Barbara. A lot of federal workers were out here yesterday. We spoke with them at this metro stop yesterday. They were telling me they were very nervous. Today they say simply they are annoyed and without a paycheck. Its really happening . Ice really shocking. Reporter 800,000 federal worker, those considered nonessential, forced off the job without pay. No check, no checking email, no work, no answers for who knows how long. Morale is very low. Reporter its been 17 years since a shut down like this one. Many of the federal workers unsure of how the next few days will play out. Just going in and they ale give me my letter and send me home. Reporter spending just the morning at the office. We cant do anything. Basically weve got four hours to do the work it takes to have an orderly shutdown, and then we go home. Reporter as workers slowly trickled out of the Federal Center metro stop this morning, a few blocks away, park police were shutting down roads flanking the National Mall. I think
This problem. News4s Megan Mcgrath has been there all morning long and joins us with an update. Reporter barbara, they had an eightinch water main that broke on the corner here overnight. Thats been repaired, but they thought the water gushing from that broken pipe had eroded the ground beneath the road causing this enormous hole that you see here beside massachusetts avenue. Now, weve had a new Development Just within the last couple of minutes. If we pan over here, you can see the folks gathered at that manhole, just a little bit ago they pulled open the manhole cover, and when they looked down, they still saw flowing water, something they did not expect to see, because they actually fixed that eightinch pipe. So theyre still trying to identify potential sources for this hole. We also have involvement of some of the utility lines in the area, and we are now being told that this repair job could take as long as a week. 20 1 2. Reporter ddot crews measure the cracks that have formed on
Hurt. But marc has to wait until csx, power crews can come in, cut all of the power to the live wires that are on the train right now, and then try to figure out how to get the train back to the brunswick station and the people to safety. 130 people stuck on that train right now. Again, no one, we believe, at this point has been hurt as a result of whats happened there. Well keep an eye on this. We have a crew headed to the scene, and im talking to the folks in the first floor traffic office. As soon as we get new information, well bring that to you. Thank you, aaron. Now, a powerful winter storm is pummelling much of the northeast. More than a foot of snow could fall in parts of new england. We avoided much of that snow. But were still dealing with slick roads from freezing rain. Dozens of schools across our area are closed or opening late. Frederick, maryland, is dealing with widespread power out ands, too. We checked with Potomac Edison, and 2,800 customers have no power. Heres a li
Hear from a d. C. Family. Theyre getting ready to speak publicly after their father died just outside a d. C. Fire station. His family says the firefighters refused to help, sparking a big investigation. News4s Richard Jordan is live in northeast washington where the family is getting ready to speak any minute now. Richard . Reporter barbara, the familys being joined by a legal representative. They are now working with an attorney from the cochran firm, and thats a clear indication that they will likely be seeking legal action against the district and in particular the d. C. Fire department. You see the family has gathered here at the podium. They are just across the street from the fire station in question, engine 26, just on the other side of rhode island avenue. It was last week that these family members say their loved one, 77yearold medrick mills, was suffering a heart attack from across the street of the Fire Department. Mills daughter saying they called the firefighters to come
And the hearing on the First Responders. Its only a matter of hours before we know why firefighters failed to help a dying man who was just steps away from their station. News4 will be at a hearing regarding the questions of the breakdown of communication between d. C. Emergency responders. Tommy wells is leading the oversight hearing which starts at 2 00. The focus, the five firefighters who failed to help 77yearold medrick mills who died from a heart attack outside of their station. In addition to hearing from mills son, the mom of a man who died in a similar situation four years ago will also testify today. Stay with news4 and nbcwashington. Com for the very latest developments to come out of this hearing. Barbara . Thank you, angie. Another controversy surrounding ambulance response times may also come up at that meeting. Its a story you saw first on news4 at 11 00. Sources tell us a fire truck had to take a toddler to a hospital because an ambulance wasnt nearby. The toddler was h