San juan to tell local stories of people traveling to see loved ones and people on the island trying to get out. Rosemary connors has the latest on the devastation. Waiting has new meaning for the people of puerto rico. It truly is a matter of life and death. The lines for food, water, cash and gas grow longer with each day the devastation sets in. A very dire situation here. The issue at hand is how do we get life and how do we get the things needed to save lives in the hands of the people. Military members on the ground seen in these new images bring the basic necessities like water to the hardest hit neighborhoods. Messages like this one reveal the scope of the wrath. Resources arrive on the territory. The airport cant handle the traffic. Leaving the island is easier said than done. Its a nightmare. This is not where i planned to be or wanted to be during the first two weeks of my babys life. Eventually the mother and her daughter made it to florida where many families have been patiently standing by for their relatives. Who describe whats become of their home as a war zone. Reminded me of being in the army in iraq. Survival mode. I am rosemary connors, nbc10 news. This morning a commercial flight left Philadelphia International airport for puerto rico for the first time this week. Passengers included relief workers, people desperate to reconnect with loved ones and others who are returning home for the First Time Since the storm. One flier told us he is glad to see supplies on the way but wont be happy until there is enough for everyone. I dont want to just help my family because right now puerto rico, we are not just a few friends and a few neighborhoods. Puerto rico, we are a family. Many others on the flight told us they were traveling with supplies for loved ones. Nbc10s Jim Rosenfield was also on that flight headed to puerto rico. He tweeted this picture moments before takeoff and shared have video on instagram. Everybody, Jim Rosenfield aboard a flight to san juan beings puerto rico, from philadelphia Philadelphia International airport. Left this morning. One of the few flights heading to puerto rico after Hurricane Maria. Weve been talking to some of the passengers on board the plane, many of whom have loved ones that theyve had a hard time getting in touch with. Youll hear some of their stories and well return this afternoon to philadelphia on one of the few flights to leave the island. And well hear from some of those people what they have been enduring trying to get off the island for the past several days. Look for our stories on the nbc10 app and on air later this afternoon. Until then, see you later. Stay with us for the next two and a half hours as our team of reporters tells the stories of Hurricane Maria victims. Coming up at 4 15. Brian mendosa has more on the militarys effort to help more people on the island. The amount of local relief aid for puerto rico has been overwhelming. Donation centers are filling up. The challenge is how to get to the people who need it. One church has teamed up with private groups to transport the boxes of donations, but they still dont have help to pass it out once it reaches the island. We reached out to local lawmakers who have joined forces to ask President Trump for federal resources for the victims living in the american territory. The department of Homeland Security is assisting but believe the 3. 6 million americans are in great need of additional support. Its freigustrating. I think about the sick, those who are in need, the older folks, the people that are pregnant. We also reached out to fema. They say theyre working around the clock to help the victims. You can join the effort to help the victims of Hurricane Maria. You can call the American Red Cross at 18005966567. The number is scrolling at the bottom of the screen. Go to nbc10 for the app to learn how to donate online through the American Red Cross. Further north, maria continues to churn up the atlantic. The storm was upgraded back to a category 1 hurricane. Here is a live look at the outer banks of North Carolina. You see a few people watching as the wind continues to whip around and the white caps roll in. Marias effects are being felt along the jersey shore. Rough surf pounded the beach today in long port, atlantic county. Closer to home, still dealing with the heat and humidity. It feels like its in the 90s outside. Nbc10 first alert meteorologist is tracking the rip currents and when well get a break from the heat, steve. What we have for you right now, still a category 1 hurricane off the delaware beaches right now. Thats generating wind and waves along the coast but not much in the way of rainfall. As we said last night, the rain band looks like it will stay offshore. But a sprinkle cant be ruled out in some sections. Notice the wave heights with the hurricane. Near the center, 32foot waves near the center of maria. But closer in to our delaware and jersey beaches we are seeing, on average, between 9 and 11 feet. Now, that is also associated with some rip currents. That dangerous rip current threat will continue through the day tomorrow. I think tomorrow is more of a concern because the weather will be nicer at the beaches and more people may be wanting to venture into the water. Please dont. It looks like the situation will get better by friday. Here is your Radar Network right now. All the rain bands staying offshore. The big story is the heat in most of the delaware valley. 89 degrees right now in wilmington. Feels like 95 degrees. Its almost october. This heat will not last much longer. And look at these highs today. Allentown reached 90 degrees today. 88 in philadelphia. And we may still go up another degree. 89 in wilmington. What you can expect for the next 12 hours. We start very muggy this evening, but then there is the big change that comes our way by the time we get into tomorrow morning well drop that humidity. Well also begin to drop our temperatures. Find out how cool well get in your first alert forecast coming up. Still more questions than answers today as authorities work to solve the murder of a house sitter in gloucester county. Her body was found saturday. Family members tell us carter was housesitting for a sisterinlaw at the time of the murder. Her killer is still on the loose. Nbc10s cydney long has been in the neighborhood and shell have more coming up at 5 00. 20 minutes of nonstop news continues now with a family grieving after four teens were shot overnight, one of them killed in their germantown neighborhood. A 16yearold boy died in the gun battle. Now investigators are trying to figure out who was behind the crime. Nbc10s Deanna Durante spoke with the victims family who wants witnesses to speak up. Somebody needs to speak out against this senseless killing. No one on the street seemed happy with reporters asking questions today, or had any reaction to a bullet riddled car being towed. A 13yearold girl. A graze wound. She is the youngest of a group of victims shot last night while neighbors sat on porches. The people are silenced. Theyre not saying anything. Its a sin. Its a sin before god. Reporter cynthia was eager to speak to nbc10 today. Her 16yearold nephew, seen here in a School Picture from a couple years ago, was killed. To shoot somebody innocent, and to snuff out their future, its a horrible thing. Reporter sources say the 16yearold took a bullet not meant for him. Witnesses say the gunfire started at this corner but then a crowd started running up the street here to where the group of victims were hanging out. And this is where they ended up getting shot. Shot him in the back while he is running away from the shooting. Senseless and sad. Reporter one victim is still in the hospital tonight. Sources tell me all the injured were minding their own business near their houses when people with guns started shooting. What we dont know, who fired the shots and why. I hope the person who did this gets no rest, they get no sleep at all. Because of what they have done. Reporter in germantown, Deanna Durante, nbc10 news. This just in. O. J. Simpson is less than one week from his release from a nevada prison. Prison Officials Say the plan is to parole him as early as monday. Hell be transferred from northern nevada to the high desert state prison outside las vegas. He will be released from there. Simpson has spent parts of the last nine years in prison for his role in a memorabilia Armed Robbery conviction. In the past hour President Trump unveiled his new tax reform plan. It will be in the hands of the same gop lawmakers who stumbled in their latest effort to replace obamacare. Nbc10s lauren mayk is live at the breaking news center with more on what it could mean for you. The president is still speaking in indiana where he just said this is something he has been waiting a long time for. He promised tax reform on the campaign trail. Now the question is whether republicans can pass it. Here is what they want to do. They want to cut taxes, both for corporations and individuals. Their plan has fewer tax brackets. It eliminates the alternative minimum tax and estate tax. It also increases the standard deduction used by a lot of americans and eliminates a lot of itemized deductions. The ones for Home Mortgage and charitable deductions would stay. Here is how the president pitched the plan. Were going to cut taxes for the middle class, make the tax code simpler and more fair for everyday americans, and we are going to bring back the jobs and wealth that have left our country, and most people thought left our country for good. Reporter democrats have condemned this tax plan saying it will result in a massive windfall for the wealthiest americans. Republicans really need a win on this. Senator Lindsey Graham today told nbc news that it is the difference between having a majority in 2018 or losing it. Live in the breaking news center, lauren mayk, nbc10 news. The u. S. And nato are promising more help for afghanistan. Defense secretary general Mattis James Mattis and the nato secretary general were in kabul today at a News Conference alongside afghanistans president. The secretarygeneral said the cost of leaving the country was higher than staying. He said nations have pledged more money and troops to make sure the country doesnt again become a safe haven for international terrorists. Investigators are trying to determine what sparked a fire that destroyed these two row homes in camden. The fire started in one house and spread next door. Firefighters got the flames under control and no one was hurt. Cleanup efforts continue this afternoon after train cars carrying coal derailed near pittsburgh. Emergency crews responded to the derailment in the suburb of mckeesport after noon today. A dozen cars derailed sending coal over all the tracks. Fortunately no one was injured. That accident is under investigation. The water is back on for residents in part of woodbury. This morning a water main break forced crews to cut water to nearby homes between hunter street and red bank avenue. The road is still closed for repairs. A former u. S. Senator testified today in the trial of new jersey senator bob menendez. Tom harken, a former senator from iowa said in court he met with the florida eye doctor in 2011. The two talked about the doctors 20 million dispute with medicare. Harken was on the Senate Health committee at the time and said he listened but never took action. Prosecutors say menendez used his political influence in return for bribes. A week after a earthquake caused widespread damage, it killed 337 people and caused dozens of buildings to collapse. Its the second big earthquake in mexico this month. A dozen refugees are getting help from the archdiocese of philadelphia. They attended a luncheon today in chester. Some fled their homes because of violence. Others escaped oppression and famine. The Refugee Resettlement program has already helped more than 30 people from afghanistan, egypt and ukraine find homes, work and education. Switching gears. Parx casino is hiring. Its holding a job fair until 6 30 tonight. 200 fulltime jobs are available as the casinos expansion prepares to open in december. It includes two new restaurants, an exclusive poker room and a stateoftheart Live Entertainment venue called the xcite center. In cherry hill more than one thousand seniors got flu shots today as part of camden countys Senior Health care. These are among the high priority groups when it comes to contracting the virus. 18 more locations for vaccinations are scheduled throughout the year. 20 minutes of nonstop news continues with Hurricane Marias devastation in puerto rico. U. S. Military is stepping up relief efforts to get supplies to victims who have lost everything. Brian mendosa from telemundo 62 is with there. He left and travelled to Kelly Air Force base in san antonio, texas. Thats where crews loaded up their plane with supplies before then traveling to san juan. Reporter in an effort to a assist the devastated island of puerto rico. The u. S. Air force out of dover, delaware, took a twrip to san antonio, texas, to transport Army Personnel and other much needed supplies to the island. We are an organization thats selfsustained. We are prepared to be on the ground for in excess of 30 days. Reporter according to the Dover Air Force base, a total of 45 flights have landed in the Virgin Islands and puerto rico after Hurricane Maria, providing lifesaving and Life Sustaining support to residents in the affected areas. It brings a rapid Global Mobility component to the fight. Whether helping to deliver needed supplies for combat or in this case humanitarian supplies. We have an airline taking off every 2. 8 minutes. Reporter as of now, the top priority for the department of defense is would work to support fema and the local authorities in puerto rico and the Virgin Islands. A sense of solidarity and compassion has been felt from almost everyone all over the world. Brian mendosa, nbc10 news. Hurricane maria still having an impact off the atlantic coast, causing dangerous rip currents for North Carolina and all the way up to the jersey shore. On the left side of your screen is live look at the rough surf in beaufort, North Carolina, the outer banks. On the right side is the conditions from the camera in avalon. If you love summer, today may be the last day to really soak up the heat this season. No question. Changes are in the air. Lets go to first alert meteorologist steve sosna. If you like the heat, soak it up today. You may have to wait several months before we get this hot again. Probably next spring. Lets look at whats new at 4 00. Maria still sending us waves. The wave activity will continue through the day tomorrow. Dangerous rip currents still in place even though it will be a beautiful thursday. Dont let that deceive you. The last day of heat is today. If you dont like the heat, certainly some good news in your forecast. That comes with a gusty winds. The gusty winds arrive later tonight and tomorrow and usher in the crisp feeling. Sons y as soon as you walk out the door tomorrow youll notice the very comfortable air. The low humidity lasts right into the weekend. I am calling this weekend absolutely glorious. It looks like a delightful weather weekend to be outside. Why am i showing you this number . 26 days of 90degree temperature days in philadelphia in 2017 . Were close to it right now. Its 88 in philadelphia. If we go up a degree or two we make that mark. 88 right now, feels like 94 degrees because of all the humidity and widespread temperatures across the area right now are in the upper 80s to around 90. This 90 in allentown is a record high. I will be updating the graphic here in the next half hour and showing you where we hit some record highs. Upper 80s to the jersey shore in spots. Cooler along the water. There is all that humidity i was talking about. When you see dew points in the 70s. This is air you would typically experience in south florida. Were seeing it right now with tropical to extremely muggy conditions for the next 12 hours or so. Then well see the big break arrive. Here is maria. Offshore and luckily its going to be a miss for us. The rain bands and clouds will continue to pull out to sea. The United States got off the hook with this storm system unlike the territory of puerto rico and this caribbean island. The high risk for rip currents will continue through the day tomorrow. Look out for that here. All day. And again, as i said earlier this week. Follow those signs that are posted. Here is the big change. We are saying byebye to the humidity. Lets get rid of it. That will come in with a gusty northwest wind tomorrow. Look at that. Winds 25 to 35 miles per hour. Temperatures in the 70s and a whole lot of sunshine. Your forecast for tonight, maybe one more night where you use the ac. But by tomorrow you can turn it off and enjoy this gorgeous weather. Temperatures in the upper 70s tomorrow in philadelphia. 73 in allentown. 71 in coatesville. So we have a flightfdelightful. Your weekend forecast. Early morning sprinkle saturday. Then the clouds clear out. Sunny, Beautiful Day and sunday is spectacular. Enjoy. In the next half hour ill show you the record highs, guys. All right, steve. A major cause of concern for many parents. Sudden Food Allergies are putting adults at risk too. Still ahead why the severe con