Surge northward. A lot of heavy rain coming our way but not directly related to joaquin who is going to move off. More to share. Steve rudin will join me later. Alison lets get out in the elements. Ocean city, maryland, feeling the bankrupt of the major rainstorm here. Out there in the storm,s jonathan elias. Day two out there. Is it worse today . Jonathan the winds are worse today than yesterday. But last night the Coastal Community got absolutely blasted. If i was standing here last night and i was looking out at the mean ocean, because its not friendly right now, i wouldnt be able to see the waves. The rain was coming down horizontally and blanket after blanket of rain. It was a mess out here. You talk about beach erosion. They have seen a little of that. But the wind is kicking up even more. The ocean, a lot of people think its a threat. If you look out there, that is not something you want to take a boat out now. Some folks who didnt heed the warning, whether they went out on the boat or whether the boat went out without them. The coast guard has to get the boat. Beginning the team coverage, joce sterman looked into that. That is a time and a money costsaveer that they cant afford. Right . Joce absolutely. Were live in chesapeake beach. The coast guard is up and down the coast along the chesapeake bay. The winds are whipping. We have the whitecaps out and the heavy rain falling. Flooding is a concern. We are at the hotel in chesapeake beach. They are preparing for that. Once the high tide rolls in after 8 00 tonight. We want to talk about what the coast guard is getting ready for. They have the boats tied down. Double secured everything is locked down. They dont want to lose the boats. The coast guard is not worried about boats of this side. They have them prepared. They have them handled. What they told us earlier is another concern. Something you are probably not thinking about. They talk about all the stuff you leave out along the coastline. Kayaks, canoes. That washing out to shore, out to the bay. The coast guard gets calls about it. Guess what . This is what happens. They have to go respond in a search and rescue out of abundance of college, protocol they have to follow and they are at the ready. Here is what they had to say earlier today. We try not to assume its just a lost kayak. More often than not it would be. But we cant make the assumption that it just a lost kayak. Joce as he said, they cant assume that its not a missing boater. They cant take that chance. If they get a call about a boat in the water, something they cant identify they have to check it out. The coast guard told us today they even pulled some of their own boats out of the water. They went to larger vessels that they put in, in the offchance they have to get into the by bays, the rivers. Up and down the eastern shore. They are prepared for this. They know it will happen and are trying to getm to heed the warning. First and foremost stay off the water. Get your boats tied down so you dont become a cost or a problem for the coast guard. We want to send it back out to you in ocean city. Jonathan great advice. As long as folks heed the warnses and keep the boats where they belong. Thank you for that. Were in ocean city. The winds have been hauling. This is some storm. Doug told me we are dealing with the tropical force type of winds. Thats how bad it is. The rain creates flooding issues. Not from the beach. Its from the inlet. We drove over there and finding areas of flooding not a problem. Our own brad bell spent most of his day talking to the folks affected by it and joins us live. Brad . Brad we talk about the two things that will be hurting ocean city here. Beach erosion. We wont see that until the tide goes down. Flooding. We can show you right now. Look at the neighborhood. Im standing in eight inches of water. This is ninth street. This is st. Louis avenue. What has happened is the wind is piled the water up into the back bay. It cannot go out. When you add the rain, you talk about it tends to pile up. These folks are used to it. But now we have a threat that this could be as bad as it was during super storm or Hurricane Sandy. I was here for that. The water was this much deeper. Flooding the landmark bay side neighborhood north and south of the route 50 bridge. Aaron fitzsimmons watching the rising water of the porch of her 1950s vintage home and says the living space never got wet. Erin its a noreaster. We have been through these before and were well prepared. She is caught offguard that the flooding would be as bad as when Hurricane Sandy rolled through in 2012. Many properties damaged then, including wayne hartmans apartment building. Today the water just reaching the steps. Wayne i feel comfortable. Well wait and see. Brad midnight will tell because thats when the next high tide is. Look at the folks here. They live in the town houses that are on the bay, which most of the time is a wonderful thing. But they are an island right now. They are above the level of the water but completely surrounded by the flooding. So they are choosing not to drive the cars and got them to higher ground. Some people are driving through here and police say its not a wise thing to do. This is supposed to be approaching low tide and it is worrisome that the water is still here. There had been hopes it would go back down. The next high tide will be at midnight. We will be here keeping an eye on it. That is the scene as it moves in the town of ocean city. In ocean city, brad bell, abc7 news. Jonathan rain is the last thing they need. Thank you for that. The governors of maryland and virginia declared state of Muslim States of emergency. Larry hogan the governor of maryland said he has all kind of Resources Available to him and they are dead ready to deploy if they need anything. Terry mcauliffe said the same thing. They have the National Guards at the ready if they have to pull people from the lowlying areas that flood. We are talking about flooding, this is the storm we are dealing with. Nothing to do with the hurricane yet. But in the bahamas it is all about Hurricane Joaquin. The pictures we have seen are devastating. Check out the video coming to us from the bahamas. They anticipate by the end of today they could see 10 to 20 inches of rain. Can you imagine the kind of flooding that could cause . No just that. They have seen storm surges anywhere from 5 to to feet. The flooding and the damage could be expensive. As far as loss of life or injuries we have not heard of any as of yet. That is the only Silver Lining so far. That is a powerful storm that is churning down there. The only good news is a lot of people in ocean city are happy that maybe, just maybe it will be far enough off they will see it on radar and they wont feel anything here. We are staying tuned for that. We invite you to stay in touch. We have the weather alerts we put out on the apps. You download it to your phone so you dont have to be in front of the television set. Get the latest on all that is happening with the storms, go on to the twitter page, facebook and wjla. Com. For now, live in ocean city where its very windy and the storm is really turning up the ocean, im jonathan elias. Back to you in the studio. Alison thank you so much for your coverage out there. We will check back in with you shortly. Now, though, to other news of the day. Breaking right now at the white house. President obama is holding a press conference. He is discussing a number of world issues. He announceed arnie duncan the secretary of education is stepping down. He is talking about syria at the moment. Lets listen in. President obama that is not good for anybody. In terms of our support for the opposition groups inside of syria, i made clear early on that the United States couldnt inpose a military impose a military impact on syria either. But we need to be engaged moderate inside of syria because eventually syria will fall. Assad regime will fall. We have to have somebody we are working with that we can help pick up the pieces and stitch back together a cohesive country. So we will continue to support that. Alison there, of course, president obama. If you would like to continue to listen in on the press conference the entire thing is on our sister station newschannel8. Another big story. Jesse matthew will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He was sentenced to three life stense terms for life sentence for sexual assault. We will have a live report at 5 00 with more. The Defense Department says ten americans were among the 14 People Killed when air force cargo plane crashed in afghanistan thursday night. Investigators are looking at two possible causes. Engine failure. And the clipping of a security barrier. Of ten americans who died, six were service members. Four were civilian contractors. Their names have not been released. The other big story across the country today, massacre at a Community College in oregon making headlines nationwide. Nine people dead. Plus the suspected shooter. Paul is live in roseburg, oregon, today. Paul, it must be difficult to report on a story like this, yet again. Paul it is. Its horrific. Especially in roseburg. A city of 22,000. Many people live here because they want to get away from urban crime or get away from the hustle and the bustle. In this case, we are now learning more about the shooter. Apparently served in the military for just one month. The army issuing a statement saying he failed to meet the minimum administrative standards and he was discharged. The families are currently living through the nightmare in the most personal way possible. Douglas county sheriff john hanlin says more information on the victim of the shoot willing have to wait until after family members have been notified. Investigators say they recovered 13 weapons related to the investigation. Six from the school, and seven more from the shooters home. They say all the whens were purchased legally. Authorities believe the shooter identified by other officials as Chris Harper Mercer shot students and faculty in at least two buildings on campus. The victims were found in multiple classrooms. I heard one gunshot. I looked over outside. People were running away from the building. We have to get out of here, there are people running. We need to gun. Chris the gunman targeted christians in the rampage. People who knew him said he sometimes wore military style outfits but was quiet. Now police and Community Members alike are trying to figure out what could have motivated a 26yearold to carry out a senless tragedy. One persons deranged act may have indeed broken all of our hearts but he cannot prevent our hearts growing back bigger and stronger. Chris a little more on targeting christians. According to the father of a wounded survivor he walked up to the students in the classroom and asked them if they were christians to stand up and said to them in so many words, do you believe in god . Great. Because in a minute youll be talking to him. Frightening, a bonechilling incident that happened at the Community College in roseburg, oregon. Alison horrific. Thank you very much. Still to come at abc7 news at 4 00 the not so secret meeting with the pope. What did kim davis, the kentucky clerk who went to jail for refusing to issue marriage license to samesex couples, say to the pontiff. Wild weather. This is from the first round of storms. This is from laurel and from a tornado. Well wrap up what has been a mess and deadly at the worst here. And a look outside. Well, wind and rain. Is not stopping anytime soon its not stopping anytime soon. When it will stop . When ab alison take a look at this incredible video. Firefighters rush to put out the fire on a Montgomery County school bus this morning. The bus went up in flames between Georgia Avenue in silver springs. No students were on board at the time and the driver got out safely. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Vdot trying to figure out what caused a streetcar to crash into an n. P. D. Cruiser last night. This was tweeted from 13 andstreet in northeast. No one was hurt. Neither vehicle had damage. The operators are still only training on the streetcars. The program has been plagued with funding issues and delays. No word when they will get up and running but mayor Muriel Bowser said it could come by the end of the year. New information from the veteran tonight about the popes meeting with kim davis. The vatican said the meeting should not be considered a form of supporter if her position. Davis is the kentucky clerk that spent days in jail after refusing to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples. The vatican says she was one of dozens of people who met the pope and that group also included a samesex couple. On friday afternoon, lets move on to get a check of traffic with Robert Burton who is in the Traffic Center today. Robert . Robert this has been an absolute mess all week. Specifically, today being friday. Lets look at the highways. Right now we are looking at a sloppy track all the way around the beltway. Starting at the toll road. When we came toward 95. 202, take a live look. Look near colesville road. Its really jammed up. All the way around 50. 95 in the toll road is stop and go. The accident near connecticut avenue is out of the roadway. A look at the beltway near the area of the toll road. Looks fine there. Also moving in to Prince William parkway. Expect heavier traffic outbound on 66. On and off of the beltway to centreville. The delays continuing as well. That is the latest from the abc Traffic Center. Back to you. Alison looking difficult out there. Thank you. Live picture again at ocean city. This has been going on quite a while. This has certainly not been a oneday storm. Incredible to see the waves and the beaches like this. Our kimberly suiters is going to take a look at our wild weather week. Kimberly its tough to keep the camera steady when you have wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. All the water rushing ashore has to go somewhere. In the case of ocean city, maryland, its mostly on philadelphia avenue. The water is really on the street here. About four to six inches deep depending how the road goes up and down. Kimberly officials talking about the potential for super storm sandy level flooding. But at this point, joaquin is no sandy. The flooding then got well into this building. It got about this deep. Kimberly earlier friday morning norfolk, virginia, saw substantial flooding. A few days before that, portland, maine, had it worse. Wet weather all week long in advance of yucatan peninsula is the in advance of joaquin is a concern. In baltimore they are bagging sand. Finding safer harbor for boats. This is an area that is notorious for flooding. Our biggest worry here is the water. Better to be high and dry. In North Carolina, mandatory Evacuation Order on ochrecoke high land. Its a surfers paradise. Look at the way the surfers are waiting were the the next ride. The slowmoving storm is hurting the coastal u. S. Its battering the bahamas. Where the schools, and the government offices are closed. Some people are trapped in flooded homes. Lilkimberly suiters, abc7 news. Alison what a week this has been. You told me what they are experiencing is worse than a noreaster. Doug noreaster is goes by for 24 hours and its done. This has gone on for two days and will go on for three more so the damage will be worse. Alison its not over yet. Doug no. Lets take you to weather wall to look at the latest satellite images from Hurricane Joaquin. This is 4 21. Before 5 00, we have a 5 00 update. If its like the last couple we will be happy. The move to the north has begun. The key here is the track is well offshore. But there is an effect. Come by nation of the low Pressure Center associated with the deep area moving across with joaquin. Farther south low pressure to spin up tropical moisture. We will get the winds if for days, days, days. Locally. No. We dont have an effect on sunday or monday from joaquin. But right now, coming down from the hurricane, push of tropical moisture from bahamas to South Carolina. This will pinwheel to the west. Most of the heavy rain is going to surge north. This is the future cast. Look at tomorrow. Its pinwheeled around. We get through sunday and we will sea the scattered shower showers. So that is our story. Steve the heaviest rain is out of here tonight and tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning this will come on down. In the meantime, all of southern maryland. Nothing for the extreme western maryland. Show you a future cast. For the anticipated rainfall totals moving through overnight to the day tomorrow. We could be looking at upward of two inches of rain in washington. Higher amounts to the south of us. The temperatures is cool, chilly. The wind chills in the 40s. 52 degrees at Reagan National airport. We will take you out a look at the forecast. The temperatures are around 60 tomorrow. Middle 60s sunday. Doug will have a look at the sevenday in a few minutes. Doug all right. That is good. The news we hope coming up in 25 minutes or so is that the storm is going to be farther out to sea. Well let you know when it happens. Alison we like that trend. Thank you, doug. Still ahead on abc7 news at 4 00 after the shooting in oregon, a closer look at the different gun laws in our area. Do they make a difference from one state to the next . Jonathan long before joaquin was a threat here, this storm has been hammering ocean city. But im going to take you to discover the world animals, seen those before but sometimes they do it on their own mmm foot wow food for giants oooo no wonder no one has eaten this sandwich kids discover the world with their mouths detergent is harmful if swallowed, so keep laundry pacs up and away from children brought to you by tide jonathan were back live in ellicott city. We have had high winds. Yesterday it was a rain event all day long and it wasnt just trickling down. It was coming down in sheets and horizontally. But you can see the wind is still in effect. The storm that has turned up the sea here. This isnt that bad in ocean city. It is bad in South Carolina. When you see this from the sister station to joins us live. I cant imagine what its