400 outages, mostly in frederick. flooding caused major problems throughout the region, and even forced some people to run for cover and even abandon their cars. take a look at the flooding at the montgomery county fair in gaithersburg yesterday. this is along north frederick avenue. in the parking lot the water was waist deep, forcing some people to wait out the storm or abandon their cars for the night. boy, that was rough up there. a lot of rain in a very short period of time. >> a whole lot of rain and nowhere for it to go. that's what happens. good thing those folks didn't try to drive through that because that is the thing you don't want to do. >> exactly. for today it's going to be nothing like yesterday. we are still expecting wet weather around the area. as far as this morning goes, early part of the day here, we've still got a lot of cloud cover across the area. the showers, those have taken a break for us. to the north and off to the west, there is fog and visibility up to three miles. as far as your temperature goes we're at 69 degrees right now. reagan national, adam morgan. waldorf at 67 degrees. you're looking at the radar where the bulk of it is east of the area. by noontime, showers come back, maybe showers later on. riverdale, at 68 degrees. annandale at 64. going up to a high temperature today of 83 degrees. by noontime we get to 80. very little in the way of sunshine today. just more wet weather coming our way. danella? >> good morning. let's take a live look right now at some of our area roadways. want to give you a look at 270. if you're traveling 270, the headlights towards us, that's travelers traveling south. i can tell you i don't see anything in the roadway slowing you down. there's no major delays right now on 270 in either direction. as we shoot over to 395. traveling 395, as soon as you pass that beltway and continue north, you're clear in both directions. in fact, you're even clear as you make your way over the 14th street bridge. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks, danella. right now metro is reporting an escalator outage at the wheaton station. the entrance escalators are out because of a mechanical problem. no word on what the problem is exactly or when it might be fixed. the elevator, though, is working there. this morning the search is on for who killed a longtime journalist and contributor to the washington times. 91-year-old viola hermes draf was found dead in her home over the weekend. megan mcgrath joins us live with the investigation. >> reporter: good morning. viola lived here, and her georgetown home is now a crime scene. police are keeping watch over the home, making sure nobody goes inside. the question is who would want to kill her? we found a picture of her. she served as a correspondent for a prominent german daily. he was a contributor for the washington times, taught at american university, was a playwright and author, and was very involved in diplomatic circles where she promoted german-american relations. an autopsy revealed she did not die of natural causes. this is now a homicide investigation. police spent the weekend collecting physical evidence from inside her home and talking to people who knew her. but at this point, there's no word of any suspects or any arrests. eun, back to you. >> megan mcgrath, live in northwest washington. megan, thank you. new from overnight, two bombings ripped through a crowded market in iraq, killing 34 people and injuring 60 others. the twin explosions occurred in a city southeast of baghdad. the iraqi police say the first bomb went off in a freezer. then as rescuers responded, a second bomb exploded in a parked car. no one has claimed responsibility. all americans forces are expected to leave the country by the end of this year. the gaithersburg man being held in aruba in connection with a local woman's disappearance is expected to appear in court today. aruban police are expected to pursue criminal charges against gary giordano. giordano told police gardner disappeared on a snorkeling trip. today prosecutors are expected to review footage from security cameras at the hotel the pair were staying. giordano's lawyer released a statement saying there's no evidence to hold his client and he should be released. we continue to follow this story. jackie bensen will have exclusive stories from aruba throughout the week. a teenager accused of sexually assaulting and killing a teacher will be in court. he was just 13 years old when he was charged with killing the teacher. his trial is setted today. if wansom is convicted, he faces life in pron. european stocks open slightly higher today as investors took their cues from gains in asian equity markets. at this moment the ftse is up .5%. in germany the dax is up .5%. hong kong's hang seng gained more than 3%. u.s. futures are pointing up today after one of the wildest weeks in wall street history. on friday the dow climbed 125 points to 11,269. the nasdaq was 15 points higher. and the s&p 500 gained 6 points. it caps a week where the dow saw four separate 400-point swings. 5:06 is the time. president obama will hop on a bus for a three-day tour of america's heartland. it will take him to farming and rural communities in minnesota, iowa, and illinois, where he earned strong support back in the 2008 elections. this time, however, white house officials say they expect an earful from supporters and critics over concerns about the economy, jobs, and partisan politics in washington. the president will hold five town hall style events over the next three days with the first in cannon falls, minnesota, later today. our time right now 5:07. they showed up within minutes and made a big getaway. >> up next, see the news 4 exclusive video of a flash mob thnchts morning people will clean up after the rain caused this roof to collapse in new york city. it happened at a convenience store in brooklyn. so much rain gathered on the roof, it just gave way, leaving a big mess. no one was injured. new york city broke the record for the most rain in a single day. and an ohio woman made an unusual discovery after some strong storms in her area. a blimp crashed into her backyard. 94-year-old lillian bernhagen said she heard a bang early sunday but thought it was just thunder from storms rolling in. it turned out a blimp had broken away from its moorings at columbus airport two miles away and crash landed behind her home. crews spent much of the day cleaning up pieces of the blue and white blimp. luckily, no one was injured. i'm sure a lot of surprised looks on their faces. boy, what a mess to clean up. seems like things have calmed down around here for a while. 66 degrees outside at the moment as we approach 5:11. it is 5:11, by jingle. >> by jingle. is that something you picked up in canada? >> some old canadian saying. >> nova scotia. 5:11. time for weather and traffic on the ones. meteorologist veronica johnson in the weather center for us. >> as far as storms go, there's a slight chance for us to see some thunderstorms this afternoon and this evening. for the most part, as we said, things have really calmed down around the area. i've got to tell you, it's cool outside, quite cool. in fact, we're seeing some of the lowest temperatures that we've seen around here in just about a month. our temperature now is 69 degrees with a northwest wind at 6 miles per hour. mt. rainier at 67. laytonsville, maryland, at 65. and foggy bottom also at 69 degrees. the radar giving us a break. that rain east, but showers will be back about noontime today. about noontime, some light showers, and then a chance for thunderstorms for, i think, mainly the mid and late afternoon as well as the early evening hours. at 12:00, we're up to 80 degrees. by 5:00, still holding at about 83 degrees. it's going to be cool and very overcast today. danella? >> fw >> good morning. if you're traveling in upper marlboro prince george's county, eastbound lanes of south osborne road between carroll way and brentwood are shut down due to a water main break. here's a look at redland road and crabbs branch way. looking good in this area. as we check out the rails, rails are open, and all are looking really good. metro, marc, and vre all running on or close to schedule. joe and eun, back to you. >> 5:12, 66 degrees. ahead on "news 4 today." just how long you may smell smoke from a welcome back at 5:16. this morning a news 4 sclus i have. police are trying to identify members of a brazen flash mob caught on tape in montgomery county. this surveillance video you'll only see on news 4 shows a flash mob virtually taking over a 7-eleven in germantown early saturday morning. more than three dozen young people walked in and grabbed candy, soda, ice creams and anything they could get their hands on and walked out without paying. many of those involved were laughing. you might be able to see that, and smiling while they were stealing from the store. we talked to the store's owner, the owner's son by phone. >> i want them to be identified. they need to have consequences for their actions. they can't just keep doing this. >> it is a criminal offense. anyone involved in this type of event should know that the montgomery county police are going to investigate this seriously with a lot of effort. >> police say they will check social media sites, including facebook and twitter, to see if any of those involved posted videos. if you recognize anyone in the video, call montgomery county police. three florida siblings who had been on the run for more than a week will be back in a florida courtroom to be arraigned and potentially face more charges. lee grace dougherty and her brother ryan and half brother dylan were arrested after a nationwide manhunt ended in a high speed chase in southern colorado. right now they're facing charges of first degree attempted murder and assault on a police officer. they will likely be charged for a bank robbery in georgia and firing shots at a police officer in florida, where their cross-country crime spree began. all eyes are on orlando, florida, for the arrival of casey anthony today. anthony must return to her hometown by the 26th of august to serve a one-year probation on check fraud charges. she's been in hiding since she was acquitted of charges that she murdered her 2-year-old daughter caylee. a florida judge says, because anthony received the death threats, her address will be kept private during the probationary period. anthony's attorneys recently argued that she had served the probation while in jail awaiting the murder trial, but that argument was refused by the judge on friday. the indiana state fair is set to resume activities today with a memorial for the five people killed in a terrifying accident saturday night of the state police and the national weather service have both said it appears a gust of wind around 60 to 70 miles an hour brought the stage down, injuring more than 40 people. officials warned the crowd for severe weather beforehand. as family and friends try to comprehend this tragedy, indiana governor mitch daniels praised the people who ran to the collapsed stage trying to free the people trapped underneath. >> the individuals who ran to the trouble and not from the trouble, by the hundreds. >> i was in the stands, and a big gust of wind came. stage flew over, and i took off down there to see what i could do to help. >> sugarland, the band set to go on stage when it collapsed, cancel their show at the iowa state fair last night. a south carolina man is recovering this morning after getting attacked by a shark. don white was in north carolina on a family fishing trip last week. he decided to jump in the water to cool off a bit. that's when an eight foot long bull shark sunk its teeth into his leg. eventually, white got back into the boat, and he says that's where he's staying from now on. >> all of a sudden, i felt severe pressure, like a strike on my right foot. as far as swimming in the ocean or taking a dip in the ocean while we're out fishing again, it will never happen again. >> good idea. white needed 120 stitches to close that wound. he says he even pulled one of the shark's teeth from his leg. lucky guy. >> yes, eight foot bull shark. unbelievable. this weekend's rain has done little to help firefighters battling a record wildfire in virginia. the fire in the great dismal swamp wildlife refuge has scorched more than 6,100 acres. officials say the weekend rain helped to cool the brush on the surface but had little effect on the bulk of the fire, which is actually burning in deep heat bogs underground. firefighters have started pumping water into ditches around the swamp but say even if six inches of rain fell, they would have to pump in water for a month to put out that fire. the fire is sparked by lightning back on august 4th. 5:21 is the time now. time again for another look at weather and traffic on the ones. >> meteorologist veronica johnson is here with us for a look at the forecast and some changes, veronica. >> that's right. some changes. i think that's really going to help that wildfire that is burning because over the next couple of days, we're going to have cooler temperatures around the area and several opportunities to pick up some rain throughout the state of virginia, maryland, and right around d.c. too because for so long now we've been on the dry side, running at least 26% to 50% below normal on rainfall. want to show you these pictures. this was out in shenandoah. this was at the shenandoah thrift store in woodstock, virginia. this was on saturday when real strong winds came through the area with the thunderstorms. yesterday we had flash flooding around the area. if you've got any pictures on weather taking place in the area, send them on in to nbcwashington.com/weather. be sure to check me out on twitter. vjohnsonnbc4. it's comfortable outside right now. remember we were in the 70s, even 80 degrees in the morning, talking about record heat. i'm so glad we're back to cooler conditions. 69 currently. northwest wind at 6 miles per hour. that rain is pushed out. look at the other numbers. 64 in gaithersburg, maryland, and around olney. 66 in leesburg. warrenton running in mid-60s. waldorf at 67 degrees right now. we've got visibility too, down to a mile and a half in hagerstown. so lower visibility there because of the patchy fog around the area. so any areas that got the rain, well, you're looking at a little bit of fog. there will be more rain pinwheeling throughout the area today. by noontime, 1:00, it's back in on us. for the afternoon, more showers and even thunderstorms coming our way, where we could pick up another .25 to .5 inch of rain throughout the area. here's a look at your forecast. 81 to 84. little on the cool side. make sure you've got that umbrella handy for today as well as for the evening. 75 to 80 degrees. here's a look at your four-day forecast. tuesday the high, 85. there will be no day this week where we're going to see temperatures in the 90s. again, opportunity to pick up more rain tuesday, thursday, and even friday. danella? >> good morning. i'm checking cameras in our area. so far the good news is i don't see any accidents in maryland, d.c., or virginia. i'm checking, and here's a live look for you right now. this is 95 north of prince william parkway. i am seeing volume as you make your way out of dale city and head north toward prince william parkway. again, good news. no accidents in either direction on 95. i-95 slowing you down at all. as we shoot over to i-66. we're look live at cedar lane. 66 in both directions, inside and outside of the beltway, all clear for you as well. as the beltway in maryland, this is at seven locks, inner loop and outer loop, complete clear. good news for you right now. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. joe and eun, back to you. parents of children with autism are more likely to have another child with the disorder. that's according to a study in the journal pediatrics. nearly one in five children with an autistic sibling will develop the disorder as well. that's a rate much higher than previously thought. the risk is also higher in boys. autism has no known cause, but experts believe that genetics and external influences are involved. staying active could be the key to staying sharp mentally. researchers at the university of florida found that older adults who burn the most energy were at a lower risk for mental decline. in a study with over 200 participants, those with the highest energy expenditure had a 90% reduced risk for cognitive impairment. mothers across the country are still responding severely to a survey done by the "today" show. one question, would you rather be thinner or your child smarter? more than 45% of moms said they would choose to weigh 15 pounds less rather than adding 15 pounds to their child's iq. two moms at the gym were surprised by those results. >> i would love to weigh less. don't get me wrong. i think i would go for the child. >> it seems society today is more -- women are very concerned about being very thin, very attractive, for everyone else. >> by far the biggest secret, most moms confess that they feel overwhelmed. that is not a secret, in my opinion. i think most moms anywhere, whatever their job is, whether they're stay at home, whatever they're doing, because being a parent is overwhelming. >> it is pretty overwhelming. >> i didn't know that was a big secret. >> at least for the first 18 years. >> and then what? >> then it's less overwhelming. who can say they have the best hot dog? that's up to a judge, a real judge apparently to decide. the federal trial is expected to begin today in chicago, believe it or not. the makers of ballpark franks and oscar maier aymayer are takr claims to court. sara lee filed a suit against kraft over an ad that said oscar mayer franks were better in a national taste test. sara lee said the hot dogs were stacked against them. kraft then countersued. the judge will probably say i don't have a clue. this is a job for colonel mustard. >> it's subjective. it depends what kind of hot dog you like. >> yes, it is. a fine taste will determine the better hot dog of all things. 5:26 is our time. coming up, we're going to see [ martin luther king jr. ]see i still have a dream that one day on the red hills of georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream today! [ male announcer ] join us at the walter e. washington convention center on august 26th for a live roundtable discussion inspired by the legacy of dr. martin luther king jr. a tragedy caught on video as strong winds bring down a performance stage, killing five people in the crowd. this morning we're hearing from people who actually saw it happen. good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this august 15th, 2011. let's take a live look outside at 5:30. it's 66 degrees. the coolest it's been in a long time. i think joe brought the canadian weather with him back from his vacation. >> yeah, that was rough, spending the last two weeks in sweatshirts. >> meanwhile, we're sweating it out in 100 degree high humidity. >> but it's always -- i guess i'm coming up later right now. it's always weird when you go from the short sleeves to the long sleeves. >> that's true. first of all, this morning some people are waking up in the dark and in the heat and humidity because of strong storms that swept through the area. pepco has about 2,000 customers right now without power. most of the outages in montgomery county. but that's down from our past half hour. dominion reports more outages. it now says 1,200 customers without power in northern virginia. bg&e has 500