cross hospital. tell us why you are here. >> from what i understand the tree is on maryland park and planning property and no one can make a decision to cut it and get it out of the way. three people from the tree service is out here and three people from pepco and everybody throws their hands up in the air, so nothing is done. >> reporter: so you have been in the dark and in this mess of wires and trees since friday? >> since friday night, yes, ma'am. >> reporter: tell me what you hope to accomplish. you have a sign that says. >> power for our neighborhood and i hope we get action. i would invite the county executive to come see me today. >> reporter: you are one of the many frustrated folks who say july 6, friday, isn't acceptable. do you think that is just way too long of a wait? >> we heard like monday or tuesday of the following week.

so that is too long. >> reporter: in 100 degrees temperature? >> oh yes. my house is probably 180. >> reporter: it is actually much cooler out here. >> much. >> reporter: okay, well ken, i appreciate you being out here and standing up for your neighbors. hopefully we can shed some light, pardon the pun, on this treacherous situation on ten brooke and dryden street, a short distance away from holy cross hospital. a major thoroughfare to get into these neighborhoods. downed wires and a massive tree blocking the intersection. hopefully, ken can raise awareness for his neighbors. we'll have another update for you in a half hour. back to you, mike, andrea. >> ridiculous when it is that kind of jurisdiction. why don't you both take the tree down and split the bill. unbelievable. well the overwhelming majority of the damage we have been reporting to the electric system has been done by fallen trees. so once again as in years past,

more and more people are saying why not bury the lines? it is taking them off the pole and putting them underground. the maryland state senator is demanding that debate be reopened. he says it should take into account climate change and the cost of the outages to the customers. >> what they have been 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 is too hot to stay at her house? those are all costs that the utilities aren't count. >> and there was a study in 2003 that concluded underground wires don't last as long as overhead wires. it also said they are vulnerable to flooding and lightning strikes. pepco converts all of

washington, d.c. to underground power. yesterday evening a metro train lost power in prince george's county. >> passengers on board the green line train were forced to walk the track back to the platform. >> the train was moving along. >> reporter: it was a pretty typical ride on a green line train in college park until suddenly, it wasn't typical at all. it was right around 6:00 when a metro train with about 100 passengers on board came to a stop between the prince george's plaza and the college park station. for reasons that have not yet been determined, the train lost power. and passengers say they were forced to weight on a -- to wait on a sweltering train for a half hour if metro employees figured out the tracks still had power going through them. >> the tracks were dead. >> reporter: finally, acoreing to passengers, in a scene best

described as chaotic, they got off the train. >> we had to jump off the train. there was no one there to assist us at the time. >> reporter: and walked about a half mile to the college park platform where most of them condition their travels on buses provided by metro. a little worse for the wear, and a lot angrier. >> one of the people on the train with us was blind and she had to walk the tracks with her cain and all. she is around here somewhere, covered in dirt and filth. >> reporter: fortunately, evacuating the train did not result in any serious injuries. well several of the fireworks displays scheduled for tonight if montgomery county are now canceled. the county says all available resources are going to clean up from the storm instead. the displays canceled include montgomery college, montgomery county fairgrounds and einstein

high school and the maryland soccer plex. for a complete list of the celebrations still taking place, log on to wusa 9. we have a list there. well some much needed relief for a family. april crow hair's four-year-old son, charlie, has a rare brain disorder which causes seizures. and the intense heat without air conditioning doubled the number of seizures he has in a day. april called us yesterday around 2:00 p.m. to say indeed their power was back on. >> that is good news. after taking some time off, president obama and mitt romney will go back in front of the public. the president will help swear in new citizens, and then host a fourth of july barbecue for military personnel and their families. mitt romney will march in a parade in the battleground state of new hampshire. fireworks lit up the sky over denver last night. it was a welcome change from

the fire and smoke which has dominated the skies of many towns in colorado. the threat of fire has prompted many communities to cancel their fireworks festivities. even better news, fire crews have been able to constain seven% of the massive fire outside colorado springs, which means hundreds more families can return to their homes. unfortunately, many no longer have homes to return to. the fire has destroyed 350 houses. a public apology from secretary of state hillary clinton was enough to get pakistan to open up some critical supply lines to afghanistan. the routes and travel on these supplies. secretary clinton expressed regret for the killing of 24 troops last fall. pakistan will now allow nato supply trucks to cross through pakistan on the way to afghanistan. the move could save the united states hundreds of millions of dollars in war costs. there is a new report about the war in syria that supports

the united states's claim that president assad's regime is torturing its own people. the report from the group human rights watch accuses the syrian military of operating more than two dozen fortture -- torture centers. people say their fingernails were torn off, they were beaten with sticks and they got electric shocks. the group wants the situation referred to the international criminal court in the hague. the obama administration is asking the supreme court to weigh in on the issue of same sex marriage. the request focuses on the defense of marriage act which denies federal benefits to married gay couples. if the justices agree to take the case, arguments would be heard over the winter and a decision returned by late june of 2013. from north carolina all the way to hollywood, many are

remembering andy griffith. >> the tv legend died in his north carolina home at age 86. alexis christopherous has more. >> reporter: who done hear the whys and remember the andy griffith show? -- who doesn't hear the whistle, and remember the andy griffith show. >> i loved playing straight. because you get to see the show and be in it at the same time. >> reporter: 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 made his way in music. his breakthrough role was in a

musical. years later, he revealed andy taylor was supposed to be a funny man until his friend don knots got into the act. >> you know we couldn't have given a sobriety test to otis last night and why not? >> he was too drunk. >> reporter: he turned to drama in the 80s and 90s, starring in matlock, a working actor to the end of his life. alexis christopherous, cbs news. >> hon howard, who starred as openy, tweeted the joy he took in creating served generations and shaped my life. i'm forever grateful. r ip, andy. he was called ronnie, even though he was a grown man with grown children. andy griffith was buried immediately after they released the body yesterday in north

carolina. he said matlock was his really favorite character. it is matlock marathon today i think. >> a holiday scorcher as temperatures are expected again to flirt with triple-digits. howard is going to tell us when things will begin to get extreme. >> at 4:42, america's love affair with the hot dog. you won't believe just how many of the beloved foot longs we are all expected to conassume today. and the expansion of the metro rail in allow don -- loud don -- in the area.

9. it is 4:42 on this wednesday morning, july 4th. muggy out there this morning.

a few showers in western maryland. better chance we may see a storm or two this afternoon. and a lot of heat today, humidity, highs upper 90s. heat index will get to 105. right now, over to monika, with timesaver traffic. >> reporter: in the district a total of 25 intersections remain without power. some of them are powered by generators right now and some set up with stop signs. but as you head into the district across the 14th street bridge, treat those intersection as a four way stop. i'll have more in my next report in a few minutes. back to you mike. time for the first your money segment. jessica is out on assignment. markets are closed of course for the holiday, independence day. yesterday america's factories, though, did better than wall street expected. that sent stocks into positive territory. dow finished 72 points higher, nasdaq up 25. sales of fireworks could be down this year, because of droughts and wildfires.

from utah to indiana, states are calling off fireworks displays. and of course here in the maryland area too, there are concerns the show could trigger more wildfires out there. people in seven states are being told not to use fireworks in their backyard. even without fireworks, millions are going to celebrate the fourth with hot dogs. the industry group says americans are expected to seat more than 150 million hot dogs this week. the number is just a portion of the 7 billion hot dogs americans will continue assume over the summer. well the epic storm is cause something dc area communities, especially in the gaithersburg area, to cancel their fourth of july fireworks. coming up, how one group of neighbors is pulling together to save the celebration. >> 9news returns in two minutes. s

. heat advisory goes into effect at noon. out toward leesburg and upper montgomery, howard county toward southern maryland. heat index could approach 105. 9:00, 84. noon 94. it will feel closer to 100 by then. mid if not upper 90s. tonight, 9:00, fireworks forecast. a very warm night. in fact kind of hot still. temperatures will be in the low 90s. 92 degrees at 9:00 p.m. downtown with the isolated storm possible. let's talk about the storms coming out of pennsylvania. you can see them diving off toward the east southeast. still plenty of lightning, as we look toward hagerstown and

toward the west. out 70 toward hancock. berkeley springs getting in on some of the action. harper's town and frederick. temperatures are generally in the 70s, still 80 at the naval air station. 60s well out to the west. locally we have 70. 70 in fairfax, 75 in columbia. good visibility, under mostly cloudy skies, 77 degrees and quite muggy with the dew points in the upper 60s, giving us

humidity at 74%. most of the showers stay north of the mason dixon line. as far as the heat, middle of country, look at the 100-degree heat. minneapolis the hundreds, some of this will build east. 98 today, i think 100, 101 with nighttime lows in the 70s and to 80. the hot day, 102 saturday. should be the hottest day, some relief sunday. monika samtani, how about the traffic situation? >> reporter: actually it is a very busy morning this morning. i just got word there are technical problems on the metro green line between prince

george's plaza and they are working to set up a shuttle service for you. route 193 you want to watch out for a situation with possibly a pedestrian struck. no hov restrictions to worry about on 270 as you head southbound from frederick down to where the lanes divide. this is nice and light as well. the entire stretch of the beltway between 270 and tyson's corner. back over to our map, this time all the way down to the south side of town. no hov restrictions on 95 or 395. the only place where they are always in effect is route 50 in maryland. a live look outside in virginia where things are looking good at the 14th street bridge, by the way, they are going to keep those express lanes northbound into the district for traffic

flow and southbound if you are heading into down, this should help traffic. by the way, 17th street near potomac avenue a building fire. you'll have to follow police direction to get around that. in the meantime good news, the push to extend metro rail to dulles airport has taken a big leap forward. last night the lowdon county board of supervisors voted to support phase ii. it extends to dulles and a pair of metro stops, it means the county will commit $270 million to construction. what a relief. guys, back to you. the epic storm is causing communities throughout the washington area to cancel their plans for fourth of july celebrations. >> however that will not stop an annual celebration in northern individual virginia. jessica doyle has more to make sure everyone has a blast.

>> reporter: water, chips, barbecue grill, check. even the birds and bees are excited for the fourth of july. but mother nature has thrown a monkey wrench into independence day celebrations this year. some towns have canceled fireworks displays after 911 and power outages. those problems aren't stopping this tight knit beach community in fairfax county. kevin campshire has worked on the display for six years. after four days without power, he thinks the community needs a lift. >> the neighborhood is a little down in the dumps. we figured we should have the celebration anyway. >> reporter: show of hands, who doesn't have power? as nearby crews worked to get the lights on, these volunteers are working to light the night sky, leaning on each other to move heaven and earth. >> we have a really good safety record. nobody has been hurt, we have the arrangements made with the

fire marshal who will inspect the batteries once we build them. >> reporter: residents know how to stay school. >> there is always a dip in the lake. we have a tankless hot water heater so the water isn't heated. the showers are really cold. >> reporter: here at the lake the fourth of july show will go on. jessica doyle, 9news now. >> good for them. congratulations. it is time now for the question of the morning. >> the question is what did most americans say was the biggest source of stress in their lives? is it the mortgage payment, in-laws, or their jobs? >> log on to wusa9's facebook fan page. we'll have the answer coming up on our 6:00 hour. we'll be right back.

muggy out there. a few showers and storms in west virginia and western maryland. highs in the upper 90s and a few storms this afternoon. i'll tell you more about the fireworks forecast coming up during 9news now at 5:00 a.m. monika? >> reporter: on the beltway at route 193, authorities dealing with a pedestrian struck. no lane information given yet. i will have that for you. back to you guys. so what would the fourth of july be without having some crabs as part of your barbecue? >> the outlook for steamed crabs is kind of busy right now. the word from the state's natural resource department

says the supplies are variable and the prices are high. that may sound conflicting, but the department says there is a survey that was out and the crab population in the bay had rebounded to record levels. remember that? well the problem is, most of those crabs, even though they are here, are undersized when it comes to taking them out of the ocean and cooking them. now they are not going to reach market size until later the summer or the fall. >> let's think of them as sliders. >> the u.s. women's gymnastic team heading to london for the olympics is one of the strongest ever assembled. >> just nod and say yes andrea. as teresa garcia tells us the women are heavily favored to win the competition. >> reporter: gabby douglas and her teammates on the u.s. women's gymnastics team hope to soar above the competition in

london. douglas eked out a win over favorite jordan wynn from the olympic trials. she moved two years ago to train. nicknamed the flying squirrel, douglas says the crowd helps motivate her. >> they are like come on squirrel. or go to to work, i'm like wow, i'm going to do this for you and for me and for god and my coaches. i love this sport and i love exeating. >> reporter: douglas and webber could battle. >> once i started watching the olympics on the tv i started having this vision in my mind. >> reporter: the u.s. women have a chan to win gold in the team competition for the first time in 16 years. >> reporter: douglas and webber were members of that championship team along with

world champion, mckayla moroney. both made the team as did newcomer kyla ross. at 15, the california native is the youngest member of the u.s. women's gymnastics team. teresa garcia, cbs news, san jose, caalical. good morning, happy fourth. thank you for watching 9news at 5:00 a.m. good morning monika samtani. >> good morning mike haiduk. >> is there a lot of traffic on the fourth? >> yes in terms of traffic trying to get out of town. >> mr. bernstein how are you my friend? it is wednesday. welcome back everybody. it is a warm, muggy day. heat and humidity maybe a thunderstorm or two.