haven't seen one since the '70s i think. >> reporter: i'm pat collins, "news4 today." >> love pat collins. stay tune everyone news 4 at 5:00 starts right now. >>> here it comes again. a major storm is already dumping snow to the south and it will

we want to begin with pat collins. he's in gaithersburg. pat, how is it looking there now? >> well, doreen, you remember that food that you bought yesterday? this is the time of night you should be where that food is. settle down. stay inside. let the road crews do their job as the storm now begins to intensify. look or here. 355, now in a slushy state. the sidewalk here in gaithersburg in an icy state. so what's it like out there on the roads? well, we got some firsthand information from some drivers. >> visibility bad? >> it's not so bad right now, but it's -- the roads are getting -- there's accumulation that's starting. >> getting there, huh? >> yeah. >> a little scary? >> a little. >> slipperyxd out there? >>ia yes. >> a little scary? >> very scary. >> are you going toÑi make it home? >> yeah, i will. >> what's the biggest problem on the roads right now? >> people who don't know how to drive when it snows. >> are there a lot ofÑi them ou there? >> i think so. i mean, i'm probably one of them. >> really? >> i would say to people, be very careful right now. there's a lot

i'm no pat collins, but i've got a bigger yard stick. here we go. out here we've got ourÑi fst inch of snow on the oval out here at news4. the smoenowfall rates have been moderate at time. everyone knows what heavy snow looks like or light snow, but moderate, it makes you think what are the definitions. we have the definitions for you. light snow, an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch per hour. quarter of an inch to half an hour, that's moderate snow. anytime you get over an inch of snow per hour, that's heavy snow. and two to four inches per hour is considered heavy, heavy snow across the area. that we do have the potential for a brief time to reach int the highest category of snowfall rates around the area. could see two to four inches of snow for a short period of time during the late overnight hours tonight into tomorrow. definitely going to be one for the record books. it will be our second top-ten finisher of all time in snowfall in the same winter. veronica, back to you. >> with that tremendous snow, with the wind really picking up at

he does pat collins almost as good as pat collins. doreen, back to you. >> maybe you could send him out into the snow so you could get a break, pat. >> maybe he couldick up the update. >> let me tell you something, there's absolutely no substit e substitute. there are probably many imitators but none can ever, ever eal the real deal, pat. you know? >> thank you. >> you're the one and only, man. look at him turning red now. i've embarrassed that old man. >> i think you have. >> thanks, pat. >> he's been having fun doing it. we appreciate your helping us all find a smile in trying conditions today. thank you, pat. >> have a good one. >>> there are thousands of power outages and delays of course at metro stations and at airports. we'll have more on all of that as we continue our coverage of this blizzard of 2010. >>> we've had storms around these parts over the last few years, but never one like this. big, big winds out there today. so much so hthat a big tree fel over on to a car in northwest d.c. it also landed on power lines. that too

. >> i think that's pat collins. >> that is either the abominable snowman or pat collins with a cup of coffee. i'm scared. two cups of coffee, one, i hope, for his camera person. pat, we'll be talking to you in just a little bit. again, welcome back. >> that picture is on connecticut avenue. pat's been hanging out there for the past five days. he does go home at night. tra tracee wilkins has the latest now from northwest washington, d.c. how's it looking? still coming down, i see. >> hey, tracee, you've been hanging out there a wile for yourself. >> reporter: yes, look, we have a live truck full of coffee. the folks over at the sticky finger bakery brought us a whole bunch of baked goods. so we're good. thank you so much to people of columbia heights, for taking such good care of us, and also watching us from on high. let's me show you some pictures that one of the neighbors e-mailed to me, so sweet. wendy, thank you so much for this picture. but this is a great shot of what it looks like from above. take a look at our city from above. these are the kind of pictures that are hard to ge

pat collins has more on this story now from our newsroom. pat?m, we're not using her name because she hasn't been officially charged. but we're learning a lot about her history. the woman emerging as the suspect in that double-fatal crash is out of police custody. pending the completion of the investigation. that's notñr comfortable news t the family of one of the victims. >> she's out, right? she's describing around somewhere. is she drunk? you know? >> reporter: you have to wonder, don't you? >> everybody thought she wasn't ever going to get out again. they thought they'd build ahnmw jail, put her in it. >> reporter: two people dead. the alleged suspect in the case is out. >> right. >> reporter: how did that happen? >> in all of these traffic fatalities, the police department has to do an accident reconstruction report. takes about six weeks to do that right. we have to make sure we have that before we bring charges. >> reporter: the riggs road scene today. unremarkable, but what happened here monday night will have lasting impact. too men exch

pat collins says we're shoing some shoveling. welcome back. a look tonight on what your insurance will or will not cover as a result of the snowstorms pounding our region. >> liz joins us with answers to the common questions we're hearing these days. >> take a deep breath is what i say. we are hearing from viewersic questions about snow, ice, water, trees. they're all causing problems. we got an e-mail from cody wanting to know if a tree falls and doesn't hit any structure, is that covered by insurance? the answer is pe. typically if the tree does not damage a covered structure like a house or a garage, you have to pay to have it removed. if the tree hits your house or your garage, insurance will cover the damage. another question, if it's your neighbor's tree that hits your house, whose insurance pays? that would be yours. if it is your property that's damaged, it's always your insurance. try to remember it that way. now on to damage caused by the ice. more icing is on the way. if ice pulls your gutters from your house, insurance will cover i

pat collins has been living at -- well, he's been living at connecticut avenue, but he's not there at the moment. >> i think he's chowing down on something that somebody brought him. so we'll go to tom sherwood. tom tom, are you still sveling out there? >> well, i'm not shoveling now, but i do have news. congresswoman eleanor holmes norton said she's going to ask president obama to declare this whole washington region an emergency zone. what that will do is that will allow the entire region to be eligible for federal funds to help defray the cost of this cleanup after the storm is over. it doesn't mean that there will be federal troops out or anything like that, but it will mean it will clear up some federal funds which every jurisdiction in this region, as you know, is having some kind of budget problem, whether the counties or the states or the city itself. so eleanor holmes norton says she's going to be asking president obama to declare this region a national emergency for the region so that we can get some federal money to pay the people who are doing the hard work. now i'll go ba

pat collins in our newsroom with more on this investigation. pat? >> wendy, since she hasn't been officially charged, we're not using her name. but're learning a lot more. the woman emerging at the suspect of that double fatal crash is out of police custody pending the completion of the investigation. that's not comforting news to the family of one of the victims. >> she's out, right? she's describing around somewhere. is she drunk? you know? >> reporter: you have to wonder, don't you? >> everybody thought she wasn't ever going to get out again. they thought they would build a new jail and put her in it. >> reporter: two people dead. the alleged suspect in the case is out. >> right. >> reporter: how did that happen? >> in all of these traffic fatalities, the police department has to do an accident reconstruction report. takes about six weeks to do that right. we have to make sure we have that before we bring charges. >> reporter: the scene today, unremarkable but what happened here monday night will have lasting impact. too men exchanging informatio

pat collins is in woodbridge now with more on this story. pat? >> jim, a double murder in dale city. a mother, her 8-year-old son dead in their own home. here detectives are pressing to identify the killer. 8-year-old paul wilson found murdered last night inside his home in dale city. also killed, paul's mother, 41-year-old slavka naydenova. the two bodies discovered around 11:00 p.m. by mrs. naydenova's husband business as he returneo work. francisco lives next door. >> it scares me. i live here for 14 years. never a problem here. >> last night a lot of police? >> yeah, a lot of police. they were asking me if i saw anything. >> have you ever seen any trouble at that house? >> no, never. >> reporter: friends say that slavka naydenova was a land lady who made her living off of rental properties. she would often provide rooms for immigrants from bulgaria, here homeland. paul wilson was a 2nd grader that mary porter traditional school. news of his death, a great shock to the people here at the school. >> yeah, it's not real to me. it's just not real

news 4 pat collins has more on last minute preparations. >> going to snow. >> going to snow. >> going to snow. >> going to be big. >> reporter: how big? >> real big. >> reporter: how big? >> going the break the record. >> reporter: what do you think it will be? >> i don't predict snow,omen or elections. >> reporter: the milk here is selling like hot cakes. how many days supplies is this? >> we got a family, we got two dogs so i hope so. >> reporter: ground turkey, fresh turkey, turkey breasts, chicken tenders, chicken breasts, slim pickings. >> it's a tough time right now. >> reporter: up got what you need >> yeah. >> reporter: will you make it >> oh, yeah. i evenot my snow belower today. >> reporter: top off the gas in your car. get washer fluid. get new wipers. put a shovel in the trunk. when you've done all that maybe the best thing is to is -- >> park in your driveway. >> reporter: the costco parking lot in arlington, cars are lining up. backed into the street. waiting just to get into the parking lot. cars at the ready. hoping that someone will pull out so they can get that space

pat collins has more on that part of the story from northwest d.c. hi, pat. >> hi, doreen. well, it's coming down now. little flakes. light flakes. but you know how that goes. they have a way of turning into big flakes. and then the wind picks up and before you know it, holy snow plow. in this neighborhood, there's still a lot of places where it's hard to walk. hard to drive. but a lot of people were out here today, out and about trying to get things done before storm number two. so today on connecticut avenue, we found betsy. betsy on the move. with a little help from her friend. >> we are trying to move. >> reporter: today? >> today. >> reporter: of all days? >> we were supposed to move on saturday and that's worse. >> reporte you are betsy's fiance? >> yes. >> reporter: and that's why you're helping her. >> well, of course. >> reporter: you are moving to a better place? >> yes. we're looking forward to it. >> reporter: going down connecticut avenue the other way, deirdre just in time for work. having any trouble getting in? >> no. >> reporter: what's it like out here? >>

now i have the pleasure of throwing it to a man who always finds fun in the snow, pat collins. >> chris, on connecticut avenue, it's starting to come down now. i'd call it flurries but you know how that works. flurries turn into light snow. then big flakes. then before you know it, holy snow plow. what a dilemma we have here on connecticut avenue. how do you measure the new snow with all of the old snow? all you really want to know is what the new snow is going to amount to. hit it, lieutenant turner! ah. before long here, we'll have a new ground zero on connecticut avenue. it will be snow stick ready. and speaking of ready, everybody is getting ready for the second storm. the fire department in a constant state of readiness. and joining us here on connecticut avenue, d.c. fire chief, dennis reuben. how did today go, chief? >> hey, pat. very, very well. we spent a lot of time preparing for the next portion of the storm. 10 to 20 inches. we've been able to refresh, replenish, get our apparatus back in shape, hopefully rest our people. ready for round fo. >> we're all going to be ready. i

news4's pat collins will have the latest on this investigation, what the victims' family members are that's corp'g up right here at 5:00 tonight. >>> today president obama met with sene democrats for more than an hour. he urged them to keep pushing his agenda, but some of the senators pushed back. lawmakers who were up for worried. steve handelsman has our report. >> reporter: five days after he took on republicans atÑi their retreat, some democratic senators took on president obama and his leadership in the economic crisis. >> many people across the country candidly look at us and say, well, i don't know if the democrats are willing to take this on. you know, they think we want to tax too much and spend too Ñimu. >> reporter: the president pleaded not guilty. >> there's no doubt that we've lost trust. part of it was just bad timing. bank bailout, recovery package, and it all kind of merges together into just this blob of spending. >> reporter: some in the room face reelection battles. blanche lincoln of arkansas, barbara boxer of california. but they disagreed about how the presiden

pat collins has a stick. i've got the u.s. mail service here.ooks like maybe about a -- not quite half an inch, quarter of an inch of snow. i want to warn people again, a police officer just stopped in to pick up someÑi food right he and said to tell people to watch out for the street. it's already starting to get some ice build-up. even though the streets are very well-treated. he warned about those $250 fines if you park in the wrong spot. the crews have been out all day and they've salted the streets. you always hear stay off the roads, give them room to do their jobs. well, this time they really, really, really mean it. this is the big one. we really, really need people to stay off the roads this evening and tomorrow. for their safety and so that our plows and our great employees can do their jobs. >> that's the director of vdot. he'll be up late tonight as they expect that storm and the snow to get worse, the roads to get worse. help them out. don't be out here with us. jim, back to you. >> tom, we got to help you out with your hatwareear,

pat collins, thanks so much with the police chief. >> thanks, pat. >>> and we are going to check withwatching the snow up in bethesda along river road and he can tell us what the conditions are looking like there. has it stopped snowing? >> reporter: i'll tell you, i've been watching the