good evening to you on this friday night. and we begin with something that sounds unimaginable in this country. tonight, 300,000 people told -- do not drink the tap water in your home, do not bathe in it, do not brush your teeth with it, because dangerous chemicals may be seeping in, and tonight, stores in west virginia are selling out of bottled water. as people race to try to stock up. this woman, in charleston. abc's susan saulny tonight has what happened and the very latest. she is there. >> reporter: thousands of people waiting in line, in cars, on foot -- all for a few jugs of water. water fountains and sinks tapped up, restaurants closed. schools shut down. a region paralyzed. >> i'm just really upset. >> reporter: the crisis began yesterday morning, when a toxic chemical used to process coal, leaked out of a bottom of