Good thursday morning, everyone. Breaking moments ago, arthur now a category 1 hurricane. Its threatening Holiday Plans for millions on the eastern seaboard. Hurricane warnings in effect for parts of north carolinas coast, where people are evacuating as arthur approaches. Abcs Marci Gonzalez is there, live in nags head, north carolina. Marci, good morning. Reporter good morning, reena and tahman. The wind and waves are still pretty calm here along the beach. A mild leadup to the storm gaining strength in the atlantic and heading this way. Loading up and leaving town, ahead of arthur. If its mandatory, you have to go. So, theres no decision to make. Reporter those mandatory evacuations in effect for hatteras island, north carolina, as residents and vacationers on the rest of the outer banks brace for the brunt of the storm. Were going to weather it out. If it gets bad enough that we have to leave and we have to go, well go. Its hard to get into the hurricane spirit. Reporter when it looks like this. When it looks like this. Reporter misleading sunshine, as arthur makes its way north. Threatening to bring 80mileperhour winds and coastal flooding to parts of north carolina. The people who live down here fulltime, you can bet even though its a 1, theyre taking it pretty seriously. Reporter with hurricane watches and warnings in place, the governor has declared a state of emergency for 25 counties. And lifeguards from florida to the carolinas, are already seeing the effects of arthur. The rip currents and stuff out here with the storm coming in. Reporter and as the storm comes in, Business Owners worry about customers heading out, ahead of the normally busy july 4th weekend. Were doing really Good Business today. But we have heard people talking about leaving. So, if they leave, then our business is going to go down. Reporter yeah, not the best timing. But a lot of people say they do plan to ride out the storm, even though it is expected to pass here early tomorrow morning, as a category 1 hurricane. Reena and tahman, back to you. All right. Marci, thank you very much. Marci gonzalez, live in the outer banks this morning. The approaching storm is changing Holiday Plans up and down the east coast. In boston, arthur is expected to arrive tomorrow evening right about the time of the annual fourth of july extravaganza. Instead, the celebration will be held tonight, complete with fireworks. Fourth of july a little bit early. Lets find out where the storm is heading. Accuweather meteorologist stef davis joins us now. Stef, good morning. Thanks, reena and tahman. Arthur is northnortheast of jacksonville, florida. And it will continue to push north. We do expect it to reach myrtle beach, south carolina, thursday night, bringing along with it, rain between 1 and 3 inches, with wind gusts between 40 and 60 miles per hour. The worst conditions are expected thursday night into friday for the outer banks. Rain between three and five inches. And wind gusts between 60 and 80 miles per hour. These are prompting some advisories. Tropical storm warning for myrtle beach and virginia beach, a hurricane warning in store for the outer banks. Now, for people heading to the beaches on the fourth of july holiday, rough surf and strong rip currents are the biggest threats. The bulk of the rain and wind will be offshore. Reena, tahman, back to you. Stef davis, thank you. And stay with abc news, as we track arthurs path. The very latest coming up on good morning america. Damage and Power Outages overnight as a line of nasty thunderstorms swept through new york city. You can see lightning striking the new World Trade Center tower in lower manhattan. No injuries or damages were reported. The decorative facade of a wall underneath the Brooklyn Bridge collapsed during the heavy rain. Five pedestrians were slightly injured. And north of the city, an elderly woman had to be carried from her home after raging floodwaters surrounded her house. Severe weather also took its toll on firefighters in vermont. Seven were sent to the hospital after lightning struck near them while they were fighting a house fire. Its believed the blaze was also started by lightning. None of the firefighters were seriously injured. But one or two were being kept in the hospital overnight. The lack of rain in northern californias wine country is feeding a raging wildfire. The blaze has grown to nearly sixsquare miles. Most of the flames are chewing through dry vegetation well north of major vineyards. So far, the fire has destroyed two homes and seven other structures. Hundreds more homes are in danger. And mandatory Evacuation Orders are still in place. The immigration debate is heating up in southern california. A huge crowd gathered to debate the recent influx of Central American kids entering the country illegally. More than 700 people showed up for a Community Meeting in the city of marietta. Where the mayor says they feel dumped on by the federal government. On tuesday, angry protesters there blocked three buses carrying undocumented women and children from Overcrowded Processing Centers in texas. A 19yearold woman from suburban denver is facing terrorism charges after she allegedly fell in love with an i. S. I. S. Fighter online. She vowed to help his cause. Newly unsealed documents revealed that Shannon Conley was arrested at Denver Airport in april, while trying to head to syria. Court papers say she planned to marry her 32yearold suitor and join his camp. Conley is a nurses aide with military training. The fbi says she was bent on waging jihad. Reena, there was another wave of violence in the middle east overnight. More than a dozen israeli air strikes aimed at hamas targets in gaza. At least ten palestinians were injured as rockets rained down near a hamas training camp. The attacks followed a barrage of rockets fired from gaza. Palestinians have accused israeli extremists of killing an arab teenager to avenge the murder of three israeli teens. Testimony in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius could conclude as early as today. The olympic runners defense says its last witness is on the stand. In court yesterday, part of a psychologist report was read, stating that pistorius is suffering depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, since he shot and killed reeva steenkamp. Pistorius faces up to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder. Toronto mayor rob ford is out with some stark admissions now that hes back on the job. During interviews yesterday, ford said he used, quote, every drug you can probably think of. Those include marijuana, cocaine, crack and mushrooms. But ford says hes never used heroin. He also admitted drinking at city hall. But says he never used drugs there. Good luck to him. Yeah. Just in time for Independence Day, a large group of new americans have just been sworn in in atlanta. Nearly 1,100 people from 120 countries took their citizenship oath yesterday at turner field, the home of the braves. Similar ceremonies will be taking place all across the country this weekend. One of the men who became a citizen, said his first job in america was cleaning the same stadium 14 years ago. Congrats to all of them. Yes. Yes. Welcome to america. Coming up, better late than never. The story behind a letter that arrived more than eight decades after it should have. And planes are forced to land for all types of reasons. But flooding . This morning the bizarre water problem at 30,000 feet in the air. Plus, catch of the day. A baseball game vendor steals the show from the stands. At 15, i was addicted. By 40, ill have lung disease. At 50, ill die of a heart attack. Dr. Regina benjamin cigarette smoke causes immediate damage that leads to health problems, even death. Those who quit or die are being replaced by a new generation of smokers. Im dr. Regina benjamin, United States surgeon general. Go to cdc. Gov. Learn how to make our next generation tobaccofree. When i have an asthma attack. I feel scared. Sometimes my parents have to take me to the hospital. I feel like a fish with no water. You know how to react to their asthma attacks. Heres how to prevent them. Call. Visit. Or call your doctor. Because. The Apartment Building where the fire was. When things like this happen, i think you find a new perspective on life. Hi. Red cross put us in a hotel so we were able to stay together. Were strong and, if we overcame that or if we can overcome that, we can overcome anything, so. [ sniffle ] this morning, all eyes are on the june unemployment report. As of last month, the u. S. Economy has now recovered all 9 million jobs it lost in the Great Recession six years ago. And a report says the private sector went on a hiring spree last month, adding more jobs than expected. The markets, also riding high with the dow and s p 500 both breaking records again yesterday. Chrysler says this is the most powerful muscle car ever. The Dodge Challenger srt is rated at more than 700 horsepower. It also has the most powerful v8 engine the company has ever produced. The hell cat, as they call it, will go on sale later this summer. No word on how many miles to the gallon it gets. And the price of beer is on the rise, particularly microbrews. Hops prices are going up because theres a shortage in this country. Microbrews use more hops than regular beer. And the increasing popularity of microbrews is why theres a shortage. 7eleven is hoping it has a new hit with a treat featuring doritos. Its called doritos loaded. And basically its a triangle of warm, melted cheese, encrusted in doritos nacho cheese flavored breading. A pack of four costs 1. 99. The doritos crust has the same texture as a mozzarella stick. With that familiar orange color. Would you eat it . I would. They should bring some here for us. We would eat anything at this hour, quite frankly. Thats exactly right. And maybe, what about this . Think some cotton candy flavored coda would be perfect with those dorito delicacies . Bring it on. Yeah . Yeah. Lets do it. The folks at Faygo Beverage Company in detroit have something for you, tahman. The bluecolored cotton candy soda is their 54th flavor. Its being rolled out across the midwest soon. And then, it goes nation wide. Cotton candy soda . I dont know. But i need to step away to get some food. All these foods. Theres crusty bagels at the break room. Im going for it. When we come back, danger beneath the water. A man fishing at a pond is attacked by a gator. Hear from the woman who carried him to safety. Plus, royal surprise. What happened at wimbledon that put these expressions on kate and wills faces . Oh, i like that one. Its so quick its just like my car insurance. I saved 15 in just 15 minutes. I saved more than that in half the time. I unfriend you. Thats not how it works. Thats not how any of this works. [ male announcer ] 15 minutes for a quote isnt how it works anymore. With esurance, 7 1 2 minutes could save you on car insurance. Welcome to the modern world. Esurance. Backed by allstate. Click or call. Welcome to the modern world. We fill our freshly baked flatbread, with bold, unflat flavors. Like taste inspired by the freshness of the mediterranean. So you always get flavor thats anything but flat. New flatbread sandwiches, try one today. Cozy or cool . Exactly the way you want it. Until boom, its bedtime your mattress is a battleground of thwarted desire. Enter the sleep number bed. Right now, you can save 400 on the allnew c4 mattress set. Hes the softy. His sleep number setting is 35. Youre the rock, at 60. And snoring . Sleep numbers even got an adjustment for that. You can only find sleep number at a sleep number store. Right now youll find the lowest prices of the season, plus 36month financing on qualifying purchases. Know better sleep with sleep number. Daisy is made from only 100 natural, 100 pure ingredients with nothing else added. Meals are simply better with a dollop of daisy. Do a dollop of daisy north carolinas outer banks are bracing for arthur. Heres a live picture. It doesnt look like much now. But things will be changing. Already, the wind is picking up and the surf is churning. Theres a mandatory Evacuation Order for hatteras island. Evacuations are voluntary elsewhere. If those visitors are driving, they should make sure their windshield wipers are working. The roads will be wet and sometimes flooded throughout the eastern seaboard and along the gulf coast into texas. There will be rain in big sky country. If youre flying, airport delays are possible in boston, washington, philadelphia, new york and charlotte. Qantas airways says its trying to determine what caused a water leak on one of its longhaul flights. Water rained through the ceiling of the doubledecker a380 jet tuesday night after it took off from l. A. X. It was headed to australia. But as the water flowed, the pilot turned the plane around, landing safely back in l. A. There was no entertainment. Yeah. You couldnt keep going 15 hours like that. The airline said there were no safety concerns because of the leak. But its getting to the bottom of how it happened. The 400 or so passengers were put in hotels and rebooked for another flight to australia yesterday morning. Emergency crews are still working this morning to clear train tracks outside pittsburgh after a derailment and fire. Investigators believe one train rearended another, derailing three cars within seconds. Two fuel tanks caught fire, sending huge plumes of black smoke and flames into the air, dangerously close to homes and businesses. We heard a big crash. It was like the loudest crash ever. We all looked over from the pool, over towards the railroad. And the biggest ball of flame ive ever seen in my life. As a precaution, nearby residents were evacuated until the fire was put out. One of the trains still had residue from an earlier load of ethanol, which can be highly toxic around flames. Crews hope to reopen the tracks later today. Tour buses for two classic rock bands went up in flames in a philadelphia parking lot. The two buses belonged to styx and foreigner. The fire started on one of them and spread to the other. They were parked and unaccompanied at the time. So, no one was hurt. And no gear was damaged. No word yet on how the fire started. The bands are going to perform in jersey tonight as scheduled. A scary situation from a state park near houston. An alligator attacked an elderly man who was fishing there. The gator measured about eight feet long. It bit the man on the hand after he fell down when running away from it. Luckily for him, a Good Samaritan came to the rescue. The alligator bit him in the hand. I was running. And i stopped and just ran back, pulled him up and ran with him. Wildlife officials captured the animal and eventually put it down. The man will be fine. So, there will be a new mens champion at wimbledon now that andy murray has been defeated. He lost in straight sets yesterday to a player from bulgaria. Last year, murray became the first british player to win wibls mens singles title in 77 years. But he was overmatched yesterday, admitting afterward his opponent was the better player, start to finish. And will and kate were at the match. The anguish of murrays loss, written all over their faces. Always looking good, though. Youre right. Theres one more day of rest today for the teams still involved in the world cup. In the meantime, well get some baseball highlights from our chatty friends over at espn. Good morning. Welcome to our sportscenter set in los angeles. Along with neil everett, im stan verrett. We have quite a race going on in the n. L. West between the dodgers and giants. You didnt say good morning, america. What if theres people watching who arent in america . Good point. Or in america, not american. It doesnt matter where you are. You love baseball. If youre a dodger fan, you do not love brian wilson right now. He retired just one of six batters he faced. He allowed just 1 run in his last 16 2 3. But he would give up three in onethird against cleveland. Still, dodgers have a chance. 54, two on, two outs, bottom ninth. Matt kemp. And you need another two or three scoops of wheaties. Cody allen gets the save. Cleveland holds on for the 54 win. Giants taking on the cardinals. Top third. No score. Two runners on for matt carpenter. Carpenter fielded something. Oscar tavares comes in to score. 10, st. Louis. Later in the third, same score. Matt holliday, ready to celebrate. Mark ellis scores. Adam wainwright did the job on the mound. 7 2 3, 4 hits, 1 strikeout. Cardinals win it, 20. So, dodger fans are happy the giants lost. The giants fans are happy the dodgers lost. Or the other way around. See how well we Work Together . Thats all we got. All right, guys. Appreciate you. A great catch to show you from the majors. But it didnt happen on the field. It was in detroit. And it is our play of the day. Foul ball in the stands behind third base. And look who caught it, a vendor using his icefilled bin. Wow. He was even nice enough to hand it off to a fan. And then, he took a bow. It was welldeserved. Great going. Somebody give that vendor a contract. Absolutely. It wouldnt have been nearly Independence Day without a good wiener dog race, right . Of course it wouldnt. So, thats what theyre doing, right there in pittsburgh. It was the tenth annual wiener 100 dachshund races. More than two dozen wiener dogs were in the running. Some took a straighter path to the finish line than others did. But they all got their eventually. And their owners love them no matter if they won or lost, which is the point, right . Yeah. Its all about running the race. Theyre cute. They are. Up next in the pulse. Apparently were not loving it. The surprising results of fast food titans. And caught on camera. A behemoth capsizes a 20foot boat. The hotel hasallye care of ourry to be right. Ep. Id for a night. You can get a 4star hotel for up to 60 off, even at the last minute. In the neighborhood where we wanna go . Yes. You just wont the name until after you book. Hmm. Ooh. Definitely. Its all about sleep. Its not all about sleep. Yeah, well, for me it is. Lucky me. Time, now, to check the pulse, the stories youll be talking about today, starting with a new guide, of sorts, for fast food lovers. It looks like they may want to steer clear of the golden arches. A Consumer Reports survey on fast food found mcdonalds has the worst tasting burger of all. When it comes to tacos and burritos, taco bell came deadlast. And for chicken lovers, kfc is also the bottom of the bucket. Thats what those brands are known for. The taco, the burger, the chicken. I still like the doritos loco things. I do. I like all of them. The 2 cent stamp on the envelope gave it away. A letter mailed 83 years ago was found just last week. Postal officials found it in the incoming mail. But of course, the person to whom it was addressed is no longer alive. So, it was addressed to the granddaughter. There was an apology for taking so long to write. Dearest mother, im just getting around to writing. And i imagine you have been anxiously waiting for a letter all week. I have no excuses but that i just didnt get to it. Theres lots of things to tell you, too. And then, she goes on for page after page. The good folks at the post office say the letter may have been stuck in sorting equipment all these years. But sometimes pranksters deposit old letters in mailboxes just to cause a stir like this. It got where it needed to go. Pranksters. I want to know the 90yearold man was who had it. Exactly. And two people hoping to catch a whale or two on camera off the coast of san diego got much more than they bargained for. Sure did. They were snapping away when an enormous blue whale slammed into their 23foot boat. Mostly rubber boat, really. It was no contest. The boat turned over. And they got dumped in the water. But help came quickly. And they ended up with plenty of pictures of their extremely up close and personal look at that whale. Ironically, they were whale watching, if you can believe that. Theyll be tweeting out those pics. So, you have big plans for the fourth of july . Headed back to washington. I might do like a water sport activity kind of thing. Maybe a little picnic. Picnic sounds good. Barbecue, maybe. For some of you, your local news is next. For everyone else, team usas tim howard and his High School Yearbook quote thats right on point. Youre going to want to check that out. Thats your guy, right . Tim howard . I love him. I love him. Abe get in punch it let quicken loans help you save your money. With a mortgage thats engineered to amaze thanks, g. And here. But what about here . [ female announcer ] neutrogena® visibly even daily moisturizer with a clinically proven soy complex. It diminishes the look of dark spots in 4 short weeks. And just like that your skin will look radiant and more even. Even from here. [ female announcer ] visibly even moisturizer and new bb cream. From neutrogena®. Live from the kgotv Broadcast Center this is abc7 news. It is thursday. It is almost like friday. Practically. Very close. Thank you very much for joining us. We have low clouds in the bay area with fog, and drizzle along the coast. And a big road closing. So much going on. As we look at live doppler 7 hd we do have the thick marine layer that is still at the coast bringing using for and spotty drizzle in pacifica and elsewhere. Be careful. There is reduced visibility with a warmup this weekend you can see the clouds it up by the city lights but we have a mild to warm fourth of july and a warming trend this weekend and possibly triple budgets on sunday and monday. We have a your closing starting at 9 00 in San Francisco last night and the 280 extension lit up in purple is shut down between 101 and downtown so avoid the area with detours in place around until monday morning and possibly end sooner and we will let you know with the details. The power is become on in the south bay but for a couple of hours the outage caused chaos in the ambulances in santa clara county. Nick . We getting information now. We spoke with the Communications Director who says things are back to normal. Crews were outside the fence because of a power outage at 10 30. The from could not handle 911 calls phone santa clara county. 911 calls were routed through San Jose Police and fire dispatch and relayed to county crews. I spoke with michael petry. We brought in our command staff to home and went to modified dispatch plan. We have added extra ambulances to the system and everyone who is calling 1991 is getting a Fire DepartmentFirst Responder and an ambulance quickly. The county worked overtime to fix the problem. They enwhatted on make sure everything was verified before they switched it back. This morning, i can tell you that we just confirmed with t