harbor, florida. >> reporter: florida is feeling the forgets of hurricane sandy. strong winds are whipping the surf into foam. the waves and heavy rain are flooding the streets near miami and the storm is still hundreds of miles away. sandy raged over the bahamas yesterday after tearing through cuba and haiti as a category 2 hurricane. florida residents are not taking this storm in stride. >> as we're speaking, i'm filling sandbags. >> reporter: the center of sandy is expected to pass just off of florida's east coast friday afternoon but forecasters say the worst of it may be four days and several hundred miles away. that's because there is a high pressure system blocking the easterly path hurricanes usually follow into the open atlantic. sandy is expected to head up the coast. then turn west making landfall near new jersey on tuesday. that's where it could combine with a winter storm and cold arctic air. >> that means there's a the possibility of storm force

winds, major coastal flooding, power outages and then inland areas we could be looking at some significant snows. how bad that coastal flooding is will depend exactly how strong the storm is and the exact location where it makes land fall. >> reporter: if the pieces. the super storm come together as predicted, experts say it could affect the northeast through next friday causing at least $1 billion in damages. danielle nottingham, cbs news, indian harbor beach, florida. >> power companies in our region have already been in touch with utilities in case help is needed to restore power in our area. how prepared are you for sandy's arrival? some people aren't going to take any chances. they've been buying batteries and gadgets to keep the lights on. our debra alfarone is one of them. >> reporter: what are you ing to do if the lights go out? that's i am' in arlington with

nathan who will help us out. >> we have a few things that will help you get through a power outage. we have a solar charger. you'd be able to charge up before a storm hits and charge it up in the wall. it will give you one or two charges on a cell phone or ipad to help you get back online. >> reporter: what about this? >> it's a very essential for the power going out, an emergency radio and flashlight which could be handy for finding your way around the home. we have head lamp. it allows for hands free. we have small usb chargers. you can hook them into your car charger, plug in a cell phone, ipad. this is a great emergency blanket. works just like your propane gas range at home. they are easy to obtain, coleman fuel canisters. >> reporter: that will make sure you don't get sick. >> when the water plants can't pump out water anymore. we have freeze dried meals. they took tasty. they could be worse.

>> reporter: if the storm does come and we do lose power, you going to be here? >> we'll be here all weekend long. we have plenty of gear and clothing to keep us nice and dry. we'll be here. stop on by. we'll do what we can to help you out. >> reporter: make sure you don't eat all the beef stew. >> when we get hungry, it's hard to keep around. >> reporter: thank you, nathan from eastern mountain sporks in arlington on children don road -- clarenendon road. >> text sandy to 25543 and you'll receive simple instructions on how to download our weather app. this is a disgusting story to hear, a ghoulish story from new york city where a police officer is accused of plotting to kidnap, cook and then eat the body parts of murdered women. suspended -- the suspended officer appeared in court in manhattan yesterday.

the f.b.i. intercepted shocking e-mails from the queen resident. there is no indication exactly how he planned to make good on this gruesome event. a nanny is accused of fatally stabbing two small children left in her care before trying to kill herself. randall pinkston has the latest. >> reporter: emergency vehicles lined up on manhattan's upper west side responding to a frantic 911 call. police say a mother arrived home with one child and found her two other children ages 2 and 6 stabbed to death in the bathtub. investigators say the children's nanny was on the floor of the bathroom with stab wounds. >> those wounds appear to be self-inflicted and a kitchen knife on the bathroom floor. >> report: neighbors describe the family's apartment as lively and typically full of activity. >> friends over and always a

lot of children running around. >> reporter: this woman raised three daughters in this neighborhood. her heartbreaks for the family. >> all i can say is, you know, god be with him. give her peace. >> reporter: this upper middle class neighborhood is in shock. so many families rely on nannies to care for their children. caregivers who often become part of the family. police are trying to determine what may have motivated the gruesome attack. the fanny who has not been -- nanny who has not been identified is under arrest and hospitalled for her wounds. >> the mother has been hospitalized for shock. lee boyd malvo says he was sexually abused by his deadly accomplice in the -- by his accomplice in the deadly rampage that was john allen mu hop mad. >> for the entire period when i was almost 15 until i got

arrested, i was sexual abused by john muhammad. >> he also told matt lauer there are still unidentified victims from the shooting spree and he's contacted some of their families. muhammad was executed in 2009. malvo is serving a life sentence in virginia. the two are linked to 27 shootings across the country including the ten fatal attacks in the washington area. the debate over same-sex marriage has drawn protests and demonstrations all over the world and the actions of two straight women at a rally in france are going viral on the web. these women were photographed kissing in the middle of an anti-same-sex marriage protest. you can see some of the looks on the people's faces in the background, looks of horror. they wanted to draw attention to the issue with a simple act of solidarity. president obama and

governor mitt romney are pushing for early voting. >> today both men continue to campaign in the battleground states that could decide who will become our next president. susan mcginnis has the latest. >> reporter: president obama cast his early ballot in chicago as he tried to boost turnout before election day. >> for all of you who have not yet early voted, i just want everybody to see what an incredibly efficient process this was. >> reporter: it's a strategy the president's team is hoping will give it an edge in battleground states that will likely decide the election. the president wrapped up a 40- hour tour through four of those competitive states with a rally last night in cleveland. >> i need you, ohio. america needs you, ohio. >> reporter: ohio is also where mitt romney focused his day making three campaign stops. >> the obama campaign is slipping because he's talking about smaller and smaller things despite the fact america

has huge challenges and that this is such an opportunity for america. that's why on november 6 i'm counting on ohio to vote for big change. >> reporter: no republican has ever won the white house without carrying ohio. that has both sides staging aggressive campaigns there to convince voters to cast their ballots now. >> we want to remove every impediment there is for everyone to be able to exercise their constitutional rights and vote. >> we see people who sometimes miss elections coming out, taking advantage of early voting and that's helping us close the gap with democrats. >> reporter: more than seven million people nationwide have already cast early ballots. >> be sure to join us tonight at 5:00 as andrea mccarren continues our series on the importance of virginia in the upcoming election. she's traveling to prince william county where voter turnout will be critical on november 6. animal rights advocates want a federal judge to step in to stop the national park service from killing deer in rock creek park. several nearby residents joined

the group in defense of animals to file a complaint in u.s. district court. they claim the plan violates the law that requires the park service to preserve wildfire in its natural condition as closely as possible. the park service would use sharp shooters and beau hunt -- and bow hunters to thin the herd in the park. it is 4:39. our coverage of hurricane sandy continues with a look at how virginia residents are bracing for the storm. >> remember how easy it is for you to track sandy on your smartphone? here's all you have to do. text sandy to 25543. you will get simple instructions on how to download our wusa weather app.

welcome back.

4:416789 we've got -- 4:41. we've got some low clouds, spotty drizzle and some fog. the clouds will be hanging out at least the first half of the day. highs eventually into the low 70s. sandy pulling away from the bahamas could have a big impact here later in the weekend into early next week. details coming up in just a few minutes. right now here's monika with timesaver traffic. if you're planning to head over on 95 northbound, everything is fine but right now southbound after the fairfax county parkway, watch out for the accident. it's blocking the two right lanes southbound on i-95. i'll have more information on that coming up in my next report at 4:51. andrea, jessica? >> thank you, monika. time 4:42. i'm watching your money. wall street was able to put points on the board but not enough to undo troubles we've had the last few sessions. the averages are down between 0.7 and 1.87 for the week. the dow stands this morning at

13,104, added 26 points in trading yesterday. the nasdaq was up by about four and a half. the s&p 500 was better by four points. on the heels of apple unveiling the ipad, microsoft's new tablet went on sale this morning. the very first microsoft surface was sold in beijing just hours ago. the surface costs $599. microsoft also unveiled windows 8 at yesterday's press event. windows 8 is designed to work on pcs and tablets. apparently diamonds are forever. and can make you rich even in the after life. elizabeth taylor surpassed michael jackson to top forbes' list of highest dead celebrities. she earned $210 million in the past year. most of that money came from auctions of the glamorous star's jewelry and earnings from her white diamonds perfume line. the king of pop is in second place earning $145 million in the past year. elvis presley landed at number

three with $55 million in earnings. peanuts cartoonist charles schultz and singer bob marley rounded out the top five. >> it was spectacular. a lot of the proceeds from the sales of the jewelry and her painting go to her aids research foundation, not just all to her family. she was very generous in life and after life. unbelievable. it's 4:44. howard is tracking hurricane sandy. >> let's see how some in virginia are bracing for what some are calling frankenstorm. >> we want to help you and your family to prepare for anything that sandy could send our way. post your questions on our wusa9 facebook page. we'll be right back and maybe offer some answers right away.

welcome back to 9news now. it's 4:46. we thought sandy was nice.

>> my mother-in-law is a sandy. sandy as friends. the new advisory is coming in a few minutes early. i have the updated latest information for you. it's not good. it's a little closer to us. this has been a trend we've been watching really since yesterday, the day before how the track from the hurricane center keeps nudging a little more west, a little more southwest, a little closer to us and the closer to us obviously the more of a threat sandy will be. let's start off with sandy. the satellite and radar or the satellite, color enhanced satellite. i don't have the radar on this but there's quite a bit of rain. even though you don't see the coldest cloud tops into southeast florida. they're getting tropical storm conditions. one thing we'll see with sandy over the next day or two is the expanding wind field. some of the tropical storm force winds could extend 300 miles from the center by the time it gets up here. even the winds 50, 60 miles an hour could be 120 miles from the center when it gets here. there she is now pulling out of

the northern bahamas. the center of the circulation is on the south end of the cloud tops. 80 miles an hour. it's come down agent bit more. still a category 1 storm gusting to 100 moving northwest at 13. it will be attacking in this direction. i'm going to stand on the east side of this. i want to show you the path here as it sort of parallels the coast, turns away from it a little bit but it will still throw the wind, the rain back on the east coast of florida, carolinas. the surf will take a battering. they'll maintain it at hurricane strength through sunday morning at least. even more than that. even sunday morning down there it's going to throw some rain our way with an encroaching cold front. i think the rains actually begin saturday night into sunday. by monday morning at 8:00, it's even with norfolk, virginia beach still with winds at 80 miles an hour. the wind field expanding. this is what's new. if you were with me just 20 minutes ago or so, we showed you the track was more atlantic city. now it's down toward the

delaware bay. so cape may would be just to the right. cape may, the delaware bay, atlantic city would be getting the on shore waves, the storm surge. this continues to trend closer to us and it has me a little more concerned that next week we could have some issues. let's show you deerfield beach, florida right now where the surf is being thrown up a little bit. you see this. this is not the most impressive looking surf. maybe in the distance you can see it a little bit. i think the surf around here is going to be a lot worse than what we're looking at in deerfield beach right now. by wednesday morning, this is a slow move, it's up toward harrisburg. wrap around rains and winds. could be a long duration rainstorm for us along with the winds we'll be dealing with and maybe snow in the highest elevations out west if enough cold air gets drawn this way. this morning patchy fog, spotty drizzle at the bus stop. upper 50s to low and mid-60s. sunrise at 7:29. your day planner, today the clouds and the fog and the

drizzle early. still cloudy at noon, 65. this afternoon kind of like yesterday. we'll see sunshine late. 4:00 p.m. temperature 71. i think that's about the high for the day with an 8:00 temperature of 67 degrees. a little bit of fog. you see it out west. zero visibility in petersburg. we have a mile and three- quarters in fredricksburg. east into salisbury visibilities on the eastern shore less than a mile with temperatures very uniform. cold spot 60. warm spot 63. across the entire immediate metro. outside on our michael & son weather camera, there are the low clouds in there. a little bit of fog but visibility still not too bad in the metro with 56 degrees and an east, northeast wind at 7 miles an hour. there's a cold front coming from the west that will help draw sandy toward the coast. again i think some of the showers will be arriving by saturday night. so not too bad in the short term. today 71, a little fog and drizzle this morning, some afternoon sun. tonight 50s to near 60 for the low with more fog late.

isolated shower saturday. i'm growing to keep it good, green. saturday night, though, some rain moves in. if you have plans saturday night, showers likely. breezy and wet sunday. this is going to be the advances rain even sunday from sandy headed our way. 59 degrees. monday and tuesday blustery, cold, temps are going to be a staff call here -- tough call here depending on the track. chilly, only around 50. halloween, a shower or two, blustery, mid-50s. thermals understand the costumes on wednesday. at least right now things are still looking pretty good. no problems to report for the most part on our major thoroughfares i'm happy to say except for one spot. that's southbound on i-95 after the fairfax county parkway. let's take a live look outside in newington. if you're planning to head northbound, you're okay. southbound side the two right lanes are blocked as you leave newington toward the fairfax county parkway. you want to scoot over to the left to get around the activity there. let's go back over to our maps.

this time we'll head over to southern maryland. no issues to report on route 4, route 5, route 301, 210 oxon hill to the wilson bridge. we'll go there live right now and check it out across the potomac river. outbound 3rd street tunnel. there was a stuck truck. it has been cleared. more traffic at 4:55. we've been talking about sandy and residents in virginia beach are definitely bracing for the hurricane. >> the storm could hit their area next week. we show you how some are getting ready. >> blowing the hurricane away in the other direction. >> reporter: these students have a musical message for sandy. people on the beach, some line the pier, others walk the boardwalk. >> i don't think it's going to be that big of a storm. at this point i can't see any evidence of anything really

happening yet. just going to stick around and i'll probably get a couple extra things in case we have power outages. >> i tied the trash cans together and made sure there's nothing lose in the yard that -- loose in the yard that will float away. secure the windows and storm doors. >> reporter: some shopkeepers were opening for business. the owner of the log cabin restaurant has reservations about the weekend weather. >> i think some people might cancel but overall i think it should be okay on saturday. like i said on sunday, it's not going to be pretty out here. to cuba where authorities say 11 people were killed when hurricane sandy battered the island. the storm hit southeastern cuba yesterday with winds of more than a hundred miles an hour. the historic city of santiago, cuba was hardest hit.

president raul castro is expected to visit the region to survey the damage later today. we've made it very easy for you to track the storm on your smartphone. here's what you do. you text sandy to 25543. you will receive simple instructions on how to download our wusa weather app. 4:54. here's a look at today's question of the morning. this has been chosen as the best candy to give out at halloween. >> we love the candy. is it pop rocks, a? b, m&ms or c, necco wafers. give it some thought and post your answer. we'll share some of the answers in the next half-hour. ♪ makes the world taste good ♪ who can take the rain bow ♪

welcome bark. 4:57. your weather first. still made with upper 50s to low 60s. as we go throughout the day, we'll see the clouds lift some. still mostly cloudy if not overcast. sunshine this afternoon kind of like yesterday with the high temp in the low 70s. monika, good morning. good morning. if you're planning to head over on 95 in virginia, the northbound side is normal. southbound side after backlick road as you approach lorton, watch out for the accident along the right side. stay to the left to get around t. i'll have more details on that and other area roads at 5:01. a few rolling stones fans get some satisfaction after the rock band stages a surprise concert. >> bigad shaban has that story and more in your eye on entertainment. >> reporter: the rolling stones held an impromptu concert in paris thursday night.

fans waited in line for hours after the legendary band announced it would perform a short warm-up gig for about 350 people. tickets cost around 20 bucks. >> drove the whole night and arrived at 2:00 in the morning. it was worth it i think. >> reporter: the stones are getting ready for four upcoming concerts. two in london and to in new jersey to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary. carly ray jackson will be honored at the annual women in music event. the singer was named billboard's rising star of 2012. she'll now join katie perry who billboarded its woman of the year. glee star matthew morrison performed the star spangled banner last night at game two of the world series it the san francisco giants and detroit tigers. new girl star zoey will sing the anxious anthem for game three saturday night.

new in theaters today, chasing mavericks. johnny westin and gerard butler star in the true story after young surfer who enlisted the help of a local legend to train him so survive one of the biggest waves on earth. that's your eye on entertainment. bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> wow, that was cool. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now. it's 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. hope we won't see any surf like that around here any time soon. >> i'm jessica doyle in for mike hydeck. monika samtani will have your timesaver traffic in a moment and howard bernstein is watching the skies for us. >> we've got some low clouds and fog. we'll have a lot on sandy coming up in about 15 minutes. the 5:00 advisory nudges the track over a little closer to us instead of atlantic city. now maybe delaware bay. some in my chat room were saying will we have a better idea on sunday where this will