tisha thompson, news 4 i-team. >> the news of sandy continues. a lot of people haunted by last year's hurricane irene, see what they are doing to prepare. >> also, pictures >> hurricane sandy expected to come ashore on monday and people across the north east are making plans to try to get out of harm's way. hurricane sandy is blamed for at least 40 deaths in the caribbean. >> it is now turning towards the u.s. bringing heavy rains, high wind and flooding to much of eastern seaboard. daniel lee has the latest now from chesapeake beach, maryland. >> hurricane sandy poundedity way through the caribbean today, ripping homes apart and leaving streets under water. at least 40 people died in haiti, cube why and jamaica. as sandy moves up the coast, setting to clobber the northeast, people are preparing for the worst. >> we just have to do it, m mill ford beach connecticut, boarding up his brand new home. last year's hurricane irene forcing him to rebuild, now he is hoping sandy won't do the same. >> you know, you have to prepare. >> from virginia to new

tisha thompson, news4 iteam. >>> a once rundown public housing project near nats park in d.c. is now a unique mix of affordable housing and homes worth up to $1 million. tom sherwood takes us there. >> reporter: 37-year-old chanel was holding her ribbon cutting scissors tight. and the former ambulance driver couldn't stop smiling. ten years ago she was moved out of this public housing at 3rd and l street near capitol hill. and was promised ten years ago new housing when it was built. >> i thought i was never coming back. we moved to richmond. but there were no jobs there. so we moved back. into my mother's basement. i know she is about the happiest woman right now. we have our own spot. >> reporter: a spot ten years later now called capitol quarter, a mix of 323 town homes andapartments, 50% market rate and selling for $600,000 to $1 million. the public housing segment is up to three bedrooms, are sprinkled among the houses. chanel lives in one with her two children and husband tyrone. >> you can't tell whose income is what. they're not walking around with their wallets expose

let's go it tisha thompson with the latest from montgomery county. tisha?reporter: doreen, i have to tell you, in just the last hour the wind has really picked up. we have been in and out of montgomery county all day. and the water is starting to rise in the creeks. it hasn't quite flooded out of the banks yet. but the ground is now wet enough, it's now saturated enough where trees are beginning to fall. >> one of the scary things in my life. >> reporter: she was standing next to her window when she saw a tree start to fall. >> all of a sudden i just saw the ground start to come up. all the roots coming up. and boom, tree went down right there on our neighbor's house. >> reporter: inside the bedroom, this mother who says when she heard the boom, she went running to find her son. he was safely downstairs. it was only after firefighters arrived did she realize the tree had come crashing through the roof and barely missed her. it was a different story in germantown at the intersection of frederick road and brink road where the 19-year-old driver of this pathfi

tisha thompson is live there with more on the progress they've made. tisha? >> reporter: you're seeing just piles of limbs. this is a former street light. they've managed to put a new light in here, but they have had eight houses that have had trees come through them just in alexandria city alone. and two of them were just yards away from each other. tree removal crews are working overtime along this stretch in alexandria. >> the tree hit and it was boom. it just shook the whole house. i actually jumpd under a little table, like that was going to do any good. >> reporter: peter said he asked his crew to come as soon as possible. in an effort to keep his home from being condemned. >> it's a five-ton tree, 55 feet tall and it was a healthy red oak. it just blew over, and was leaping on the house. when the city came, they said you've got to get this tree off or you can't live here. >> reporter: two houses down, his neighbor wasn't as lucky. >> i'm homeless. i'm a realtor and i have no home. >> reporter: her home has been condemned but she's still here to deal wi

. >> tisha thompson is live in the studio now with just what happened. tisha? >> jim and pat, i have to tell you, this was one of the more dramatic chases we've seen in a long time, with dozens of police vehicles all over the region trying to chase down a silver crown victoria. police sources tell us maryland state police were patrolling for stolen vehicles when the crown vic flew by them on 495. that's when u.s. park police say they got involved. >> today at approximately 11:30 this morning, there was a vehicle traveling south bound on the baltimore washington parkway. it was checked and confirmed to be a stolen vehicle. u.s. park police officers started a pursuit. >> most of the chase circled through a five-block section of ward 8 near alabama avenue, before the vehicle crashed at the intersection of mississippi and south capitol in the southeast. witnesses say a police dog actually took the suspect down about a half a block away from the crash. we'll show you more of the chase and give you the latest developments on it tonight on news4 at 5:00. pat? >> all r

tisha thompson, news 4. >>> we have been keeping an eye on the roads as we speak. let's see what she has to tell us about how traffic is moving. >> normally, you focus on one area, today, you are around the entire dmv. >> if you can stay in, i would. over 40 roads closed. let's head over now as you make the trip in fairfax county there. 80 roads are closed. these are local roads. the interstates look good. on i-95 in both directions, nice and clear in virginia. no issues there. 66 as well inside and outside of the beltway. no problems. i can tell you, local roads are just a mess on some of them. like tisha said, if your kids aren't driving you crazy, stay in. back to you both. >> thank you. sandy left a massive mess in new york city. it's one of the hardest hit areas. a angie is covering it for us. >> it's a huge mess. new york city is waking up to fires, flooding after sandy ripped through the area. first, devastating video of the monster six-alarm fire that completely destroyed 80 to 1000 homes in queens. close to 200 firefighters with the help of the army nation

tisha thompson was right in the middle of the action. here's what she saw unfolding on neighborhood streets. >> reporter: the silver crown victoria flew by us on wheeler avenue with at least 20 police cars in pursuit. >> today, at approximately 11:30, this morning, there was a vehicle traveling southbound on the baltimore washington parkway in the area of 410. we checked and confirmed it to be a stolen vehicle. >> reporter: over and over again the suspect ccled through the residential neighborhood along alabama avenue between wheeler and 15th street. police sources tell news4 onlookers actually jumped out into the street between the suspect's vehicle and the police cars, while others appeared to be cheering on the suspect. we saw him again when he came down 13th street onto savannah. before he finally crashed at south capitol and mississippi avenue, when he slammed into this black honda driven by a man in a domino's pizza uniform. witnesses say he hit the honda so hard it popped the black car into the air. >> i came out and he got out of

tisha thompson has our report. >> reporter: pay to park, or pay the fine. >> happens if you don't pay the meter? >> then you get a ticket. >> reporter: parking officers don't play around in the district. >> i've got a ticket. i'm only three minutes over the time limit. >> reporter: after getting a tip from a viewer, the news4 iteam started its own parking patrol. wait until you see which district employees are illegally parking all day. and getting away with it. >> oh, wow. that's interesting. >> well, i think it's unfair. >> reporter: it's 7:00 a.m. spots are filling up fast around the d.c. government's center on 14th and northwest. while some drivers drop in coins, it's hard not to notice car after car after car sitting at unpaid meters. hanging on the mirror, handicapped placards. according to d.c. law, placards only allow you free parking for twice the posted time on the meter. we watched this guy day after day park his dodge charger on this street at a two-hour meter. he climbs into a d.c. department of transportation van that drives across town where it drops him off at his job

tisha thompson is investigating the ballot problems for us. >>> a developing story this afternoon. the tunisian government said it has arrested a man reportedly linked to the u.s. consulate attack in libya last month. a government official said the 28-year-old is in custody now. right now the u.s. state department is not commenting about the arrest. earlier this month, two other tunisian men were arrested in turkey. ambassador christopher stevens and three others died in the embassy attack september 11th. >>> a former employee is suspected of opening fire inside a mega church. one person was killed. it happened here this morning at the world changer's church international. police are searching now for 52-year-old floyd palmer. they consider him armed and dangerous. world changer's church international is one of the largest churches in the country with 30,000 followers. its leader and founder, reverend dollar, leads a ministry of satellite churches all over the country. >>> where is the district's most notorious speed trap? if you guessed 295, you would be right. three of the five b