county. >> a reporter is in d.c., maryland, and virginia covering the aftermath of the severe storms and we'll begin with paul wagner live in chevy chase, maryland. paul? >> reporter: these are busy intersections with no traffic light. here in montgomery county, there are dozens of them. we're told that there are more than 200 intersections where the lights are out and that is a very common sight you will see throughout montgomery county, but there is one consequence of being without power. there is no power here so it's cash only for anyone wanting ice. >> and in that fridge. >> reporter: by mid-morning, the parking lot was jammed for people needing large bags for their refrigerators and coolers. >> it's worse than -- i think that we have a situation that is a disaster of enormous

proportions. not -- i can't relate it to anything in the past. >> reporter: no power, no generator meant no coffee at the starbucks on connecticut avenue in chevy chase. no gas either at the liberty station next door and a few feet away, uniformed officers direct traffic at more than one of the 200 intersections in montgomery county where the lights went out. no power meant no cooling off at this pool on little fall's parkway. friday's storm caused so much damage, some of it was untouched three days later. >> everyone comes out here and looks at it and said i don't want to deal with this and goes away. [ laughter ] >> reporter: this huge tree came down on blaine drive hitting a house, burying a couple of cars. and yanking the powerlines so hard that one power pole nearly snapped in half. as we talked, pepco showed up to begin some of the work. a weekend sight but still. >> they'll have to replace

three poll error errors, all of the wires and it's going to take them, i might guess, three or four days. >> yeah. >> reporter: it helps to keep the sense of humor as the work goes on and having a generator ain't too shabby. while we were out reporting the story today, we ran into a number of employees from the office of consumer protection who wanted to make sure any home owner had damage and make sure when they have a contractor coming to their house, they find out whether or not they licensed to make sure they have a written contract and making sure that they understand what is in that contract. there are a number of predatory contractors and the office of consumer protection wants to make sure you have rights. laura? >> and that frequently happens after situations like these. good advice. thank you very much. and folks in virginia, of course, dealing with no power and pick up after the storm as well. maureen umeh has more tonight. >> reporter: the damage in this neighborhood gives you an idea of the widespread damage. right now, we have a lot of

trees down that came down on top of houses and on top of cars. you also have roads blocked by tree limbs and, of course, the power lines that came down and then you have some power poles that snapped multiple power poles in this particular neighborhood. dominion officials are estimated it could be as late as saturday before all customers are back online. >> reporter: it's been a slow process cutting through the mess. the storm that hit friday night left many looking like war zones. >> and that knocked our set off the foundation and landed on my husband's car and that is all of the power lines down. >> reporter: s biggest problem is the massive power outages. dozens -- thousands of virginia dominion customers are in the dark still. >> that snapped, that one snapped, that one snapped and that snapped. >> uh-huh. >> and that is just a bunk of

broken things. >> i have been with the company for 35 years and never saw a non-hurricane storm like. this. >> reporter: 32 power crews have been working around the clock and helped by 1200 crews from other states and an additional 700 from canada monday night. dominion officials say most of the main circuits in the system were energized. the problem new lies in lines feeding subdivision. >> and like behind me here, there is a ravine. we can't drive a truck there. we're going to have to hand carry holes and wire back in there and dig the holes by hand and set the poles. >> reporter: there are problems on the road, too. d.-dot reporting about 80 traffic lights in northern virginia are still out and 50 roads closed because of the downed wires. for residents, it's a rough weekend and perhaps a rough week ahead and slowly trying to recover from a devastating

storm. >> that is not great but everyone's well. >> and the good news is that there were a minimal injuries, minimal deaths not to minimize that and that was one good sign and the thing in this whole storm. i should tell you that school officials and offices will remain closed tomorrow as well as public works crews and power crews continue to do their work. va virginia officials want to remind everyone that cooling centers are open so if you don't have electricity, you need a place to cool off because it's hot out there and they're reminding you the cooling centers are open and available for residents. maureen umeh, fox 5 news and back to you. >> all right. in d.c., the cleanup continues. crews racing to get the work done as many residents continue to sweat it out. and big parker has more. >> reporter: we're standing out on wisconsin avenue. take a look. you can see the cars are moving along quite nicely and that is the case with major arteries in the district and if you look

behind me, this is on harrison street northwest and this is like many, many of the side streets and still some trouble. >> it was instantaneous. no warning at all. >> reporter: from his porch on mccomb street, he can catch a glimpse of the national cathedral, but no amount of praying would have helped him friday night. >> and just a loud crack. >> reporter: that is what he heard when the huge tree snapped and pulled down wires and bent poles. since then? >> we have been waiting. >> reporter: waiting for tree and power crews and now they watching the repairs from the front porch. great deal and this is the only show i got in 3d. you name it. >> some people are wishing there was something to see where they ly. >> and get someone out here and as quickly as possible and that is overdue. >> reporter: in southeast, the tree on the building and a pole practically in the streets.

>> and i am getting insane and we're going that way. >> right. >> and that is not in the system. >> reporter: pepco slashed the number of customers without power. >> and i want to thank them for their progress, they need to move faster. pepco's pace of restoring power, to me, anyway, is unacceptable and the speed of their response is disappointing and how many times have we been through this before? >> reporter: the mayor said there are at least 1300 treats around the city and this is 18th and randolph northwest. can you barely read the signs. he's dupont circle. capital hill and in georgetown. a glimpse of what it looks like after the trees are gone. the traffic lights are working here. the mayor said there were 65 in the district and malfunctioning due to lack of power and that is keeping them going. you will psycho d-dot employees

who were directing traffic and handling people navigate. back to you. >> and that is amazing trying to get through some of the neighborhoods. they shaft and that is because of the downed trees. an alert for all federal employees, tomorrow, federal agencies in d.c. will be open but non-emergency employees will have the option to take unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework. emergency employees, however, are expected to report to work as scheduled. our company's working around the clock to turn the right lites on. pepco restored power to nearly half of the 440,000 of the customers who lost power and this is where they stand. more than 41,000 outages in d.c., over 120,000 in montgomery county, always seems to be hit the hardest and over 58,000 in prince georges county. and while they made progress, pepco said that they can still take days to restore everyone. we're joined by myra oppo.

are you there? >> myra is not. clay anderson is here. good afternoon, brian. >> clay, good to talk to you as always. let me ask you to your reaction to the mayor's press conference where he said you are taking too long. >> it's a bit immature to judge us. we're in the middle of one of the largest restorations ever, particularly for a non- hurricane event and this is an emergency situation. this is not a normal storm by any sense and the force of the storm is ripping trees from the routes and breaking polls in half and -- poles in half. it's difficult but difficult for our customers. we know they're suffering in the near-record hot. we understand that and we'll continue to move forward. >> reporter: why when someone gets a call that says it might be a week before they get their power o how do you explain that to them? >> what we trying to do there

is when you say several days, that is difficult in itself. when you use the word weak, that is a bitter billpo -- pill to wall so -- swallow and won't that to be transparent as possible and we want them to manage their expectations and to make emergency plans as necessary and we wanted them to know up front where we were, where we're going, the state of the infrastructure in the system to plan ahead. hopefully we can get as many people as we can before the end of the week and that is what we thought a day or so go to make the plans and the statement at that time. >> clay anderson with pepco. thank you for joining us. >> take care. >> as power crews work it get the lights back on, those without power are suffering in the heat. gary, do we have any relief in site? >> reporter: we have a bit of a break today and not as hot. more importantly, it's not been as humid and this morning, the

temperatures in the city and some areas where the power outages are are in the upper 70s and that is not a big break. i want to show you the temperatures and that is better but, you know, it's just a minuscule amount in terms of how much better it is and that is down from where we were in the lower 90s a couple of hours ago. martinsburg, 90; monasses, 91; fredericksburg, 91 and that is a bit of a break from the humidity and we look at the dew points. instead of them being in the upper 70a -- 60s and around 70 degrees, that is coming into the upper 50s to around 60 and that does make's huge difference here and this is a quick look at the heat index and that is up in the upper 90s. i want to show you this briefly here because there is some more heat building. st. louis, 97; chicago, 97; fargo, north dakota, 97 and there is a lot of hot stuff out there and that is looking like over the next few days, our heat will go up and the

humidity will go up, too and that is a bit of a one-two punch and we'll talk about that in the first forecast coming up. laura? >> and thank you very much. our coverage continues on our website, www.myfoxdc.com and we have a lot of information there. links to all of the information you need to help you weather the storm and go there to send us your pictures. everything is on the home page and we'll give you a tour later. and that is a problem popping up. the drivers are searching for gas because stations don't have power. tips to help you find out before your tank goes empty. and this is a look at the numbers to the power companies in the area and they'll scroll across the bottom of the screen throughout the newscast. you can find them there as well. 

. friday night storm giving you a new meaning to pain at the pump. they need working gas buts a challenge in and of itself and wisdom martin has more today. >> reporter: we're here on river road. the gas is a premium. we have one, two, three, three gas stations over here and that are closed. this particular gas station on river road at the corner of river and butler is open and can you see the lines are starting to form. this is a hot -- a hotspot for people looking to get gas and i found one person driving around and tell me about your experience today? >> and, you know, i try to go

and get by my place and that was closed. i said there is that cheap place here and come down and that is all closed as you can see. and i was about to call my work and work remotely and that is open. i stopped by as can you see. >> and you got here in time. you pulled up, right in. >> yeah. >> were you almost -- or did you need one? >> that is critical. >> you were in time. >> yes. >> okay. >> and thank you very much for talking with us. again, because of the situation with the weather, a lot of gas stations like the other three don't have any power, so they can't do any; this particular gas station does have power and so they are doing business. lots of business and lots and lots of business. the lines are long. they getting longer as the day goes on because that is the only game in up to, at least on

river road and that is from here on river road, back to you. >> and thank you very much. joining us to talk about the gas station is john townsend from aaa atlantic. is there an easier way to figure out which have close -- are closed other than going downtown? >> there are websites to go to, including aaa their finder. and some apps to find out whether they're open and have some gas or not. >> aaa pricelander? >> no, aaa price finder. >> aaa price finder. >> right. >> that is a good start. we'll put them on the website and how do you know they not charging more than they should? is there a waypo toprotect yourself? >> and can you look at the average price statewide. and you can also use another app to look at the average price and that particular zip

code. again, the aaa price finder can help you. also, the fuel gauge report. for example, we have heard of spikes of 50 cents above the average and we than is an example of price gouging. in some cases, 25-cent increase and those kinds of increases are unconscionable and there are tell tale signs that something is amiss and smells and wreaks of price gouging. >> is it illegal for gas stations to raise prices in a situation like this? >> and that depends on the jurisdiction. if a state of emergency has been declared. there is no law on the books that protects them in the state of maryland. >> okay. >> and we'll provide good resources to help them find goings that are open and help them get through. john townsend, thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you, laura.

and some transport allegation officials waiting for delays. the trees are blocking some of the roads. the state highway administration urging commuters to use metro and other transportation the rest of the week and to allow extra travel time n. nowhere virginia, there are 50 roads closed to help ease delays, virginia officials are lifting the hov restrictions on i-66 inside the beltway today and tomorrow and that is on to 395 and 95 and tide the intersection as a four- way stop. that is one of the biggest pet peeves. everyone seems to get in on that caravan. >> uh. >> and one person goes through, everyone rolls through. >> and i think they forget. today i was noticing they were getting more in line. >> good. >> and than they were yesterday. what are the biggest problems, gary? with this weather, the heat seems to accumulate in the houses as we go on.

with no relief, that is not some good news. >> and that is right. i heard people are driving around to stay cool out there. i don't see any real relief coming and that is some with the humidity. starting tomorrow and through july 4th and the rest of the week, we fold into the summertime pattern. the temperatures are mid-90s and feeling like it's around 100 degrees when you factor in the humidity and it's been -- it's been a beautiful day. it's been a nice summer afternoon. again, the humidity has been a little bit drier and that is helping things out. in terms of thunderstorms, they back out to the west and we had some this morning through the area. we're not having that tonight. we'll take a breather and some thunderstorms are in the forecast tomorrow and some could be strong and some severe

and that is 91 in the city, quantico, 95; baltimore,fully and this is how it looks for the evening and that is cooling down more tonight than last night and there is less humidity overnight and that will make it feel more comfortable and bow tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night, the humidity surges in and just enjoy this break from the real humidity. and, again, know that it's around the corner and coming back. laura? >> all right, gary mcgrady, thank you. coming up, firefighters in colorado gaining ground after a wildfire burns hundreds of homes. when residents can survey the damage. and help is called into virginia. a massive wildfire continues to burn in shen anota national park.  [ male announcer ] are you paying more

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destruction. more than 300 homes burned to the ground. >> today, obviously, won't to get people in to see their homes that have been destroyed and that is the number one goal. for them to have eyes on their homes. >> 1500 firefighters are battling the blaze. the fire is the most destructive in colorado history. firefighters from connecticut are headed to virginia to help battle a wildfire in shenandoah national park and that is burning the western portion of the park. it's been burning since last tuesday. more than 1100 acres were charred so far. coming up, as the temperature rises, so do do the frustrations in the area. people wait for their electricity to come back o. we're going one-on--- one-by- one with pepco's president. and we'll check in with virginia dominion power to check in on the situations there. and a lot of people getting ice until the power comes o. [ female announcer ] the son of a single mom.

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. pepco's president is aware of the frustration and anger of residents. this is what they dealing with tonight. more than 44,000 outages in the district and about 120,000 in montgomery county and more than 37,000 in prince georges county. and tom fitzgerald is where many of the largest trees came down. tom? >> reporter: we spoke to the pepco president a short time ago. and they started with 443,000 people in their service area without power. they got that down now to about a little over 200,000 folks still estimate it's going to be friday night before everyone

they expect to be fully restored to power and after spending the day, it's obvious they have a long way to go. >> reporter: when the trees go down, thomas becomes the man on the hot seat. >> and i can appreciate. this tha. >> reporter: graham is president of pepco. ever since an august 2010 storm that left hundreds of thousands in the dark. >> are you hearing the anger of your customers this time? >> they frustrated. they frustrated because they going to be out of service until friday. >> reporter: graham has personally fielded much of that frustration on monday when he was not being introduced, he was driving between job sites with crews from canada to oklahoma. >> and we're making a den in it. >> reporter: 360 are at work

here with another 350 on the way and the bulk of the work is restringing miles of electric line destroyed by falling trees. >> and that is a lot of damage. there are a lot of lines down and have been reported so far and there are large trees toppled and crushed, crushing homes, cars, and in our infrastructure. >> reporter: and about those trees, which in radio and tv ads, pepco is touting the progress on trimming back. thomas graham said the company cut back for a thousand miles of tree line and that only goes so far in a storm like this. >> tree trimming, when a hundred-foot tree crashes down is not going to be affective. we have to recognize this is a catastrophic event and some trees will come down. >> reporter: if thomas graham is right, there is a chance the next scale power outage is not a question of if but when.

while the work crews in that story you saw told you that they have seen damage like this before, but only two tornados and hurricanes. >> and thank you very much, tom fitzgerald. still, a lot of people in northern virginia without power. this is the latest report showing more than 136,000 customers remaining in the dark and on the phone is the director of corporate communications, david s your outlook the same? still enough for your customers to balk back on? >> it's the same but we're making good progress out there and we're not going to rest or finish, you know, we're not goingfo rest or stop until every single customer's done. we appreciate their patience with us as we're going about the restoration process. >> we have heard some people complaining they had power after the storm and now lost power a couple of days after the storm. explain what that is about? >> what happens, sometimes we get into neighborhoods and have

to de-energize lines momentarily while making equipment repairs and we might be putting a new tranformer up or respanning a strand of wire and requires cutting the power again for our line workers to do that and that is unfortunate but is a short, short outage before we're energized. >> which neighborhoods, and how do you decide which neighborhoods to go to first? >> after we finish the critical intra structures, hospitals, 911 stations and pumping stations, we move into the neighborhoods and we want to get the most customers on at the first opportunity. and we might get a thousand on and then we're working our way the into the neighborhoods and that is like a concentric circle. >> and i have been hearing complaints that people will have to pay their bill even though they're not use anything power. can you clear that up?

is that true? >> that is not true. customers pay for the electricity they use. if you're on budget billing and pay the same amount every month over a 12-month period, it will be trued up at the end of the year based on what your usage is. and that is not true that you pay for electricity and what you don't use. you pay for what you use. >> thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you. and maryland, baltimore gas and electric crews are working hard to restore the power and customers b2500 in montgomery, 21,000 in prince georges county and joining us by phone is rachel. where do things stand now? >> and thank you for having me. about 440,000 customers out of over 660,000 custers -- customers impact individual been restored. >> and what is that biggest

hurdle from you? >> and absolutely. the biggest thing is we are seeing hurricane-like damage and we're seeing whole trees and tree limbs coming down on the power lines or other electric distribution equipment. that is time intensive. you have to remove the trees and we can put in a new transformer and new polls and restringing new wire. >> and have you brought in crews from other parts of the region to help you out? >> we have. we brought in more than 1200 out of state utility workers and they come from different states and in quebec, canada. >> and appreciate you joining us, rachel. >> thank you. and one of the big questions, how long will the food last in your frigerator? if you lost pire, this is the

rule to keep in mind. if the temperature goes above 40 degrees, throw it all out and that is usually two days. as for the fridge, you have about four to six hours. >> if you have spoiled food because of the power outages, get rid of it before that regular trash collection. the collection will run from 3- 7 today and tomorrow. power is not the only thing out in our region. verizon service has an issue for hundreds of thousands of people. and scam artists out in full force in the aftermath. what to look out for so you're not taken for a ride. n for a r

. power companies are not the only ones workinga after the storm. very i john crews have been out

working all weekend. this is the latest statement from verizon. due to extensive commercial power outages across the entire region, our crews have had to deal with a number of technical and mechanical challenges, in addition to storm damage. verizon is working as quickly as they can and have not given an estimate on when they will have all customers back online. and according to people, picking up the pieces after the storm, watch out for scams. the maryland attorney is remining people to protect themselves saying this is a time whencon artists try to take advantage of desperate families and business owners. be yeary of door-to-door salesmen using tactics to get your hard-earned money. you may never see it again and reminds people the majority of businesses are reputable, be careful. if you have been out on the roads, it can be tricky. traffic lights out, confusion on the stop. more on the monday commuter mess when we get back. another day of extreme heat. what about possible storms? gary has an update.

date. [ female announcer ] the son of a single mom. proud father of two daughters. president obama knows that women being paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men isn't just unfair... it hurts families. so the first law he signed was the lilly ledbetter fair pay act to help ensure that women are paid the same as men

for doing the exact same work. because president obama knows that fairness for women means a stronger middle class for america. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

and more and more for cable -- and enjoying it less? upgrade to verizon fios internet, tv and phone for just $99.99 a month, guaranteed for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back and a two-year price guarantee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers america's fastest, most consistent, most reliable internet. and now, it's faster than ever. you get speed you can count on... even when everyone at home is online at the same time. plus, the best tv picture quality. tired of cable's inflated bills? get fios for just $99.99 a month for a year with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and get $200 back, plus a two-year price guarantee.

call 1.866.685.fios. that's 1.866.685.3467. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. . power outages resulted in hundreds of traffic lights being knocked down in maryland. the drivers should expect a longer commute for the foreseeable future. and melanie alnwick has more. >> reporter: connecticut avenue here in kensington is strangely quiet for a monday morning rush hour. look at the reason why. southbound lanes completely shut down south of the road because of a huge tree that fell across the road. pepco crews arrived to make sure the lines were safe and then the tree crew his to get to work and this is a perfect example of why it's going to take so long to get absolutely everyone in the pepco service

area reconnected. the shutdown here causing problems for drivers and bus riders, too. >> and came out to catch my bus. i know you like i do, and finding that they have all the streets blocked off. there are people waiting on the bus and i had to walk it republican error error -- eight blocks to get to work. >> reporter: for the most part, customers have been polite and that is a good remindder for all of us. stop for a minute and remember to say please and thank you to the people who are working this week n. kensington, melanie -- melanie alnwick, fox 5 news. >> and that is so true. i have stood in line for almost 45 minutes, i'm epbear assed to say with my husband saturday morning, and they had it running like a well-oiled

machine to get everyone their coffee. >> and it was worth the wait. >> everyone went to the one starbucks that was open. >> no matter ha hot it is, you start the day with traffic. >> and -- coffee. and that is all there is to it. i told myself to be patient on river road with all of the lights being out and anyway, we're going patient, right in look at that. it was less humid today, i hope you noticed. >> did you? >> dy. >> granted temperatures were in the mid-90s, but lower humidity is going to help and you will probably feel it this evening, to. the temperatures will drop off and you will find it. i'm not going to say refreshing is the word but you will notice it more this evening before sunset and after sunset and into some suburbs. unfortunately, the humidity will return and this is

washington, summertime. it's going to come back and we'll get a break here and there and that always comes back. it will creep up on us tomorrow and that is going to come back full force. frederick, 93 and cooler along 81 there and where some temperatures are in the middle to upper 80s and this is an important number, the dew point, 60 degrees in the city and quantico, 59; dulles, 59 and i am seeing the dew point and i hope that will hold off a bit. i don't want that to come in too early and that will mean more humidity tonight. the frontal system is to the south of us and that is going to come back tomorrow and will allow the relative humidities to go back up and that temperature staying where it is. the mid-90s or so.

about 7:00, 89 degrees, 83 at 9. and again, temperatures don't drop off a lot and this is still warm at 11:00 w. the humidity down, that will help it to be more comfortable out there and some showers and storms tonight. we don't have anything here and that is to the south. this is cycling in our direction, a big area of high pressure and there is some hot stuff. it's pushing the heat and humidity into the mid-atlantic the next few days and that is looking like we'll continue with the summer-like temperatures and up over above hundred or anything like, this but we're going to be in the mid- to upper 90s, again tonight, thunderstorms firing up south of 64 here and there is that 41al system in there and that is going up in the frontal system and we'll stay good until the humidity is

coming back up surging tomorrow and early in the day, building in here for july 4th. a few clouds overnight tonight and mild here in town. 75 is as low as we can get. the wins light. cooler, 60s for the suburbs, okay. and we start off with a few clouds tomorrow morning. 78. sunshine at noon; 89 and there is a chance of scattered thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon extend into this evening and the thunderstorms tomorrow, it looks like there is a possibility that what does develop could be strong and maybe disappear. this could get expanded either way tomorrow with that heat and humidity building back in and this is a summertime forecast, 94 degrees tomorrow. 96 on wednesday and for july foth and that is looks like on july 4th, the humidity comes

back and less on thursday, dry there and coming back on friday and saturday, upper 90s and feeling like it's over 100 there is your forecast. stay cool the best can you. brian? >> and getting around. expecting to be a challenge the rest of the week. dave buck from the maryland state highway administration joins us by phone to update us on about the situation in maryland. people were getting used to the pour- four-way stop. what are the main problems in the situation? >> reporter: that's right, brian. the four-way stop, people are getting used to it. we didn't have any major problems. the rush hours were lighter and that is partly bows of the 4th of july week. we'll night them to do that the next few days. the signals will come back on. >> and for the people who are upset, perhaps, the roads and the fact that the trees are still blocking roads day three, day four and that is seeming never ending what, do you say

to them? >> we don't have any trees blocked and that is some good news. we're offering our assistance and helping other jurisdictions. the men and women of the state highway shifted from doing the sate highway -- state highway stuff and putting signs out, helping what other jurisdictions we can do. the quicker we can get things open, the quicker we can get to normalcy. >> and what fumes? everyone has a secondary road and that is almost like a snowstorm with trees instead of snow and some secondary roads. >> and that is right. in prince georges and montgomery, calvert and charles and saint mary's, howard county and baltimore county and up and down the corridor. as we get into the after affects of this, we have gone into the primaries and

secondaries and that is acting the same way. the folks will need to be patient on the roads. we had a good day today and want a better one tomorrow. the 270hov is lifted for tomorrow and we want to make sure people know that as well. >> all right, thank you for your time tonight. and to the web center with laura. we're talking about www.myfoxdc.com. everything at your fingertips and everything you need to know and we have some great information, contact information from the power companies. we have links to the power companies with all of their contact information and we also have outages and the number of outages and maps and a list of closures, updated closures. we're constantly getting information from different businesses and the federal government and different schools. camps on where -- who is closed and who is opened. so, check those as they constantly update them.

also, photos, dramatic photos coming into our web seat cyte and this is 2345 thaphoto gallery and send us yours. send them to my weather photo@gmail.com and this is accessible to you on www.myfoxdc.com and we'll continue to tour. this back up to you. cnns anderson couper is making news for once. we him out on a letter online saying, quote, the fact is i'm gay. in a note to the daily beast, andrew sullivan, cooper said, he kept it private for personal and professional reasons so he didn't want people to think he was ashamed by remaining 189. there is value in, quote, standing up and being counted. some of r&bs finest take the stage at last night's b.e.t. awards to pay tribute to whitney houston. among the performers, singers

monica and brandy. the night included tributes to donna summer, dick clark and don corn oleeous from "soul train." new tonight on the news edge, more amazing stories after the storm hit the region where a family was trammed in their home by downed wires. and then the damage is done. how do you fix your house? we talked to an expert to figure out the insurance claims and more incredible images you sent us from inside the storm. that is ahead on the news edge at 6. ♪

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[ male announcer ] it started like this... i speak the language of business. i know how jobs are created. [ male announcer ] but it ended like this. one of the worst economic records in the country. when mitt romney was governor, massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs. a rate twice the national average. and fell to forty-seventh in job creation. fourth from the bottom. instead of hiring workers from his own state, romney outsourced call center jobs to india. he cut taxes for millionaires like himself... while raising them on the middle class... and left the state two point six billion deeper in debt. so now, when mitt romney talks about what he'd do as president... i know what it takes to create jobs. [ male announcer ] remember, we've heard it all before. i know how jobs are created. [ male announcer ] romney economics. it didn't work then,

and it won't work now. . the navy now knows why one of the jets crashed into a virginia beach complex in april. it was a dual-engine malfunction, which is rare. the fa-18-d hornet went down after nake -- taking off from the naval air station oceana. 27 apartments were destroyed, seven people hurt, including the two navy flyers on board

who ejected. amazingly, everyone survived. independence day fast approaching. time to start thinking about safety as usual. the consumer product safety commission is warning people about protecting eyes, hands, and skin while you're around fireworks and sparklers. they can get as hot as 1500- degrees and this is a tip for you. keep a bucket of water nearby to douse any sparklers and men myself any risk. the national park service has a lot of plans for the capital celebration of the 4th of july this year. of course, there is the usual concert on the mall. the fireworks and smithsonian folk life festival and there will be portable bathrooms and that rule of thumb, expect large crowds and high temperatures. >> we love to share with everyone, we love to share with the nation's capitol. we have a opportunity, a number

of programs going on and to share some of our common heritage. >> the park service suggests public transportation if you plan to come to the mall or park. the smithsonian station will be open this year. thank you for joining us at 5. the news edge at 6 starts now. we start the news edge off with cleanup. more than 3 million people nationwide were without power. 22 people died and that is coming at the height of the heat wave. after the storm in maryland, a home owner is trying to fix their damaged properties. paul wagner spoke to one family after they entered their home for the first time. >> as bad as you might think, someone out there may have it so much worse. this is one couple's