections must now verify all of those signatures. if enough are approved, voters will decide if the redistricting plan stands. time now 4:37. another hot, humid day coming your way. olga is going to let us know just how hot it can get. the drug company responsible for avan der slootia and pax ill has agreed to pay the largest fraud settlement in history. tomorrow is expected to be a day of packed roadway.

monika is going to bring us the latest predictions for the holiday. you are watching 9news now

welcome back. moving to the 80s and into the middle range 90s by the 5:00 hour. we are in code orange with unhealthy air and we could see a late day shower or storm. monika? >> reporter: traffic still fairly light in springfield coming up from route 44 where restrictions are in effect of 95 and 395. coming up in my next report, we'll look at maryland roads at 4:47. back to you mike.

thank you monika. you saw jessica out there helping us recover storm damage. trading on wall street expected to be light as investors get ready for the independence day holiday. u.s. manufacturing is down a bit, which led to a mixed day for stocks yesterday. the dow closed at nearly nine points, the nasdaq was up 15. drug maker black oh smith klein is going to pay $3 billion in fines in the largest case of healthcare fraud hiv. the british company is pleading guilty to charges it promoted prescriptions for antidepressants for adults being marketed to teenagers. also they were marketed for weight loss. air bus will soon have a plant in alabama. it will eventually ploy 1000 workers.

it has been trying to increase its market share here in the u.s. as it tries to compete with boeing. sony wants to develop a new way to play video games. the company is buying a video game streaming company. the goal is to provide a cloud-based service so gamers can stream the video games just like music or movies. a lot of us have food that has gone bad in the refrigerator or freezer. do you know what to do with all that bad food? we have an offer and a story of how you can get to this place, in two minutes.

the national parks service employees who work at the national capital region headquarters in the annex building are asked not to report to work, there is a power outage. you are ep discouraged however to telework from home if you can. fairfax county governments are closed. loud don county government employees can use unscheduled leave. montgomery county circuit court is closed and montgomery county schools are closed and we are putting together a string of 90 plus degree days. olga is in for howard to let us know what is happening. >> this morning we are okay. a little bit on the muggy side. humidity has gone up over the past 24 hours. showers and storms are popping up each even evening and -- each evening and we could see steady storms tomorrow roll in here by tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening. for right now, be prepared for more heat, especially if you

don't have that ac cranking or a fan going. it will be quite muggy into the afternoon. we'll start out with partly cloudy skies this morning and we'll clear out with a lot of sunshine by lunch time. later on, this will be another sultry night tonight as temperatures will stay in the 70s in the city center and we'll see upper 60s out in the suburbs. here's what you need to know as you get yourself out and about this morning. back in the middle range 90s by later on today. we will get the opportunity to cool down a little bit late day with an afternoon shower or thunderstorm. not everyone will get wet later on today. it will be very, very hot on independence day. the fourth of july will be back in the 90s and we might even have a little bit of heat index to talk about tomorrow as well. there will be the opportunity

for storms to move on through, particularly in the afternoon hours. so the satellite and radar scan for this morning is fairly quiet as we look ahead with futurecast forecast models, it gives us a break today. we'll pop with a little bit of moisture, but most of the opportunity will be west of the city and across some of our southern zones through southern portions of virginia and maryland. then we clear out overnight tonight. partly cloudy skies but tomorrow just as hot as today for the fourth of july and then widespread showers and steady thunderstorms buy tomorrow evening. don't spend too much timeout there in the sun, although the overnight lows will be in the 70s, it is going to be muggy. we are in a yellow alert, that means you need to be careful if you are going to be outdoors.

we'll see the temperatures hover right around the middle 90s, but we'll peak to 97 degrees on wednesday. the 7-day forecast remains warm, particularly on the fourth of july. friday looking good, rain-free that day alone, and then back to saturday and sunday we have overnight lows returning to the 80s. monika? >> reporter: overall it is nice and quiet if you are heading out the door. the biggest thing you can encounter, i'm happy to say delia is at the intersection of georgia avenue and i have lowered the number in montgomery county from 200 to 19. in fairfax it is 75, in the district 55. if you are heading over to an intersection where the signal lights are out, please do treat that as a four way stop and give way to the right. we'll take you over to 270,

where there are no problems to report and hov restrictions are listed on 270 further south. as you reach the point where the lanes divide. we'll take a live look outside on route 355. it looks like the signal lights are working here. now over to the maps again, inbound on i 66, no delays to report right now and hov restrictions are lifted inside the beltway today. completely tomorrow for your fourth of july holiday and that should help you as we'll. a quick heads up about the fourth of july. get set for jammed highways. aaa projects that 42.3 million americans will be on the roads and that is a jump from 43.3 million last year. more americans will take longer time off this year, that is because the holiday falls in the middle of the week. andrea and mike?

>> a lot of them will try to escape the heat but they may not be able to. the combination of hot weather and lack of power has made an uncomfortable three days for people in our area and also made for a dangerous few days. mat jablow has a story for people who need their power back. >> reporter: like hundreds of thousands of people in the dc area, april is hoping her power is turned back on just as soon as possible. >> i'm pretty sure i'm one of 200,000. >> reporter: it has been a long, hot few days for april and her family. a frightening few days, as well. you see april's four-year-old son charlie, born with a reign rare brain disorder that causes him to have about a half dozen seizures every day, is now having more than four times that number of seizures because of

the heat. >> they have a portable generator but it is not powerful number to run his equipment. >> any seizure can be life threatening. we have respiratory issues. >> reporter: april says she has called pepco several times, simply hoping to find out when it expect her power to be back on. >> the answer right now, nobody knows for sure. >> reporter: when asked if a comment pepco spokes man said he understand dollars they are in a different situation. they cannot provide priority treatment and all customers are always encouraged to have emergency plans in case of

situations like this. a major problem when the power goes out also spoiled food. the district has six sites to accept spoiled food. people who don't want to wait for regular trash collection pick up can drop off food key elementary and wilson high school in northwest washington and fair bee hope elementary in southeast washington. the collection service runs from 3:00 p.m. through 7:00 p.m. today. in health news this morning, new findings show many heart attack patients are usually rehospitalized within a month for other issues. the study in the internal medicine looked at patients and found diabetes and anemia were behind about 60% of the rehospitalizations. more than three quarters of a million people are hospitalized

every year. research says there is an increased risk of autism if a parent or sibling suffers from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. autism is estimated to affect 1 in 88 children. the first ever study on the public health impact of sexting shows close to 30% of teens send nude pictures of themselves via e-mail or text. research looked at 1000 students in texas and say nearly all the girls and half the boys who sent photos did so even though the request bothered them. the study said teens who sent nude photos were more likely to have had sex compared to teens who don't take part in sexting. here's a look at the question of the morning. four decades ago most people did this. but today only 20% say they still do. is it drive a stick shift, change your own tire or write a letter? >> what do you think?

go to wusa9's facebook fan page and we'll have the answer in our 6:00 show. we'll be right back.

good morning everyone. everyone sitting in the upper 60s, 70 degrees. our winds today will be predominantly out of the south. we are warming up all the way into the middle 90s by later on this afternoon. monika? if you are planning to head outside right now you'll find the volumes are light and good news for 66 drivers. no hov restrictions inside the beltway today. and none at all tomorrow fourth of july. major changes are coming to

the athletics program at the university of maryland. seven sports have been discontinued because of budget issues. they are men's indoor track and field, men's cross country, men's and women's swimming and diving and men's water polo, as well as tennis. the only team to successfully raise money to stay competing, men's outdoor track and field. there are new details about the tom cruise katie holmes divorce. and a tv host makes a major announcement about his personal live. >> reporter: tv host anderson cooper revealed he is gay in an open letter to the daily beast. he kept his personal life private until now because he didn't want it to interfere with his work as a journalist. his silence he said gave the wrong impression that he was trying to hide something or he was ashamed but he says quote i couldn't be any more comfortable or proud. actress katie holmes

remained holed up inside her new york apartment, hearing her husband, tom cruise, might try to take her daughter over her. she ended the marriage over concerns with cruise's signtology faith. major movie memorabilia is about to go up on auction in los angeles. the costume michael keeton wore is being sold. it is expected to sell for as much as $50,000. or for $80,000 you can buy the original chewbacca mask and head or the superman costumes worn by christopher receive -- christopher receive and marlon brando. alec baldwin says his new wife is helping him stick to his sugar free diet and avoid alcohol. carter evans, cbs news, los

angeles. good morning and thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm mike haiduk. monika samtani has traffic in a minute. lots of lights are still out this morning. so talk about those. >> reporter: if you have ac, you are lucky. for those without today it is a little bit of a struggle. our humidity values have gone up the last 4 hours. we are starting off with partly cloudy skies. we did have a few showers over virginia and dale city. right now the radar is quiet. the forecast for today will feature sunshine this morning. you want your sunglasses with you. have the bottled water handy. we'll slip out of the 80s through the 9:00 and 10:00 hours. we should hit 90 by noon. then we will see temperatures move into the middle range 90s by early afternn.