darkness, you cannot tell how deep the water is. you may think oh, it's just a couple of inches deep, i can get through that. but if it is moving water across the road, do not attempt to drive through that. it could be deep enough to float your car away, a very dangerous situation is developing now with all these pockets of heavy rain that are coming through, getting reports now, many creeks and streams are out of their banks and flowing across roads. so, again, avoid that high water. even where we don't have the creeks and streams flowing across roads we've got the ponding of water, and could be driving along at speed on the interstate going 50, 60 miles an hour, and all of a sudden you coulhit a pocket of water that can swing your vehicle and spin it out of control. so slow down, and if you don't have to go out, just stay inside, stay with nbc 4, we'll be keeping you fully informed about what's going on. right now the radar is showing these pocke of heavy rain, where you see the area of yellow and orange. right now the heaviest rins are east of washington in anne arundel, calvert and st. mary's counties in the eastern part of theorthern neck. northern montgomery county, southern loudoun, into prince william county, and that is continui to move south to north, as well. another area ofsome very heavy rain right near fredericksburg and just about to come in to stafford count that's going to be advancing to the north and moveight into prince william county over the next, perhaps half hour or so. and the radar shows another broad area of rain tha is to our south. so this is not done yet. this is going to continue all of the way into this afternoon and early this eveni as these waves of heavy rain continue to move on through. again we have flood warnings now throughout much of the region because many of the smallreeks and streams are out of their banks and flowing er roads, and once again, watch out for the pontding of water. temperatures around the region now are in the 60s generly. 70s on the eastern shore. 69 in washington. and this flow of the atmosphere, all having to do with the remnants of tropical storm nicole. right now the rculation from that remnant is coming in to north carolina. the eastern flow out ahead of that is what's tapping all of this moisture off of the atlanti ocean. it's going to sweep right up the tlantic seaboard, snarling transportation between washington and boston. and for the rest of the day, we'll have these pockets of heavy rain coming through with thunder and lightning. also have a tornado watch in effect. some individual storms could produce funnel clouds and some damaging wind. temperates wil climb into the low and mid 70s by midafternoon. this rain will finally taper off by late tonight and end. and then during the day tomorrow, blustery northwest wind, partly cloudy, highs low to mid 70s, and cooler weather moving in will settle down on saturday and sunday. partly cloudy to mostly sunny at imes. both days this morning, lows in the 40s. afteoon highs into the 60s. now let's check traffic. jerry, how's it looking? >> going to be a tough one this morning. authoritieseadedfor an accident just around the bend along i-270 southbound. head on down towards falls road. don't have a lot of details except for the fact report of a car into the jersey wall, which i fear is not going to be the only vehicle into the jersey lls we see this morning, because of the ponding of the water. you have to be very, very cautious this morning, i can't say it enough. it is going to be very, very challenging, if not dangerous out there. so heads up for 270. let's go to northern virginia, interstate 66, inbound, i'll step out of the way. the picture tells the story, because it is just coming down in buckets out there right now. now we do have word of an accident in maryland. 95 southbound near ruth 212, calvert and beltsville exit. rescue crews should be on the scene. back to virginia, 95 northbound between triangle andunn fries, tractor trailer accident. i-70 remains blocked before you get to baltimore, eastbound because of an accident involving a truck. hopefully that will be reopened according to police maybe in the next hour. but again, that's the story of the morning. joe? >> jerry, thank you very much. a lot of folks in the district are prepared for severe weather. the d.c. department of public works handed out some sandbags yesterday in southeast washington. this move is to help keep homes and businesses from flooding in low-lying areas. d.c. officials remind people to stay away from fallen wires, call 311 forany downed trees or rge limbs causing damage or blocking roadways and sidewalks. as we mentioned earlier, the wet weather is not affecting just the roads. the airlines and airports warn you of delays and remind you to check your flight status before you do head out to the airport. and right now a lot of folks are waking up the dark. petco reports nearly 2,000 people without any electricity in montgomery county, prince george's county and the district. ege reports more than 300 without power, domini reports more than 100 people without power in northern virginia. now pepco customers should report their outages by calling 1-87pepco-62. again that's 1- 77-737-2662. >> traffic is moving again this morning on i-270. northbound lanes of the interstate were closed for hours yesterday after a bus carrying kids and their parents careened off a flyover ramp and crashed onto the highway. it happened on the hov flyover in bethesda. news 4's tracee wilkins isive near the scene of that wreck with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. what's amazing about this accident is that the children and the parents on this bus survived the accident. that bus went down the embankment, flipped over one time, and then landed right on the ed of 270. it did not become airbor. but this was an extraordinary accident. and the good news is that those children and parents did make it. unfortunatelyhe driver of that bus diddie yesterday. take a look at here on 270. you can see that, again, traffic is moving just as it normally does out here on 270 after tat amazing traffic jam we had out here yesterday. let me show you what it looked like yesterday after this bus fell off of the flyover ramp. it happened about 4:00 p.m. the bus was heading north on an hov flyover ramp when it went through the guard rail, falling about 45 feet down the hill onto the edge of 270. officials say that the bus of carrying about a dozen people. we know that four parents and four children were taken to the hospital. the driver of the bus evidently had some kind of a medical emergency, according to folks who were on the bus. they say the 66-year-old had either a seizure or a heart attack. they saw him begin toose control of the bus. we're told that some of the adults on the bus tried grabbing the wheel but unfortunately were not able to control that bus and keep it from going over the edge. folks were evaluated hre on the scene and then those four adults and four children were taken to suburban hospitals. we activated our trauma team. we had trauma specialists here. we had extra nursing here. we pooled our resources to care for a trauma situation. the thing that stands out about this accident is the fall seems pretty significant. the mechanism, the physics behind it, i'm surprised there weren't more severe injuries. >> we'retold that the children and also adults are just fine. they're going to go back to pennsylvania. some already have headed back up, been released from the hospital. they were down here visiting museums, and also went to the oo. so an unfortunate end to their trip here in washington, d.c. on a side note, there was also a secondary crash that happened when that bus came down the embankment involved two vehicles. the folks involved in that crash are okay, as well. tracee wilkins, live this morning. back to you all in the sdio. >> tracee, thank you. 6 degrees. ahead this morning, the government demanding answers after massive recall of children's medication. >> plus, the health of former president jimmy carter. the illness that forced him to cancel a trip here to washington. >> and we are getting hammered right now. it's pouring outside. a serious threat of flooding. weather and traffic are next. time for weather and traffic on this thursday morning. i'm meteorology tom kierein. there's a live view of national airport. very heavy rain falling there now. on radar we have waves of heavy rain that continue to move on through. live here now from storm center 4, the areas of heavy rain were where you see the pockets of orange and yellow. there is one big batch coming up om north of fredericksburg that's now sweeping across spotles vain yeah, stafford county into prince william and southern fairfax county. at wave of her very rain advancing to the nrth and will continue to be with us here from time to time throughout the rest of the day. and as the day do progress, we will have ouremperatures climbing just into the mid 70s by midafternoon. and then as we do get in to the evening hours,we will have our rain tapering off and ending, and then tomorrow partly cloudy and we'll have sunshine back with the blustery wind. looks like a dry weekend and cooler, as well. how's the traffic? >> things are getting very difficult. head to northern virginia along i-95 northbound. a uple of tractor trailer accidents. one as you head to the uaquon river. we're told only one lane is getting by. elsewhere we'll head on over and update the inner loop of the capital beltway, right after the exit to the270 spur, word of a jackknifed tractor trailer. that just in. fire and rescue crews are headed there. that will be the inner loop of the beltway. outer loop no accidents to report ere. 270 southbound at falls road, look out for the accident. at least one travel lane is tied up. joe, eun. >> thk you very much, jerry. >> 5i9s:13 now. ahead on "news 4 today," a children's medicine recall. a focus of a hearing on the hill. >> a bailout of sorts. how congress is helping na. and we continue to follow this torrential rain. a flood warning just issued moments ago and an updaten just minutes. stay with us. good morning, everyone. here's a look at this morning's top stories. heavy rain continues to pound the d.c. metro area. here's a live look outside, there are tornado watches and warnings and flooding is expected in many parts of our area. the rain will continue in waves throughout the day. it's also remnants of tropical storm nicole, part of a storm system coming from the south. and ahead of the storm, many people in the district took steps to protect their property. the d.c. department of public works handed out sandbags yesterday in southeast. the move iso keep homes and businesses protected from low lying areas. and a section of northbound 270 in montgomerycounty is free and clear this morning. it was closed for five hours yesterday, after a charter bus full of kids and parents plunged off a flyover ramp and crashed onto the inrstate below. the bus driver was killed, and at least a dozen people were hurt. the injured are suspected to be okay. and three people are dead from a nato helicopter strike at a pakistani security post near the afghan border. nato is investigating the incident, saying there is no word yet whether the attack is linked to an operation against insurgents in a nearby province. e three troops were from a paramilitary force assigned to guard the border. that's a look at this morning's top stories. joe, back to new the studio. >> elaine reporting live. new today, two men are fighting for their lives after they were shot in southeast washington. the shots rang out at around 10:30 last night. the 3500 block of 22nd street southeast. police say the victims were suffering from life-threatening injuries. so far no word what led to the shootings or on whether police have a suspect investigators are still working to determine if yesterday morning's deadly fire inorthwest washington was set intentionally. one man was killed when he jumped to escape the fire in the 3100 block of 16th street in columbia heights. four others, including a 2-year-old girl were seriously hurt. firefighters believe the fire started on the fifth floor and they are calling it suspicious right now. nasa's fute has become a little clearer as congress has now approved a plan that extends the life much the space shuttle program. the house pased a bill that dismantles the constellation program that was supported by president bush to return astronauts to the moon. the bill also extends the life the international space station to 2020 and aproves $50 billion of spending over the next three years. nasa administrators say this fulfills the president's goal of extending the life of the iss, as well as creating new technology and thousands of new jobs. the ceo of johnson & johnson will speak to a congressional committee today about the recall of children's tylenol this past april. more than 40 varieties were recalled because of concns over the amount of active ingredients. in the past year, johnson & johnson has issued a total of six recalls of 200 million bottl of medicine. former pesident jimmy carter is still in a cleveland hospital this morning with a possible viral infection. the 85-year-old is said to be in good spirits, as he continues to recover from a stomach ailment. his doctors determined the viral infection is now clearing up. he spent two days in the hospital. mr. carter canceled his book signings in ohio, north carolina, and here in washington, and he won't be 85 for long. the former president turns 86 on friday. this morning the flooding is causing problems on the road toment qomry county. many of the trouble spots are already covered with risin water. megan mcgrath is live in kensington right now with more on the flooding conditions out there. good morning, megan. >>ood morning, joe. it is going to be a messy rush hour. no question about it. you can see just how hard the rain is coming down right now. and we've seen periods where it's come down eveharder than this. now low-lyi areas, we are seeing some flooding here. here along beach drive. you can see that they have a section of beach dri near connecticut avenue completely closed off here. the concern is that the creek is going to contiue to rise, and flood out the street. it actually has covered the roadway in some spots. so, it's a very low-lying area. beach drive, if you usually take it, probably best to take another route this morning. now this is connecticut avenue right here. you can see that the streets, of course, are very, very wet. we've got some water that's running down along the curb of the roadway here. but we're not seeing any major standing water. not at least in the area where we are in kensington. but certainly that is aproblem or can be a problem as the orning wears on and the rain continues to come down. we are expecting this rain to stick with us through the day. we have seen some pretty heavy showers, downpours here at times. so it's not going to be a storm that hits and leaves. this is goi to be something with us for the duration of the day here. we've got a flood warningoing on which means that water has already come up into some roadways. we also have a tornado watch in the area until 1:00 this afternoon. watch out for standing water. particularly in those low-lyi areas or if there's a storm drain that can't drain properly. keep your speed down, keep your eyes open with winds that may come through the area. we could see falling debris and the like. this promises to be a pretty nasty rush hour. >> nasty weather. thank you very much, megan mcgrath. now let's get update on it, the forect. >> meteorolist tom kierein in the storm center with the latest. hi, tum. >> we do have flooding occurring right now so watch out for that andor deep water, areas of w where the ground levels are a little bit lower. we have some deep water beginning to form. if you have a basement that's prone flooding definitely get any valuable items up off the floor of that basement. now as we look at the radar, we've had waves of heavy rain coming through where you see the pockets of orang and yellow, is where it's coming down hardest. and it is one wave of some very heavy rain across anne arundel, calvert and st. mary's counties. another one is just now coming out of stafford ito prince william, and into fairfax county. all these counties in red under a flood warning, which means that there is flooding occurring right now. it includes washington, the entire metro area, much of northern virginia and southern maryland. look at the rain fall totals we'vehad. almost 2.75 inches out near western fairfax county. we've had about an inch and a half around washington. but much more on the way, up to four, five inches maybe in a few areas. we could have up to seven inches of rain later today. now we do have a tornado watch in effect, all these areasn yellow, include eastern virginia, norther virginia, the district of columbia, and much of maryland until 1:00. that means that an individual storm could produce a funnel cld between now and 1:00 this afternoon. so pockets of heavy rain throughout the rest of the day, highs reaching just the mid 70s. the rain could taper off and end tonht, plus tomorrow, we dry out saturday and sunday. highs in the 60s. jerry has traffic. >> following breaking news in northern virginia. i ar just one of many accidents already out there this rning. you're looking at live pictures of an accident that occurred just minutes ago. this is 95 northbound near route 123 in woodbridge. you can see one vehicle spun sideways. left half of the roadway is currently blocked. this is one of two or three separate accidents on the 95 corridor in virginialready this morning. there was another one down around dunnfry. you're going to have to keep your speed way down this morning and just be aware of your surroundings. let's head on over to maryland, and update you on the inner loop of the beltway. authorities just dispatched for an accident, inner loop between conneccut avenue and georgia avenue. of course we had the tractor trailer jackknife reported inner loop after the i-270. in addition to 270 southbound, at leas one accident in rockville that authorities are on the scene dealing with right now. out on the rails, good option this morning, metro, vre m.a.r.c. doing fine so far. >> thanks, jerry. coming up, sarah palin's stalking concern this morning. >> plus a look at what'seing done in europe after what's being called a credible terror threat. ♪ [ male nouncer ] it's luxury with fire in its veins. bold. daring. capable of movi your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot the pedal. ♪ the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. the new standard of the world. equals chili's $20 dinner for two. share one of five appetizers, like our famous texas cheese fries. then choose two freshly prepared entrees from 14 chili's favorites, like our chicken crispers with new sweet & smoky sauce, our new slow-smoked honey chipotle baby backibs, or grilled all-white meat chicken fajitas served over a bed of sizzling peppers and onions. grab a friend and get one appetizer plus twontrees with chili's $20 dinner for two. ted leonsis is $100,000 poorer this morning thanks to comments he made about the nba's labor gotiations. the league filed leonsis after he said the nba would soon have a salary cap. nba commissioner david stern says it isn't necessarily true and he fined leonsis for quote authorized pubc comment about the negotiating process. an alaska judge has issued a restraining order against the pennsylvania man accused of stalking and threatening former governor sarah palin. sean christy was issued a 20-day protective order after palin claims he made implied threats through phone an written messages saying that she should watch her back. she also said that he was buying a one-way ticket to alaska and sent her a receipt r a gun purchase. christy was ordered to have no contact with palin's family and stay a mile away from her home. >> 67 degrees. after the break a complete ms already out there. rain is falling. heavy rain. the first of wt could be many accidents this morning. >> we'll be right back with that. wearing shirts ♪ ♪ which caused a trend alert ♪ and everyone ♪ saw everybody ♪ tell'em all ♪ tell'em something, where to go and what it's all about ♪ ♪ tell them how to feel when they shout it out ♪ ♪ tell everybody else ♪ and everyone ♪ tell everybody else more bold flavor!onds! more variety! more value! more of what you wan.. not what you don't. ue diamond almonds. (play-by-play announcer) it's up and it is... good! more than a snack. breaking and developing news this morning. a mess on the roads already. get ready for a wet and treacherous morning commute. >> highway horror. a bus goes over an embankment killing thedriver. what we're learning this morning. good morning, i'm eun yang. >> i'm joe krebs. it's thursday, the 30th and final day of september, 2010. let's take a live look outside right now, look at ronald reagan washington national airport where you can see that it is raining, could be some flight delays here and up and dwn the east coast this morning. let's get more on the weather now. >> meteorologist tom kierein tracking the storm in storm center four. tom, good morning. >> good morning eun and joe. we' had waves of heavy rain ov the last three hours, sweeping across northern virginia into maryland, and the district of columbia, and right now we are getting a band of very heavy rain right over the bay. it's about to move over the eastern shores of the bay. and dorchester, talbott counties, queen anne's you'll be getting a band of rain over the next half hour or so. rig now the radar showing these other pockets of so orange and yellow. those are areas of some very heavy rain that are falling here just to the south of washington. right near alexandria to mount rnon rht along the tidal potomac, and western charles county, eastern stafford, and northeastern county of spotsylvania, this is continuing to move to the north. rain in loudoun county and frederick county in maryland. temperatures around t region are in the 60s to near 70. all these counties under a flash flood warning, meaning we do have flooding under way right now in these counties in northern virginia, the distct, and much of maryland and montgomery and prince george's anne arundel, calvert and st. mary's. rain fall totals have been almo four inches in southern maryland. we've had over an inch and a half in washington. the temperatures will hold steady while this rain comes down hard. also a tornado watch throughout stern virginia, the district of columbia, and much of maryland and the eastern shore until 1:00. an individual cell could produce a funnel cloud. more rain on the way here through the day, with pockets of heavy downpours. likely more flooding into the afternoon hours. it will taper off and end tonight, drawing out with blustery winds tomorrow and cooling down for the weekend. how's the traffic? >> we continue to follow breaking news. a good example, i'm sorry to say, of what we're facing alrdy this morning with an accident. cars spun out. fire and rescue crews on the scene. this is just one of many accidents this morning. this one occurred a short time ago. 95 northbound near route 123 in woodbridge. in addition to that, accidents 95 northbound at dufries authorities are dealing with those. it's going to be a very, very tough commute. right side the outer loop of the american legion bridge. no worries except for the conditions. inner loop of the beltway, just after the exit but the i-270, jackknifed tractor trailer. only the left shoulder is getting by. again, inner loop just after the exit of the 270 spurt. once you get past that, another beltway crash, inner loop of the beltway before georg avenue, with the rescue crews headed over there now. let's head out to the rails. it's a very viable option for you this morning. metrorail, vre and m.a.r.c. looking good. and inside dry. joe, eun? >> thank you, jerry. >> as jerry has been showing us this morning the flooding is causing problems on the roads. many of the trouble spots in montgomery county are already covered by rising water. news 4's megan mcgrath is livee conditions. how's it oking, megan? >> well, we're starting to s water down around roadways throught the area. we have a flood warning in effec so that's a change. earlier it was a flood watch. we now have a flood wning which means low-lying areas are beginning to flood. we're here along beach drive right here at connecticut avenue. you can see that they have closed off this roadway. the creek has left its banks and flooded parts of this roadway. this of course a very low-lying area that is prone to flooding. we're starting to see standing water on even major roads. there's an arean bethesda, montgomery avenue that we get a report -- we have a report of standing water about a foot high, in a section there. right on wisconsin avenue. an this is connecticut avenue that you're seeing behind me here. you can see the traffic is still moving. but as you heard jerry report earlier, we are starting to get more and more reports of accidents at this point, as people start to get up and make their way in to work. very treacherous drivg conditions out there. this rain is relentless. it's been coming down all morning long. unfortunately it's something that's going to stick with us through the day. so it's not going to go away. this is not a quick storm. ofcourse, as it continues to rain we're going to see more and more water stacking up. not just in low-lying areas, but in other areas, as well. places with poor drainage, if there's a clogged storm drain or something along those lines, chances are you're going to start to see some ponding of water in those areas. keep your spes down. we also have a tornado watch in effect for a lot of the viewing area until 1:00 this afternoon. if you can telecommute, folks, i would do it. back to you, eun. >> megan, good advice. thanks so much, megan mcgrath. right now many people are waking up in the dark. pepco reports about 1,000 people are without electricity in montgomery county, prince george's county and the district. pg&e reports more than 300 without power. dominion reports more than 100 people without power. pepco customers should report outages by calling 1-877-pepco-62. that's 877-737-6262. as we mentioned the wet weather is not affecting just the roads. the airlines and airports warn of delays and remind you to check your flight status before you head out to the air mortgage this morning. n tohat terrible and deadly tour bus crash on i-70 last night. traffic is moving again once again this morning, though. the interstate was closed for five hours during last evening's rush after a bus carrying kids and their parents crashed through a barrier on an hov flyover ramp and rolled down a steam embankment beforeoming to rest upright. it was a terrible scene that killedhe driver of the bus and sent dozens of others to the hospital. news 4's craig melvin has the latest. we apologize, we don't have that story right ow. we will try and get that for you a little bit later. now on to a developing story. this is out of pakistan. three people are dead from a nato helicopter strike at a pakistani security post near the afghan border. >> nato is investigating the incident, saying there is no word yet whether the attack is linked to an operaon against insurgents in a nearby afghan province. the three dead troops were from a paramilitary force assigned to guard the border. >> 5:37. as we have 67 degrees outside. big story today, the weather. we'll have that d the traffic report coming up. four years ago, boehrlich got fired as governor of maryland. for good reason. first, he prected tax loopholes for giant cable cable companies. then, he let utilities jack up our rates 72%. and for the last fouyears, he worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions from a taxpayer funded bailout. ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again tell bob ehrlich big banks an'. middle cde do. right heren this neighborhood, i grew up learning strong families and ha work means opportunity. and that starts with good schools. it's a tdition here in maryland-- and why in these tough times i've put education fst. we've made record investments in our classrooms... doubled the number of charter schools... and we've frozen college tuition for four years in a row. and it's working. experts say we now have the number one schools in the nation. when it comes to expanding opportunity in every neighborhood, i ow that we must do even better. good morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. live view of national aport on this thursday morning, where they've had ves o heavy rain coming through. over an inch and a half of rain has fallen at national airport. southern maryland has had almost four inches of rain. radar showing waves of modere to heavy rain that have been coming through over the last three hours causing flooding. get reports of high water, now many creeks and streams overflowing thr banks in northern virginia, the district of columbia and much of maryland this morning as the waves of heavy rain continue to move on through. in addition we have a tornado watch in effect for the area until 1:00 this afternoon. that meanshat an individual storm cell could proce a funnel cloud between now and 1:00. don't have any reports of that now. just very heavy rain. that will be the big story today with flooding off and on throughout the rest of the day. then tomorrow, after we dry out, late tonight, we'll have the winds picking up out of the northwest. gusting to ound 30 miles an hour. rtly cloudy into the mid 70s. then a cooler weekend to follow morning lows 40s. afternoon highs climbing into the 60s. a look in next week and an expanded report will be coming up in ten minutes at 5:51. now let's check the traffic. how's it looking? >> tom the picture tellshe story. this is just one of about a dozen accidents that we're following right now. 95 northbound in virginia. this one near route 123 in woodbridge. vehicle spun out, left side of the roadway, blocked. in addition there's accidents in dumfries. ce you make it onto 395 you're okay and the 14th street bridge. elsewhere up in maryland, i-70 eastbound closed. now getting reports of another truck accident near route 29. th would be before you get to the mount airy area. eastbound on i-70 closed there. there was an earlier accident which closed eastbound i-70 beforehe baltimore beltway. inner loop of the beltway as you make the trip just after the exit to the 270 spurt, jackknifed tractor trailer, at last report on the inner loop, only the shoulder is getting by. the folks in the district here having a picnic compared to other folks. northeast, new york avenue, doing fine. the southeast corridor is wet. ponding of water but no major accidents. joe? >> all right. >> oh, man what a day. thanks, jerry. our time is now 5:42. still to come the candidates in the race for governor of maryland each receive some endorsements. >> plus a string of dozens of burglaries that may be the work of one criminal. where police are investigating a possible one-man crime spree. >> and a flood warning in effect. the roads are a mess. we'll good morning, everyone, here's a look at this morning's top stories. a section of northbound i-27 in montgomery county is clear and open this morning. it was closed for five hours yesterday after a charter bus full of kids and parents plunged off a flyover ramp and crashed onto the interstate below. the bus driver was killed, and at least a dozen ople were hurt. the injured are expeed to be okay. we're following a developing story out of pakistan as three peopl will dead fm a nato helicopter strike at a pakistani security post near the afghan border. nato is investigating the incident saying there is no word yet whether the attack is linked to an operation against insurgents in a nearby afghan province. three dead troops were from a paramilitary force assigned to guard the borr. and ceo of johnson & johnson will speak to a congressional committee today, about the recall of children's tylenol this past april. more than 40 varieties were recalled because of concerns over the amount of active ingredients. in the past year, johnson & johnson has issued a total of six recalls of 200 million bottles of medicine. that's a look at this morning's top stories. so back t new the studio. >> all right. thanks very muc elaine. of course the biggest story we're covering this morning is flooding out there. jerry's been showing us all morning long the proble are all across the area. many ow-lying spots in montgomery county are already covered by rising water. news 4's megan mcgrath is live in kensington with more on the flooding conditions out there. megan, good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, joe. it promises to be a nasty, nasty commutfor folks headed in to work this morning. if you've got a telecommute policy it might be a good day to take advantage of it. take a look at the road closure here. we've got a beach drive. this, course, is low lying area. it is prone to flooding and that's what we're seeing this morning. we have had steady rain for hours, andhis is not a storm that's going to leave any time soon. we're going to see a lot more rain before it's out of here. now, we are starting to get reports of standing water on major roadsas well as in those low-lying areas. we have a report of standing water at wisconsin avenue and montgomery avenue in bethesda. also as you have heard from jerry this morning, we are hearing about more and more accidents that are starting to stack up all around the area on major roads, as well as on secondary roads. very, veryreacherous driving conditions out there. we have standing water in a lot of spots around the area. of course ifou hit a big pool of water going too fast you can lose control of your car and that's what we're seeing out here this morning. we also have a tornado watch for much of our ewing area. that's going to be in effect til 1:00 this afternoon. so you're certainly going to want to keep on top of that, as well as the storms continue to make their way through our area. not a great d if you're driving in this morning. we are starting to see traffic build up here on connecticut avenue. it's movi pretty well at this point. but, of course,t's still very early in the rush hour, as the rain continues to fall, and more and more people get up and head out the door. we're going to start to see some majordelaysin the area. you can bet on that. and, again, not a storm that's going to be leaving any time soon. now, in terms of power outages, that's a real psibility, as well. the power crews are out there. they're on standby. there is something that they're anticipating. so, hopefully we won't se too much of that. but if the wind starts to kick up and tree branches start to come down, that could be another thing that we're dealing with this morning. joe, back to you. >> all right megan mcgrath reporting live. thanks very much. we have a warning this morning if you live in fairfax county. police there a looking for a burglar who might have targeted more than 50 homes since the end of last month. and most of these are happeng when people are sleeping. the crime spree began august 24th. eight burgries were reported this past tuesday night. dozens of new incidents are being reported every week. while most are home break-ins, there have also been car thefts. some residents are concerned because the burglar often strikes while people are asleep. i have aoberman and three yorkies and there was no sound or barking from them. very unsettling. >> the possibility of an encounter between the burglar and homeowners i there. that's a major concern to us. we don't want homeowners hurt. >> police say the best way to prevent a burglary is to lock all doors and windows, including the ones from the garage. >> we now have new information about that terror plot targeting major european cities. officials say surveillance has picked up, increased chatter on cell phones and internet cites with paris considered to be a target. thousands of additional police and military personnel have essentially blanketed that city as a precaution. and it's not just in france, according to intelligence sources in germany. german jihadists who fought for al qaeda in afghanistan and pakistan are now coming back home to continue the fight. >> the drermen authories are concerned thathese people can build sleeping cell, ready to make bombing in germany or somewhere se. >> and tourists are being affected by all of this. because of the several bomb threats the eiffel tower has been shut down twice over the past two weeks. acrding to new documents, the man who was planning to bomb times square last may intended to strike several times. in this morning, there's new video of just how bad it would have been if that bomb had gone off. leanne gregg reports. >> reporter: the pakistani american faisal shahzad is accuseof trying to set off a car bomb in times square last may. the explosive device failed. two days later shahzad was arrested while trying to leave the country on a flight from new york bound for dubai. this is an fbi recreation of what could have happened if his plan would have worked. different camera angles show the force of the blast, and its potential impact to people and vehicles nearby. prosecutors will use this video for sentencing, along with this, of shaad taken in pakistan, glorifying thelanned attack. during the taping shahd said he wanted to join his brothers in jihad since 9/11. prosecutors say shahzad used new york city web cams, accessible online, to study crowd patterns in his effort to maximize damage. they say he thought he would show about 40 people. in june shahzad pleaded guilty to all ten counts against him. prosecutors are asking for a sentence of life in prison. leanne gregg, nbc news. in decision 2010 this morning, martin o'malley and repubcan challenger bob ehrlich are getting big endorsements. new york mayor michael bloomberg has endorsed democrat martin o'malley. he will hold a campaign rally in bethesda tomorrow. and former new york city mayor judy giuliani endorsed former republican governor bob ehrlich. giuliani also caaigned for ehrlich in 2006. 5x51 is the time now tom kierein is back in the studio. what's the latest? hevy rain. >> it comes in waves. it may settle downor awhile but then another wave of some heavy rain there come through. we've had to pick up in intensity quite dramatically over the last three hours. this is the radar history over the last three hours. the areas where you see yellow and orange, those are the pockets of the heaviest rain. waves of derate to heavy rain have caused flooding. reports now many areas where the creeks and streams are out of their banks in northern virnia, e district of columbia and in montgomery county, prince george's county, calvert, charles, s mary's anne arundel. this was a band of very heavy rain that crossed out of st. mary's in calvert and anne arundel. that's crossing the bay and is just about to move into the eastern shores of the bay from queen ann's to talbott and dorchester cupty. that rain of very heavy rain is about to move your way. elsewhere anotherocket of some very heavy rain in southern montgomery county in bethesda. raining very hard as well as right near where 270 meets the beltway. and then just to the east of there, up towards aspen hill, and near gaithersburg, and just to t south of laytonsville. that band of very avy rain is moving off to the north. another pocket of some very heav rain here inside the beltway. in arlington. andn reston and mclean, getting some heavy rain. this is another band right along the beltway where it meets route 50 and route 66. that stretches back in western fairfax county. so these bands of very heavy rain continuing to come through. if you have a basement that is prone to flooding you definitely want to get items off thefloor, and get them into a dry location. not raining quite as hard to our west. but the heaviest rain, northern virginia, the district of columbia, and in to maryland, as these waves come on through from time to time. now we do have all these counties in red reporting flood warngs in effect from stafford and spotsylvania. northern virginia, the district, montgomery, prince george's, arlington, calvert and charles an st. mary's county. three to seven inches of rain possible throughout the entire region. look how much we've had already. nearly the inches have fallen in western fairfax, southern loudoun as well as montgomery county. other four inches in southern maryland, parts of calvert county. near quantico they've had over three inches ofrain. more on the way. temperatures 6s to near 70. mid 70s eastern shore. cooler out of the mountai where they're not having much rain at all. all these counties in yellow under a tornado watch until 1:00 this afternoon. includes northern virginia, the district, muchof maryland as well as the eastern shor there's ev some tornado warnings here just to the south of norfolk. so we're already seeing some funnel clouds forming as this storm systemontinues to surge in. all associated with the remnan of tropical storm nicole. right now the main center of circulation of that is in to north carolina. that main center of circulation will pass right over us here in abo three or four hours. that's when the rain will be its most intense. and that's when we'll also have our greater chance for some funnel clouds to be forming, perhaps around 10:00, 11:00 this morning. so pockets of heavy rain from time to time through the rest of the day with more flooding likely. thunder and lightning poible, and maybe even an isolated funnel cloud until around 1:00. then we'll dry out late tonight. the rains taper off and end this evening. tomorrow we'll get some sun back with a blustery northwest wind. then cooler for saturday and sunday. partly cloudy each day. morning lows 40s. afternoon his in the 60s. into next week, could be a bit unsettled. highs in the 60s to near 70s by midweek. how is the traffic now? >> tom, trouble in montgomery county. more breaking news that is definitely going to be affecting your commute. the inner loop of the capital beltway is now virtually blocked. it's a jackkfed tractor trailer. the accident we told you about earlier. inner loop of the capital beltway. after the exit to the i-270 spur. that would put it between river road and old georgetown road. the inner loop. now the shoulder may be getting by under police direction. but as you can see, that's not the way to o. stay away from the inner loop. again, tractor trailer jackknifed after the exit to the 270 spur. the left si of the screen, those folks headed north onthe spur. that's where you want to go, you can circumvent the delays cutting over to old georgetown road and get back to the beltway. very, very tough commute there. let's head on over and update you elsewhere this morning. stay with maryland along 270, right side of your screen, crawling in several long stretches. the good newsere is the accident southbound 270 is finally out of the roadway. this is what it looks like most of the way i several stretches betwee frederick and rockville. quick check elsewhere. finally a little relief headed for downtown. we're okay here. once you get here the 14th street bdge. joe, eun? >> thanks, jerry. classes at prince george's community college in maryland will resume today after a gas leak shut everything down yesterday. the leakhappened just after 8:00 yesterday morning when workers accidentally ruptured a four inch natural gas line. authoriti said there was never any danger of explosion but roads in the area were closed, and the school was closed as a precaution. the gas line has been repaired. a disturbing story. the white house is not commenting on reports that a medal of hor recipient's family was not allowed into the white house's west wing for a tour. vernon baker's widow and her 10-year-old grandson were not allowed in because, reportedly, the boy was wearing shorts and a -shirt. the shirt had a picture of his grandfather on it. casual dress is generally prohibited in the west wing, where the president's office is. this all happened o saturday, one day after vernon baker was buried at arlington national cemetery. he was the last living black world war ii medal of honor recipient. >> that story is truly a shame that his family missed that ceremony. >> very much a shame. >> the big story this morning. the nasty, nasty weather. we are under a flash flood warning. the roads are a mess and some a closed. others have high water. >> it's pouring outside. not expected to stop for awhile. coming up at 6:00 we have live team coverage of the weather.