Transcripts For WBFF Fox 45 Morning News 20091209

next on fox 45 morning news. we have to be prepared for anything. waking up to a wet mess on the roads, where in maryland they're seeing the biggest chance of icy conditions. we made it very clear that we need to find $3.5 million. an overnight fire breaks in west baltimore, how it was affected by closing fire companies. and it's your chance, where you can go today to get an h1n1 vaccine even if you're not in the priority risk group. good morning. it's wednesday, december 9th. i'm patrice harris. you're waking up to a messy morning and because of it, we have a school delay to pass along to you this morning. garrett county public schools are on a two-hour delay and we need to get a check of the roadway now for everyone else that is heading out at this hour. candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge and it's messy. >> reporter: it really is, patrice. thankfully, it didn't freeze but it's going to be a messy ride out there. we already have flooding to talk about at patapsco avenue. that water is about wast waist p and there's three vehicles that are stranded there. the good news is there's no drivers that were in that vehicle. this could be in your neighborhood. just use caution. we want to check on at 9 895 ate same vicinity. can you see it's running reasonably well in both directions. it's slick roadways that we have to deal with. on the southbound 895, from the harbor tunnel toward 895, running normal 895, 52 miles per hour. and from the fort mchenry tunnel down to the beltway looking at an 8-minute drive, gyr54 miles per hour. it dips down to 52 miles per and now looking at a 12 minute clip and that volume is only increasing from here. the same deal from 83 to 795 an 8-minute drive, 52 miles per hour. of course, you don't need to he go that fast, because it's very easy to hydroplane in this. use extra caution as you head out. that's a look at your morning travels. now we do need to get a check of the weather with meteorologist steve fertig. thank you, candace. as you said it's very wet out there. heavy rhine and we expect it to continue in the next couple of hours. the rain is falling heavy around the eastern shore where there's a flash-flood. we will hear from jessica starr about the watches and warnings around the area. we have heavy rain falling on the west side of the west side and the northern, too, wherever you see the yellow, that is heavier rain compared to the green areas. out on hagerstown, will you run into lighter rain as you go. it was heavier a while earlier but the bulk of the rain is moving east so it's lightening up some mean whale back to the west you will see the, purple area, not much of maryland affect affected but, don't be surprised if you see patches of ice. be careful as au head ou as youe this morning. that will make for tough even if it isn't an icy ride this morning. take a look the mild temperatures, helpful with the 50s and 60s. the further west you go the colder it is and the better chance of some of that ice. patrice, let'send is it back to you. the storm system brought a wintery mix to most of the region. lat night people living in west baltimore got a bit of rain and snow. there was also he snow in timonium and howard county. at the state highway admnistration, officials there say they are getting ready for whatever comes our way. >> if it's rain, it's still a concern because it could freeze up. if it's sleet, that is always nasty. we have to be prepared for anything. that is what we're doing. we are monitoring and if we have to put crews out and salt out then we will. >> officials say even if there's no ice the rain can still cause slick conditions and even leaves on the roadways can cause cars to slip. they are asking drivers to be extra caution this morning. locally we are mostly dealing with rain right now but some some ports of maryland there's a wintery advisory and that could mean icy roads. jessica starr is at carroll county with the latest conditions there and a lot of rain. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, yes, lots and lots of rain. that is what we're dealing with this morning. the temperatures not cold enough for the wintery mix at carroll county, but the main concern is going to be the slush hey conditions because the snow that we had on saturday, you can see on the ground is the snow and the rain on top of it. the main concern is going to be flooding because the temperatures are above freezing so the snow is melting and atop of the heavy rainshowers that we're getting this morning, falling well, existentially with heavily rainshowers is going to cause for flooding. that is going to be the main threat this morning as we go through the morning commute. the roads behind me, people are doing just fine, but there are slick spots out there from all of the rainshowers we had. i will breakdown the watches and warnings that are in effect for the viewing area coming up in a few minutes. for now reporting live from carroll county, jessica starr, back to you guys. the rain is causing problems on area roadways. so far three cars are underwater because all of the rain. joel d smith joins us from west baltimore. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, we're at patapsco avenue a location for flooding, and so look at what happened again. up to the middle side of the driver side road, that is how high this water is right now. three vehicles tried to get through, couldn't do it. the operators of the vehicle got out and are safe from what we hear. the fire department came out in case they needed help with extraction but they did not. they are safe and their cars are inoperable. they have the hazards going and unfortunately i have experience with this. i have gotten myself stuck before. it takes a long time for the engine to get dried out before you can drive it again. tougher tow trucks have come out because of how much water is on the ground. take a look at how far the water has come from. we will say 40 yards away from there, and it has stopped getting higher and further up on patapsco avenue. the police are here and they have blocked off the road so no more cars will come this which. it will take a long time for this to dry out as well. keep an eye for areas like this. the speed limit here is 40 miles per hour. you may not be ready for these situation. as you get in deep water levels, these folks didn't know what they were getting into, or they wouldn't have come to this area. joel d smith, fox 45 mon 45 morg news. when your neighborhood sees winter weather, see it, shoot it, send it. you can send photos directly from your cell phone to pics at foxbaltimore.com. we are following breaking news this morning. a fatal fire breaks out in southwest baltimore overnight. three people were inside of the home in the 3100 block of pressman street. one person was able to get out on their home and firefighters had to rescue two others inside. one man was in cardiac arrest. he was taken to shock trauma where he was pronounced dead. a woman was taken to the hospital with respiratory problems. there's no word on her condition. >> they both were treated here on by paramedics and were transported to shock trauma where we learned that the man expired due to the injuries in the fire. the woman continues to be treated and we don't have enough data on her. truck 16 was one of the trucks that responded to the fire, but because of city budget cuts that truck will soon be out of business. the truck company will be closed as of the beginning of the new year. many city residents are concerned. they want to know what fire stations being put out of commission across the city, what happens if there's a fire at their house. megan gilliland joins us live in west baltimore with the latest. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. the only reason that truck 16 responded to the deadly fire this morning, is because truck 18 was on a rotating closure. truck 16 was a back up here this morning, but soon that back up will be closing permanently. of course, raising a lot of concern with the people who live here in this neighborhood. already one person died here this morning and many wonder what could have happened. willy lives in this neighborhood and you said you're nervous about these fire companies closing. how does it make you feel? >> very nervous, because when i first came out and saw this fire, it was gushing out. i saw the first truck come down, and then i guess, about 5 or 10 minutes another one came. it took probably, i imagine 15 to 20 minutes for all of them, quite a few cars to get here. it took a while. you want somebody to come right away learning that truck 16 will be closing, does that make you even more nervous. >> very nervous, very nervous. this time of year, wintertime, everybody is trying to keep warm all kind of different ways. it's important that they are here as soon as possible. >> reporter: and willy is concerned, that they are widespread throughout baltimore. and fire chief cart wright is here to let us know that while this is concerning, and the budget i cuts are serious, there will be people to respond. >> these are challenging and tough economic times and no one is exempt. we are asking that the community and the public standby us and support us as we endure this hardship. we would like them to find comfort that he we have a resilient workforce, almost 1800 men and women who are committed to doing the job that they do. >> when people call for help, will there be someone to help them? >> we can assure them, when they summon 911 for medical or fire service, they will get someone on the scene. >> reporter: we are still looking at budget cuts. is the beginning of fire stations closing? >> it's still early. there's a lot to endure right now. we have to work with our resources as well as the city management to manage this and we are hopeful that at the end all of this will pan out and everybody will be satisfied. >> reporter: chief cartwright, thank you. we are live in north baltimore. megan gilliland, fox 45 news. we will talk with the president of the fire officer's union coming up later this hour. still to come, healthcare reform passes a major hurdle, why it's one step closer to a final vote. the icy mix is at safeway, we make the joy of the season... deliciously affordable. with a commitment to thousands of new everyday low prices. ♪ and with club card specials like... boneless pork loin roast, $1.99 a pound, you can get all the holiday oohs and ahhs you want... when you want them, at the price you need. ♪ that's our promise. that's ingredients for life. safeway. that's our promise. if you are waking up and about to head out, right now we're dealing with a lot of rain. in some parts of maryland there's a winter weather advisory in effect until about 7:00 this morning. and all the rain there could mean icy roads. meteorologist jessica starr is joining us live from carroll county with the latest on the conditions out there. good morning, jess. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. we're dealing with a cold rain this morning. the temperatures are hovering right around 38 degrees so it's just not cold enough for that winter weather to affect carroll county and portions toward the east. but that doesn't mean that there's not going to be slippery roads out there this morning, because we still have the snow fall that we had from saturday, and on top of it we're still getting the heavy rainshowers that are making for slick conditions and slushy conditions as well. right behind me i'm along m140, and it's moving steadily right now, but the rain is going to continue throughout the morning hours as we have the area flood watch and the aerial flood watch to breakdown the watches for you until 10:00 a.m. this morning. the system is going to take its time and drop 1-2 inches on top of that snow that we had on saturday. that is the main concern of the slick roads and the temperatures are hovering around 35 to 36 degrees here. reporting live from carroll county, back to you guys in the studio. >> reporter: thank you, jessica. you mentioned the aerial flood watch, and the aerial flash-flood watch to the northern eastern shore, until 6:00 p.m. tonight. we also have other advisories to tell you about like the wintery weather advisory in effect, for washington county and allegheny county, still a winter storm watch for the next hour. here is what we got on sky watch hd radar, the rain is indicated heavy in some spots. you're seeing it move along the i-95 corridor. if you're traveling that way, wilyou will continue to see heay rain. you will see icy conditions in frederick and allegheny county as well as washington county, too. we are looking at more rain on the way. it's going to continue for a while longer. if you're traveling further points north you will come across icy conditions and also into new york. they saw heavy snow and blizzard like conditions there. you can see the trailing cold front still has to move through here before it's done. it will get out of here by 9:00 this morning, and then in the afternoon we may see some lingering showers, and light showers. behind the front windier conditions and colder. we will dry out as we get to the latter part of today and we have to deal with the frontal wind ask colder temperatures. continuing the showers until 9:00 a.m. and you can see the lingering showers into the early afternoon but not as widespread. it finally gets out of here. you see the lines of equal pressure. that is the indication of the strong winds that is coming our way, for this afternoon and evening. as far as how much rain, we will see an inch 1/2 and 2 inches before we're done. it gets stronger in salisbury, expect the inches to get to 10-15 miles per hour. the cold air that is on the way behind the cold front that is coming your way for later on tonight into tomorrow as cooler temperatures arrive. not too bad in baltimore. that is what is keeping it plain rain to the eastern shore. 61 in salisbury. up in hagerstown, cooler to oakland with a better chance of those showers. the winds become the biggest story this afternoon with the colder air moving in. for now looking at milder temperatures, a 15-25--mile-an-hour wind. we got to get rid of this rain, first and that will take a few more hours. 52 degrees for the central part of the state for the high temperatures. 45 degrees in the western part of maryland. we will have to change that, it will be mostly clear skies then. after the 53 today, look for 40 degrees with mostly clear skies tomorrow. cooler and drier, 37 with mostly sunny skies 39 degrees on saturday. partly cloudy. 40 degrees on sunday with a chance of some rainshowers then, and 42 for both your monday and tuesday. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45's powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now candace dold is back with a look at your traffic. >> reporter: thank you, steve. we didn't have the precipitation freeze overnight, but we are still going to have a mess on the roadways. look at 95 at the northeast corner, already at 43 miles per hour. the big issue out there is flooding that we have to talk about in south baltimore at patapsco avenue at patis street. here it is, that water is actually waist deep. can you believe this? it's going to be straining three cars there. you can see them with the flashes lights on and thankfully no drivers. this is going to be the situation that is all too familiar for many people out there this morning. just use extra caution. we are an accident at o'donald street. and here it is, you couldn't see the flashing lights right on the shoulder, but just be aware that those will garner your attention if you're traveling through the area. an accident on southbound 295, that is going to be right near 895. as for the beltway, not too much to complain about through catonsville, but we want to show you exactly what it looks like on 695 at liberty road. it's going to be packed on the outer loop lanes and looking at a heavy ride on the inner loop direction at 795. that's a look at the morning travels, patrice, back over to you. still ahead an overnight fire breaks out in west baltimore. we made it very clear that we need to find $3.5 million. >> how it was affected by closing fire companies. and next, health care reform passes a major hurdle. >>democrats have come to a can consensusseddeconsensus regardie healthcare. they are taking it to a proposal. sandra endo is live at washington with the latest. >> reporter: moderate democrats are coming together over the health care reform moving the legislation to the next level. >> we got something that is good. >> reporter: at issue a government run health insurance option. democrats were split over how it would work. republicans opposite the option altogether. but it's now a non-profit insurance plan much like health care workers now get, an idea that moderate republicans could get on board with. still they are saying the legislation is single minded. >> it looks like the strongest argument that the deem rat demoe making on this bill is that they need to make history. that is the kind of comment that they make when all the poll data indicate that the american people don't want us to pass this bill. >> reporter: after late night legislations democratic senators agreed to lower the age from 65 to 55 years old. also yesterday an amendment to toughen the language for federal funding for abortion was shot down. with the major issues worked out the issue is now one step closer to a full vote. >> for us it moves this bill way down the road. >> reporter: the white says it's pleased with the new progress and now the compromise will go to the congressional budget office for a review. in washington i'm sandra endo. still ahead, stocks are down as the dollars rises, find out the latest news next. our team weather coverage continues. what you need to know to sts up to five times longer than ordinary toothpaste. 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(announcer) chat, email, or phone. personal shopper, another way to shop your way at sears. life. well spent. welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 6:29 is the time. i'm patrice harris. we have school delays to pass along to you this morning. garrett and allegheny county schools are opening two hours late this morning and if you take a look outside, you will see that weather is probably the reason why. but if you're headed out on the roads now, will you need some help. candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge report. >> reporter: thank you, patrice. it's going to be a dangerous ride out there. in fact, we already have flooding to talk about at patapsco avenue at patis street. there are three vehicles that are completely stranded in this mess. obviously this is going to be for this area, but you can always find it in your neighborhood as well. use extra caution as you head out this morning. for the main lines, we already have trouble. on southbound 95, here it is at o'donald street. you can see the flashes lhtsig because of a crash on the southbound lanes. that is going to be an extra issue you will have to deal with this morning. from the fort mchenry tunnel, pretty normal at 55 miles per hour. checking in on the beltway it's going to be a slow go in parts from i didn' 95 to 83, 53 milesr hour. it dips from 83 down with a 9-minute ride. look at this 33 miles per hour on the west side from 795, toward the west side a 19-minute drive. just be aware, you don't need to travel that fast, because it's very easy to hydroplane in this stuff. just use extra caution this morning. that's a look at the morning travels, we need to get a check of the weather with meteorologist steve fertig. >> reporter: thank you very much, candace. we're checking out the sky watch hd radar right now. here what we have plenty of rain not as much as the wintery mix. we had some snow last night but the rain started to infiltrate. that was the question if we would see the middle layer. all the warmth came in at all levels so it turned to rain. plenty of the northeast of the region seeing the heavier yellows meaning the heavier rain. that is where we're going to have the flash-flood watch on the northern part of the eastern shore until 6:00 p.m. tonight in fact. the rest of the area under an aerial flood watch and that will include the northern part of the central counties and further points south. back to the west, we also have a winter weather advisory still for allegheny county and also towards washington county as as well as frederick county, too. that is what we have for this morning. we have more rain on the way. we will get caught up on the details. right now back to you, patrice. the storm system brought a wintery mix to most of the region last night. people living in west baltimore got a bit of rain and snow. there was also he snow in timonium and howard county. over at the state highway admnistration, officials there say they are getting ready for whatever comes our way. >> if it's rain, it's still a concern because it could freeze up. if it's sleet, of course that, is always nasty. we have to be prepared for anything. that is what we're doing. we're monitoring and if we to to put crews out and salt out, then we will. >> highway officials say if there's no ice, you still have to be careful because the rain can cause shrie slick conditiond even the leaves on the roadways can cause problems. the weather is causing major problems on the roadways. so far flooding has stranded three cars in the middle of the road. joel d smith joins us live from southeast baltimore where it happened. good morning, joel. >> reporter: okay. we are live here and south baltimore. this is a place that gets wet a lot. remember the guy who lives he very close here. good morning, herman. is this what you guys see a lot when it starts raining. >> yeah, a lot. sometimes a lot of rain comes down. it doesn't seem like it accumulates. with the rain we had last night, i didn't think it was bad, and this is worst i have seen it. i have a little trailer up there on the lot and now i'm on watt to work, and i have never seen the tires covered. >> reporter: the folks thought they had enough to get through. obviously, they did not. i mean, the speed around here is around 40, so the people are coming pretty fast. >> people go a lot faster on patapsco than they should. and if they hit the speed at 55 and 65, and they hit this, they're going to have a lot of problems. >> reporter: 600 block of patapsco avenue right now. you're trying to get to work, what kind of adjustments have you tried to make to have a normal day? >> pretty much walking. i was going to take the bus right there, but i was going to be up to my knees. i'm going up to the metro station and down to d.c. >> reporter: what else could be done here to make it safer. >> i have seen them come out here. it looked like they were vacuuming out the drains with the big suction machine. that is the conclusion that i drew. outside of that, maybe they need to bring the road up or channel the water another way. i don't know. >> reporter: thank you for joining us. stick around for a second. we will talk to him and get more information later from him. i'm going to tell you that the vehicles that you see behind me. all the drivers are okay. the water came up too fast, they were not ready and the vehicles hydro locked, as it's called, water on the engine. it could be a long day for the drivers and if you see standing water. don't go through it. you could end up like them or even worse. we're glad they're okay. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. wherever winter weather hits your neighborhood, see it, shoot, it, send it. up load videos to our site. just log on to foxbaltimore.com and click it on the see it, shoot it, send it icon. can you send phots o photos tot foxbaltimore.com. we are following breaking news this morning. a fatal fire breaks out in southwest baltimore overnight. three people were inside of the home in the 3100 block of pressmon street. one person was able to make it out on their own. firefighters had to rescue two other inside. one man was unconscious and in cardiac arrest. he was taken to shock trauma where he was pronounced dead. a woman was taken to the hospital with respiratory problems. there's no word on her condition. >> they both were treated on the scene and transported to shock trauma where we later learned that the adult man expired, primarily due to the injuries suffered in the fire. the woman continues to be treated and we don't have an update on her. truck 16 is one of the trucks ta responded to the fire, but because of city budget cuts, that truck will soon be out of business. the truck company will be closed as of the beginning of the new year and many city residents are concerned. they want to know what fire stations being put out of commission across the city what happens if there's a fire at their house. megan gilliland joins us live from south baltimore with more on the story. good morning, mess an. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, the only reason that truck 16 responded to this morning's deadly fire is because truck 18 with the wall brook station was on a rotating close sure. truck 16 was the backup, but soon that backup will be closing, permanently raising a lot of concerns for the neighbors in this community. a ladder and rescue crew will soon be gone. this is the latest victim from the fire department cuts. also included will be four rotating stations closing daily, potentially cutting a $5.5 million deficit to more than 3. but for the people who live here in baltimore city, and for those people who stood here and watched this morning's deadly fire, there's concern that help will not be just around the corner anymore. >> of course, this is the challenge for every one of us, the fact that we're in these tough economic times. the fact that they may not have a fire company in their community is of great concern. but we are confident that we will be able to provide efficient service to the community that we respond to. >> every second counts and let's hope, if this happens to somebody -- in there, but you know every second counts. when you're in a fire you want somebody to come right away. >> reporter: initially chief james clack wanted to close two fire engine companies and a truck company, but during last night's city council meeting, mayor dixon disapproved of that and agreed to losing only one truck company. as you stand outside of a fatal fire you realize how important one fire company can be. live in west baltimore, megan gilliland, fox 45 morning news. stay tuned for fox 45 morning news for continuing coverage of this story. we will talk to the president of the firefighters union. coming up from squeaky clean to scandal. what it will take for tiger woods to repair his reputation. and flooding strands three vehicles in south baltimore this morning. i will tell you exactly where it a mey start to the morning. meteorologist steve fertig is here with a look at what you can expect as you head out this morning. good morning, steve. good morning, patrice. it has been a messy start with heavy rain in many locations. in fact, the aerial flood watch has been redoesed. carroll -- reduced. carroll county has been eliminated from the flood watch. & that is good news for you. ththe aerial flood watch is continuing until 10:00 a.m. and the southern portion of the eastern shore. meanwhile, a flash-flood watch is still in effect and that will continue through the 6:00 in the eastern part of the. winter weather advisory continues and there's a winter storm or warning still for allegheny county. that's the area of concern with regard to ice for the west you go. we take a look at the sky watch hd radar and let's zoom on to the eastern shore where the rain is falling the heaviest. you can see all of the yellow and the orange is falling around as we get north of the area toward queen -- queen ann's county and also kent county. those areas seeing the heaviest rain, i-95 generally as you travel north, going to see heavy rain there, i-83, still dealing with heavy rain and i-72, as we get toward frederick and hagerstown not so bad at this hour. the purple area indicating where you are seeing icy conditions still seeing it in allegheny county for the time being. that is why we have the winter storm warning there. let's take a look at the bigger picture. low pressure center moving off to the north and east. it will take the rain with it at 1:00 p.m. we will still have lingering light showers behind it. behind the frontal boundary we will get drier air to move later today. that will help, but the colder air will come and so will the strong winds. see these lines. these are lines of equal pressure. that will indicate stronger wind. that is what we will see happening this afternoon as we sit between the approaching high pressure and the low. the next frontal boundary brings cold air for the remainder of the weekend and next week cooler temperatures. 5 miles an hour winds. and we do expect the winds to pick up. 15-20-mile-an-hour winds gusting higher. 46 and reporting rain at the inner harbor. an east wind at not bad, 5 miles an hour. check out the temperatures, it's a pretty important part of the forecast because 46 degrees in more is the reason we are seeing plain rain here. d.c. 43 degrees, and a lot of warm coming up in the gulf. 61 degrees the temperature there and then you see the backside the frontal boundary, colder temperatures and a better chance of the colder conditions in hagerstown. 36 and 32 in oakland. as far as the high temperatures for today. we have already hit the high temperature in the eastern shore. 60 degrees and 15-20-mile-an-hour winds. the temperatures will drop later in the afternoon as the wind picks up and the cold air moves in. 15-20-mile-an-hour winds gusting higher. the rainshowers continue this morning and we should begin to dry out in the afternoon and actually start to see some sun late in day, not until late afternoon and right before sunset. 45 degrees for the western part of the area, some early showers still and even icy conditions with the southwest wind becoming southeast at 10-20. tonight main hely clear skies, 35 degrees for -- mainly clear skies and 35 degrees. and we get chillier and with the wind gusting up to 35-40, it's going to be rather chilly as you factor in the winds. the ref of the week goes like this -- the rest of the week goes like this. the temperatures cooled down, mostly clear skies and sun me conditions o--sunny conditions . and sunday 40 degrees headed to m&t stadium for the ravens-lions game. a kickoff with temperature at 40 degrees. a chance of snow showers yesterday mixed in with rainshowers, but now it looks like it will be a passing light rainshower if that. 42 degrees on monday with a chance of a little light rain-snow-mix and the same for tuesday is about the same 42 degrees for a high temperature. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or know will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now with a look at the soggy roadways out there. here is candace dold with the traffic. >> reporter: thank you, steve. thankfully the rain didn't freeze but it's making it easy to hydroplane. use extra caution as you head out. the speeds are pretty far down. look at frif at the northeast corner at the 55 miles per hour. it goes back up to 48 traveling through the city. we need to talk about southwest baltimore. there's flooding in fact, the water is waist deep and there are three vehicles that are stranded there. here is a look there, you can see the flashing lights, obviously, police on the scene. this is going to be an all too familiar situation for people in this area. unfortunately, can yo you can kt in your neighborhood. we have a crash at 295, the crash is over the guardrail on the southbound lanes. it's approaching 895. another dangerous area there. as for the west side of the beltway, checking in right at route 40, moving through the catonsville region. we can show you the outer loop lanes, take a look at the rain that is drenching the road there. that is going to be the same case on the en does your phone do searches ? does your phone do searches, for example, the word "human" ? does your phone do searches for "human" on the web, then google maps for places named "human," your contacts for any friends named "human," which would be weird if you had one. even your music for songs you forgot you downloaded ? droid does. search all digital creation. in a world of doesn't... kmart makes christmas count! with no payments, no interest, for six months. that means buy today, get six months to pay. only this month and only at kmart. there's smart, and there's kmart smart. ans to close three fire stations in baltimore city have been scaled back to one. but for many city residents and councilmembers, that is still one too many. fire chief jim clack proposed shutting down three stations in communities that could be serviced by three nearby companies. it's an effort to end the rough tating closures, but yesterday mayor dixon endorsed the perhaps altha-- proposal that it will oy close one fire company. union firefighters president joins us this morning. >> good morning. >> we are having you on a day when we actually have a fire he, very unfortunate but timely situation that we are talking about with fire closures. that is the concern that people have, their homes catch on fire and what can be done. is that the concern you have as well. >> yes it does. today tried to identify the distinguish between a fire company and a truck company. >> tell us the difference. >> the engine company their responsibility is to establish the water supply and put the fire out. the truck company is search and rescue and forcible entry. in today's tragedy, the fact of the matter is that truck 18 was only six blocks away. the second company truck 10 was more than 2 miles away so the difference is obvious. >> the closest one was closed because the rotating closures. >> yes, indeed? >>if you have to choose between shutting down fire companies permanently and rotating closures, which is preferable? >> frankly, neither is preferable for us. what is preferable for us is for our department to be funded fully and appropriately. we had reached bare bones with previous cuts and any additional cuts. we lost truck 2 back in july. any additional cuts as demonstrated by today's tragedy places citizens and our members in danger. >> are you anticipating more cuts because the city has come out in the past couple of weeks we are 1 b 150 million plus in e hole with the fiscal year coming up. that is probably not going to bode well for you? >> probably not and probably it will get worse before it gets any better. >> how much worse, what else could possibly happen? >> that's not a call for us to make. fortunately our job is simply to put fires out. the chief job is to manly the budget and keep the department with job. the mayor's job and the council's job is to make sure that all agencies ared properly. >> we will see if that happens. coming up in the 7:00 hour, our team weather coverage continues what we need to -- what you need to know to get through your morning commute. and next 10 mistresses and now a medical scare at his home. can - oh, it's on. - it's on. it's on. - it's on. - it's so on. it is totally on. jimmy, it's on. it's on. oh, yeah, it's on. pilot: affirmative, it's on. southwest airlines is proud to announce new service to milwaukee. fly southwest nonstop from baltimore/washington (bwi) to milwaukee for just $69 one-way. 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tiger woods. the company says that the decision was made months ago but announcement comes on the heels of tiger's very public and sex scandals. >> we take a look at tiger image and his future. good morning, hopefully, he still has a future. of course he will. let's talk about how he gets there. let's talk about gatorade or instrumentalitor aresult of wha. if you looked at tiger woods a short while ago, you wouldn't want anybody else as your endorser. they had a trirchg calle drink. the time is suspicious. there's more coming out about the night that he was in the car accident and was taken to the hospital. they say that he was listed as oding on vicodin and a ambient. >> everything seems snow bawling. the women that keep coming and his mother-in-law rushed to the hospital. we don't know a whole lot. that is why tiger needs to get out in front of this thing. no one has heard him speak. issued -- he issued a vague statement. he can do through friendly ways, a video on his website which seems very comfortable issuing statements through that. there's ways he can do it, but people need to hear his voice. that is a big step. >> what can he say to the public that is going to make them, and even if you take the vike owe v, and ambient out. what can he say to excuse 10 women outside of his. >> nothing, but i think most the country needs to hear him grovel or beg for forgiveness. he needs to say, we are going through a challenging time. we love each other and are working through it and we need to do that in privacy. we are working with our sponsors and hopefully my fans will stick with me at this time. i think that is what people need at this point. >> do you think that people care outside of the curiosity, do you think that people care that tiger is having an affair. >> sure. his brand has been tarnished. he built a brand playing off as a really good guy, a great father, a good husband. that was part of his brand. and by the way i'm the greatest golfer of all time. we also have a society that moves on quite quickly to the next incident and that will happen, but at some point he needs to talk about it. >> we will see if that happens in the coming days. john, thank you so much. coming up in the 7:00 hour, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. the top five holiday scams of 2009 and how to avoid them. and fire crews respond to a deadly fire in west baltimore. this morning, i'm megan gilliland, why these companies may not be able to respond to the next one. i'm joel d smith on patapsco avenue in south baltimore where the water continues to rise. up next, why this driver decided to try to get through we have to be prepared for anything. >> waking up to a wet mess to the roads. where in maryland they're seeing the biggest chance of icy conditions. we made it very clear that we need to find $3.5 million. an overnight firebreaks out in baltimore how it was affected by a closing fire company. it's your chance where you can go today to get an h1n1 vaccine even if you're not in the priority risk group. good morning. it's wednesday, december 9th. i'm patrice harris. we're off to a wet messy start this morning and because of it we have school delays to pass along to you. garrett county schools and allegheny county schools are two hours late this morning. so just be aware of that before you head out. and you also need to be aware of what you're going to face on the roadways once you do walk the road. candace dold is here with a look at the traffic edge. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. it's going to be a dangerous ride out there. we have been left with flooding in southwest baltimore. let's show what it looks like at patapsco avenue. that water is covering completely the tires there and you can see the flashing lights on the scene. but unfortunately this is going to be an all too familiar situation. the good news is you're taking a live look there. and the good news it there's been to drivers that have been injured as a result of this. just use caution if you are traveling there. as for the main lines, from the harbor tunnel toward 895, looking at a 9-minute ride, and bief is th55 is the average spe. a very slow go, 17 minutes. now at 39 at 83 up toward 795 with an 11-minute ride. we're in the red with 795 toward 95 in the west side. 25 minutes, 25 miles per hour and again just slow down this morning. it's very easy to hydro plain in this mess. that's a look at the morning travels, now it's time to look at the weather with meteorologist steve fertig. >> reporter: still dealing with the rain the further east you go. we have the aerial flash watch if place in the chesapeake bay. the west side of the chesapeake bay with a flash loa flash-flooh also in place until 6:00 p.m. tonight for the northern part of the eastern shore where we are expect the heaviest rain. still the winter weather advisory as you cross over the boundaries of maryland into pennsylvania as the western part of maryland earlier with the winter weather advisory that has now expired and we will see this expire, the winter storm watch with the further storms in allegheny county. we're seeing improvement but still the rain is falling. let's take a look at the temperatures, 47 degrees in baltimore. this has made all of the difference in terms of where we have seen icy conditions ask where we have seen just plain rain. look at that 62, in salisbury. a lot of warm air coming up from the gulf bringing the hille milr to the eastern shore. 36 in hagerstown, and 32 in oakland, where there's been a better chance for icy conditions. as you move through the morning, we begin to see things lighten up by 9:00 a.m. still rain falling through the area. by this afternoon, maybe a couple of lingering showers by 1 or 2:00 in the afternoon and it's all out of here. the areas of the lines of equal pressure indicate as the wind picks up in strength, too. we will expect the winds to pick up and the cooler air to move in by later tonight. 47 at 6:00 p.m., and 53 should do it for the high temperature today, tonight clearing out, though, 35 degrees will be a chilly night for the winds around 15-25 miles per hour and gusting higher. now we want to send it back to you, patrice. as steve said that storm system brought a wintery mix for most of the region. last night people living in west baltimore had a bit of rain and snow. there was also snow in i n timom and howard county. over at highway admnistration, officials say they are getting ready for whatever comes our way. >> if it's rain, it's still a concern because it could freeze up. if it's sleet, of course that, is always nasty so we have to be prepared for everything. that is what we're doing. we're monitoring and if we have to put crews out and salt down then we will. >> highway officials say even if there's no ice, the rain can still cause slick conditions and even leaves on the roads can cause cars to slip. they're asking drivers to be extra cautious this morning. now the weather is causing some major problems on area roadways. so far three cars have been stranded because of the rain. joel d smith joins us live from baltimore with more, good morning, joel. >> reporter: hi there, patrice. you said it. three scars stranded on the road, the 600 block of patapsco avenue. that is where we are right now. it happened at 4:30, 5:00. these cars coming down the road 40 miles per hour, but we hear many people are going faster than that. the visibility, it was dark and raining, and had he couldn' ande see ho -- see how high the water was. they had to abandon their vehicles and get into the cold water. definitely a scary situation. we talked to one of the drivers just a bit ago. >> the water was cold, deep, so finally we're sitting there and the water started rising up in the car inside of it. it started to go inside of the car. i told my wife, we're going to have to get out of here. she only had light clothes on. she was taking me to work to drop me off. they need to do something with that. >> reporter: he thinks they should have something in here to this not happen. we talked to residents and say this has happened every time. this time it's higher than they have seen it before. this water is much deeper near the vehicles but where we are walking on water, we were standing on a wet road before. the water is rising on patapsco avenue. the road has been shutdown buy police. for tow trucks to get in here and try to get the cars out is very difficult. this is just one location. other locations could be the same. visibility is not great, so if you see standing water, take a look at what happened here, and it could happen to you as well. please he go on th go the otheru don't know what you're getting yourself into. i'm joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. we are following a developing story this morning, a fatal fire breaks out in southwest baltimore overnight. three people were inside of the home in the 3100 block of pressman street. one person was able to make it out on their a own. firefighters had to rescue the other two inside. one man was unconscious and in cardiac arrest. he was taken to shock trauma where he was pronounced dead. a woman was taken to the hospital and there's no word on her condition. the firefighters are rapidly extinguish the fire and at this time we're waiting for the fire investigators to perform further assessments to determine what caused the fire. >> truck 16 is one of the fire trucks ta responded to the fire -- that responded to the fire but because of budget cuts that truck will soon be out of business. it's a budget move that council and city residents are worried of what will happen to them if there's a fire at their house. megan gilliland is live at west baltimore with the latest. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning parks tris, thpatrice, the onlyt truck 16 responded to the fire is because the truck 18 was on the retation. that backup will not be there as it is closing permanently. it is the latest cost-cutting measure for the city fire department shutting down truck 16 here in west baltimore. initially chief james clack wanted to close two fire engine companies and a truck company. during last night, city council meeting mayor dixon disapproved of that instead agreeing to only lose one truck company. the move will include four rotation close showers daily cutting a $5.5 million deficit to 3 million. >> this is a challenge the fact that we're in these tough economic times, the fact that they may not have a fire company in their community is of great concern, but we are confident that we will be able to provide efficient service to the communities that we respond to. >> reporter: fire officials say closing truck 16 will not affect response time. there's another truck company leb a milless than a mile away a fayette street. for the people who live in baltimore city, and for the people who witnessed this deadly fire saw that every second matters. there's concern that help won't be around the corner anymore. in west baltimore, i'm megan gilliland. fox 45 morning news. we want to know what you think. do you think that the rotating closures will affect fire response time? that is the question of the hour. we will take your calls later this hour. you can go to facebook, and send us a tweet at fox baltimore or text your answer to 45203 enter fox 45a for yes, and fox 45b for no. coming up the ravens fall to 6-6 after monday's night loss to the packers. post game reaction from quarterback joe flacco. the rain has been coming down pretty hard this morning in carroll county. now the main concern is going to be the snow that actually we had on saturday on top of the rain, we're getting about 1-2 inches today. you can see it's like a slushy kind of mix. that is not only on the grass but also on the roadways. i have seen a couple of trucks salting so there could be a couple of slick spots. but the temperatures are around 38 degrees, and it's a little warmer the further east you go. baltimore county and counties further east are still under the aerial flood watch and the eastern shore is dealing with the flash-flood watch until this evening as the coastal and the low pressure system is going to take its time. behind the system it's going to be the strong winds and steve will have a look at that coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you very much, jessica. we're taking a look at the rain that is moving in the eastern parts of area. back to the west looking a bit better. as you zoom west, still falling heavy in the eastern shore, especially in the northern part of the eastern shore where jessica was telling us the flash-flood will continue through 6:00 p.m. tonight. the western part is still looking better but the aerial flood washes as she told us. with the showers easing up some. as we go back to the west, though, travel, i-70 this morning looking a bit better if you're heading out rather than later this morning. we had areas indicating some icy conditions earlier, indicated by purple that we usually show for that. right now you're seeing nothing of the kind. looking a whole lot better. as we put things into motion, you will see how things have eased up. look at the purple area and the white too, indicating the snow and the freezing rain back to the west where we have had school delays as a result of. back to the east better with regards to less icy conditions but not as good with continued rainfall. that will again, continue for a bit longer as the frontal boundary continues to push toward the east. look to the north, traveling up to new york city, snow falling and heavy snow at that, and icy conditions moving up to the northern part of pennsylvania. we are looking at some improvement and headed our direction with the low pressure center. the warm front ahead of it. that was the tricky part. where will it move in? will we get the warm, middle layer. it went from cold last night and it changed over to rain except for the points west where we had a little bit of the mid layer of warm air bringing some sleet and freezing rain there. otherwise, we're looking at future scan and showing the heaviest rain to the eastern shore earlier this morning and moving out of here, still lingering showers possible for this afternoon, but generally it should be drier. the lines of equal pressure, i don't know if you can see them that easily. these lines indicating that we have stronger winds to follow. that will be accompanied by all of that wet surface as a result of the early rain. as much as an inch 1/2 or two inches of lane have fallen. the winds will pick up 1-2 inches of rain. the winds are expected to pick up even more so be aware of that as the cool air rushes in. that is what is coming your way for later on this week. cool air and still windy conditions. while we get rid of the wet stuff, we won't get rid of the cold air. in fact the coolest air still to come this weekend. 48 degrees for the current temperature in baltimore. 44 in washington d.c. because of the milder air for the central and eastern shore areas. that is why we have plain rain moving in rather quickly. 36 degrees in hagerstown and through degrees i32 degrees in . expect the eastern shore to get up to 60 degrees. that is where we are right now in some spots. 15-25--mile-an-hour winds, very mild air in fact with the winds picking up this afternoon. 55 degrees for the central part of the state. 55-mile-an-hour winds gusting higher. the further points west we will see cooler temperatures there, low 40s to 45 degrees for the high with a 10-20-mile-an-hour wind. tonight mainly clear skies, 35 for the overnight low with a southwest wind at 15-20 miles per hour. gusting 35-40, it will be windy and chilly. as we look at the next several days. let's start today. we will get up to 50 by noon. get the had i too muc the high f 55 degrees. 46 at 6:00 p.m. as the skies clear. tomorrow only 40 for the high. 39 partly cloudy on saturday and 40 degrees on sunday headed to m&t bank stadium. ye talked about the chance of light rain or snow showers pushing through. right now it's a couple of rainshowers and 40 degrees for high temperature and the game time kickoff temperature. 42 degrees on monday with a chance of light rain-snow mix and the same for tuesday again with 42 degrees and the light rain-snow mix. the fox 4 45 sky watch weather s at your finger tips. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the ente interactive tools willt you know when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now let's see what is happening on the roadways with candace dold. she has the traffic edge. candace. >> reporter: thank you, steve. luckily it's not a freeze but it's a dangerous rain out there. it's very easy to hydroplane to you need to make sure that the speeds are down wherever you're traveling. they're pretty far down on the beltway. look at this, 35 miles per hour near security boulevard and at 18 miles per hour on 695 taking it right near the kay ton catone area. we have to talk about incidents out there wrecking havoc on the roadways. flooding at patapsco avenue. take a look at this. three cars were stranded as a result of this and that water is covering up the tires there. obviously a very dangerous situation here and unfortunately, can you find it right in your area. just use extra caution and make sure you slow down this morning, of course. we do have trouble on the main lines. a car is over the guardrail on southbound 295. it's right at 895 and this does take out one lane there. just be aware that you will find the flashing lights. on 95 better news, we finally cleared out an accident on the southbound lanes that was right at owe donned stree o'donald sts going to be the same incident. an accident involving an overturned vehicle completely shutting down eastern boulevard. you will want to stick with route 40 and head over to earles road an a an alternate. the usual dreaded road it's going to be gridlocked. the cars not even mo moving in e outer loop direction. that's the same deal toward towson. that's a look at the early [ holiday music playing ] don't let those long holiday lines bury you. grab a delicious new dunkin' donuts peppermint mocha latte and chocolate mint donut today. great flavors, great value -- just another reason the holidays run on dunkin'. try the new peppermint mocha latte and chocolate mint donut today. good morning, everybody. here is your first look at sports. be honest, you knew it would be tough for the ravens in lambeau. what happened on monday night wasn't exactly a surprise but it sure was discouraging. after spotting the packers 7-0 half time lead the ravens get going in the 3rd. and the joe flacco throws a 4th quarter touch down. ravens down 17-7 as washington tries a lam lamb lambeau lead, o the hands of jarrod johnson for the interception. john sore returns it to packards territory and the ravens are in business. willis knacwillis mcgave turns h the lambeau lead but with the ravens fans that's a much better idea. the packers put it back up. and he joe flacco rolls and throws across his bod he body fd hdemitrius williams. the packards win 2714 ove 27-14e ravens. >> i think it was a stupid decision and even a worse throw. you don't need to make a play there. you can give another shot a 3rd down and if you have to pick. >> we are fighting for our lives right now but we are still breathing. we are still alive and i think our character and our heart is to finish up the season. >> they played well. they're a good defense. we got good guys on the outside and they were able to get a little -- anytime you play like that, it makes it tougher to operate in there. i thought we did a good job. we gave ourselves to get back in the game and win the game there. we just made a mistake you can't make. >> you have to wonder if the referees had to ice down their arms after the game. they sure were flag happy. there were 23 penalties for a combined 310 yards. the ravens had 12 penalties including four pass interference flags. that gives them 12 which is a lot in the nfl and the raven are aware of it. >> it's not discipline. it's the way you play a technique. some the interference calls were good calls and some of them i don't know where the interference was. we will keep on playing. and keep your hands-off of it. we have been a lot better than in the last four or five weeks. and we want to remind you, you can see the ravens continue their push for the playoffs this sunday here on fox 45 when they host the detroit lions. kickoff set for 1:00 p.m. the ravens 5:45 thi at 1:00. no matter where you are from. we are looking for ravens fans to send us photos to show off your purple pride. go to foxbaltimore.com/purple pride or send your video and photos directly from your cell lot of people feel generous looking for ways to give to those around them, but there's plenty of scammers ready to spoil your holiday cheer. andy barnett is here to join us with the top 5 holiday scams. let's go down the list and you can explain it. you get viruses from holiday e cards, they're supposed to be nice? >> absolutely, if you are clicking on e cards, people that you don't know or they can be deceptive or downloading and looking for christmas holiday lyrics. you got to watch it because you could load on to your computer viruses that can spread and take on your pass words and compromise your computer for the rest of the year. >> sweep stakes. >> yes, we are looking -- we have people who are looking for ways to payoff the holiday let. they get a check saying that they won the lottery and sweep stakes. if you didn't enter it, you didn't win. that's the biggest thing. if you deposit the checks, they will bounce and you are held responsible. >> bogus gift cards. >> yes, what we're seeing is a spike in online auction gift cards. the gift cards are marketed to be less value than what the card, it's a $50 card but you're going to pay $25. the fbi and government agencies are saying these cards are counterfeit. they're worth nothing. to get a gift card online, there's a good chance you could be getting nothing. >> buying from questionable sites? >> absolutely. everybody what you're going to see in the next few weeks is people scrambling like the incredible items and the furry creature. if you're scrambling, there's websites. it's so easy to pop up a website and collect your credit card, only buy from reputable dealers. make sure you're using a credit card if you're buying online. >> holiday lenders and then the holiday want ads, the help ads. >> this is my favorite. people are looking for way to payoff the debt. they're calling about asking about websites that are offering no credit, bad credit, they're asking for a one time fee. stay away from those. the other are the jobs, they're proposing 2-3,000 jobs a week or a month. they are asking an up front fee to set up a job at home. they're going to send you a check and that check is going to be bounce and you're out the money. you got to be careful of those. looks too good to be true it is. >> that is the best advise. >> if you would like more information on the better business bureau, log on to foxbaltimore.com/morning. coming up later on fox 45 morning news, a fatal fire he breaks out in southwest baltimore. why the truck company that responded won't be operating much longer.. >> reporter: and i'm meteorologist jessica starr, i will give you a live look at the weather conditions here in carroll county. >> reporter: i'm joel d smith in south baltimore where some roads are definitely passable this morning, others look like this. at safeway, we make the joy of the season... deliciously affordable. with a commitment to thousands of new everyday low prices. ♪ and with club card specials like... boneless pork loin roast, $1.99 a pound, you can get all the holiday oohs and ahhs you want... 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[ tape clicking ] [ tape clicking ] [ tape clicking ] [ ribbon squeaks ] [ female announcer ] it's the most wonderful time of the year, and walmart's here to help. starting saturday, december 12th, at 8am through december 18th, get this 32-inch vizio 1080p lcd tv for $398. find even more specials at walmart.com/holidaysavings. save money. live better. walmart. find even more specials at walmart.com/holidaysavings. welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 7:33 is the time. i'm patrice harris. we have a school closing to pass along to you this morning. garrett county schools were two hours late, but now they are closed for the day. that is an update for you. garrett county schools now closed. allegheny county schools, however, are still on a two-hour delay. and of course, you can always check our ticker scroll for updates. it goes even through the commercials and has all of the information you need. now for the information you need about hitting the roadways, candace dold is here with the traffic edge report. >> reporter: thank you, patrice. it's been a dangerous morning and it's all due to this weather that we're dealing with. some flooding in fact in southwest baltimore. we can show what the seen is at patapsco avenue. there's three cars that were stranded as a result of this. that water is at least weight wt deep. it's an absolute river there. as a result you need to be aware it could be in your neighborhood as well. as for the main lines, they're running pretty heavy. a lot of volume out there. so far not running bad on the southbound 95. looking at a 5 minute clip, 45 miles per hour. you don't need to go that fast, it's very easy to hydroplane in this mess. going up from 83, 19 minutes 32 miles per hour and a very slow 24 miles per hour with a 26-minute ride from 795 all the way down toward 95. that's a look at your messy morning travels. now let's get a check of the weather with meteorologist steve fertig. thanks, candace. we're looking better right now with regard to the rain and where it's falling. you can see it's moved more toward the east, it continues to, still heavy rain in the central part of the eastern shore as well the northern part of the eastern shore seeing that yellow and the even the oranges. that picks up strength even down east of easton and north of salisbury. traveling that way, will you run into heavy downpours. it's just plain rain there. back toward the beltway, you're seeing a lot of improvement in terms of active weather right now. still slick roadways as candace told you. there could be slick going even if the rain has actively stopped. we have weather conditions to the hagerstown and further points west doing a bit better with any active weather. that doesn't mean that the roadways won't be active there, either. you want to exercise caution where you are. a good idea where you are. the temperatures indicating where the mild air is. 44 degrees down toward d.c. with 62 degrees in salisbury, very mild there has allowed for plain rain. 32 in oakland and the outlying areas freezing or below is allowing for icy conditions in that part of the state. it will be out of here as you can see at 9 or 10:00. the showers continuing to move to the north and east. a couple of showers toward the afternoon, and drying out tonight. we will have more on that coming up in a few minutes. right now back to you, patrice. the storm system brought a wintery mix to most of the region. last night people living in west baltimore got a bit of rain in snow. there is also snow in timonium and howard county. over at the state highway admnistration officials there say they're getting ready for whatever comes our way. >> if it's rain, it's still a concern because it could freeze up. if it's sleet, of course, that is always nasty. so we have to be prepared for anything and that is what we're doing. we are monitoring and if we to put crews out and salt down then we will. >> highway officials say even if there's no ice the rain can still cause slick conditions and even leaves on the road can cause cars as to slip. they are asking drivers to be extra cautious this morning. locally we're mostly dealing are rain right now. in parts of maryland a winter weather advisory ended a while ago. all the rain in that area could mean icy roads. meteorologist jessica starr joins us live from carroll county with the latest on the conditions there. it was a rainy mess for me driving in, but i didn't get the ice but you have different conditions. >> reporter: we have the rain coming down that is letting up in intensity which is good news. we still have the aerial flood watch because of the showers that we had and accumulation from saturday on top of it. you can see in the grassy area a slushy kind of mix. that is on top of the roadways here in carroll county. you need to take it easy on the roadways. the other concern as the rain starts to leave us, we are going to be left behind with very windy conditions for today and cold temperatures. we could see a little bit of refreezing and windchill as well. you will need your winter gear for today and the rest of the workweek. reporting live here in carroll county, i'm going to toss it back to you in the studio. the weather is causing major problems in area roadways. so far flooding has stranded three cars in the middle of road. joel d smith joins us live from south baltimore with more. not a great way to start their morning, joel. >> reporter: obviously, not. i'm not sure that they will be able to get to work, either. it's going to be tough for them. we talked to some of these drivers here. this is the 600 block of patapsco avenue. it looks like a dangerous situation. these folks who were driving, they had passengers as well, they're okay. once the water got to a certain height, they realized that they couldn't get through once the car stopped. they got out and sought help. as you can are walking, you can see how deep this is. i'm going slow enough, and it's on the top of my foot right now. if you are going faster, 40 to 50 miles an hour and you come to this area, how do you know how much further you can go to get through this location. we talked to these drivers and here is what they said. it sounds pretty dangerous. >> the water is cold, and deep. we're sitting in there and the water starting rising inside of the car. i told my wife, we're going to get out of here. she only had light clothes on. she was taking me to work and dropping me off. it's great, they need to do something with that. >> reporter: he thinks they should had do something. the folks who live here, they see it all the time but not this bad. the water is receding. it had been rising up to a half an hour ago. it's reveeding, but it -- receding, but it will take a long time before the water gets out of here. we're live at south baltimore, joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. truck company 16 will be closed as the beginning of the new year and many city dents are concerned. they want to know what fire stations being put out of commission across the city, what happens if there's a fire at their house. megan gilliland has that story from southwest baltimore, good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice, the only reason that truck 16 responded to this deadly fire here this morning is because truck 18 with the wall brook station was on a rotating closure. that station is much closer. truck 16 was the backup here this morning, but that backup will soon be closing permanently. the company is the latest victim of the city fire department cuts. also included four rotating station closures daily potentially cutting a $5.5 million deficit to more than $3 million. but for the people who live in baltimore city, and those who watch today's deadly fire, there's that help will not be just around the corner anymore. >> every second counts. let's hope that you know, if this happens to somebody , you know, every second counts. when you're in a fire, you want somebody to come right away. >> initially chief clack wanted to close two fire companies and a truck company. but last night in the city council meeting mayor dixon disapproved of that and agreed to only losing a truck company. as you stand outside of a deadly fire here this morning, you realize how important one fire company can be. in west baltimore, i'm megan gilliland, fox 4 45 morning new. we want to know what you think. do you think that rotating closures will affect firefighter response time? that's the question of the day. the phone lines are open at (410)481-4545. can you also go to foxbaltimore.com and tell us what you think or sound off through facebook. send us a tweet at fox baltimore or text your answer to 45203. enter fox 45a for yes or fox 45b for no. coming up talking while driving. the voice is coming through the radio. they can hear you. >> find out if the jupiter jack makes good on its promise to let you ditch coming up on 7 frur on this wednesday morning. the aerial flood watch is expiring. we have a flood watch at cecil county. even after that point the flash-flood watch for the northern part of the eastern shore continues until 6:00 p.m. tonight. obviously, definitely an improvement for much of the area. that is off to the north into pennsylvania where it was earlier in washington county and frederick county. we even had a winter storm warning earlier for the western most part of the area around allegheny county. that also has expired and is into pennsylvania. if you are going north and west into pa, you will deal with issues there. as the rain continues to move off to the eastern shore, still seeing the heavy rain around the eastern shore. that will continue a bit longer around the area. traveling at i-95, looking better, light rain there. north on 83 looking a whole lot better on points west looking better as well, much better than earlier. high pressure is going to continue to move north and east. it takes the rain with it. that will become the story later tonight with colder rain moving in. it's going to be mild midday as the temperatures drop. 10-20-mile-an-hour winds throughout the area. reporting light rain at the inner harbor. east winds at 5 miles per hour. 29.99 holding steady on the barometer dew point also close to the temperature reading. you look at the temperatures, you can see we're at 47. pretty mild at 44, at d.c. all the area the central parts of the state and the eastern shore mild enough that it's plain rain this morning. after seeing a little bit of snow to the north last night. icy conditions to the west, around hagu hagerstown and 32 in oakland. can you see where the cold air is. we will see the temperatures stay rather mild in eastern shore with 60 degrees. it's pretty much where we are now and where we will stay right now before the temperatures will drop in afternoon. the winds will drop and gusting 35-40. for the central part of the state, 53 for the high. the temperatures backing off into early afternoon. 15-20-mile-an-hour winds will gust higher as well. the winds and cooler air coming in will be what is coming our way early tonight. 10-20-mile-an-hour winds as we dry out there. clear skies, 35 degrees with an overnight low. 53 today, look at how much cooler it gets. 40 degrees for tomorrow's high temperature with mostly clear skies and 37 and sunny on friday. 39 on saturday with partly cloudy skies. 40 degrees on sunday, a chance for a light rainshower. that may be affecting the rain on sunday if you're going to the ravens-lions game. and a chance of rain on monday and tuesday with a high of 42 on both days. let's see what is happening on the roadways with candace dold. we know it's still wet out there even though it's not raining as hard. >> reporter: that is true, steve. fortunately it didn't freeze. the speeds are far down. it's going to be a slick ride. you can obviously see why. checking in on the 95, 53 miles per hour. and on 95, running through the city at 58 miles per hour. it's much better there. we have a serious accident to talk about in south baltimore. some flooding, here it is, you're taking a live look at the scene right now. look at those vehicles just completely stranded in that water. it's up over their wheels and obviously this look is going to be a true testament to the fact that you can find it near your neighborhood. please use extra caution as you head out this morning. as for the main lines right now, it's the sheer volume that we will have to deal with. let me show you what it looks like on 695 right at route 40 in the kayvill catonsville region. we have been dealing with our fair share of volume. 695 at liberty road, the parking lot. that is the same deal on the west side stretch. no incidents rough report o to . here is route 50, this accident on eastbound route 50 at kate sinclair road completely shuts down the ramp. you can see the flashing lights that will garner your attention. the cars are squeezing by the accident scene. that's a look at your very messy morning travels, patrice, let's head over to you. still ahead, city officials decide to close a truck company and rotate fire station closures to help with baltimore's fire deficit. we want to know what you think about that. do you think that the rotating closures will affect fire response time. that is the question of the day. the phone lines by putting an end to paper medical records, we have ushered health into the digital age. saving lives, sometimes when seconds count. managing chronic conditions. making amazing new discoveries. and, oh yes, saving a lot of trees. kaiser permanente. thrive. and your friend says it's going to be sweet... ...to watch tv, while we tailgate. insane! i love you guys! i forgot the tv... 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(announcer) sears to go, web to store. there's more ways to shop your way at sears. life. well spent. city officials decide against closing three city fire stations. instead truck company 16 along mcmeg an street will shutdown at the beginning. year. there will be four rotating closures daily. that bring us on the question of the day. do you that the rotating closures will affect fire response time. our first caller is venus at cockeysville. >> good morning. >> what do you think about the response time if you start closing stations or rotating them. >> i think it will affect them because the traffic accidents. in my opinion it will affect it a little bit. >> we had the fire chief and he said that the response times might go up from 1 minute to three minutes. if you are in the middle of that fire, that will feel like a long time. >> what about donations, people are still willing to make donations and fufne fundraisersr the firefighters. >> that's what he they are looking at. we had a lot of responses. one of the facebook responders said it will affect response time. lots of things going in the city and most of the time all at once in different places. why are we sacrificing fire departments. it's sad, very sad. >> let's take a look at one of our twitter responses. this one says, you don't have to be chris columbus to know that further distances from fires equals further response time. no one seems to be in agreement with this move, although the city says they don't have the money to do otherwise. thank you for your responses. fox 45 wants to make your holiday season a little brighter. stay tuned to our countdown to christmas where you have a chance to win one of the presents under our tree. >> but next, the jupiter jack promises to limit the distractions for people who like to talk and driver. we put it to th here in maryland texting while driving is against the law. and while talking on the phone is still legal, it's definitely a distraction. now one product promises to you can chat hands free without shouting through static. we put the jupiter jack to the will it work test? >> are you guilty of driving while talking on your cell phone. >> the makers of jupiter jack say it's a revolutionary hands free device for your cell phone. >> owatch this. >> it's designed to work with any phone, any car. all you do is plug jupiter jack into your cell phone. and turn the radio to 99.3 and start talking. >> sharyl saw the ad and wondered is this too good to be true. >> hands free, the voice comes through the radio. they can hear you and you don't have to be a technical genus supposedly. so we will see. >> we hit the road to put the jupiter jack to the will it work test. >> a universal test on jack that seems to fit. >> turn this up and on, we have that on. tune your car raidio to 99.3fm. now test your jupiter jack by making a phone call. >> on the first try. >> look, it's working. >> hello. >> hey, monica. >> yes. >> it's sharyl. you're coming through my car radio. how do i sound? >> you sound loud and clear. that is what the infomercial says. okay. we will see you. >> no static, no echo. the phone call was a success. but then sharyl discovered a problem with the cell phone folder. >> it's kind of wiggling around. as soon as i slide that in there it hits that. i can hear it. it seems to be hitting it every time. >>her flip phone fits, but for any phone that has the adjustment or buttons on the side, when it slides in, it automatically hits my volume. the holder came as a bonus, but for sharyl it was a big problem of the product appeal. that problem aside, we have one more test. >> i will have you call me back and i will switch a radio station on and see how that works with an incoming call? >> sharyl found as long as 99.3 was preset on her dial all she had to do was change the station and accept the call. >> hello. >> in the end, the holder was sharyl's biggest hang up. >> the issue is with the smaller phone and the holder. i think that will be a problem. >> so will it work? >> overall, i think it's a deal. i think it's a deal. for more information on jupiter jack, just go to we have to be prepared for anything. >> waking up to a wet mess on the roads. where in maryland they're seeing the biggest chance of icy conditions. we made it very clear that we need to find $3.5 million. an overnight fire breaks out in west baltimore. how it was affected by closing fire company. and they're the sound of the season. stay tuned for your chance to see the trie the try siberian os trayorchestralive in baltimore. good morning. it's wednesday, december 9th. i'm patrice harris. good morning, i'm megan gilliland. waking up to a wet and cold start, but we have very good news, though. >> we do, but you got to get past the wet roads and all of the rain coming down. >> it's cold, too. >> it's cold, and coming in this morning, oh, man, and man. let's talk about the good news, the holiday spirit in the air. we're counting down to christmas and we're doing it to the big day. the entire stack of christmas right there, we're giving it all away to your viewers, now through christmas eve. >> you can win right now you're the 10th caller at (410)481-4545. all of the gift must go so call in and claim one of those. >> back to the messy news again. we have a school closing to pass along to you this morning. garrett county schools which were a a two-hour delay are now closed. be aware of the switch there. they were two hours late and now they're closed. allegheny county schools are late two hours. be sure to the check of the information on the ticker at the bottom of the screen because it has all of that information and runs through commercials. candace dold is here to let you know what to expect with the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, megan. the rain is easing up and unfortunately we have trouble to talk about. breaking news into our newsroom. there's a car that is stranded in water in a bin a abigton thee bringing somebody to swim in and rescue the driver out of this car. we will keep you updated as soon as we get nor information for you. as for 95, traveling through the area that is pretty calm and the same deal traveling through the fort mchenry. an 8-minute ride and 53 miles per hour. when we say calm. that's because there's no incidents to report but there's a lot of volume. as for the outer loop lanes from 95 toward 83, a very slow go, 20 minutes, 30 miles per hour. now at 41 miles per hour from 83 up toward 795, with an 11-minute ride. extremely heavy from 795 toward 95 with a 29 minute clip. that is a look at the morning travels. we do need to check on the weather with meteorologist steve fertig. hi, candace. here is what we're looking at as far as the chi watc sky watch f. starting off with the aerial flood watch to the north but now just a flood warning for cecil county. here is what we in terms for the area, the flash flood watch in effect. seeing improvement because the western side of the state which is an aerial flood watch seeing improvement with the counties no longer in that watch area. 49 degrees is the temperature in baltimore, 44 in d.c. the mild temperatures for the central part of the state and the eastern shore where we have a 62-degree reading in salisbury has been the reason for the plain rain. while last night we began with a little bit of snow as we had cold air in place. back to the west where temperatures are cooler like hagerstown, 36 and 32 in oakland. we have had icy conditions that resulted in school delays there, but otherwise our future scan model showing improvement as we move through the morning hours, it all gets out of here with a couple of lingering showers and it's all out of here with stronger winds to follow and cooler temperatures, too. i will let you know how much cooler it will get later in the week in a little bit. for now, back to you, megan and patrice. that's storm system brought a wintery mix to most of the region last night. people living in west baltimore got a bit of rain and snow. there was also snow in timonium and how car howard county. over at the highway state admnistration, they are getting ready for what comes our way. >> reporter: if there's rain there's a concern because it could freeze up. if there's sleet, that is nasty. we have to be prepared for anything. we are monitoring and if we have to put crews out and put salt down, then we will. >> even if there's no ice the rain can still cause slick conditions and even the leaves on the roads can cause drivers to slip. they are asking drivers to be extra cautious this morning. locally we're dealing with rain, but in some parts of maryland there was a winter weather advisory until 7:00 this morning. it's gone now, but all of the rain is still there which then could translate into icy roads. meteorologist jessica starr is joining us with the latest on the conditions there. the umbrella is gone, that is good news, jess. >> reporter: the umbrella is down so that is good news. this low pressure system is moving out of our region. when we arrived at carroll county, it was pouring rain. it's still slick out there because we had the snow fall from saturday and heavy rainshowers on top of it made for slushy conditions. but you can see behind me, right around baltimore boulevard and 140 moving fairly well this morning. we haven't had any problems although earlier today around the 6:00 hour, i did see a couple of trucks out in the region. later today and overnight tonight the temperatures will be getting cold. the other concern later today is going to be the windy conditions that will start to pick up here. we will have a bit of a windchill, but for now things are looking a-okay from carroll county in westminister. reporting live back to you guys. that wet weather is causing some problems, though so in area roadways. so far flooding has stranded three cars in the middle of the road. joel d smith joins us live from southwest baltimore. good morning joel. >> reporter: we're in the 600 block of patapsco here. you know, this is an area that floods a lot. you can never tell how deep it is. i got a piece of wood just to show you. you look at this water. i don't know if your car can go through it or not. this goes six inches but earlier this morning, you couldn't tell how much deeper it got as you went. these drivers couldn't tell, either. the vehicles are still here. they got stranded. they had to get out into the cold, murky water and a down point at that morning. trying to get themselves out. they did, everyone was safe. they had police and fire on standby but they got out of there. their vehicles are obviously still stuck. we talked to people who live around here. this gets pretty deep and it happens a lot. they say this is pretty deep. i was wondering how this happened, vehicles come in pretty fast and had he get theyd up. >> it's dangerous as people speed through her and hit this, and it's too late. there's a lot of high-speed, it's only 30 to 40 but people are doing 65 to 70. >> reporter: so speed is the idea that he had. he had. >> that is his hypothesis. you got to slow down when you come to standing water. you never know how high it will be. this is not getting higher anymore. who knows what they can to do to make this a better situation but this is a chronic situation. these cars have been stranded for hours. luckily everybody inside is okay. but if you see standing water, consider this before you decide driving through. joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. still ahead, our countdown to christmas continues. we have the winner on the phone. they're picking out their gift right now. >> stay tuned to find out what they won and when your next chance to win is. and a live scan of hd radar indicates the showers welcome back. 8:10, not quite as wicked as it was earlier. we still have heavy downpours for the eastern shore. you can see the flood warning in place for cecil county until 10:45 this morning. other than that we have a snow flood watch, that because of the rainshowers that continue to linger there. elsewhere we're doing better. take a look at the sky watch hd radar. we zoom into the eastern part of the shore, seeing the heavy rain seeing the shades of yellow and orange. back to and the eastern part of the state not too much going on. there could be showers wrapping around the low pressure center departing. much improving back to the western counties and earlier points west. we had icy conditions and school delays as a result. now looking a bit better. as we put things into commotion, you will see the -- motion you can see that the showers are moving to the northeast. what is behind us, cooler air, windier conditions, too. we give up sometime rain and we have to deal with the colder air to follow. that is the down side, but i think we will take it after this slick start to the day if you're headed on the roadways. you knew about that earlier this morning. you see the windy conditions to the front. that front moves off to the east and you get the southwesterly flow. the future scan model indicating the showers departing later this morning and completely. a couple of light lingering showers over in spots. get ripples of energy and the low. otherwise you see the lines of equal pressure as those indicating when they're close together, the stronger winds to follow. that is going to be the biggest concern, early afternoon into evening. right now wind is not too bad, 5-15 miles per hour, the south winds down to the eastern shore. again there will be improvement, but here is what is on the way. cold arctic air, and windy conditions through the next several days. that will be the story from here on out the rest of the week. as far as temperatures go, it's been a mild air in the central counties and the eastern shore that have worked in and allowed for plain rain. we had snow last night from 9:45 to 11:00 and then it tapered off as rain moved in. 45 degrees in baltimore, and 62 mild degrees in salisbury. back to the west, mild conditions still possible. 32 in oakland, and expect those temperatures, not to climb a whole. today we will see the highest temperatures right around now, or a little bit down the road this morning into the early afternoon. the temperatures will drop off, 60 for the high and the eastern shore we will have 15-25-mile-an-hour winds gusting to 35 or higher. 55 degrees for the the higher temperature in the central part of the state. showers will give clearing to late in the afternoon. a 15-25-mile-an-hour wind is going to take over the weather story. 45 degrees for the the west of the area. for the west of the area, take a look the west of the area which is in the west. 35 degrees for the overnight low. southwest winds at 15-25 miles an hour. windy and chilly. the rest of the week goes like this. look at the cool air tomorrow, 40 degrees on tuesday with mostly clear skies. a lot of sunshine but that won't warm us a whole lot. 39 partly cloudy on saturday, 40 on sunday, heading to m&t bank stadium for the ravens lions game. 1:00 p.m. temperature around 40 degrees which will be the high for the day. there could be a couple of light showers around. 42 degrees, pretty much both monday and tuesday with a chance of a light rain or snow shower mix. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is available at foxbaltimore.com. can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when storms or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. as faeven though there's not muh activity as far as rain right now here is candace dold with the roadways conditions. >> reporter: we are following breaking news there's flooding high water and a water rescue. a car that is completed stranded at abigton, at route 136. they are bringing officials to swim in and get the driver out of there. we will continue to keep you up-to-date on this one as soon as we get more information. as for 95 traveling through the area, a much better bet. you can see the cars are in the green there. it's running reasonably well. it does pick up, though, moving through baltimore county, the whitemarsh region and through rosedale. we can tell you what it looks like south of 695. here it is a lost cars congregating on the southbound lanes toward the tunnels. as for the tunnels we're incident free. that is good news, but we do have more high waters to talk about. flooding at patapsco avenue. and three cars are stranded there since early this morning. take a look at this, the water completely over the wheels there, the flashing lights and again, there's several locations where this has been reported. be aware, you can find it when you're traveling right through your neighborhood. that's a look at your morning travels, patrice, and megan, back over to you. thank you, candace. it's our countdown to christmas here on fox 45 which means that every day from now to christmas eve, we're giving away trees from under our christmas tree. look at how many gifts we have to get through? >> there are so many. >> we have today's first caller on the line. it's jolly from towson. >> good morning, jolly. >> hi. >> you chose this gift from under our tree today. >> yes. >> i love that your name is jolly. you're already in the holiday spirit. >> let's see what you got. jolly, it looks like. >> i'm so excited. >> it's a $50 target gift card. what you do you think about that, jolly? >> it's nice. >> you still have shopping to do. >> that is the best gift. >> we hope that this will help you out to get some of those things. >> congratulations, happy holidays to you. >> happy holidays to you. >> so sweet. >> if you didn't win this time, don't wore rear. you know how this works. you saw all of those gifts. we are giving them away all month long as part of our countdown to christmas. we're giving away two more gifts before today's show is over. don't worry. you will definitely have a we are starting a new segment here on fox 45. it's called tinsel town on twitter. we're going to track twits to bring you the hottest news from hollywood. we will bring it to you here in baltimore. >> how are you going to choose what we are going to talk about? >> i'm going to pick the jew juiciest tweets. we want to talk about the fox shows. we have been talking about it, american idol. it's just around the corner. i want to start with season 9. it starts on january 12th. and ryan sea crest is putting the finish touches on the show. radio over to e and headed to american idol to voice over episode one of next season, 2 hours of auditions. >> he is always busy. >> he is and every time that i'm out in l.a. they say he is the busiest man. >> he sleeps like we sleep 4 hours a night. >> but it's an interesting thing. he has exciting things going on and it makes you want to stay active. >> let's face it, for ryan american idol has helped to launch his career, that is for sure. american idol is going to heat up in a month, but we do need to talk about a show that is pretty hot right now. glee, the finale, can't believe it. it's going to air tonight. the producers and the cast didn't know this show was going to be such a hit and they are gearing up for a new season because they have run out of episodes. take a look at the rachael barry. get ready l.a. we are on our way to you to get started on glee rehearsals. so pumped up, new york city. >> they're working on it. >> they're coming out with a second album. it's been wildly popular, pretty much a phenomenon. >> that's what you hear. it's way past my bed time. i'm going to tivo it, because i hear such great things about it. >> the next episodes start in april. so you think can you dance. it's coming down to the wire. and adam is a permanent judge on the show this year. he has many roles in hollywood. is the choreographer for the oscars and he wants to hear from you. adam decided on december 6th, cureious, what and who do you want to see on the oscars. what would make you watch? there's another one that he tweeted just a few minutes after that, in fact. he we question, the oscars with more excitement if it we cast to you think you can dance dancers if there's musical numbers. >> that is cool. he he is wanting to know what we want. >> i want to see good moves. >> he always wants to see good moves. i think that is why. i have to say this is probably going to be a pretty spectacular show. we will definitely keep you up-to-date on all of that and continue to track it. >> all right. >> getting nosey with tinsel town. >> i know, exactly. we will track all of the juicy stuff for you. of course, the weather is the latest in baltimore. we are going to track all of that at foxbaltimore.com and click on twitter under the community section. so much to follow. still ahead, they are the sounds of the season. ♪ ♪ stay tuned for your chance to pure cane sugar 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book. it's a lot of fun. great things, plug in to md lottery.com for all of these great ideas. >> if you would like more from the maryland lottery go to their website from our website foxbaltimore.com/morning. still to come our countdown to christmas continues. we are giving away all of the gifts under our tree. your chance to win c i've had asthma for 12 years. 6 years. i've had asthma forever. i never knew why my asthma symptoms kept coming back... ...kept coming back... ...or that i could help prevent them in the first place. the problem was that my controller medicine... ...was treating only 1 main cause of asthma symptoms. but there are 2. airway constriction. and inflammation. unlike most controllers, advair treats both main causes. advair treats both main causes. and that helps prevent symptoms in the first place. 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(announcer) get your first prescription free and save on refills. advair. now you know. welcome back to fox 45 morning news. 8:30 is the time. we have school delays and closings to pass along to you this morning. garrett county schools -- excuse me. they were two hours late. they are now closed for the morning. garrett county closed for the morning. allegheny county they're still on a two-hour delay this morning. of course, we have all of that information on our ticker. just check the bottom of your screen. it scrolls there even through the commercials. a rainy start to the day, but we are getting in the holiday spirit because we are counting down to christmas here on fox 45 morning news. we have the entire stack of gifts there to give away to you our viewers all the way through christmas eve. you can win right now if you are the 4th or 5th caller at (410)481-4545. we need to head on over to candace dold. she has a look at what you can expect on the roadways with the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, patrice. the good news is the rain is finally starting to ease up. unfortunately we're dealing with flooding in south baltimore. we can show you exactly the scene there. three cars were stranded as a result of the high water. take a look at this from earlier this morning. that water is completely over the tire. that is one issue throughout the morning and unfortunately it's in several spots. you need to be aware that you can come across this as well. just use extra caution. as for the main lines on southbound 95, it's running pretty heavy from the fort mchenry tunnel toward the 695 exit. it's running normal but look at that that term is increasing. 55 miles per hour and a 9 minute clip on southbound 895 from the harbor tunnel down toward 95. check out the west side of the beltway, though, from 795 down toward 95, it's been a bear of a ride this morning. 28 minutes, 22 miles per hour. that's a look at your morning travels. now we need to get a check of the weather with meteorologist steve fertig, aka mr. -- it's going to get cold around here, candace. that snugy is going to come in handy. it's very comfortable as a matter of fact. we have rainy conditions in some part of the area. let's get into that first and i will get into the snuggle later here. we have a flood warning for the northeast part of the area. in all seriousness, we have concerns to the northeast part of the area. things should ease up a bit. as far as the eastern shore and the north part of the eastern shore, a flash-flood watch. things are improving and we can smile a little bit more if you're in the central counties and further points west. things are easing up. let's take a look as far as what we have temperatures. 49 degrees in baltimore, 45 in d.c. meanwhile, 48 in wilmington, delaware. look at that, 62 degrees. 36 degrees in hagerstown, 32 in oakland. there are still icy conditions there. it's still reason to be exercising caution, obviously, even though we don't have active weather going on right now. showers moving off to the east and easing up by later this morning. we will be left with a light shower perhaps on the backside of the high pressure departing. we will see improving pressure. winds are going to get stronger. the cold air is going to make it in and you will definitely want to be the snugy tonight as the temperatures cool down quite a bit. as we take a look at the temperatures through the day, 50 degrees by noon and the temperatures back off this afternoon. a high temperature today around 53 degrees with a 15-20-mile-an-hour wind. wind and the cold air comes into tonight and tomorrow morning. more a that in just a bit. right now i will send it back to you, patrice. we are mostly dealing with rain right now and in some parts of maryland, residents are being warned that the conditions outside could mean icy roads. meteorologist jessica starr is joining us live from carroll county with the conditions out there, good morning, jess. >> reporter: welcome, patrice. th-- good morning, patrice. the temperatures have been hovering around 38 degrees. we had pouring rain earlier today and on top of the snow fall that we had on saturday, one to 2 inches of rain made for slushy conditions here in carroll county. there were stalled trucks out and about today salting the roads just in case there were slick spots from the icy condition, like i said from the snow fall we had on saturday and on top of that the rainshowers from earlier today. otherwise things are easing up today. the rainshowers are starting to come to an end. nothingy and misty conditions on the road. it's getting better, and conditions are improving as we go throughout the day. the other concern is going to be the winds later today and cooler temperatures for thursday and friday. for now reporting live in baltimore and carroll county, back to you, guys. the weather is causing major problems on area roadways. flooding has stranded three cars in the middle of the road. joel d smith is joining us live from southeast baltimore where it's happening, good morning, joel. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. it's the 600 block of patapsco avenue. at 5:00 this morning, these vehicles tried to get this road that perpetually gets underwater when the water comes down like it was this morning. flooding -- rain causes flooding. we talked to the driver and he said it was secretariy. scare -. the water was coming inside of the door. it was dark but you never know how deep the standing water is. it looks like it's a couple of inches and maybe you made it through the area that was a quarter of a mile back, but then you come into the area and you don't know. luckily all of three drivers and pangers werpassengers were able. they had the fire on standby in case they needed help. it happened again, and the three vehicles waiting for a tow. remember, if you see standing water, this could happen to you. we're live in west baltimore, joel d smith, fox 45 morning news. it is a christmas village full of ginger bread houses like the one you just took a look at. baltimore international college is hosting a ginger bread house competition. good morning to all of you. we are going to talk to you. what is this competition all about? >> we're trying to raise money for the scf. it's the local chapter in baltimore, the american culinary federation. what they're doing is the competition for the students. they have three disaiz to prepare. tonight we have judging at 3:00. it's open to the public so they can come and take a look at it. >> we are looking at this one. this zu one is very impressive. >> what is it going to take to win the competition? >> unique product. they hand painted the stone around the perimeter, the structure, the roof, the little details, the santa claus going down the chimney, the little things that stand out. >> we will take you through the process and let you know how to make the best ginger bread house. >> i'm going to take some the dough and knead it out very good. >> how long did you let that dough sit? n overnight. >> is this the most important making the sides. >> yes. >> why is that so important? >> you got to have the walls. >> stability and structure. >> yeah. >> so after we get our walls up, then you go through all of this. we are going to ask terry over here what is your favorite part to put on? what is the most important thing that you think brings light to these houses? >> i think because you want something creative. it's really like fun to work with the rice crispies and make little trees and the wreaths. it's really awesome. it's candy. you can't go wrong with candy. >> how in the world do you make this and not want to taste all of it, or do you? >> of course, we do. >> i have been eyeing this peanut bough butter for a while. >> the same way you would make it at home but a little green for coloring and a little warm and you press it in the shape you want. they're great. >> how long did this take to make? >> we took about four days. >> four days? >> we spent like two hours every day on it. >> my goodness gra gracious. it looks beautiful. thank you forgiving us some tips on how to do this. i will eat some candy. i will let you go to our website for more information on how to make your best ginger bread house at foxbaltimore.com/morning. our countdown to christmas continues this morning. we have the winner on the phone. they are picking out their gift. stand tuned to find out what they won and when your next chance to win could be. you are watching fox 45 morning news, all local all morning. that says it. >> i was thinking the same thing. a lot of rain this morning. it tapered off from this morning. >> let's find out what is happening. meteorologist steve fertig with a look at the forecast. good morning, guys. a picture is worth 1 how words. we -- 1,000 words. we have a flood warning for cecil county. that will continue at 10:45. expected to continue for a while longer. take a look at the flash-flood for the eastern part in general until 6:00 p.m. tonight. that will be the only area under a watch or warning right now. advisories have been no longer in effect -- are no longer in effect. they have expired throughout the area. also the winter storm warning which we had earlier in the western part of the area has expired as well. we are seeing improvement throughout the area. here is a look at the sky watch hd radar, looking at showers that are con find the to the -- find to the eastern part of the area. obviously much further eastern for the central counties. a lot of improvement. nevertheless, icy roads to the west may still be icy even if it's not active weather and the central counties where we don't have the rain falling right now slick roadways because of all of the rain that we have had and ponding of water in spots. do be aware, there could be problems even though we see the activity diminish as far as the active weather right now. active weather to the north and east with the cold front. that has been producing the rain that is the warm layer of air that we are concerned about. mid layers and producing icy conditions. notice tell us lines of equal pressure. you may see them faintly on the screen. that is an area of equal pressure indicating stronger winds to follow. as you see those closer together, that is an indication of high pressure building in where low pressure was. cold air moving in for tomorrow. the winds right now not too bad, 5-10 miles per hour. look at the eastern shore as you get closer to the eastern shore up around dover, 24-mile-an-hour winds. those will pick up throughout the area later in the day. 49 degrees, still reporting light showers at the inner harbor. winds are calm, 86% tell rife humidity. dew point at 45, and the temperatures have been really a big part of the story with 45 degrees with the temperature in baltimore. 45 in d.c., look at the 62-degree reading in salisbury. it has allowed for plain rain where we have seen icy conditions in hagerstown at 36 degrees and oakland at 32 at the freezing mark there. as far as the high temperatures today, we're right there right now. the southwest wind at 15-20 miles per hour. the winds will diminish later in the afternoon and the temperatures will drop as the temperatures drop, too. we will get rid of the rain. so that is good news. we will have to deal with cold, windy conditions to follow. 55 degrees with the high temperature which is going to come your way later this morning into the early afternoon. then the temperatures drop off there as well. the rain tapers off as we see those winds pick up, 15-20-mile-an-hour winds. winds gusting higher. back to the west cooler there producing icy conditions this morning and then we look forward to temperatures warming up as they look forward. even 45 degrees on the cool side is going to be allowing for drier conditions with it. and winds, however picking up to 10-15 miles per hour. tonight, 25 degrees, chilly night, windy conditions, gusting higher and as we move through the week, look at the temperatures getting to 45 degrees. tomorrow chillier, and mainly clear skies. it will look prettier, but prettier from inside looking at at cold air. it won't warm us up a lot with the northwest wind. 35 degrees on saturday with partly cloudy skies, 40 degrees on sunday with light showers. that will be the kickoff temperature at 1:00 p.m. if you're headed to m&t stadium for the ravens-lyons game. then the rest of the forecast has temperatures climb to 42 on monday and tuesday with a chance, just a slight chance of a little bit of a mix up of light rain or snow shower either day. fox 45 sky watch weather is at your finger tips. iradar is able at foxbaltimore.com. you can use fox 45 powerful doppler radar to track incoming storms. the interactive tools will let you see when rain or snow will be over your house. go to foxbaltimore.com and click on iradar. now candace dold is back with a last look this morning at the traffic edge. >> reporter: thank you, steve. good morning. we are tracking your speeds for you and it's almost at the 9:00 hour. you would not be able to tell without that on the roadways. 24 miles per hour on the west side near security boulevard, 18 there. moving through the catonsville region and look at that only 16 miles per hour on the jfx. we do need to talk about flooding in the city. there's flooding that happened early this morning and stranded three vehicles on patapsco avenue. it's right at pa tis' street. take a look at that. that water was waist deep and it went over the tires. this is going to be a serious situation that we have been dealing with and in fact, it's not only in baltimore city. we have it in the northeast corner in bel air. a water rescue is in place as we speak because they are trying to get a driver out of a vehicle. a very dangerous situation out there, please use extra caution if you are traveling. on 95 moving through the area. it's moving reasonablely as well. it picks up through rosedale region. on 695 at the harford road, we can show you what it looks like on the outer loop lanes, it's running pretty heavy but steady there toward the towson region. definitely easing up, you can still see the roads are going to be drenched there in both directions. we do have a serious accident to talk about. we have been dealing with it all morning, an overturned vehicle completely shutting down eastern boulevard. it's at whitemarsh boulevard, you will want it to stick to route 40 and hop over to earl road at the morning commute. that's a look at the morning commute. pback.patrice, back over to you. they are the sounds of the season. >> take tuned for your chance to win tickets to your 5k. and even your 1k. and, of course, you can never go wrong with futures. kaiser permanente. thrive. and, of course, you can never go wrong with futures. they're spreading holiday scheecheer and a little bit of k 'n' roll. the trans siberian orchestra is making paulo neil available to talk with us this morning. >> good morning, patrice. >> it's great to find out you guys are on tour again. a lot of people have been waiting for this. >> it's night castle had a finally been released. we reached the gold. we were supposed to come out in the summer of 2005, but a little bit late. >> it's 2009. >> yeah. we definitely -- definitely kind of just snow bawled, shal balle. shall we say. the first half is the castle and the lyrics, and illustrations and lord of the rings man. and the second half is the regular album, 10-4 shadowing and some of our projects. >> very cool. >> and the musical, and the ballet. and warner brothers really came to the party despite the double cd and tapes, special packaging. they're releasing it at $10.99. amazon.com came to the party and they're selling it at $9.99 and the digital download with the 68 page pdc for $7.99. >> oh my goodness. >> in other words, is this a great stocking stuffer, this is something everybody should have on their christmas list? >> yes, basically. we made sure that it was affordable for everyone without putting any kind of strain on the budget. and the same with the concerts, despite the fact that we by far have the biggest and most complicated rock production ever mounted. ticket prices are between $25 and $60 which basically, means anybody can afford to see us without putting a strain on the budget. >> that's very nice and a lot of people are looking forward to the budget. when people knew we were going to do this satellite. they started to talk about the music that plays in the beer commercial where all of lights are going to your song. so everybody knows you guys. >> yeah, that is definitely kind of took us out of left field. i think the first one in history to break via the internet going viral and then it started an arms race among homeowners. you know the house of at 50,000 lights, and somebody did their house at 100,000 lights and somebody went to a quarter of a million lights. last thing i heard, i think there was somebody who in northern florida did 2 quarters of a million lights to claim the winter night. and the fans, god bless them, they're out of their minds but we love them. >> they love you. that is why they will keep coming back and back. happy holidays to you. >> same to you, patrice, take care. the transsiberian orchestra gave us tickets to give to their concert. you need to be the 5th guys remember, we're a solar system. mars is down...and... um, it's only 10am. who hasn't had their jimmy dean breakfast this morning? mmmm! now lets orbit i feel awesome. you're all awesome. jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches, fight the morning fade. it is our countdown to christmas here at fox 45. every day we are giving away the trees that are under you on tree. we have two more winners to give gifts away. james from baltimore schoas this gift. >> you say yeah and you don't even know. >> this is what james gets. >> wow. >> it's a power matt home and wireless charger, you can charge your cell phone, your ipod and your personal game systems and all you have to do is place it on the matt. no plugging and not looking for a whole lot of the outlets. set it on the matt and it will charge. >> we tested here on the station, and it worked. >> can you go buy one if you have $99.99, but james is getting it for free. >> we have a second winner geraldine. good morning geraldine. >> good morning. >> you shoes this -- chose this pretty gift? >> yes. >> what do you think you got. >> geraldine? >> good morning. >> you got a $50 gift card to target. yeah, happy holidays. >> thank you. >> all right, congratulations to both of our winners. if you didn't win today, don't worry. we are doing this all month long. all we have to do is stay tuned. we have to stay tuned for bad weather. most the worst weather seems to be over as far as active weather. it's going to be slick on the roadways as candace has been telling us. the icy conditions in the western part of the state. 53 degrees for the high temperature, but it gets drier this afternoon. that means weather comes with stronger winds and colder temperatures. you will see we are in the upper 30s to near 40s. things are turning dark for harry potter in the harry potter and the matter of law blood prince. you can learn more about the movie because we're to give it away to you free right

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