tonight at 6:00, firefighters are battling a wildfire that's forced evacuation of campgrounds on labor day. more massive flooding in d.c.'s bloomingdale neighborhood forces the city to take new action to prevent a nasty mess. president obama spends labor day fighting to keep his job, as the democratic national convention prepares to kick off in charlotte, north carolina. good evening, i'm doreen again thes letter. >> i'm jim vance here in charlotte, north carolina, where delegates and convention growers prepare for their big week. take a look at some of the headlines tonight. the delegates are still arriving here in charlotte, arising right now in a huge thunderstorm going on outside. first lady michelle obama, just about an hour ago, was on the podium behind me here practicing for her speech tomorrow. president obama and the vice president were out today campaigning on this labor day. meanwhile, the romney/ryan ticket is trying to stay in the spotlight as much as it can. in the meantime there's a new gallup poll out that does not hold good news for the romney/ryan camp in terms of things that usually happen after a convention. we are going to have much more on charlotte coming up in just a few minutes. tom sherwood is here with a report. doreen, right now, back to you and jim. >> thank you, vance. on to our weather now. we are keeping an eye on more storms moving our way. >> wet enough for you? >> enough already. >> storm team four meteorologist doug kammerkammerer here with t honest is getting the rain. doug? >> the areas up to the north and east, philadelphia, down to the to the south, as jim mentioned, parts of the carolinas. for us, 83 out there we have doned a little bit of a bullet out there on this labor day. heat index, 88, a very humid afternoon. going to continue to see that humidity up there the next couple of days. >> here is temperatures, 79, win chester, 80 in la plata, 77 in easton. where is the rain right now? most of the rain up toward baltimore, they have been dealing with flooding and flood warnings in that area. delmarva hit very, very hard. also some rain farther down to the south. as we widen out here hurricane the remnants of isaac making its presence felt all across the mid-atlantic and ohio river valley. look at all of this rain down to the south and west, all of that this going to try to push through our area overnight tonight into date tomorrow and then again into the day on wednesday. we have the potential to see a lot of rain the next couple of days, get out those umbrellas a lot of kids starting school tomorrow, going to need those umbrellas for sure. talk about that how much rain we may see. how much rain you may see and what's next in the forecast coming up. >> all right, doug. tonight, people in the bloomingdale neighborhood of d.c. still cleaning up after torrential rains flooded the area yet again last night. rhode island avenue looked more like a river sunday night. rescuers having to use this inflatable zodiac to get one man out of a stranded car. today, residents say they are fed up as they spend this labor day cleaning up. news4's jackie bensen live in bloomingdale with more on the cleanup and the city's response. jackie? >> reporter: pictures tell what happened on the ground floor of recently built condos in the 900 block of florida avenue northwest last night. >> water was pouring out of both the tight. >> reporter: as a stubborn localized rain storm dumped water on a small section of the district, ground floor residents of the building heard and saw something strange happening. >> and the water was like up to here. >> reporter: the bathroom drains began backing up from the pressure of the stormwater. carpets quickly became soaked with dirty, brown water but thankfully, no raw sewage. >> came home. i was actually at the beach for memorial -- for labor day. >> reporter: residents spent the morning trying to get their homes cleaned and dried out. >> there was water coming out of all the bathrooms and overflowing. >> reporter: while it was a first drentss of this building, it was the fourth this summer for residents of nearby bloomingdale neighborhood. some people had to be rescued from swamped cars near first street and florida avenue northwest. residents are frustrated. d.c. water is trying to come up with a solution but it could cost hundreds of millions and take over a decade to complete. in the meantime, some stopgap mesh slurs being offered. >> a black flow preventer can stop that from its place. d.c. water has a program to rebate up to 90% or $3,000 of the cost of a back flow preventer. just sent out the materials to people in this neighborhood so they can know how to apply for the rebate. >> reporter: back live now at 9th and v streets northwest. we can tell you not only do these buildings near this neighborhood north of u street, they have flooding but buildings a 129th and w street had problems with water coming into the ground floor levels last night. live in northwest washington, jackie bensen, news4. breaking news out of los angeles tonight. actor michael clark duncan has died. duncan's best known for his performance in the 1999 prison drama "the green mile." according to his fiancee, duncan suffered a heart attack last month, never fully recovered. duncan was only 54 years old. back to our decision 2012 could have ran. president obama and vice president biden spoke at labor day events touting the economic progress achieved over the last four years. the president told the crowd in toledo, ohio, his administration's bailout helped save the auto industry. he told supporters the country is better now than it was after the bush administration in detroit. and that's message we are likely to hear throughout this democratic national convention this week. it's the democrats' turn to try to push the record, thisser in charlotte and jim vance joins us live with more on what we can expect this week. hi, vance. >> reporter: hi, doreen. what we can expect is nearly 6,000 delegates who are eager and anxious to advance the president and his agenda. these delegates are here to work, not party time for them act, least not during the day. they get up early, they do not sleep in. this morning, the maryland delegation heard from democratic superstar, tom sherwood, who does not sleep either, went over and had croissants and coffee with them and more on that breakfast meeting. >> many of these 6,000 delegates are still arriving but the maryland delegation, it's already fired up. for the tried and true maryland democrats in charlotte, their first day started with a traditional orientation breakfast. and a fired up talk by debbie wasserman schultz, national chairman of the democratic party and a popular guest on cable news shows. >> i can think of no better place to start off this convention than maryland's delegation breakfast. we know we will all wake up on the morning of november 7th with a "washington post" headline, a baltimore sun headline that says barack obama re-elected for a second term. so on to victory on november 6th. thank you very much. thank you. >> reporter: a star of the party, the florida congresswoman was making the rounds to visit several delegations with her standard stump speech praising obama and dismissing republicans. >> they seem to want to focus on the millionaires and billionaires. >> reporter: red meat speech was just what maryland state democratic party chairman yvette louis of buoy wanted to kick off the week did she deliver? >> yes, she did so excited, i'm still kind of trembling a little bit. i love her so much. she is so powerful and so positive and it's inspirational for me as a woman to see her in this position but also how well she articulates the president's message. >> reporter: she also dropped by another local delegation did she not? >> she was at the d.c. democratic breakfast this morning but they didn't -- she didn't mention anything about statehood. >> they were disappointed by that also something else important today, a new gallup poll out and shows the romney campaign did not get the bump that normally comes after a campaign. and i'm curious to know what's your opinion about that and why not? >> i will give what people are thinking rather than my personal opinion. i will tell you two things here, one is the reception of the romney speech was mixed. about 40% of the people said they liked it. they are more likely to vote for him. 38% of the people said, well, they are more likely to vote for obama after hearing romney's speech. also, these conventions are back to back, used to be have one of the conventions have a week or ten days and time for to settle in and people would talk, the candidate would go out and campaign and see people that had a bounce. now, they are back to back and there's no time for it. >> disappointment i'm sure for the romney campaign. it's the democrats this week though, there's not a whole lot of us that any of us can count on these day bus two things the democrats can count on and that is maryland and district democratic votes in presidential elections. some say there could be blow back from that later in the broadcast, we will hear from governor o'malley with his opinion on that at that time, i'll find perhaps a box to stand on, tom sherwood is the only person in the whole newsroom who is taller than me. i'm not liking this i'm gonna fix it. >> i am not on my tiptoes either. could be. >> all right, guys, find that abortion jim. thank you. republican presidential nominee mitt romney is taking a but not the issues. he is spending part of the holiday vacationing on a lake near his summer home in new hampshire. romney issued a statement saying labor day is to celebrate the strong american work ethic and too many are worrying when their next paycheck will come. romney's running mate focused on the economy during a stop at the campus of eastern carolina university today. paul ryan told the crowd the economy is worse under president obama than under president carter. he stressed how important north carolina will be in november. ryan starts a week long fund raising trip tomorrow. for a lot of people this long holiday weekend has been a time to travel but for those who stayed at home, it's time to renew labor day traditions that have lasted for decades. news4's keith russell visiteded a couple of local celebrations that are still going strong. >> reporter: enthusiasm didn't need to be drummed up today. could you feel it all across the region. >> nothing like old town kensington and all the wonderful activities they have there year round. it is like a hidden treasure. >> reporter: the 45th annual kensington labor day parade continued its tradition of bringing folks together from all walks of life, area politicians to long-time residents who say the economy won't get them down. there. are a lot of people out of work and i hope they find work soon, i think this parade reminds me of the good spirit of america. >> reporter: the young people are celebrating a new year with simple principles. >> love and confidence and hard work. >> love, confidence and hard work. >> how can you get any better than that? >> reporter: reasons and locations for celebration always vary. the enjoyment, it's universal. at the 58th annual labor day festival in greenbelt, the lady raiders cheering squad were up to the challenge of entertaining. >> we have to walk for two hours straight. and, yeah, it was hot outside. but we -- the bright side is we got some water on the way. >> reporter: today, ice cold treats were in demand, not as much as something else. >> get some candy. >> you're just stuck on the candy. you know candy can equal cavities? >> yes, and brush your teeth. >> reporter: smile. enjoy labor day. keith russell, news4. coming up, in the aftermath of hurricane isaac, thousands are still without power and flooding problems are far from over. some people had to change their labor day plans to escape a serious threat at a popular campground. par. >>s and kids preparing for virginia's largest school arations and one company may just change your mind about those electric cars. smoky, fast-moving wildfire has cut short the labor day for thousands of campers outside los c(ru angeles. uldó08", obama landed in offi6/i$ figure he wh speak in -- from st. john's parish, one of the hardest-hit area, in just a short time. the president's team is meeting with local officials to figure , í >> reporter: it's a day of labor in south louisiana, no halladay. it is the cleanup and questions that continue after hurricane isaac. >> i don't think they are ever going to be able to protect who arish things i've seen. of federal aid. but in places like la place, cutted by the floodwaters, many residents are a direct request for the president. for the president. >> please give please. >> reporter: while the new flood protection network around new orleans you' save the fromddb0o outside that system of levees, gates and canals, many wonder if it actually made conditions worse. >>dóh you're gonna put this flood system up, which is a good thing but you're not gonna worry about where you're pushing the water. >> reporter: army corps of engineers plans to investigate but has confidence their work didn't create additional problems. ta we would not have built a 00 folklouis mess that that storm left behind. jay gray, nbc news. >> going to be a long, slow road back for a lot of those folk necessa -- folks in louisiana. >> i think we could have the potential to see more flooding the next couple of days as isaac really just kind of sitting off to our north around west. let's let's how things are out there right 0o day. :e ma sa.k0o+ side. =xedibers temsi 285y2xíçq, fres% u more heavy rain on the way. yeah, for sure. justjpy ]tculp803$o) la ph eastern,2>f73 winds out of the southeast at 6 miles per hour. again, not a going to be rather humid if you're stepping outside. temperature-wise, 81, martinsburg, 82, culpepper, 80 oftp7 baltimore, there was a flash tropical moisture that is going to continue to work its way up here overnight tonight and into the day tomorrow. you will need the umbrellas over 7ãwatchd just sit to our mov ver these showers produce very heavy these showers produce very heavy rain, talking about one -- inch, maybe fodnd(0 somesg]f ray nts th veryv s here thatt;s?+ly!8klñcf0ç now some actual hel anothe %4t01b nshower any-hapy this area give have got a rainy period coming up here. mostly cloudy into the overnight rs thatagain,02uhp somes '8÷9$=p áin just about every day, going to a high of about 91 thursday. from thrf fairlymrain a÷í litt :z we i'm7xvqw,acxm÷í6% le"( wednesday upx[ the doug.od+ 5çexbght. convention is 7g ? of 1o01tp the they have asked gohome.oçsñ hotel onnews4,bjbíce õhe ñ0af thinkt addjsg president clinton: this election to me is about which... candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. with some kisd and parents ready for the big day and the traffic. tony? >> reporter: i did. jim and doreen, a couple years since i put on a backpack and walked through the doors of a school but for fairfax county students that's all going to change tomorrow and you know what that means, a lot of last-minute school supply shopping. >> that's one pocket folder, three-ring notebook and three rolls of tape. >> reporter: as 191th largest school district in the nation, fairfax county is set to welcome over 180,000 students back to school tomorrow. >> i really miss my friends. i'm kind of tired of being around the house, sitting around all day long. >> reporter: not the most common answer we heard from kids today but for parents, back to school a welcome return and for america the day before school means last-minute shopping for is up plight. >> we never, ever are doing it like the day before. but we got zoe ready for school so he was yelling meat about doing it the day before. >> rather hectic, only because usually at the high school level, they are not given supply school lists. you try too do the guess work, beat the crowds, and hopefully not everything is picked off. >> reporter: tomorrow not only marks the beginning of school but kicks off terrible traffic tuesday. >> will be a little crazy, yeah. we got through it last year, i think i will be okay. >> especially 66, the park way. you know, i'm avoiding it at all costs. >> reporter: julie is a teacher in fairfax county and lives close to her school, 1500 school buses in action tomorrow, shuttling over 110,000 students. >> well, you know what i literally drive three minutes to my school and he is about seven minutes from our house. we are not going to have that. >> reporter: one important note, fairfax county police posted a message on their website reminding drivers to come to a complete stop in both directions when a school bus is loading or unloading with flashing lights. the ten feet surrounding a bus is among the most dangerous for students to get struck. jim and doreen, 250 fairfax schools are set to reopen tomorrow for students. by the way, i think we are going to have to have a backpack drive for my photographer. this one isn't going to last much longer. live in falls church, news4. >> nice demonstration, tony. thank you. d.c. water announced a new rebate program for bloomingdale residents to help prevent future flooding. this comes after last night's torrential rain. the utility company will pay 90% or up to $3,000 to residents who purchased back flow preventers. this is the fourth time this area has flooded this summer. updating the city's sewer system could take up to a decade and will cost millions of dollars. pressure's on. president obama this week to prove how he can fix the economy. the president's blasting his republican challengers' economic plans on the eve of the democratic national convention and jim vance is in charlotte tonight with more on what democrats stay is going to take for the president to win another term. jim? >> reporter: as noted earlier, at least one recent poll has this contest in a dead heat. today, we asked maryland governor martin o'malley what he think also the president needs to do to prevail. >> somehow we got convinced if we give billions nair tax cuts after tax cuts, jobs would fall from the sky instead earthquake the bottom came out of our economy and now creating jobs again, we are moving forward, the country's in a better position than she was, but we still have a lot of work to do because there's too many people still looki for jobs. >> reporter: one thing the democratic party can count on is prevailing in the vote count on presidential elections in both maryland and in the district those delegation, as tom sherwood noted, in this convention hall are about as far away from the podium as they could possibly get. the maryland governor says he is not too terribly concerned about that. and does not think it is because they are taken for granted. >> i wouldn't gather too much from the placement there. what's going to happen is all the swing states will be up close to the camera shot and the way i tell my goal gauges the way we should look at it is maryland has the president's back and we always have. >> i asked the governor today about his plans for 2016 and whether, as some have suggested, he might be a candidate for president and he answered, as he always does, he is focused on being the governor of mary