properties to be sure they're clear before the storm hits. and people in alexandria can pick up sandbags to keep their home from businesses from flooding. stop by king and lee streets in old town. george washington middle school on mt. vernon avenue. and cora kelly school for science and technology on commonwealth this morning at 11:00. >> and in d.c. residents can stop by the department of public works on new jersey avenue and "k" street southeast from noon until midnight today and from 8:00 a.m. until midnight tomorrow. you must bring a picture i.d. showing you live in the district. >> here's tom kierein to tell us more about hurricane irene. the main thing for our viewers is just prepare for power outages. they will be likely. it does continue to spin away over the coastline, right along the florida coastline. you can see the rain bands have managed to move their way into florida. already some outer rain bands have reached parts of south carolina's coastline. these are the latest statistics on irene. 115-mile-per-hour winds. the pressure has dropped since yesterday. that is not good. there's the latest track. it will maintain a category 3 strength all the way through about saturday noontime. by 8:00 saturday evening, when it will be coming ashore, it may be downgraded a bit to a category 2. that's still a powerful hurricane. and the main thing at this point is going to be heavy, heavy rain. the latest track continuing pretty much the way it was yesterday, right along our atlantic seaboard. that's going to be during the day on sunday. from late saturday night around midnight near the mouth of the bay and right along our coastline, the immediate coastline of the delmarva, during the night saturday night and through sunday morning. and then by noontime sunday should be up around atlantic city and move right into the new york city metro area as a category 1 hurricane by then. that will be sunday afternoon into sunday evening. and then the storm does move into new england. we have a tropical storm watch out for our region. highly unusual. tropical storm watches as far west as montgomery county and fairfax county, includes the district of columbia. that's a hurricane watch right along the atlantic seaboard, the delmarva. and the major impacts are going to be felt near the bay and then extreme impacts farther to the east around the chesapeake bay and on the atlantic seaboard. we'll have this impact beginning saturday around late afternoon all the way till sunday around noontime. the extreme impacts there along the bay and the eastern shore would have winds over 75 miles an hour, up to ten inches of rain with major flooding, a big storm surge and certainly loss of power. the major impact zone in the middle, including the district and most of our metro area, we could get up to six inches of rain with winds gusting to 60 miles an hour with major flooding. western shore and bay will have probably a surge of up to two to three feet and certainly power outages. and the moderate impact zone farther to the west, still maybe up to three inches of rain with winds gusting to 40 miles an hour with possible flooding. this is all going to be happening later today. we'll have partly cloudy skies and be reaching the mid-80s. all the storm impacts beginning tomorrow into sunday. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> good morning. so far roadways are clear and calm. happy friday to you as well. here's a live look starting at 270 in clarksburg. traveling 270 north and south, i have no accidents or crashes, anything to report for you right now. you're looking good as you make your way, even in virginia, 95. i don't see any problems there either north or south. no issues at this time. in d.c., good morning. this is new york avenue and bladensburg. again, no issues, smooth drive. back in ten minutes with another update. joe and aaron, back to you. >> danella, thanks. dozens of residents and visitors have left the beaches trying to stay ahead of what governor martin o'malley is calling a monster storm. john schriffen is live in ocean city with the evacuations there. john, good morning. >> reporter: joe, good morning to you. we are here on the beach at ocean city. as you can see, it is very calm right now. want to take a look at something we're going to watch closely, the shoreline and how close it's going to creep up on the beach. to give you a perspective, think of a football field of about 100 yards. right now the shoreline is about 75 yards away. if you take a look at these waves, they have even picked up in the short time that we've been here. we got here shortly about midnight, about 4, 4 1/2 hours ago. the waves have picked up significantly. what we're going to watch for is how quickly this water is going to approach us here on this beach. we're also staying at a hotel not too far away from here. about 75 yards away from where this beach starts. if we can swing this camera around. you can say this is where we're going to camp out this weekend. we're told these waves could get up to six to ten feet high. and they might even come as far as this hotel. if that happens, there's going to be significant damage going on here in ocean city. another thing we're going to be looking out for is wind gusts. we've got our first casualty of the morning. we've got the umbrella out all night. it's already damaged from the wind. not much wind going on this morning. if we take a look at our wind gauge, really we haven't registered any wind right now. things are very calm out here right now. mother nature is just getting started. we're going to keep a close eye on it all weekend, especially this morning. we've got a lot more stories coming up for people starting to make their way out. right now we're live in ocean city. i'm john schriffen. back to you in studio. >> john, thanks so much. we'll certainly be following this all weekend long. thank you. this storm is expected to wreak havoc on travel nationwide. airlines already starting to cancel flights, pull planes off of tarmacs, all in anticipation of irene's arrival. many carriers are allowing passengers to rebook trips on the east coast for free. the best advice, as always, is to call your airline. the u.s. navy isn't taking any chances ahead of irene. its second fleet has been ordered to evacuate the norfolk naval station. all together some 64 ships have left port. some are heading out to the open seas where the navy says ships can better ride out the storms. other ships are being moved to repair shipyards and other shelters. >> we invite you to be part of our coverage. if you want to send us hurricane pictures throughout the weekend, snap a few photos and send it to [email protected]. you might see them on tv and on our website. also, you can join in the conversation online via twitter. you can send us a tweet at nbc washington or send us at the hash tag irene. what organizers are saying about when the martin luther king jr. memorial will now be dedicated. plus the impact irene could right now at almost 4:41 in the morning, there's hurricane irene spinning away east of the florida peninsula. it is already swinging those rain bands across florida, along the georgia coast, and just about to come into the south carolina coast. for us over the last 12 hours, we had those storms from yesterday all clear out. we have a few light showers, a little bit of a moderate downpour there in the northern neck moving into charles county and into southern prince george's county. right now we have temperatures around the region with some patchy fog in the 60s to near 70 degrees. watch out for the patchy fog, especially in the rural areas. visibility down under a half mile. for today, we'll have sunshine. fog should be dissipating by midmorning. mid and upper 80s by midafternoon with increasing clouds. going to be a humid day today. then over the weekend we'll have the first rains from irene arriving maybe as early as tomorrow morning, then getting heavy at times during the afternoon with strong gusty winds tomorrow, up to 40 miles an hour. saturday night into sunday morning, we'll have gusts up to 60 miles an hour around the metro area, higher gusts around the bay and eastern shore with heavy downpours sunday morning. drying out into next week. we'll look at that and details on irene coming up. danella, good morning. how's traffic? >> good morning. we're still looking good. a lot of green in that area, which means no issues and no delays. if you have any family members taking route 50 from the bay and into the city, i don't see any problems. i'll give you a live look as we shoot over to local roads in maryland. georgia and arcola completely clear. good morning in maryland. i don't see any problems for you as well. this is seminary road, 395, as you're making your way to the 14th street bridge in both directions, all is clear. >> thank you very much, danella. still to come. how a prankster may have convinced some local people they good morning and welcome back. we are tracking hurricane irene, a monster storm that's made its way towards the coast. irene is a category 3 storm. in moments, the national hurricane center will put out its projected path. as soon as that does come out, we'll bring it to you. sunday's dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial is postponed because of the storm. it will not take place until september or october. 250,000 people were expected to attend the event on sunday. president obama, jesse jackson, and hundreds of other dignitaries were set to attend as well. > metro is preparing for the high winds. they'll place sandbags around escalators. all pumping stations are being checked. and crews are clearing drainage areas near stations and yards. as for buses, they'll deploy personnel with chain saws to respond to downed trees. they'll also have extra crews available to respond to any problems throughout the weekend. amtrak has cancelled all service south of washington, d.c., today through sunday. so far no trains headed north through washington have been cancelled. that is very likely to change as the storm progresses. you can call amtrak for status updates or reschedule your trips now. the maryland transportation authority will be monitoring the wind to decide whether to close access to the state's bridges. they usually close traffic on all bridges when winds exceed 50 miles an hour, which could be the case this weekend. they're also checking pumps at ft. mchenry and baltimore harbor tunnels to make sure they're working in case the tunnels do begin to flood. and gas prices will soar. many oil refineries on the east coast are expected to shut down before irene's arrival. the national average for a gallon of gas already jumped a penny overnight. east coast refineries account for 7% of oil production. gas from europe also arrives at east coast ports, some of which are close the right now. as hurricane irene heads toward the region, residents in laurel say they're getting fake robocalls telling them to leave their homes. the city has not issued an evacuation order. police aren't sure whether the lines were accidentally crossed with ocean city, which is being evacuated ahead of the hurricane. and there are mandatory evacuation orders all up and down the east coast right now. if you're being ordered to evacuate or are in the future ordered to see vak waevacuate, long list of things to bring with you. >> bring your checkbook, social security card, birth certificate, and medical records. some recent pay stubs and tax returns, car titles and registrations, mortgage deeds, credit cards, and your driver's license and passport. if you have time, be sure to back up important files on your computer with portable flash drives and a camera of some sort to record for possible damage for when you return to your home. the threat of irene has people stocking up on necessities, as you might imagine. here at a hardware store in northwest washington, workers say batteries and flashlights have been cleaned out, and they're hoping to get another shipment in today. they say it's better to be prepared than to get caught off-guard and not have what you need in an emergency. here are some of the more essential items for your emergency kit. water, at least a gallon a day per person for three days. non-perishable foods, canned goods, as well as a nonelectric can opener, cooking tools and paper plates. blankets and pillows for everyone who's coming with you. first aid kits, including gauze and essential medicines, including your prescription drugs. and we cannot say it enough. fully charged flashlights and extra batteries and a radio so you can keep aware of warnings. and now to the latest on the damage from the east coast quake. teams will continue to survey prince george's county schools. so far officials in prince george's county found several cracks inside and outside of ernest everest middle school. several schools will remain closed today as they wait for final inspection. those are the beltsville academy, bradbury heights elementary, suitland and forestville military academy. in the wake of the earthquake, the national cathedral in northwest washington will remain closed in anticipation of hurricane irene. crews roped off the cathedral building. there was structural damage to the central tower there. it was the highest point in d.c. sunday services have been moved to washington hebrew congregation. the cathedral will remain closed through at least sunday, september 4th. the georgetown voice snapped these photos showing crews removing three crosses from the top of healy hall. there's no official word from the school at georgetown, but it appears they're taking extra precautions after the scene at national cathedral where the spires snapped off in the quake. >> and tom kierein is here to take a look at hurricane irene as well as our forecast. i think the worst for us extended power outages for several days beginning sunday and lasting into next week, unfortunately. right now here's the latest with hurricane irene. it has maintained its strength overnight. it continues to spin away. right now it's east of cape canaveral by 100 miles or so with the center of circulation. it's close enough for the rain bands to be reaching to florida, the georgia coast, and almost to the south carolina coast. here are the latest statistics for irene. it has still maintained its strength. 115-mile-per-hour winds is a category 3 hurricane, and its pressure has dropped a bit, though. the latest track is very similar to what it was yesterday. keeping it off the coast until it approaches the outer banks. this is just a little bit farther west as a category 2 hurricane coming ashore. here's the timing. by saturday morning at 8:00 a.m., the position may be just about 75 miles or so to the east of wilmington, north carolina, with a category 3 strength that would still be around 115, 120 mile an hour sustained winds. those winds may be up to 100 right along the coastline there. as it does come inland right across the outer banks, albemarle sound, it will perhaps drop down to a category 2 hurricane. by then winds of 105 sustained, certainly enough to cause damage and a big storm surge up to 10 feet there. this would be by saturday, 8:00 p.m., this position. after that, around saturday at midnight, it's going to be just to the east of norfolk and virginia beach. then right near the mouth of the bay, perhaps about 1:00 a.m. on sunday. farther north, it does look like predawn on sunday it's going to be right along the coastline. this is the very latest track. this just came out just a couple of seconds ago. it does show a little bit farther to the west. the forecast track does show it's going to be certainly impacting the lower eastern shore big time and then heads up to new york city later on sunday and then into new england as a category 1 storm. as we take a look at the watches and warnings we have around. no warnings yet, but a big area tropical storm watch all around the bay and all the way as far west as montgomery and fairfax counties, includes the district, hurricane watches farther to the east. what are the impacts? the potential impacts for us are, well, extreme here from new england all the way down to the outer banks and closer to us. this central zone, this is going to be a major impact zone right here, including the district and all of our eastern suburbs, much of virginia, much of maryland. and these impacts are going to be in the form of the extreme zone here in the pink. rain up to 10 inches, winds 75 miles or more with major flooding and a big storm surge and certainly a loss of power. in that central zone, the major impact zone, we're going to be in that. rain perhaps up to six inches, winds gusting to 60 miles an hour with major flooding, and then we won't have quite as much of an impact farther to the west. and up to three inches of rain with winds gust to go 40 miles an hour. over the last 12 hours, we've seen the last of those storms exit. we do have patchy dense fog, especially in the rural areas. we do have showers moving through southern maryland, northern neck, drifting off to the east. temperatures in the region around the 60s to near 70. it is rather humid with that patchy fog around. for today, we'll have a partly cloudy day with afternoon highs reaching the mid and upper 80s. then it goes downhill tomorrow. we'll have the rain bands coming in as early as tomorrow morning, getting heavier this afternoon and into tomorrow night. high around the bay and eastern shore. even stronger gusts, heavier rains late saturday night into predawn sunday. finally the rain tapers off by sunday afternoon. still gusty winds. we dry out settled pattern into next week. danella, good morning. h how's traffic? >> good morning. traffic is very quiet. if you're taking a drive on the dulles toll road or 66, still very quiet in both directions. no issues for you as you're making your commute. a live look at the american legion bridge. it is clear as well. no problems as you're making your commute. heading on the beltway in virginia, inner loop and outer loop, no issues there either. i'll be back in ten minutes with another update. >> our time right now 4:54. coming up, who may have pulled ahead in the redskins ♪ [ woman ] sam begged and pleaded... so i sent him to camp. we'd earned lots of points with our new citi thankyou card... and i put them to good use. he told me about his bunkmates, and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. welcome back. at least 50 people are dead after a casino collapse in mexico. it happened in monterrey, about a two-hour drive south of the border. armed men burst in and lit it on fire. they believe a drug cartel was responsible for the attack. this is the first time in three months the casino was targeted. now to the latest from libya. no one has seen moammar gadhafi, but he has been heard. in an audio message, he urged his supporters to go out in the streets and fight. meanwhile, there are several reports that rebels are closing in on gadhafi. the associated press reported about 1,000 rebels surrounded ten buildings filled with pro gadhafi fighters in tripoli. at one point rebels believed they had gadhafi and his sons cornered in an apartment. that was not con firld. rebels say their next major target is gadhafi's hometown 250 miles from tripoli. at the same time, residents found a photo album with pictures of former secretary of state condoleezza rice in gadhafi's compound. you see them there. this discovery may not be that surprising, though. in a television interview with al jazeera, gadhafi once praised rice saying, quote, "i support