one. matt? >> reporter: some believe it would work best to bury all power lines and this would mean if a tree fell down, it would not take down the power with it. and placing all wiring underground could take years and cost billions in. residents of the district won't soon forget the powerful storm that hit an early -- in early july n.'s few minutes, more than 1300 trees fell in the city and causing major power outage. >> get someone out here soon and quickly as possible. >> reporter: mayor gray blasted pepco at the time. he lost power at his home like many others. >> they need to move faster. pepco's pace of restoring power, to me, anyway s unacceptable and the speed of their response is disappointing and how many times have we been through this before? >> reporter: the mayor promised action. on thursday, led a task force to focus on preventing power outages in the future. many believe underground power

is the only option. jot $64,000 question is how will we pay for it? i know in my interactions, they feel like they met their obligations and paid their bills on time. >> reporter: pepco's ceo sat next to mayor gray during the discussion tall agreeing that burying lines across the district would take years and the cost would be very high. >> i heard ranges from a billion to 6 billion. >> reporter: can anything be done in the near future? pepco said it's committed to doing all it can. >> and there is no higher priority on my list than being able to serve all of our customers with reliable power. >> reporter: the district is not the only local government putting the pressure on pepco. pepco has been criticized for widespread outages and then the time it takes to restore it --

restore it. and today marks one year. the quake was centered in louisa county, virginia, and it was felt up and down the east coast. some of our region's most treasured buildings were damaged, including the national cathedral in northwest d.c. and that is where beth parker is. >> reporter: this comes with a major announcement. a $5 million grant for repairs. the first stone lay as the cathedral begins to move forward. they were ringing the bells at 1:51 p.m., precisely one year after an earthque cost $20 million damage to the national cathedral. >> and that took under a century to get the pinnacles on top of the cathedral and it took under a minute to bring them down. >> reporter: the cathedral

announced a major donation of a $5 million grant from the lily endowment of indianapolis. >> and that is against all americans. >> one of the things i found is when you count your blessings, it makes a lot of difference when you start counting. >> reporter: the reverend dr. frances is wade said the cathedral has been blessed since the earthquake stepped up and they made a donation in the 1970s to the cathedral. >> it's our hope that this grant from the endowment, 35 years later, will provide momentum for the rebuilding effort as the cathedral renews the prime is to serve as the spiritual home for the nation. >> reporter: the momentum starts now with the blessing. >> through jesus christ our lord. amen. >> reporter: and with cameras clicking. they raised a stone and moved from stabilization to restoration. joe alonzo is the headstone mason. >> a year o, that 2 1/2-ton

piece fell where we're standing and sheered off, you know, all of that and that is great. >> reporter: just the beginning in terms of work and money. the total raised so far is $8 million but there was $20 million worth of quake damage. they're now asking for others to help. not only big donations but small ones, too. >> if we had one major donor saying there was a gazillion dollars, we would have a wonderful cathedral and no heart. >> reporter: folks here tell us the safe estimate for how long the repairs will take is about 10 years and that is if they can raze all of the money. again, they still have another $12 million to raise. i'm beth parker. back to you. >> and that puts it in perspective. thank you. and when the quake hit a year ago, many people rushed out of their homes and building

and panic. federal officials say that is not the safest way to deal with the earthquake. fema wants to show people what they should do and they urging people to participate. the agency especially wants people here on the east coast to get involved because earthquakes are rare here. >> the best thing to do is to stay where you are, take cover under the table if possible, something sturdy and cover your head and hold on. >> and when people evacuate a building, they risk being hit by flying debris and falling glass. so it's best to stay put. tropical storm isaac barrels toward the florida coast. the wicked weather is moving west to the eastern caribbean sea. the 45 miles per hour-winds have been reported in some areas as the storm system moves through the islands and warnings are in affect for puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands. the west coast of florida is in

the danger zone. the weather team is tracking the storm and let's go to sue palka in the weather center. sue? >> reporter: can you see here behind me, the center of the circulation is not very organized and that is about 180 miles south-southwest of san juan. puerto rico, will get two to four inches of rain and some wind. wins at 40 miles an hour and that is a good thing. it's not strengthening yet and it's weaker than yesterday and that is beginning to turn to the west-northwest and moving about 16 miles an hour. we do still think it's going to get stronger. i am sorry is to to so this is going to take it over haiti tomorrow evening and we're concerned about that. there could be as much as eight to 12 inches of rain in haiti and. >> 400,000 people still displaced from the 2010 earthquake. i want to show you the continuing somewhat westward shift of the track as it

approaches the west coast of florida and looks like it's squally for tampa and maybe they're bypassing a direct hit. i think the western coast of florida is getting there to the panhandle and with that concern now. we so a category 1 hurricane that might be making landfall in that region and i would call your attention to the fact that that would be on tuesday and in that cone of uncertainty, including the peninsula of florida and there is more to come. a sit delegate admits he was drinking while operating a boat before getting into an accident. nine people were injured last night, including five children when two boats collided. the delegate donald wire judge was driving one boat and the police tested his blood alcohol level when they suspected alcohol played a factor. everyone involved was hospitalized with non-life

threatening injuries. there is a familiar face in the white house tonight. bill clinton is featured in the tv ad and that is airing in seven battle ground states, including florida, which is a key player and found 62% of voters in florida want medicare to remain unchanged. meantime, republican presidential rival mitt romney is in new mexico focusing on another big issue, energy and he is rolling out the policy, centered ons toile fuels with a goal of creating 3 million new jobs. >>. and i as president obama and mitt romney chris cross battleground states, they're vying for the votes of one particular audience, women and allison seymour has more. >> reporter: in past presidential elects, soccer and hockey moms were heavily hoarded by the candidates.

this time around, a wider swath of the woman's vote could be up for grabs. it's not just about moms anymore. >> and they say the difference between a hockey home and a pit bull, lipstick. >> reporter: hockey moms took center stage in the 2008 presidential election. before that, candidates heavily courted the so-called soccer mom. in 2012, a different type of mom might be up for grabs. the sandwich mom and stuck between two children. >> reporter: they financially supporting themes and having to support their parents who are tired. >> reporter: president obama and his republican opponent mitt romney may need to reach more than moms. >> there are almost 2 million more unmarried women who will be voting in this election cycle than in 2008, and there are more likely than married women to be undecided. >> reporter: both campaigns say that women make up the majority of undecided voters who will

likely say the election and voters decided obama is pulling ahead of romney, 50 to 40% and according to gpk poll the president gained traction with the female electorate when it comes to access to birth control, abortion, and what the democrats label the gop war on woman. >> and we shouldn't have a bunk of politicians, a majority of who are men making healthcare decisions on behalf of women. >> reporter: there might be room for romney to close the gender gap. women broke for republicans in the 2010 mid-term race the first time in 20 years and this year for men, the top issue is not healthcare. >> the economy. >> economy is bad. >> voters overall see romney as the stronger leader on the economy. >> and mark's economy is driven

by freedom. >> reporter: the candidates should stick to their strong suits to sway more women to their side. for the obama campaign. >> republicans have launched women. they need to link mitt romney more strongly to it. >> reporter: and romney in. >> romney's going after women's voters by trying to catch them under the umbrella that all voters are interested in the economy. >> reporter: they have over two months to make their best case to women. allison seymour, fox 5 news. still ahead on the news edge, rabies alert. growing concerns tonight after a raven's football fan may have come into contact with a bat. lindsay. coming up, the nats and braves series in d.c. is a wrap. we'll show you how the division breaks down and it was an emotional goodbye for clinton portis. more on his retirement later in sports and the news edge at 6 continues. 

. the news edge in maryland

now. the murder of a teenage girl in prince georges county shocked's community in kettering. prince georges county police say 17-year-old amber stanley was found shot inside her home on chartsey street last night. the police are searching for the shooter and trying to determine a motive. stanley was an honor student at flowers high school in springdale. a dire warning for maryland health officials tonight. thousands of fans who attended a exhibition game may have been exposed to rabies. the state department of health said a bat landed on someone in the 500 section at the ravens- lions game last friday at the mmt bank stadium in baltimore. they believe other people may have been touched by the bat as well. authorities are asking anyone who came in contact with the bat to give them a call. and. the worst outbreak ever. the fight against the west nile virus nationwide and what local officials are doing prevent it from spreading in our area.

[ male announcer ] some think obamacare is the same as free health care. but nothing is free. obama is raiding $716 billion from medicare, changing the program forever. taxing wheelchairs and pacemakers.

raising taxes on families making less than one hundred twenty thousand dollars. free healthcare comes at a very high price. the romney-ryan plan will restore medicare funding and protect and strengthen the program for the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

. the west nile virus is spreading. the cdc reports 41 deaths nationwide this year so far. one of the largest outbreaks in the u.s. about half of the more than 1,000 cases reported are in texas and dos's department of health fought one case and it's not fatal. the district doesn't spray for mosquitoes in part because of concerns that it can trigger asthma attacks in sensitive groups. joining us now to talk about the outbreak and concerns in the d.c. area is dr. saul levine, the director from the department of health. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> why is this year the worst for the west nile virus? >> it's not the worst in washington, d.c., in the nation, the instance of west

nile fever increased because of, one, the hot weather that occurred as well as some of the storm. d.c. doesn't have needs for concern of it being a year worst than what it is in the past. >> reporter: do we need to have a heightened concern here in the d.c. area? >> we than west nile virus is -- and we had one diagnosed case in the district and last year, we had seven for this time of the year and one should always, and go in the summer, begin to do that prevention message we know can prevent you from guessing the virus. >> why are we seeing more of the cases concentrated in the midwest in oklahoma, and texas? >> i think partly because of the hot. they have had unusually hot summers, as well as some of the storms that occurred and you have standing water, where the mosquitoes lay their eggs and they hatch and so you -- and

mosquitoes flying around. >> reporter: what precautions can people take aside from spraying and staying inside? >> so, well, obviously, you -- we don't want people staying inside particularly here in the summer. if you wear long sleeved clothes and do use deet, you a child, use deet less than 30% and around 30% for a adult is good to spray on your skin and exposed is faces and that will protect you from the mosquitoes. more importantly, you can also do other prevention such says ensuring there is no outstanding water. if you have kids with frisbees, don't leave them there overnight where they get water in and when the mosquitoes can come and lay their yaks. >> that is a good point in the uncovered garbage cans, you know, dr. saul levin, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> and thank you. >> thank you so much.

>> bobby. and let's go to sue palka. >> we're not going to have to dodge to many raindrops like yesterday. we do have one or two things showing up and they're isolated and have not made much progress moving away from interstata 81 corridor and dropping the heavy rain here, between harrisonburg and luray. tomorrow afternoon, might be some more isolateed showers and thunderstorms around and may be closer to d.c. big headline tonight, i think, we have to make significant changes to the weekend forecast and that is all due to this lingering area of the disturbd weather off of the carolinas, looking like it's organizing itself into a weak coastal system and slowly drift closer to the coast and bottom line, it's not looking like a great weekend at the beaches. everyone wants to squeeze in one or two good ones and i want you to prepare for the fact that it's rainy and chilly in the beaches and some of that

rain is in here. it's 85 degrees in the district and a little on the warm side today and that is not humid. drop to 75 at 11 and into the lower 60s and in the subissues and to about ask, or 67 in the district and this is what is going o. the high pressure is going to lest out. we had a nice day from that today and we'll have a nice one tomorrow as well and as that starts to move away, this area of low pressure is going to be able to get its act together and get closer to it. we'll have some spotty showers and storms and some more widespread activity on saturday as the area of low pressure is not only bringing in an east wind and in combination with the high to the north, we get that egg beater bringing in the clouds and the showers

beginning late saturday morning and possibly earlier than that and to that future cast. looks like tomorrow, anything you get is spotty and lots of sunshine in the morning. you can so what will happen here and that is not much for saturday morning and evening, but lingers into sunday. hey, at least we know we need the rain. i know we don't want it on the weekend, though and we have a lot to talk about, too, with the five-day forecast. check out the temperature for saturday. dropping to 79egrees and some showers on sunday and that is keeping us at 82 and a feel of october? early october. monday, back to september at 87 degrees and on to tuesday, 87 as well. >> not bad. a change of pace. >> deafly in -- definitely. we'll be right back.

. hi, everybody. i'm lindsay murphy. it was a big day at redskins

park today. mike shanahan announced that halu and royster are out for saturday's game. and halu, an achilles injury. today is a big day for clinton portis who announced his retirement. an emotional day for the former redskins runningback. he was drafted by the broncos. two years later, traded to the redskins in 2004. he played seven seasons for the burgandy and gold and me finished with 9,nineteen 23 yards and 75 touchdowns. it was an emotional goodbye earlier today. >> i really was not expecting to get emotional. i gave everything i had to this organization, this to this redskin nation, to this d.c. nation and to the city. i love the city, and i always will be a part of the

community. and it was no better way to walk away as far as continuing my career and i knew two years ago that i would probably never put on another jersey. >> peeking of running back, hightower is expected to so the first preseason action against the colts on saturday,er to his acl last october and is working hard to get back since. hightower won't start and expects a few carries behind the starting running back. >> and that is part of the guy. take steps in preseason and i want to be a part of the process. the knee will take care of itself. i am fortunate to have the opportunity to be out there and play. >> the nationals are off following their series with the

braves and they get back into action tomorrow in philadelphia and last night, the nats did fail to complete the sweep of the second-place braves and took game one in 13 innings, won game two and fell last night 5-1 and 10-5 in the series with atlanta. that is a look at sports and back to you. >> thank you very much. now you have the news edge. the news is always on www.myfoxdc.com. and keep it here. tmz on tv is up next.