these are by far the strongest storms. we talked about this a half hour ago. this storm is headed toward winchester and will impact you with heavy rain, small hail in the next hour or so. in fact, here's a look at where it's headed. cross junction at 7:06. hayfield at 7:15. and looking at hill crest at 7:26. be advised, i would put the umbrella down. this is nothing like last week. sunny side at 7:29 and current down at 7:31. we'll keep you posted. the warnings i did put up on the ticker. and we're not under a watch or anything, but this is the kind of situation where we have heat like this, derek, we have the chance for big thunderstorms and that's going to continue tonight and we'll come back and let you know if it will continue tomorrow as well. back to you. >> thank you, top. it must certainly feel like deja vu for hundreds and thousands of people in our area tonight. this is the fourth straight day

where downed trees and pow r lines are keeping them in the dark. now we should note the power companies are making some progress. in fact, close to 75% of those who lost their power now have it back. but that does not mean a lot to those who lights are still out. here's a quick check on the number of outages in our area. still has the most customers. 94,000 of them. and more than 2/3 are in montgomery county. in northern virginia, power is down to 57,500 outages. and checking some of the smaller utilities. 1300bge customers in montgomery counties have no power. 300 outages in southern maryland. potomac has 560 customers with no power in frederick and in montgomery county. and over in virginia, there's novec with just over 700 outages. >> as the utilities started restoring service, customers have been complaining that the utility is not communicating

with them very well. some say that's exactly what happened to them. >> reporter: the destruction in this neighborhood is among the worst we have seen. imagine the surprise of the residents when they learned late last night they have been erased from pepco's outage map. a resident phoned pepco and was told the power was back on, when clearly it is not. >> i am appalled, disgusted, angry. >> so how does betty barnes really feel about the communications confusion over her powerless neighborhood? >> i don't need anymore excuses. get the job done. get somebody here who will do it. import them from anywhere, canada, texas, afghanistan. >> wreckage here is extraordinary. snapped utility poles, downed wires, and a neighborhood of 1400 customers who are getting increasingly fed up with

pepco's communication failures. >> . >> it's really frustrating because we don't have power. i wish they would get their act together. >> i got a robo call and i got the notification on my app that there were no power outages anymore in my area. >> so pam miller and her elderly mother canceled their hotel reservations for the rest of the week. >> i canceled my hotel reservations and took her back to her house, neither one of us had power. >> they are not communicating properly with their public. >> the residents here are still in the dark. probably because of a secondary outage. one that has since been recorded. in silver spring, ann degree jay mccarren, 9news now. >> thomas graham joined me on 9news now at 6:00 to talk about all this. he says the utility was always clear about when everybody's power would be coming back on. >> what we committed to very

early on, we are on track for that right now. again, three out of every four customers out of service, they are back right now. friday at midnight is what we said, we are on track for the majority of those customers. we are just going to keep working 24/7. >> as for communication complaint about the service being restored when it hasn't been, graham says unknown issues, such as problems further down the line can pop up once the power is back on. customers need to be sure and call in outages. the overwelming majority of the damage to the electrical system was done by the fallen trees and now, one maryland state senator is the first in line calling for putting more power lines under ground. scott broom is in college park with what the utility companies say about that idea. scott. >> senator jim, college park, says maryland has not revisited this underground issue in

nearly ten years. if you're a believer in climate change like he is, he says it's time to look again. >> we have known for years that climate change leads to more frequent, more severe, unpredictable extreme weather. we may have noticed that here in washington the last couple of years. >> rosa is demanding that the state's public service commission reopen the under ground electric debate with a new analysis. >> what they haven't looked at, what are the costs to the citizens if you lose $200 worth of food in your refrigerator? if you have to take your mother to stay in a hotel because it's too hot to stay in their house. those are all costs that the utilities aren't counting and that's what i'm asking the public service commission to look at the cost to the public, not just the cost of the utility. >> in 2003, a legislative task force concluded that under ground electric is not all that it seems. yes, it can be more reliable in the short run, but it lasts only 30 years compared to 50

years. it takes longer to fix and not immuned to other hazards like flooding and lightning strikes. pepco has never waiverred in opposition to underground. >> i'm asking you this every time we talk. >> thomas graham with 9news now's bruce johnson saturday. >> it would take ten plus years to do that type of project. >> okay. >> the cost would go into the billions and the question is, do our customers have the appetite to absorb that type of cost? >> we are getting that. >> pepco estimates converting would cost $5.8 billion and add $107 per month to an average electric bill. >> they have already asked for a rate increase and they turned out the lights. they can't have it both ways. >> in college park, 9news now. >> will it be worth the cost? especially if the utility company passes it on to the bill.

will it solve the problem? weigh in at mcginty's mail bag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. >> get out now. that's what prince william county's building code officials and police officers are saying. living inside the holly acres park. many homes were destroyed during tropical storm lee and the ones that were not were declared inhabitable by the county. some folks stayed on while the owner appealed the county's decision. ken molestina is live where we are hearing a change of heart from the county. ken. >> yeah, that's right, derek. they backed off from their original plan. initially, county officials along with police were expected to come in here at 5:00 and evict some eight families that remain here. the living conditions isn't safe, but that's something the focus here refute. the residents stood their ground, sticking to their plan no not be kicked out.

power was never restored here. so these neighbors set up a makeshift electrical system. that according to county officials is a safety hazard. the entire debate is working it way through the courts, which is why neighbors are refusing to leave. their homes are safe and further more, the county has no authority to force them out until a judge rules on the matter. >> i feel bad. i feel bad for the county, you have to leave. why they don't say, okay, you have to leave, but i have a place for you guys. i don't have much money to pay rent on another place. >> reporter: the families say they realize their living conditions aren't ideal. but a lot don't have money to go somewhere else. county has backed off, but that's not to say they will go back to their original plan. this is one we will keep a close eye on. live in woodbridge, ken

molestina. >> we have breaking news. this does sky 9 over a metro train stuck with no power. and at least 100 people are stuck as well in that train. and they are in the mist of evacuations. prince georges county ambulances and fire have responded to assist and update you as soon as we get more information. coming up, they are rehearsing on the third to give you a capital fourth. a peek behind the scenes at the annual independence day concert at the mall. and up next, another kind of show that must go on. we'll tell you about the critical vote.

the effort to extend metro rail out to dulles airport and beyond has taken a big leap forward. the board of supervisors voted to support phase two of the silver line. phase two is what extends the silver line to dulles and a pair of metro stops. and with today's vote, the county commits about $270 million towards that construction. board chairman, scott york, feels it is a solid investment. >> now that we have this, i'm confident about the future. and its ability to attract businesses here. which will help to offset the cost of the residential residents so we can continue to

be needed because of the growth that we have in our community. >> no vote by loudoun county could have placed the whole project in jeopardy. just what we don't want to hear. the storms are coming back. topper has the latest coming your way in minutes. first, the sheriff we once called andy. andy griffith, we'll remember him in a few minutes.

he was a tv icon and a beloved actor. tonight, mayberry fans are mourning the loss of andy griffith. the man who portrayed sheriff andy taylor on that show carrying his name died today. he was 86. alexis takes a look back at the career of andy griffith. >> who doesn't hear the whistle and remember the andy griffith show? from 1960 to 1968, it was a huge hit and the star, andy griffith, played the show's straight man. >> i meant charity. >> i didn't charge him nothing. >> i meant something for the joy of giving. >> i enjoyed it. >> i love playing straight because you get to see the show and be in it at the same time. >> andy's life parallelled his show in many ways. he was born in a small town in north carolina, much like the

fictional mayberry and grew up in a poor, but loving home. he was studying to be a minister, but changed his major to music. his breakthrough role was in a film, a face in the crowd. >> there she goes. >> years later, he revealed sheriff andy taylor was supposed to be the funny man,. >> don called me when he saw the pilot who said, don't you need a deputy? >> rest is comedy history. >> you know we couldn't have given a sobriety test to otis last night. >> why not? >> he was too drunk. >> he turned to drama. he was awarded the presidential medal of honor. a working actor. to the end of his life. alexis, cbs news. >> and president obama released a statement today saying he and michelle are saddened to hear that griffith

is gone. the president called him an extraordinary talent who won the hearts of americans everywhere. we caught up with a few other talents rehearsing for the big show. the annual capital fourth concert. it's set for tomorrow night on the mall. we talked with one of the show's producers. >> you know, at a time when the country is more divided, to be able to come and be here together, unified arm and arm, it's a real mission and a privilege. >> the concert goes down on the west lawn of the u.s. capital, gets going tomorrow night at 8:00. the hose tees, hostess. many communities are holding their own independence day celebrations tomorrow. all these power outages and damage are causing some to have to cancel the plans. all of the cancellations so far in montgomery county. they include the independence

event in in montgomery and einstein high school. gaithersburg canceled its celebration at the montgomery county fair grounds for tomorrow, but the city may try to hold the event at a later date. not canceled today was the fourth annual independence burger eating championship. it was sponsored by the burger shop. that's around the corner in northwest. today's big winner, a canadian. his name is pete. they call him furious pete. i think you can kind of see why. he wolfed down 15 burgers in ten minutes and that's worth $1,000. plus, he gets what he must want, more free burgers. $1,000 worth. maybe he'll take his time and enjoy those. >> that will last him a week. >> exactly. >> today's heat and humidity has a storm starting to pop up. we don't want it, but might have to deal with it. >> they will dying down a little bit, but they are holding together in west virginia and virginia.

there are warnings and any time we see storms pop up, we have temperatures in the upper 90s. some could be heavy, some could be severe. i sound like a broken record. let's start with live doppler 9,000. we have pinpoint some of the activity. the warnings have just come off of frederick county, fauquier county and prince william county. for this one little storm, which is holding together. we talked about this a little bit ago. this storm is holding together. the warnings are still in effect for frederick county and clark county and for warren county in western virginia. about to roll through winchester right now. this is the heaviest storm. it has hail with it and strong, gusty winds. you'll have pockets of heavier rain as you go up toward frederick and go across the river. it's running into dryer air, so the storms are weakening a little bit on that side of the river. on this side, we have some pretty big-time storms. we'll zoom in a little bit. look for heavy rain. 1 inch per hour around gaines

burro. and headed also towards winchester. big rains in the winchester area. we'll back the radar back out. the next hour, this storm holds together pretty well as it moves through winchester and heads across south of leesburg and north of warrenton. notice how these storms weaken almost completely as they go into fairfax county. that's good. that's almost a perfect scenario. you get rain out of the deal and no severe weather. that's what we like. okay, right now a live look outside. 94. dew point still in the 50s. that's what will kill the storms around here. humidity only 30%. and the pressure is still falling at 29.89 inches of mercury. temperatures, 94 downtown. rain cooled. 73 in hagerstown. and 75 in martinsburg, also rain cool. you factor in the humidity. 94 downtown. sot humidity did not increase our discomfort. it's hot enough. that's okay. heat continues all week.

not as comfortable tonight. and storms possible during the fireworks and some could be heavy and some could be severe. now the next three days, we're going to keep code yellow on wednesday, thursday, friday. 97 for the fourth. 100 on thursday. 99 on friday. between heat and storms, we're going to keep it code yellow. next seven days, it's going to stay hot on saturday around 100. but there's some hope a cold front limps through here. not exactly a blast of a cold front, but at least we go back to the low 90s as we go into sunday and the upper 80s on monday and tuesday. >> 90s will feel cool. break out the sweaters. we'll be back in a minute. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back.

in the mail bag tonight, there's nothing but power outages and pepco. kim says she was shocked by the story we ran last night on the family with the special needs child whose power had been out for days. my son also has special needs/seizures and we are on a priority list with our power company. i cannot imagine how i would care for my child without electricity to run his oxygen and suction machines. pepco and clay anderson should be ashamed. after every storm, i thank god that i don't have pepco.

kim, the good news is that family's power is back on. but a lot of people are feeling the same frustrations you're talking about, including david who has written us from a town called, my ipad. it's a new day when they surpass the combined efforts of auralling county board and the governor's office, still out of power failed. then, there was this from dan in rockville. i am tired of hearing all the talk about what a poor job pepco is doing after the worst storm in years. have these people left their neighborhoods and seen the massive amount of damage that was left by the storm in i think pepco is doing a great job restoring power and their tree trimming efforts probably lessoned the damage. and yes, the power was out in my area for many hours. you know what? i think it's obvious, pepco is overwelmed by the sheer magnitude. to my mind, the far larger problem for the power company, customers have simply lost the faith. they don't believe it when

pepco says we're doing the best we can. when that happens, it takes more than a few commercials with guys cutting down trees to bring it down. you always get the benefit of the doubt. even if your address is from an ipad. mailbag@wusa9.com is our address. that sour report, i'll be back at 11:00 along with topper with the latest on the storms. don't forget, the latest on wusa9.com. we'll see you later. bye bye.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most-watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. ♪ andy griffith, a hollywood legend remembered. ron howard's first interview on losing his close friend. and the tv icon's funeral today. and what the 911 call revealed about his final hours and our favorite moments with andy. tom cruise on the move. his heartbreak on his 50th birthday. did he fly from his movie set in iceland back to california to file his own divorce papers? the new report and his latest tv interview, candid about katie to "e.t." just days before the split. >> she's genuine. she's someone that you just feel good with her.