but montgomery county is finally getting traffic signals online. just 94 are still dark this morning. dc has 25 signals dark. >> in a moment monica is going to -- monika is going to tell us about problems on the roadways. here's howard. >> reporter: a few storms to the north and west. the heat will be the real issue today. heat advisory goes into effect at noon. the actual air temp may get into the upper 90s. it may impact a company of spots, i think most areas will be all right the way it looks now. a hot, sticky day today for sure. we have been watching storms in pennsylvania. a good clip south of pittsburgh. to our north we have been watching showers weakening.

lighter showers through charles town, west virginia. temperatures are up there, just a muggy morning with the upper 60s to 80 on the bay in an nails -- in annapolis. let's go to monika samtani. we have had a tragic start to the holiday here on the bw parkway. >> reporter: what we are referring to is at about 4:20 this morning on the northbound side, two people stopped on the shoulder to switch cars and both were struck by a vehicle. ever since the bw parkway has been shut down and authorities are not allowing access to the parkway from the beltway to give them space to continue that investigation and clean up. in the meantime alternate routes are annapolis to the south and kennel worth to the north. we'll take you over to our

camera and show you the bay bridge right now, no issues at all. a great time to head out to the beach. all lanes are open, no delays right now heading toward the main toll plaza. on the northbound side of 395 and 95 no hov restrictions. even on 66. and we'll look live heading northbound in springfield. nice and light this morning. eights not so happy holiday for people waiting for the power to come back on. >> weapon co-still has 68,000 customers without electricity. >> this morning one man is staging his own protest alook ten brooke drive in silver spring. delia is there live. >> reporter: good morning. now you know the light is out, you can see how devastating the scene here on ten brooke and

dryden street is. take a look. the utility pole is snapped in several pieces. you see this massive tree blocking the drive here. a major thoroughfare heading over to holy cross hospital. ken a neighbor in the area has been staging a protest. tell me why you think this tree is still here. i can't maryland park and planning, it fell off their land to the county street. the landscaping people came out and looked at it three times and said it is not their jurisdiction to cut. pepco has been out here three times and while they have been here we saw utility trucks show june just had the last half hour, we saw a utility truck pull up. and then we were hopeful he would return and however he hasn't returned. this is a very drafteddic situation for the neighbors here and just one of many tense

situations pepco has to deal with. these kind of emergency situations. tom graham, president of pepco, who was on our broadcast yesterday, let's hear what he has to say about restoration in the area. >> we take responsibility for it and you know each and every day we have to work to get back the trust of our customers. that is going to be our commitment and that is our goal. >> tom says they are committed to regaining the trust of customers. we will stay here and stay on top of pepco. hopefully crews will return to the area very soon to remove what the a pretty drastic situation here. back to you. delia is live in silver

spring, maryland this morning. minutian says at head of its -- dominion says it is ahead of its predictions when it comes to returning power. snapped utility poles and downed power lines are still a problem. 3600 of its employees along with 1800 workers from the region are working hard to get everyone back online. it is a phone number nearly every parent teaches their child. 911. what happens when a call to that number fails? that was the case friday night after the storm here. the system in northern virginia failed. fairfax county board of supervisors, sharon bull va is calling if a task force to investigate those problems. >> this is the nation's capital. we cannot be without protection.

we cannot have people calling 911 and getting no response whatsoever. good news at least, it is not believed anyone died or was severely injured. >> more continues wednesday from the storm's aftermath that canceled a few fourth of july celebrations. four communities will not have fireworks tonight. >> that list includes gaithersburg, kensington, no parties there. . in northern virginia there is a group of neighbors putting on a show. jessica doyle has more. >> reporter: even the birds and bees are exited foot 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 community. 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. 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 arrangements made with the fire marshal of fairfax county. >> lake bar croft has been through these types of power outages before. >> since we have a tankless hot water heater, we don't have hot water so the showers are really cold. >> reporter: forget about the heat, forget about the storms, forget about the power outages. here at lake bar croft, the fourth of july show will go on.

jessica doyle, 9news now. don't forget the big party is still on tonight. it is the fireworks display at the national mall. >> here's what you need to know before you go. public access to the mall starts at 10:00 this morning. you can get onto the capital grounds beginning at 3:00 this afternoon. >> you have to go through a security check point to get onto the mall, those are along constitution avenue, madison drive, jefferson drive, 14th street and the memorial bridge. just look for the big signs. metro is going to have rush hour service starting at 6:00 tonight to get people in and out of downtown. and you are encouraged to use the stations a few blocks away from the mall, like foggy bottom, metro center or even the archives. >> the national parks center strongly encourages you to bring water, food and sunscreen. you cannot bring alcohol, grills, weapons or your own fireworks and metro always advises get a return ticket at the time you purchase tickets. it makes going home a lot

simpler. more places to have fun this fourth of july. in the district skip the crowded capital parade and try the 46th annual palisades parade. it begins at 11:00 amon macarthur boulevard and ends with a picnic, moon bounce and pony rides. in falls church, head to george mason high school. the university of maryland will also party with concessions, concerts and fireworks. it starts at 7:00 tonight in college park. 9news now returns after this ♪

♪ ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

heat and humidity will once again be rearing its ugly head. highs in the mid to upper 90s and watch out if a couple of storms this afternoon. some of which could be on the strong side. >> a deadly accident on the bw parkway northbound. the bw parkway is blocked at the beltway and southbound at powder mill road. back to you guys. 6:12 now this fourth of july morning here's a check of some of the stories making news this morning. dc fire investigators are on the scene of a fatal fire in

southeast washington. one woman died in a fourth floor apartment in the alexander apartment complex this morning. authorities are now soldier notching a cause. residents of the holly acres mobile home park can stay at least for now. tropical storm lee ravaged the mobile home park last year. authorities contend the trailers are not suitable for residents. a big first month for maryland live. the new casino generated $28.5 million last month, more than twice the revenue of the state's other two casinoes combined. > it may be a local day but we are still watching your money. more people are spending your rent money in two of the district's neighborhoods. the capital riverfront area near the ballpark in southeast, rents are up about 10% in the last year according to delta associates. city wide rents are up 6.8% in

the last year. >> and for cookouts, today is one of the biggest days of the year. someone needs to pay for all those burgers, dogs, buns and ketchup. how much will an afternoon of fun cost you? karen takes a look. >> reporter: summertime, and the grilling is easy. >> i actually love the idea, peppers, things like that. >> i'm a burger guy. >> i'm a crab fanatic. >> every fourth of july we do a brisket on the smoker. by the end of the day, eat it up and watch the fireworks. >> reporter: and the overall cost that have fourth of july cookout will be a little easier on the wallet. according to a big inside survey, americans will pay $59.14 for a grocery cart full of burgers beer and fixings, down about $2 from last year. but there has been an uptick in

the priciest food items, the burgers and steaks. beef prices are up 5%. drought conditions last summer are impacting supplies now. >> a lot of cattle went to market earlier in washington, i'm karen cape pa. thank you for watching 9news now. howard is here, corn is taking a beating because of the drought conditions in the midwest. >> some of the farmers may plant

soybeans. it seems to do better. it is all related right? one bill village. weatherwise another hot day today. heat index value the heat humidity combination that could get to 105. most areas of the washington baltimore metro east of route 29 in southern maryland. up in philly they have an excessive heat warning. low 80s at 8:00. low to mid 90s by noon. high around 98, with a 96- degree reading at 3:00. isolated storms in a couple of spots this afternoon with temperatures like this, we can bubble up a couple of strong ones. going to see the fireworks tonight? at 9:00 we are expecting temperatures about 92 degrees. very warm, hot if you will evening out there with the

isolated thunderstorms. this morning we have storms in pennsylvania, south of pittsburgh. they are weakening as they approach garrett county. also to our north, we have been watching the storms and the showers moving into western maryland. we are seeing a little thunderstorm here. you'll see the bulk of the storm with a little lightning. almost to meyersville, 68 in vienna this morning, 70 in centerville. to the east it is a little warmer. 80 on the bay in an nails, 80 at the naval academy. 76 degrees with calm winds so a sticky, muggy start for this fourth of july. watch out for isolated storms this afternoon, the yellow alert, so the heat in the thunderstorms today tomorrow and friday as well.

98 today, 78 tonight. about 100 tomorrow and triple-digit heat friday and again saturday. sometimes a sunday monday time frame. a front is going to come through and that is going to feel a whole lot better than what we are looking at the next day. con cay has the latest timesaver traffic. >> reporter: we are going to start off first of all with tragic news on the bw parkway, where at about 4:20 this morning there was a pedestrian struck and killed on the northbound side at route 193. ever since the bw parkway has essentially been blocked northbound at the beltway. your last exit will be route 197. kennel wood off of 95. at least good news on the beltway, very, very light here at new hampshire avenue, most

of you have the day off or you are just going to head out of town today. no restrictions, with the exception of route 50, the john hanson highway. let's take you back over to the maps on 270. very, very light. we'll end with a live look, canal road at chain bridge. all of your roads that are usually reversible, are two-way today, including canal road. by the way, metro opens at 7:00 this morning. coming up in my next report, we'll update the situation at greenbelt. coming up next in sports, early fireworks from the nationals and it is time to vote for bryce harper early and often. >> right now it is time for another check of our question of the morning on this fourth of july. what do most americans say is the biggest source of stress in

their lives? mortgage, in-laws or their job? >> lisa says c-t has to be our jobs. especially in the dc area. and keep those guesses coming. we'll reveal the answer at 6:54.

welcome back. 6:23 your weather first on that fourth of july wednesday. hoping you are having a great start to the day. looks good today with the heat and humidity. going to be another scorcher. here's a look at the day planner. we start muggy and finished scorching. the nats game kicks off at 11:05. 95 at 1:00. a chance if an isolated storm. the nationals are calling it baseball and brunch. >> that is because it is an 11:05 start this morning. the nats are hosting the san francisco giants. >> the two teams played last

night. dc scored early and often on tim lincecum. ian desmond crushed this in the third. it was then 5-0 nats. george zimmerman gathered seven hits and striking out seven. nats top the giants 9-3. you have about 36 hours left to vote for rookie phenom bryce harper to get him in the all-star game. he is in second place. chipper genes was taken off the ballot. he will replace matt kemp on the team. harper is trailing david freeze of the st. louis cardinals so again, vote early and often. the orioles are out west taking on the seattle mariners. wii chien-ming took it into the

seventh last night. baltimore wins 5-4. still to come a warning for maryland's governor about do-it-yourself clean june and we'll go live to the national mall. learn what you need to know about tonight's fourth of july celebration. >> if you are headed out to the roads, monika has a quick check of the commute for you. >> reporter: a deadly accident earlier this morning. it is shut down. you are watching 9news now, we'll be right back.

we are back at 6:29 with the latest on our aftermath. five days after the storm hit friday. 100,000 people are still without power. it is getting better. pepco has about 56,000 customers off line. dominion about 40,000 snoot cooling centers that have been open all week will stay open for the holiday. it will open earlier and stay open later so people can cool off. more traffic signals become online. there were 200 plus in the beginning now just down to 94 in the dark. dc has 25 signals in the dark. >> straight ahead we'll check out the storm aftermath and how

it is going to affect fourth of july celebrations too. meteorologist howard bernstein is live on the weather terrace with our forecast. good morning howard. >> good morning mike and andrea. there is a chance for a storm later on this afternoon and this evening. so probably not, but i can say with 1 -- i can't say with 100% confidence we are going to skate by. we have temperatures this morning which are going to be climbing quickly into the 90s there. in fact by 3:96. isolated storms this afternoon and this evening. with all the heat and humidity, temperatures getting up into the upper 90s. we have the threat for thunderstorms. you see some of the showers and storms diminishing as they move in toward western and northern maryland. we have one heavy shower and thunderstorm actually with that headed toward frederick.

temperatures running in the 60s and 70s, going into the upper 90s. heat advisory noon until 9:00 p.m. >> reporter: it has been very, very tough this entire week with the power outages, the hot weather and now a serious accident on the bw parkway. this is northbound, it happened at 4:20 this morning. one motorist struck and killed the crews have been on the scene ever since, blocking off the beltway. no access to the bw parkway to get into greenbelt. apparently it is jammed from route 197. 197 is going to be your last chance to exit there. keep that in mind and on the beltway your chances to exit are on the north side kennel worth avenue. go ahead and use those alternates routes. there are no delays and no hov restrictions, i'm happy to say

things are looking great out of frederick town to shady grove road. at least you got good news there. this time to virginia northbound of 95. there are no delays trying to get to woodbridge, and we'll take a live look very light up to the 14th street bridge. all of your lanes are open. an update again at 6:43. monika around noon today, there will be a 50 gun salute at arlington. a more quiet sound the sound of taps played every day. >> cbs this morning has a special look at taps, as that song turns 150 years old. jeff joins us now. happy fourth of july. >> it is kind of a nonfourth right? middle of the work week. we are going to take to you

arlington national cemetery. the salute, as you know, composed 150 years ago this month. we'll see how it came to be and what makes this 24-note melody the perfect brewingal -- brewingal -- the perfect call. happy fourth of july guys. i hope you have a good one. >> it would be better if we had this middle of the week day off. that would be a real treat. good to see you this morning, jeff. >> you too. the show will not go on in several montgomery county communities. they have canceled on the celebrations tonight to focus on the clean up. no fireworks there this year. of course however the pear will be going on tonight on the national mall. >> jessica doyle is there live with a preview for this big birthday party for america. >> reporter: i want to show

you, look at the birthday candles they put here on the national mall for america on this very happy birthday. at 9:10 tonight they are going to light that baby up with a bunch of fireworks and i want to give you what sort of security you are going to be looking at today if you come down to the national mall for the day's events. joining us this morning, sergeant paul brooks. thanks for joining us. this is going to be a big day. >> yes, it is. good morning and happy fourth of july. > >> reporter: happy fourth of july to you as well. coming to the national mall what will be problems today? >> please don't bring any alcoholic beverages, absolutely none. no fireworks, no type of weapons. we would like to bring you lots of water, electrolytes and food. >> and bring the fun right? >> absolutely. >> now it is going to be high heat today, upper 90s, feels like probably 100 in the sun.

there are emergency tents set up? >> yes, we have a notification system i would like to talk about. what it will enable people to do, you go ahead and sign up, using your cell phone. you text july 4 dc 888777 and that will give all the visit stores any type of alerts or updates that may occur throughout the day. >> reporter: if you lose a child? >> we will send out a message. you will receive it on your cell phone as a text. the description of the lost child will be there. at that point hopefully, that will speed up the process to reunite a child with a parent or guardian. >> reporter: thank you so much for joining us this morning.

tell us a little bit about that. you know, you can get here early. come early. it is wide open right now. bring your cooler. as the surgeon said don't bring any alcohol, no firearms, no fireworks, no grills this morning. >> reporter: jessica doyle is live in the national mall this morning. and the national mall might be a good escape today for people tired of waiting in their homes for the lights to come back on. >> the power companies are hoping to get everyone back online. >> reporter: it is no comfort for people leaving along tenbrooke drive. i understand they are being told to prepare for even longer than the weekend? >> hard to believe monday or tuesday folks have been told power could be restored. this is the reason why. take a look. we have this massive wire, all

the way from that end of the block straight across about 150 feet, we are talking. about 500 feet, ken says. ken is a neighbor who has been staging a protest to try to get crew to his come and take care of this mess. a utility pole, a massive industry brock -- tree blocking the road here. we saw a crew in fact in the last hour, come and then leave. no one has returned. what is the deal with the tree? >> the tree is on maryland park and planning commission property from what we have been told. it is a jurisdiction al issue on who is going to cut it. >> reporter: people have come, looked at it and left? >> there have been six people out here. >> reporter: at this point you just want this gone? >> we ant want it fixed for the neighbors and the

neighborhoods. >> reporter: you have been here since? >> 2:00 a.m. i got here. i'm going to stay here until the work starts. >> reporter: ken is not willing to let up. tom graham from pepco was on our program yesterday talking to derek mcghentty in our 6:00 show. let's hear what he had to say about the restoration process. >> friday is realistic. dominion is also calling for full restoration through the weekend and bge as well. >> reporter: so tom graham says they are online with the other utility companies for a full restoration this weekend. but it could be a lot longer for some folks here, unfortunately, in the area. >> delia live in silver spring maryland. right now 40,000 dominion power customers are still without power. down from 450,000 who were in

the dark. dominion spokesperson anderson says there is a remote chance some may be without power this weekend. >> i want to emphasize because a crew is not on your street doesn't mean we are not working toward restoration for you. question want people to know we are working toward getting everybody back on as quickly and safely as possible. >> the biggest concentration of outages are in arlington and alexandria. >> reporter: some may be heading into their become yard or street. but the governor of maryland has a warning. don't try to be a hero if you don't know what you are doing. >> be very careful if you are out there with chain saws. don't operate them to impress your wife. not a time to be learning how to use chainsaws to impress the

neighbors. >> in most locations you are being asked to put the debris, like trees, at the curb. our time right now is 6:40. howard has our holiday forecast next, including a look ahead to the weekend. first, we are going to help you make last minute plans. check out the celebration going on in tacoma, maryland. a tournament with music and fireworks at tacoma park middle school. check out the annual fourth of july parade. it makes its way down king street. >> in dc, you can catch an outdoor screaming of the film independence day. the movie begins at dark. we'll be right back.

hear ye, hear ye! this 4th of july, celebrate the red, white, and blue with ocean spray cranberry, white cranberry, and blueberry juice cocktails. how did you wear this stuff growing up? it's so itchy. thou art not funny. [ fife and drum corps plays ]

at restaurants now... you 5% cash back? bon appétit guys, enjoy. activate your 5% cash back at chase.com/freedom

welcome back. it is 6:44. monika here with your timesaver traffic. roads that are usually one way during the rush hour are two- way for the holiday. also you want to keep in mind that on the bw parkway, i have been telling you since early this morning, that there was a fatal accident on the northbound side of route 193. the bw parkway you cannot access it from the beltway. southbound it is shut down at route 212. now over to verge individual, no restrictions on 66, 95 or 35 and really no delays coming in from the airport on the dulles toll road on the inbound side of i 66 our jessica doyle is placed right near the washington monument. she says it is going to be a great day and right now lots of space available for you. i'll be back in a few minutes with more information. back to you guys. sticky out here, 76 degrees

far we are doing okay but going to tack on 15 to 20 on that right? >> reporter: upper 90s, in the heat index, the humidity is going to feel closer to 105. that is going to be the bigger problem today. the heat is going to slow you down. in fact a look at the heat advisory goes into effect at noon up toward montgomery county, lowdon county as well. shenandoah valley, 81, still hot but not hot enough to get into that advisory category. from noon until 9:00 p.m., plenty of cold water and pace yourself today. nats game 11:00 a.m. this morning as we look at the day planner, temperatures by 11:00 could already be in the low 90s. mid 90s at 4:00. i think the high today will be 98 with an isolated afternoon

storm. there could be something around 8:00 or 9:00. we have to include that in the forecast for you. a threat for the isolated storm, downtown going out to the fireworks on the mall, still 92 degrees at 9:00 p.m. consider that. we have showers and storms coming in from pennsylvania into western maryland. the closest thing we have toward us is in the frederick maryland area right now. just north and west of town here, going west on 40 or 70 you run into heavier showers and a little lightning and thunder with that as well. upper 60s in hagerstown, cumberland 66. this morning in dc, we have partly cloudy skies on our michael and son weather cameras, 76, mostly cloudy at national. kind of sticky out there. our forecast there we have the yellow alert because of the

heat and thunderstorm chance. 98 feeling like 105. 78 tonight. tomorrow and friday i think triple-digits even into saturday with generally isolated storms, sunday and monday, there will be a front approaching late in the weekend, early next week. that will knock temperatures down by 90 toward monday and tuesday. thank you howard. today about 100 people will become american citizens in an historic setting. they will be naturalalized at mt. vernon. julian smith is here you have been in this country since age 7? >> yes. >> what took so long? >> i have been known to be a procrastinator. but i have enjoyed a wonderful,

american life, a lot of times. my boss recently asked me how come i haven't been -b d-- become an american citizen and i didn't have much of an excuse. so it is about time. it is not something you have just taken from this country. you have given back, you are a retired staff sergeant, proudly wearing your marine corps tie bar there. you served 20 years in the u.s. marine corps. over and over again you have pledged allegiance to this country and served this country valiantly. but you never thought you needed to make that move? why bother? >> it was never an issue. so many of the other people i served with that weren't citizens. they were citizens of canada and mexico and the philippines and african countries. honestly, it was never an

issue. nobody questioned anything. like i said, it is not that i haven't thought about it before. >> right. >> but you know, my wife got on me a couple of times. >> you interviewed or had interviews scheduled that to you cancel for various reasons. so you are in the a complete procrastinator? >> and again, a native of the united kingdom, which is ironic, since we are celebrating independence day, freedom from britain. now you are really severing those ties. do you have any family back there? do you ever go back to the uk? >> the last time i was there was in '81. i still have an aunt and a couple of cousins over there. >> we have to leave. but i know it is going to be a really different time when you hold your hand up and pledge allegiance and even when you join the marine corps. how are you celebrating after?

>> with a little bit of relief and hopefully some ice. where we live in central virginia we are out of power, as well. >> oh well, well we wish you the best this afternoon. congratulations, welcome to the american family officially. julian smith. we'll be right back, a check on the news before you go is up next.

today is wednesday, july fourth. pepco hoping to have all of its outages repaired by friday night. it might take through the weekend for some customers. right now there are 55,000 people that have power. most of them are in rockville, we these da -- bethesda and

northwest washington. most are in baltimore city and county. more than 4000 workers plan on working through the weekend to restore electricity. george zimmerman hit an rbi double. he will go six innings and trying out the giants. time to reveal the answer to our question of the morning. we ask you what do most americans say is the biggest source of stress in their lives? is it their mortgage, their in-laws or their jobs? >> the answer is their mortgage. >> just don't ask howard and mike. we'll have one more check on traffic and weather next, right here on 9news now,

isolated strong storms possible. monika? >> reporter: an investigation continues of a deadly accident. of the bw parkway, southbound is reopened. no hov restrictions today. cbs there morning is next with a diplomatic showdown in pakistan and more on the life and legacy of actor entertainer andy griffith. >> even when the power is out you can keep tabs on news weather and traffic. just go to twitter and follow wusa 9. happy birthday, america.