stephanie gosk has more. from central park, good evening stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: good eving, brian, well, the anger was really triggered in earnest by the generators here, they're large enough to power four hundred homes, and as the anger grew responded, cancelling it late to the mayor finally responded, cancelling it late today, his office said we can't allow a controversy over an athletic event, even one as meaningful as this to distract the attention for all the important work being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track. not far from where it would have started, at least 20 people died, houses were levelled and almost no one has power. >> thank god, my reaction is, they're coming to their senses and realizing that these resources are going to be needed where it is truly needed. >> reporter: the hilton garden inn stopped honoring the marathoner's reservations, meaning the new yorkers were already there, and the owner would not kick them out. >> if i need to make a decis

we begin with nbc's stephanie gosk in jerusalem. stephanie, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. even egyptian president mohammed morsi hinted there was a deal. but late today, a spokesperson for hamas, said there would be no cease-fire, at least not tonight. making secretary clinton's job here on the ground even more difficult. secretary of state clinton cut her trip to asia short, diverting to israel to personally help shepherd a possible cease-fire. >> the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> reporter: making her task more difficult, the u.s. has no diplomatic relationship with hamas. a group it labels a terrorist organization. so egyptian president mohammed morsi is playing a key role as intermediary. >> the critical challenge is going to be to make sure that everybody understands the commitments that have been made, the same way, so there's no misunderstandings. >> reporter: even with diplomacy in hig

stephanie gosk nbc news, ortley beach, new jersey. >>> up next, why five-hour energy is in the news, and why loyal customers are taking notice. >>> you have seen the commercials, you have seen the little bottles at the checkout. five-hour energy is in the news tonight, a question about safety to be specific. our report tonight from nbc's tom costello >> reporter: the ads for five-hour energy promise they will lift you out of your afternoon slump. >> the rest of the day, i'm great. >> reporter: one and a half million bottles of the high caffeine shot sold every day. but the fda says it is looking into the possibility of the connection between the five-hour energy and 13 deaths over the past four years that the companies first reported. heart attacks, even a spontaneous abortion. the company insists they are adverse event reports that are not substantiated. and the fda says it is early to draw any conclusions. while the labels on the drinks don't say how much caffeine is inside, the company says it is about the same as a cup of premium coffee. >> caffeine is not a bad thing, except in

nbc's stephanie gosk joins us now live from tel aviv. stephanie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, veronica. well, our team on the ground in gaza tells us that there was some violence this morning. a 20-year-old was shot and killed by israeli forces on the gaza side of the border. there were ten other teenagers with him who were injured. the israeli defense forces tell us that 300 palestinians sort of tested what they call the buffer zone today at the border between gaza and israel. this is a hundred-foot no-go zone that the idf has been enforcing. they did not, however, say they knew of any deaths. they said their forces shot in the air and when the palestinians did not move back, they then shot at their feet to get them to move back. it threatens this arguably fragile ceasefire that's been in place now for a little over a day. it's a ceasefire that on both sides has not instilled a lot of optimism. >> stephanie gosk in israel, thank you. >>> now for a look at the weather here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weath

stephanie gosk is in tel aviv. how do the israelis respond to the criticism of the civilian casualties that have occurred? they have been talking about the bombardment that israeli citizens have been enduring for many, many months, if not years. >> well, the line from the israeli defense forces is that hamas is going to be hit where they are sitting up and they are, in effect, using civilians as human shields and that is what they said today about the -- about hitting this international media center in gaza. they were going after an islamic jihad leader, but instead it also injured some journalists and they said that's just going to happen, that they are the right to defend themselves. this issue of collateral damage is exbe dreamily important, whether talking about civilians in gaza or here and that's the kind of thing that can really get in the way of these peace negotiations. one of the things on this side that has been so helpful so far and has given the diplomatic maneuvering a bit of breathing room, the iron

our report from tonight's stephanie gosk. >> reporter: first responders in point pleasant, raced to a911 call, an elderly man needs to go to the hospital. this team of volunteer emts carefully get him on his way. but back at the station, the squad is in crisis mode. everyone here is a volunteer, among them a teacher, a funeral director, a retired air force pilot. and it is not just first aid. the emts and their families are cooking, too. >> because our town is hurting, people need help. >> reporter: the food goes to residents, firemen and the police. >> it gives us the energy and the strength to carry on our jobs and move forward. >> reporter: this lady's husband, ron, runs the crew. she has been in this kitchen since sandy hit, even with a bad back. >> we appreciate it, thank you. >> call me. >> reporter: like most here, this family was hit hard by the storm. on the morning we met laura, she still had not seen her damaged house, too busy helping out her neighbors. >> because people who watch this in indiana, or ohio, right, and they will go what motivates her to be able to come in he

stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. >> that is our broadcast as we start out a new week. thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, and of course we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night. >>> right now the silicon valley legend in the middle of a murder investigation. we'll have the latest for you. >>> after a smashing defeat at the ballot box state republicans are doing some serious soul-searching and some ask can the party survive? i'm jodi hernandez. a live report coming up. >>> and how loud is too loud? the complaints about apple's flagship store. >>> thank you for joining us on this monday. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. the far right lane in antioch still blocked after a car crashed a little after 5:0

for some, patience has turned to meltdown, nbc's stephanie gosk has more. the power struggle tonight, good evening >> reporter: good evening, brian, well, the people who live on this street say the long island power company, lipa, showed up immediately to work on the downed power lines but have not been back since. and some say they could be in the dark until thanksgiving. >> we need relief. >> reporter: 11 days after the lights went out in oceanside, long island, residents are angry. >> where is lipa? >> reporter: and the county's chief wants to put the military in charge of restoring power. >> lipa management has once again fallen down on the job. >> send in the national guard, we are fed up. >> reporter: the power company, lipa, says it can't restore power until flood-damaged homes are inspected. they were criticized for an out-dated emergency response last year after eye irene plan, some say, with no system to predict the situation. lipa did not respond to repeated requests for comment the new york governor has called the delay a failure. >> you have pe

nbc's stephanie gosk was there. >> reporter: these people on the jersey shore, three neighbors, their houses are totally gone. >> i got some ground here. >> my grandfather had a house for 60 years. and it was our future. but -- but it is also my past. >> this is the handle to our stove. how hard this is today. it is devastating. i don't know what else to say. the idea of rebuilding doesn't even seem responsible right now. >> reporter: people here are just trying to understand the scope of the destruction. this house is obviously off its foundation. this is also the second floor. >> even if you could wave a magic wand and everything is going to be put back, it is going to be years before some of that comes back. i worked on the boardwalk growing up. you know, i can walk the seaside. that is a steel beam, there is wood on the outside, but it is bent like crazy. to see this, it is a big path, my friend, jo, i have known him my whole life. his whole house is gone he is digging for his safe right now. >> reporter: tell me what you're hoping to find right now. >> a safe, with family memorab

nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: good evening, brian, well, earlier this year, powerball doubled the price of tickets from one to two dollars, that drove up the numbers, and more people play. early in the state of new york, 1.5 million tickets were being sold an hour. >> the winning ticket. >> reporter: money does not buy you happiness, but it can buy a whole bunch of other stuff. so people are lined up all over the country for a chance at the second largest lottery jackpot in history. >> you got to be in it to win it. >> reporter: 42 states from coast to coast. >> got the winning ticket right here. >> reporter: undaunted by the odds. 176 million to one. >> when i win, i'm moving tomorrow. >> reporter: most know they will probably lose. >> the lottery is a tax for the poor, more than rich. so the people who can afford it the least are putting the most into it. >> reporter: half the ticket sales go into the state, a good boost for the ailing budget, in new jersey, it helps veterans, in colorado, they're improving state parks. in georgia, most going for education. the hope scholars

. >>> stephanie gosk has the latest on those killed and wounded today. >> reporter: with many here in israel and in gaza hoping that a cease-fire might take hold, there was no indication on the ground today that that was the case. there were back and forth exchanges of attacks from both sides. the deadliest in gaza. israeli forces hadity a residential building killing at least 12 people, many of them from the same family. gaza returned fire to israel today. over 100 rockets lobbed toward this country. there were four people injured in the south and there were two attacks aimed here at tel aviv but intercepted by the iron dome missile defense system that the israelis have been using with a lot of success over the last five days. they say that they've intercepted about a third of the rockets that have headed this way. today prime minister netanyahu said as long as the roberts are flying, there will not be a cease-fire agreement, but his foreign minister turned around and said that israel is open to any kind of cease-fire options. finally, his defense minister said that he sees a possibi

stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. >>> how about that, and while random acts of kindness take place every day, let's celebrate this one. the officer will be a guest live in the studio on "today." that is our show tonight, thank you for joining us, i'm brian williams, we hope to see you later for "rock center," 10:00, 9:00 central. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. good evening. >>> good evening. we begin with the storm watch. not just the rain. it's the flooding and saturation. historically you might recall we've had a lot of damage and injuries during storms like this. one of the questions tonight, can we be better prepared? as for our roadways, it is a slow commute. this is a live look at the 280, 880 interchange in the south bay. you see the headlights those cars are traveling northbound. our live camera network. let's switch over to 880 in oakland. we have live team coverage. marian fav roe joins with us a look at it. we begin with jeff ranieri with the latest. >> we have that new watch that has come out with the national weather service over the past couple hou

nbc's stephanie gosk is live this morning in tel aviv for us. stephanie, what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, veronica. the talks are continuing on a cease fire. as they continue, the violence over the weekend and today has been intense. israeli forces have broadened their tactics to include hitting residences of hamas leaders. we've seen a large number of casualties. the deadliest attack was when a two story residential building was hit. ten people from a family were killed. this was from a hamas rocket launcher. there's no reason that he was hit but there's anger. from gaza we are getting a continued barrage of rockets here in israel, 16 since midnight. one of those rockets hit a school. that school suffered damage but there was no one injured in the attack. veronica? >> stephanie gosk in tel aviv this morning. we appreciate it. thank you very much. >>> lawmakers are turning the heat on the obama administration about what officials knew and when regarding the september 11th attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, that killed four americans, including amba

>> nbc's stephanie gosk in tel aviv. stephanie, thank you. >>> now for a look at the national weather we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. how was your forecast? >> i had four kid under 3 running around my house. i think we all sat down for dinner for five minutes. then it was time to chase the kids again. such a strange morning. coming into work seeing christmas trees on the side of the street now and people with shopping bags. there's people all over the place. >> we love christmas, though. >> a lot of people watching us that are probably just getting back to sleep. hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving. as far as the forecast goes, temperatures have plunged in the middle of the country. this was a beautiful stretch of weather leading up to thanksgiving day. then the cold front sliced through. now the temperatures are really, really dropping. went from feeling like indian summer to all of a sudden winter. 35-degree temperature change in minneapolis. yesterday at this time, 55. now

stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. >> that is our broadcast as we start out a new week.oining us, i'm brian williams, and of course we hope to see you back here tomorrow evening. good night.

stephanie gosk nbc news, ortley beach, new jersey recover.ew jersey. >>> up next, why five-hour energy is in >>> up next, why five-hour energy is in the news, and why loyal customers are taking notice. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focn other thingslike eacother, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. he's going to apply testosterone to his underarm. axiron, the only underarm treatment for low t, can restore testosterone levels back to normal in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who

and with this competitive race canceled, no one is a winner. >> stephanie gosk joins us now from new stephanie, any idea what the tipping point was in the decision to call off the race? >> reporter: lester, there was a debate over whether or not -- the race would divert resources from the city, but really this boiled down to in the end a question of sensitivity and one of the biggest symbols of what people are beginning to perceive as a lack of sensitivity are these generators behind me. they were brought in by race organizers to do things like power the race clock and media tent. but they're large enough to power 400 homes and as you know, there are a lot of homes in this city without power. these generators were on the front page of the new york post today, triggered a lot of anger. that anger grew throughout the day. lester? >> the decision has been made, but let's think there is usually 45,000 or so runners that come from the marathon, most of them from out of town. how hard is it to unwind an event of this magnitude? >> reporter: it is pretty tricky. almost all of those racers a

correspondent stephanie gosk is in long beach on long island, new york, tonight. e, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the snow has really start ed to come down here in the last hour or so. most of long beach, for the most part, are has been uninhabited since sandy although we did come across a few hearty souls trying to stick it out. officials say the surge will hit at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, expected to rise five to six feet. as if things weren't bad enough in long beach, long island, here comes the nor'easter. >> i can't believe it's snowing here. >> reporter: the sand that buried carol kenny's house during the superstorm is being covered by snow. but if sandy couldn't drive her out, this storm has no chance. >> i feel blessed we're alive. i'm not going to deny the storm was a little scary at points. i'm glad i stayed. >> reporter: in new york state more than 250,000 households have no power. and most of them have no heat. braving the wind and the snow utility crews are out working trying to restore power where they can. >> while this storm is not

stephanie gosk has the latest on long island. >> we need relief. >> reporter: 11 days after the powert out, residents are seething. >> where is lipa? >> the county's chief wants to put the military in charge of restoring power. >> life of management has once again fallen down on the jaw. >> send in the national guard. we are fed up. >> they cannot restore power because it was the same criticism leveled after hurricane irene. in june, a state investigation kritized lipa for what it called an outdated emergency response plan with no system to from dikt power restoration. >> new york governor andrew cuomo has called the delay a failure. >> you have people without power for a very long time, it's gotten cold, it's uncomfortable, yes, we are understanding but we're also inpatient and we want more and we want it faster and 200 elderly high rise were virtually ignored until friday when the national guard showed up. >> i thought the peninsula is very much forgotten about. >> across the are river in new jersey, governor chris christie toured damaged areas and asked 200,000 still without power

stephanie gosk is in central park with more on that. . >> reporter: good morning, erica. this is the first time in the new york city marathon's 40-year history has ever been cancelled. extraordinary circumstances. since the moment that mayor michael bloomberg announced it was going forward, anger began to build, not just among the victims of hurricane sandy, but also their public officials and even some runners. it finally hit a tipping point. in a city devastated by this storm, holding a road race through five battered boroughs finally just seemed like the wrong idea. >> the marathon ceased to be about running and it was all about how best to aid new york city. >> reporter: it was a decision that left some runners disappointed. >> i feel for all the people that have problems, but you don't pull the plug at the last minute. he could have made that decision days and days ago. >> reporter: but many city residents relieved. >> i think there's a thin line between demonstrating resiliency and being insensitive. >> reporter: the reversal came

crowley and from tel aviv, nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk. thank you, both. stephanie, i want to start with you, is the attack we were just discussing in tel aviv an indication that cease-fire talks are not actually on track? >> no, that's not the case, ari. they aren't necessarily connected. at the very least they're are probably -- it's probably complicating the conversations, but right now, the talks keep going on, the negotiations keep going on. israeli officials saying they still are looking for that guarantee that rockets aren't going to come out of gaza towards israel. that is their stipulation. we heard the defense minister ehud barak say today that right out of the gate, what they want most likely is something like a 24-hour period where they can see whether or not hamas is capable of stopping those rockets. so negotiations ongoing and we are hearing some more kind of rumors and hopefulness coming out of cairo that perhaps a cease-fire deal has been reached, but we are waiting to hear confirmation from that and secretary clinton. >> how important is s

nbc's stephanie gosk is live this morning in tel aviv for us. stephanie, what can you tell us? >> good morning, veronica. the violence has been intense over the last 24 hours. no sign of it letting up, even as those talks are on going in cairo. so far today, 40 rockets have been launched out of gaza into israel. 33 have fallen. there are no injuries even though two of the rockets, one hit a school and one hit a house, damaging it significantly. the same can't be said on the gaza side. you know, this effort began with the israeli defense forces hitting things like storage facilities and rocket launchers. they've expanded that operation to include the homes of hamas leaders. that has led to a number of civilian casualties, both today and the worst attack on sunday that killed 12 people in one building, a two-story building. ten people from the same family. here in israel, the leadership is saying they will not strike a ceasefire deal until the rockets stop coming out of gaza. veronica? >> stephanie, thank you so much. >>> lawmakers are turning the heat on the obama administration

stephanie gosk on the ground in tel aviv.'s show you the markets again because they are moving on this news. the dow industrials at the highs of the day now. there's the s&p 500. it is well as the highs, a two and a half point gain. the dow is more substantial to the upside. one-third of one percent. let's look at what's happening in the oil market as well. bk, you've seen at least brent crude take a dip here on this news. i would assume that wti is pulling back as well. there's a look at the chart. >> and this is actually very, very big news because one of the biggest threats we had to our u.s. economy rising oil prices, rising gas prices. with the fiscal cliff, that would have been a real problem for the u.s. economy, so this is very positive, but the oil market will be key in this. if the oil market reverses and goes higher and closes green on the day, that will tell you that the markets do not believe this cease fire's going to hold. we've had several of these over the last, well, thousands of years, but let's call it ten

we begin tonight with nbc's stephanie gosk in lawrence, on long island, good evening >> reporter: good evening, well, the mayor of this town and 22 other mayors have already written a letter quoting that the efforts to restore power is a failure. then as the nor'easter blows in, an additional 120,000 customers in new york and new jersey are in the dark. and the anger is growing. this family keeps pumping, but the water keeps coming. 4,000 gallons so far, and no end in sight. the latest storm may have dropped record snow, but it has not stopped the cleanup. and fay has not lost her sense of humor. you're laughing about it? >> you know what, if i started to cry, i really don't know when i would stop. >> reporter: the family is staying at their daughter's house, the only one who had power restored after sandy hit. but it didn't last long. >> all of a sudden, it just went black. not even a flicker >> reporter: now, almost nobody in this town has electricity. >> people can't be 18, 19, 20 days without electricity in this day and age. >> reporter: restoring power throughout the region has no

. >> we have the situation covered with nbc's stephanie gosk in tel aviv and ambassador mark ginsberg, former u.s. ambassador to morocco who advised president carter on middle east policy. what's the latest? >> reporter: toure, negotiations right now are under way for a cease-fi cease-fire. the israeli cabinet is speaking to discuss possible options. they insist that the rocket fire out of gaza end immediately before they will agree to a cease-fire. on the palestinian side, they want the embargo in place since 2006 dropped, and they want the israelis to stop targeting palestinians. now, over the course of the last 24 hours, even though the negotiations are under way, there has been a back and forth of violence, uptick in violence. the israeli defense forces broaden the scope of targets looking to hit storage facilities and rocket launchers but also the residences of hamas leaders. there was the deadliest attack so far on sunday that killed 12 people in one building. today they target an international media building. they said they were going after a leader of the islamic jihad and the

nbc's stephanie gosk is live in jerusalem.ph, we're getting reports that hamas is claiming israel has not responded to their proposals and, therefore, there will be no truce this evening. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, we don't have any confirmation on that specifically, but it doesn't seem there's a truce in place. earlier today you had egyptian president mohamed morsi saying there would be a deal tonight. even before this press conference we just wamp watched place. obviously that hasn't happened. two interesting things out of this press conference. you had secretary clinton talk about a durable solution that brings security and stability not just to israel, but to the region as a whole. you also heard prime minister netanyahu say that he is still open and would prefer a diplomatic solution, a real key sign that these negotiations are still ongoing. >> nbc's stephanie gosk, thanks so much, steph. stay with us. the day's "top lines" are coming up. >>> it's time for the "your business requests "entrepreneur of the we

joining me now ayman and stephanie gosk. what's the latest from there, aym ayman?> reporter: right now we'll start with the diplomatic front, if you will. right now there are negotiations taking place in cairo between egypt, egyptian intelligence officials, including senior leaders of the palestinian faction. they are trying to come up with a loose plan. they are still some sticking points whether or not that would be agreed upon but there are positive signs as it has been described by egypt's prime minister in an interview he gave to news agency in cairo. meanwhile, here inside gaza, operations are still ongoing. the israeli air force has carried out dozens of strikes across the gaza strip. palestinian rockets have gone off from gaza into southern israel. there is that incident you referred to yesterday on sunday there was an israeli air strike that targeted one residential building in which 12 people were inside. ten of those from a single family including four children. israel says that house belonged to a leading member of hamas and the campaign over the past s

for the latest nbc's stephanie gosk joins us and ayman mohyeldin. a report of a tel aviv bus explosion. is there any indication that the israelis now are looking at possibly having a short-term truce or want to hold out long er for a longer deal? >> reporter: well, we don't have a truce. there's a lot of talk yesterday that there would be one, and then this morning, today around lunch time this bus attack. and what we know about it so far is that they're saying it's a terrorist attack, it's not a suicide attack. we were down there earlier today and the security officials were very nervous. they were pushing us back. they thought maybe there were more explosives on the bus. it turned out there weren't. this tactic will be very familiar to people in this city and around israel. it was used about a decade ago frequently all over the kcountr during the second intefadeh but they haven't had an attack like this in israel since 2004 and there hasn't been a terrorist attack on the ground here in tel aviv since 2006. all of this happens amongst all the fever

stephanie gosk in tel aviv. thank you so much. >>> let's get more from former ambassador dennis ross. he was the middle east envoy for president clinton and george h.w. bush. he's now with the washington institute for near east politics and an msnbc contributor. thank you for being with us, ambassador. i want to go straight to a piece you wrote for "the new york daily news." it's called "the fuel for the flames." you write the link between hamas and the muslim brotherhood is a concern. how vital is egypt's role given that in the gaza conflict right now? we know they're meeting right now. >> i think egypt is the key. they're the pivot here. what we're seeing is a situation where egypt really does not want to be put in a position where israel goes in to gaza. if that's the case, then the pressure is from within egypt from the muslim brotherhood, from the population, are going to be very intense. the last thing egypt wanted to do as a time when it needs to correct and deal with tremendous economic challenges is to

let's go now to stephanie gosk, who is in tel aviv with the latest. what's the tone on ground today? >> well you hear the president say that as long as rockets were dropping, it was going to be impossible to get a cease-fire here. and the rockets definitely keep on coming. and there have been attacks back and forth. a couple of volleys of rockets that came toward tel aviv. intercepted by the israeli missile defense system, iron dome, which end up intercepting all four rockets before they hit. southern israel was not quite so lucky. there were five people injured there when a house was targeted by one of the rockets. today the deadliest day for gaza, more than 20 have been killed. the deadliest attack over the course of the day was in a residential building. more than 12 people were killed when the building was hit. and then proceeded to collapse. most of the people that were killed were from the same family, including women and children. richard? >> stephanie, we've been watching channel 2 news out of israel, quoting hamas saying the negotiations for

. >> nbc's stephanie gosk is in tel aviv, ayman mohyeldin in gaza, jim maceda in cairo. let's ask jim maceda, you were in cairo the announcement came from there. egypt is being given credit for having at least brokered this deal or godfathered this deal. what are the terms? do we know anything more about the terms of the cease-fire? >> well, we know that there was no formal agreement. that's the key thing here. this means that israel and hamas had reached an understanding, a kind of exchange of quiet for quiet, and that this will be the first phase of a deal. that will be followed by a second phase in days or weeks or months of much more intense negotiations. those talks will be anchored by and guaranteed by egypt, but with the strong participation of the united states to resolve key demands on both sides which are still out there. the main demand from hamas who wants the block aid of gaza lifted immediately, that is not going to happen, the israelis want an immediate end to all smuggling of arms and to gaza and the sinai, that has not happened either. they have agreed t

when you have a problem, send in the marines, well, they did, as stephanie gosk found out there todayeporter: marines on patrol. this season thele monday province, it's the storm ravaged streets of long island. 50 marines in a community that need the muscle. especially the merchants. >> it's a huge job. they said, no problem, we can do it. >> reporter: a kindergarten teacher can't talk about her home without crying. russian immigrants, they worked for years to save enough money to buy their house. demolition is the only way to save what's left. >> of course, it's a big help. we can't do it by ourself. >> reporter: this is the kind of work that is needed all along this block. people are coming by to help out, but they're charging $3,000 to do what these marines are doing in here for free. >> reporter: in just an hour, the job was done. >> when i walked through these streets, it's like nothing i ever saw before. these homes were ripped off the foundation, fires, floods, winds. everything damaged this place so bad. >> reporter: they said at camp lejeune they were getting ready to deploy

our report tonight from stephanie gosk. >> reporter: two and a half weeks, and nobody in this line haseen back home to ortley beach until today. what do you expect to see today? >> disaster. >> reporter: dread mixes with frustration, but the police officers still smile. >> good luck, folks, you have to wear this when you're on the island. >> reporter: 16 school buses pick up and drop off. nobody is allowed to drive. two people per household, carrying one empty bag each. captain bruce bergess says this system is the only safe way to let residents back. >> we're here to help, we're here for security. >> reporter: homeowners have only a few hours to collect valuables. they will not be back here for weeks. >> i still didn't believe it until i walked around the side, seeing the house split open. >> reporter: split open. >> reporter: ortley beach is in lockout, police officers from places as far away as louisiana work around the clock shifts. over the next five days, 5,000 people will return, a boat in the living room among many nasty surprises. engineers are busy putting numbers on the dama