it helps people weatherize their homes and stephanie ramirez tried a demo camera and has hints for all. >> reporter: my 6-year-old niece will tell you the colors are pretty but the utility analyst for fairfax county says they are important. yellow is heat coming through and purple is cold. she sold us a demo thermal camera they have with different devices for phones and you download an app. >> you go around your house and look >> reporter: she said she added a special ceiling after looking at her house with the camera and less powerful for her and surprising sources of cold air are through outlets which is why she put covers on them. she showed us the outside of her home. the yellow shows heat going through her home's foundation. i tried it out. >> it's clearly not very warm. >> i have three layers of pants on. >> reporter: they say to wear loose layers and it fairfax county, stephanie ramirez, wusa9. >> i could use one of those. to learn more about the program check out the fairfax county library website. >>> from the pipes to everything else, in recent days it's cold this long and pi

i'll have more from the executive vice president at 11:00, stephanie ramirez, wusa9. >> thank you.eeting asking any students who can delay their move back to campus to do just that. >>> 50 water main breaks are causing issues around prince george's county. crews are working around the clock to fix them. the cold weather is to blame and there's more work than workers. so it's taking wccs a little longer to get to them all. >> yeah. it's crazy and hectic. >> it's happening everywhere. i mean this is nothing because wait until it warms up and everything is going to start popping. >> yeah. wssc is asking customers to be patient as they get around to making those repairs. most of the water main breaks happen between november and february and nearly half of those pipes are 50 years old. >>> it is day five in the search for a 65-year-old man in prince george's county. daniel dehaven went missing tuesday afternoon while shopping with his wife at costco on route 1 in beltsville. at this point dehaven may have gotten farther than prince george's county. with this frigid weather family and fr

stephanie ramirez in alexandria with more. >> reporter: we may be on tv but not impervious to any ofme weather damage. i have no heat or hot water at home and our colleague michael had to deal with his house flooding because a pipe burst. my photographer would go on camera but sent us a video. >> this bathroom is flooded. >> reporter: i'm in alexandria with a plumbing technician to talk about how to protect your pipes at home. these belong to max who is investigating a pipe that was letting out water and it's frozen. >> i can see ice here. >> reporter: he defrosted the ice clod with a blowtorch. >> it's really winterizing and that's the biggest thing that will freeze. >> reporter: once the water drains -- outside faucet will be completely dry and no water and no way to freeze. insulation and i recommend fiberglass insulation with the high r rating. the pipe insulation doesn't work as well. >> reporter: he said noodles are like pipe insulation. >> it's a good idea to open these up. if you have a space heater put it in front. >> reporter: the drip is another method some have suggested

stephanie ramirez has the story just ahead. >> plus my verify team getting you a straight answer about what the trump administration did to the medicaid program earlier today. >> and the chief keeping a close eye on rain in the region. he'll let us know how long it will stick around and when are the warm temperatures going away? d.c.'s most accurate forecast is right around th you about tonight. 11:00 on wusa9. >>> the news at 11:00 continues with stories about selling human beings right in our own backyards. two local rappers were charged with trafficking two young girls. now their victims are standing up to share their stories. >> reporter: he even raps about it. that's 28-year-old ivan williams, he and dennis davis, jr. both from hyattsville trafficked three underage girls through atlanta, georgia, maryland, northern virginia and d.c. to pay for their music careers. >> he wanted to become a rapper. >> reporter: that's the same thing elizabeth kimball said her second pimp did. at first kimball thought he was her boyfriend and now 28-year- old kimball told prosecutors at the anacostia

our stephanie ramirez reports from the university's campus. >> reporter: here on howard university's campus look down that way. you've got steam coming down there, steam coming out of the windows from the annex, down the street steam in this direction. it was a steam pipe burst that hit two buildings here on campus. the damage was so bad that in the annexed building -- >> all this steam condensed and literally just dropped every tile. >> this is not a building anyone should be in now. it would be hazardous to one's health. >> reporter: however university's executive vice president said ex -- howard university's executive vice president said extreme ground temperatures caused the ruptures. they want to sets in. howard university was also dealing with no heat and no hot water in five residence halls. the university will be open for business monday, but if you've been listening to whur -- >> undergraduate schools and colleges will be delayed until january 16th. >> reporter: all of these student tell me they moved from warmer -- students tell me they moved from warmer states. >> it's fru

stephanie ramirez is live in tacoma park to take us through this. hi stephanie. >> hey adam and you know this is the girl's first day back to school. this is an important reminder to talk to your kids about stranger danger. police are also giving her some props. >> ronnie partner said she would have been out walking this morning had it not been for the cold. i'm really impressed that the kids know what to do. that this girl was so brave. she closed the door on the guys. >> tacoma park police say it was between 9:05 and morning. an 8-year-old girl was near a mini van with two men inside. according to the 8-year-old police say the passenger opened the door and said come to my house i have candy. >> it was something that since i remember my mother telling me about the dangers of people offering you anything. >> that's when police spokes person cathy mrefy says the girl pushed the door and ran back inside to get hope and then there's more. >> the 8-year-old told police the man who opened a passenger door had a flower tattoo on his left hand. wore a hoop

at the shelter, stephanie ramirez, wusa9. >> max is not up for adoption, but so cute and we will have the tip line on wusa9.com as police tried to find them. >> an historic tavern building suffered damage with frigid temperatures. the city of alexandria is temporarily closing gadsby's in the old town section. they said a sprinkler pipe burst and it led to flooding. the museum building was built around 1785 and is privately the next two weeks. >> a new era sprinkler? [laughter] >> it was fine. and it was so long before we had this kind of stretch with these problems to talk about. >> you can imagine what the thaw will bring. >> the back and forth, that is what will be with us. >> we had 60s on the map and 30s returning. we might be okay, and we went from 45 for the high to not far off the edge, and everything will be wrapped up at 11:00. temperatures, 43 and dew point in the low 30s, not a very cold night with clouds hanging tough and the winds are light. most folks will be above freezing. rain since december 1, that is the beginning of the meteorological winter, only 66 hundredths of

not stephanie ramirez and no days off for her. she's outside on the wusa weather terrace and something in store for us. >> doing my laundry now. just kidding. i'm demonstrating how important it is to have weatherproof gear if you're out in this cold. i did this earlier and it took me less than five minutes to freeze my shirt. we will see if the live shot is long enough. so cold today that other areas canceled polar plunge is. ocean city, new jersey canceled it and and dc >> reporter: in anacostia monday morning, even if the smiles were frozen in place. >> i didn't finish first or last. >> reporter: they were so excited they made it out in the bone chilling cold this morning . these runners had a warmer home to go to afters but others don't. that's why dc's cold emergency plan is still in effect until tomorrow. the city has seven night shelters open for women and nine for men and one coed shelter. they aren't forcing anyone to go in but you can call 311 if you see a homeless person who needs a ride to a warming location. or if you

in alexandria tonight, stephanie ramirez, wusa9. >> i love them and they're getting ready to count down to the new year. one last shout out to fabian who is celebrating a birthday, we've got 30 seconds left. let's talk about how cold it gets. >> change. >>> change in the weather, change maybe to the redskins. we're watching a coastal low. otherwise just bundle up this week. it's going to stay cold. >> oh, my. we'd like to wish you all a happy 2018! we'll leave you with more video from some of the celebrations around the world. happy new year, everyone! [music] >> the james brown show is brought to you by geico. >> at the age of six, today's guest dreamed he would be playing for the dallas cowboys. unlikely, you say? he was drafted by dallas in 1990. then, the rookie set a goal passing walter payton, of all people. the nfl's all-time rushing leader are youed 125 yards a game for 13 years. impossible? it was, but he did that, too, while breaking many other records as well. folks, it's my pleasure to welcome one of the greatest running backs in nfl history, the hall of famer, mr. emmitt sm

stephanie ramirez talking one on one with the executive director of the montgomery renter's alliance. >> as we followed up on the tons of e-mails and calls coming into our newsroom about pipes bursting, people with no heat, no hot water and we've got in this situation. stephanie has some tips to help you get through this brutal winter. >> this cellphone video is dated september 30th. it was freezing out. matt lozack says there was a pipe burst and the heat went out after. the executive director for the montgomery county alliance. >> they're aware that their apartment is supposed to be warm enough for them to live in it. it has to be at least 68 degrees. anything less than that is unacceptable. >> no heat and hot water in your unit... >> first thing contact your land lord. >> call 311 when there's an issue in your unit and they'll usually send an inspector. >> if you're in an apartment building and the entire building is