in critical condition. but fire officials are saying they do believe they're going to be okay, they're going to be able to pull through the injuries they have. but they have some severe burns for what happened inside their of course the cause of all of this is still under investigation. and i can tell you that the entire neighborhood is up walking around and trying to figure out what happened here. and we have plenty of emergency personnel as well. as soon as we are able to get up live and show you some of the pictures, we will. >> tracee, were there any other neighboring homes that were affected by this explosion? >> reporter: no, not at all, eun. but i will tell you this, the debris goes more than a block away from the home. so it's a good thing there wasn't anybody out walking. there's large pieces of roof everywhere, insulation every. a fire official said you really

should be careful because love you there's a large chunk of roof in that tree limbering and it may come down. so just be careful where you're walking around here. good news, no one else was impacted. a lot of times it's just the one house leveled and the rest of the block is just fine. >> stay safe out there and we look forward to the pictures of what that looks like out there. it must be absolute devastation out there. thanks very much, tracee. 4:31 now. in the wake of osama bin laden's death, a homeland security hearing on america's mass transit systems today. u.s. officials say they have seen no credible intelligence of any terror plot in retaliation for the killing. still, they warn that mass transit systems in major cities across the country remain attractive targets. it's still unclear as to whether pictures proving bin laden's death will be released.

leon pan net ta said a photo would be presented to the public, however, the white house will have the final say. it's up for debate because of the sensitive nature of the photograph. they are already sorting through the hard drives found on the compound. >> let's find out whether it's going to turn into a rainy morning. >> it is in many locations. in virginia, heavier rain. looking at the radar the last hour you see the bands of yellow. those are some bands of heavier rain right now get heavier rain in southern maryland, st. mary's, northern neck of virginia, shenandoah valley. these showers heading off north and east and maybe only just a brief rumble of thunder. radar showing areas of green over prince george's, arlington, fairfax counties. that's light rain. it breaks up farther south in prince william county. but the next surge, highlands of

west virginia and the shenandoah valley, that will continue to advance north and northeast. what a change in temperatures. it has dropped about 30 degrees since yesterday afternoon, 53 at reagan national. mid and upper 40s west and north. the baker's cyst it's in the 60s right now. a front sweeping through, cooling them down. right now rain in washington. by 9:00, still in the 50s with light showers, occasional showers. only until noon time, early afternoon, cloudy, breezy, cool with highs near 60. a look at your night planner. changes on the way. details coming up at 4:41. >> could be a challenging commute with wet roads and the rain coming down. please be very careful out there. northern virginia, i-95 corridor, just a little bit of volume. a few folks getting an early start this morning. any overnight road work has been washed out. north from dunfries, all your

travel lanes should be reopened. head over coming in along i-270 southbound from 118 passing middlebrook, travel lanes are open. south of town to the woodrow wilson bridge, no issues. intown southeast to northeast, off to a careful start but be careful out there. joe, eun >> 4:33. the man accused of being the east coast rapist will be back in court. aaron thomas is linked to at least 17 attacks on women in prince george's, fairfax, loudon as well as connecticut and rhode island. he was arrested in early march in new haven, connecticut after he dropped a cigarette butt and police picked it up and atlanticed him to the attacks through dna evidence. his location was provided to police by an anonymous tip sister from maryland. that area will receive an award today. federal immigration enforcement program in the fall. u.s. immigration told the county

that its secure communities program will again tuesday, september 27th. fingerprint data from local police will be sent to federal immigration officials. some advocates for crime victims say they're concerned some victims won't report crimes if they are undocumented. beginning next year, you'll have to pay a five cent bag tax. they pasched that measure imposing an extra fee on all retail establishments, not just stores that sell food. the tax applies to paper and plastic bags. it's expected to reduce litter and generate about a million dollars a year. part of that money will fund free reusable bags for the poor and elderly. this mirrors a similar measure that is already in effect in the district >> prince charles is scheduled to meet with president obama today on the second day of his three-day trip to washington. the prince arrived in the u.s. yesterday, just four days after prince william got married.

he planted a tree at common good city farm on capitol hill. it's a small farm that grows produce for low-income residents. they also toured the supreme court. today charles is slated for a speech at georgetown university on the future of food and he will visit with the president at the white house. the caps's quest for the cup could come to an abrupt end tonight after a lead quickly slipped through their fingers yesterday. news 4's dan has more on another heartbreaker from down in tampa. >> reporter: it's not just the tampa bay lightning the capitals are battling right now. it's history as well. guys trying to become the fourth team in 164 tries to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. they came down to tampa down 2-0 and feeling very confident going into this one. second period, tied at two. 5 on 3 power play.

mike green shoots. rebound back out to alex ovechkin. and ove goes top shelf. caps take a 3-2 lead. and they're looking good going into the third. but things unravelled quickly. stomkos with the wicked snapshot and the game is tied. then just 24 seconds later, the lightning strike again. malone continues the puck in, and the lightning go on to win it, 4-3. they now lead the series 3-0. the capitals have no room for error. >> they're uncanny when they want to get a goal. it's like they just snap their fingers or hit a button. they just dial it up. you can see it's like flipping a switch. when they're down it's just like, ah, they know they're going to score or something. i don't know what it is. it leaves you flabbergasted. >> in playoffs you have to be focused and ready on every shift. if you're not, bad things happen. it's another learning experience for us.

backs against the wall. nothing to lose now. we have to win them all. >> game 4 here in tampa tonight. the capitals can either stay alive or they get swept by the tampa bay lightning. if the latter happens, then you have to wonder what happens to the head coach bruce boudreaux and some of these players. from tampa, dan helly, news 4 sports. >> crushing, crushing defeat. >> but it happens too many years in a row. you have to wrpbd what is going to happen to the coach. >> 4:38, 49 degrees. a virginia hopl leveled this morning. we are hearing how neighbors save demand from the rubble. how much less you could be paying each

>> welcome back at 4:41. she is making her mark on on celebrity apprentice. today she will be in d.c. nene leaks will be in our studio. here about her transition from the board room to being on stage. >> what is she doing on stage? >> i'm not sure exactly. i'm sure she has some things in mind, though. >> well, we'll find out. tom has joined us to take a look at our forecast. it's raining out there, right? >> yes. pack an umbrella and your patients as we have a lot of rain falling since last night.

it's continuing to move in southwest to northeast this morning. radar showing an area of light rain over washington and eastern/northern suburbs. farther south and west, bands of moderate rain where you see bands of yellow. these are continuing to advance off to the north and northeast. right through the region in time through the rest of the morning. and it's a cool morning. in fact, only near 50 in our western/northern suburbs. 40s. washington, low 50s. southern maryland, near the bay, a bit phaolder. a front is yet to arrive. the lower part of the eastern shore where it's in the 60s where it's getting cooler there. right there cloudy and rainy in washington. occasional showers in the morning. blustery northwest wind. 50s all day long. highs reaching 60 this afternoon. finally, clear out tonight. night planner. by dawn, down to the low and mid-40s under a clear sky. a look at thursday. changes on the way for the weekend in 10 minutes.affic, je?

>> a drippy and potentially tough commute. the good news is nothing to worry about at the moment except the challenges weather-wise. inner loop, outer loop, university boulevard. so far so good. road is a little on the slick side. visibility down so please be cautious. 66 westbound looks like any overnight road work has been wrapped up from boston to falls church. that is good news. one more stop. again, a very clear shot of what you're up against if you're headed on out. caution the word of the day. joe, eun. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks a lot. 4:43. major changes coming to the way a lot of students get to school. also, the heavily traveled road that is about to get an overhaul. this is your captain speaking, we are fourteenth in line for takeoff. looks like it's bumper to bumper on the interstate. i gotta get to cleveland! remove your belt, your watch, your shoes. i wonder what gas costs today.

seven dollars for a pillow! an extra bag costs what? i hate traffic! ♪ [ child ] the train is now arriving. [ male announcer ] the train has arrived indeed. in honor of amtrak's 40th anniversary, kids ride free for 40 days. details at amtrak.com.

welcome back at 4:45. your commute shouldn't be any worse than normal if you take wisconsin through bethesda. the road was closed last night because of an under grouped fire. 1,000 people were without power because of that fire. the lights are back on in homes that had been without electricity. we have good news if you're a pepco customer. you could save money on your electric bill. it is cutting its rates for maryland and d.c. customers. if you live in maryland, you will save $22 a month. in the district, about $10. pepco says it's lowering rates because of falling energy prices. the company does not generate its own electricity, it purchases it from other wholesale suppliers. more americans are buying smaller cars as gas prices rise. new models that get 35 miles per hour per gallon or better led most major automakers to stronger april sales.

even buyers of pickup trucks chose more efficient engines. but the strong demand could raise the price if there is a summer shortage. honda warned that the 2012 civic and other models will be in short supply because of production delays because of the japan earthquake and tsunami. and it pushed back the fall launch of the cr-v but at least a month. a look at local gas prices. the price in the district is $4.18. in maryland, $3.97. west virginia above $4 at $4.11 per gallon. this morning our first up-close look of what's left of a home that exploded in northern virginia. but more amazing the story of the neighbors who pulled them out of the rubble. more on their heroic efforts. >> reporter: one look of what's left of the house on wayne drive in triangle, virginia and you wonder how anyone could have survived the gas explosion that

caused this monday morning. someone did survive thanks to caring neighbors. >> 8:45 in the morning, big boom. i was like, whoa, what was that? went out to theveway and looked to the right and holy crap. a blown-up house. we all ran in there and just started screaming, hey, is anybody in here, is anybody in here? and we hea a scream. i'm calling for them, calling for them. man, i don't know where you're at. you have to keep saying something. i have to find your voice. i make it upstairs. the stairs aren't even there. so i have to climb around beams. i got you, i got you. throwing boards out of the way. i was screaming, hey, i need some help up here. i have the guy up here. >> neighbors rushed towards the house. >> it was really a good thing, too because shortly after jose found him and pulled him out the fire started right where the guy was. >> the home's owner is expected to be okay. he was at the newly renovated

house to meet new rental tenants. the moving van from which they had just unloaded. their belongings still partially trapped under the rubble. rescuer jose, 22 years old, says he had no hesitation in helping. >> i have to say a lot of on it came from my mom and dad. >> the home remains cordoned off. it's been condemned by fire investigators. the house the owner spent five years renovating must now be demolished. students will test new metro i.d. cards. about 500 students at the schools without walls will test the d.c. 1 car. the i.d. card for students will replace the paper transfer passes. the cards will be similar to the smartrip card. metro hopes that the program will stop youth crime on its system by making sure the electronic cards are only used to get students to and from

school. new speed cameras will go up this foul in howard county. allowing police to operate eight speed cameras in school zones. if drivers are caught going 12 miles per hour or more they will be ticketed $40. 4:50 is the time right now. this morning we're getting a sense just how costly this dollars last week's deadly tornados that tore through the south really were. officials say the twister could wind up causing a billion dollars of damage in alabama alone. that would top the devastation from hurricane katrina in the state. the damage in other states, including mississippi, tennessee and georgia will likely top $100 million. the last week's tornados killed at least 328 people in seven states. the midwest, moon while, is still dealing with major flooding problems following last week's heavy rains. the mississippi river has already swallowed neighborhoods

in memphis and is threatening to inundate more homes with floodwaters. casinos in mississippi are getting ready for the worst. many expect to be shut down for as long as three weeks because of all this flooding. and flooding is going to be a problem probably through the summer, right, tom? >> well, no. into early summer perhaps. it's typical spring runoff all draining off. we have rain here this morning. as we look at the radar right now, the moving color is rain. areas of yellow are years of heavier rain. and perhaps a little bit of thunder. right now we've got the lightning detector up and running. a few rumbles of thunder in the northern neck of virginia. right now heading towards oxford, easton. might have a little bit of thunder there. elsewhere, don't have any other thunder except near fredericksburg. a little thunderbolt there. but these are not severe storms. right now live radar showing a break in the precipitation right

here in washington. but there's another wave of rain starting to come in from the eastern panhandle of west virginia, shenandoah valley to fredericksburg. this rain is advancing north and east. and the big change in temperatures, too. it has dropped down into the 40s in frederick, loudon county, points west and north, panhandle of maryland. low to mid-50s. but the cool front has yet to arrive in southern maryland, lower eastern shore. in the mountains, only near 40 degrees. so quite a dramatic drop. there's the cloudy sky over washington now. temporarily a reprieve from the rain. we'll have occasional showers through the morning, early afternoon. here's your day planner. sunrise, 6:07. sunset, 8:03. and then this afternoon with a blustery northwest wind, we begin to dry out. highs near 60. mostly cloudy early evening. then partly cloudy later this evening. a blustery northwest wind. we'll clear out by midnight and dawn tomorrow.

but down into the low and mid-40s. so quite a chill coming in for early may. bright and sunny tomorrow. we should warm back up into the upper 60s. afternoon highs friday near 70. a small chance of a shower friday afternoon. into the 70s for mother's day sunday. but we might get a passing shower. especially during the afternoon as it looks right now. mostly cloudy, monday, tuesday. high 70s. jerry, how is traffic? >> northeast washington along new york avenue at bladensburg road. there is ponding of water at least enough to make it a little on the slick side as you head on in. so please be aware of that. a little extra travel time won't hurt. let's head out. south of town looks for the moment as tom mentioned reprieve as far as the rain depose at the woodrow wilson. 395 through landmark and

shirlington moving along nicely. >> jerry, thank you. 4:53. heads-up root 50 through arlington is about to get a major makeover. known as arlington boulevard will be renovated near courthouse road. it will include new ramps and bridges, as well as pedestrian and bike paths. stag erred closures of the 10th street and courthouse road bridges. fairfax drive will be closed between the two bridges. >> this project will separate that local traffic from the through traffic. >> vdot insists all three lanes of arlington boulevard will be open in both directions during rush hour. the project should be completed by november of 2013. well, the baseball season is just a little more than a month old and already we're seeing a rare feat. >> liner to short. he has his no-hitter! >> francisco liriano pitched the

sixth no-hitter in minnesota twins history last night for a 1-0 win over the chicago white sox. the first no-hitter of the season helped minnesota snap a six-game slide. he needed just 123 pitches to complete the feat. interesting to not he came in with an e.r.a. over nine. and jayson werth returned to philadelphia for the first time since leaving washington. it was not a kind homecoming. 0 for 3 on the night. former teammate hamils with a win. >> it's going to be tough. >> it is going to be tough. our time 4:55. coming up, an update on the breaking news this morningment a home destroyed by an explosion. a virginia mom upset with what her daughter came home from

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whoo! so many choices. take your time. the service center. okay. giving you choices. now, that's progressive. call or click today. it's 4:58 now. a strip club in clinton, maryland faces a gender discrimination lawsuit. the gazette says a woman is seeking annen junction to stop the mile high club from charging women a higher cover than men. they charged her $20 to get in while her husband was only charged $10. it seeks $200,000 in damages. the club has not responded.

a mother in hampton, virginia is furious her daughter got a tattoo from another student during a high school art class while the teach apparently watched. they used sewing needles and mechanical pencil to tattoo her arm. a hampton school spokesperson is addressing it as a serious health and safety matter. all right. it is now 4:59. stay with us. news 4 today continues right now at 5:00 a.m. breaking news overnight. a home destroyed by explosion in a neighborhood, shaking houses several blocks away. and the most talked about photo no one has seen. the white house will release