with sustained winds of 147 miles an hour and gusts to 170. that makes it a category 4 borderline category 5 on the scale we use here in the u.s. off the coast two barges collided in the rough sea forcing the crews to abandon ship and try to get themselves to shore for safety. we know at least three of the people are killed as a result of that accident. most of the communications with the philippines have been cut off, so it's hard to know the extent of casualties and the damage, but local officials say they are expecting the numbers of deaths to go up since the storm put about 12 million people in harm's way. now haiyan is setting its sights on mainland china and vietnam. >> how does this stack up against other storms in recent years? meteorologist erica grow has more on that. >> we're looking now at the satellite imagery over the past 12 hours of this storm typhoon haiyan as it makes its way back into the open waters of the south china sea.

it made landfall in the philippines earlier this morning and now it is continuing to make its way toward its next destination. the good news is that it is now a category 4 storm. so it's lost a little bit of its strength. the winds are at 145 miles per hour, though it's still very strong. the gusts to 175 miles per hour. the water in the south china sea isn't quite as bath water kind of warm, so it won't pick up as much intensity as it makes its way toward places like vietnam and then up toward southern portions of china. you can see that track continues to take it further inland. so flooding rainfall is very likely with this storm. we can put it in historical perspective for some storms that we have had here in the united states including, of course, hurricane katrina, the one that is so fresh in our minds because of just how devastating this storm was. when katrina made landfall, it was a category 3 with 125 mile- per-hour winds which is much lower than the 149 mile-per-

hour winds that haiyan had when it made landfall earlier this morning. a little closer comparison is hurricane andrew. that storm in 1992 had winds up in the 175-mile an hour range. it was the strongest storm as far as wind speed goes to ever hit the united states and it's one of the only category 5 storms to ever make landfall here in the united states. so we have some historical perspectives to put it in for you. typhoon haiyan with the 195- mile an hour winds is an estimate, satellite estimates because we don't have the same technology tracking this storm that we do in the united states, but we can compare it to typhoon tip in 1979 with 190- mile an hour winds. in 2005 hurricane wilma the same year as katrina, so we definitely have had some strong storms, but this looks like it might be strongest storm ever on record as far as wind speeds

are concerned. >> that's truly some awe inspiring power. a man work being at a montgomery county middle -- working at a montgomery county middle school now faces charges of being a peeping tom. the man is josh greenberg, 28 years old and apparently police say he peered into the window from a staff office into a girl's locker room. prosecutors in montgomery county express concerns about a vocal coach who was just convicted of a sex crime. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in gaithersburg where montgomery county prosecutors are concerned that a well known private voice coach who was convicted yesterday of molesting a 13-year-old student may still be in contact with other students while he is awaiting sentencing. >> this is a music teacher in this community who would not stop teaching. >> reporter: prosecutor dana kaplan on the team that secured

a conviction against ballard yesterday. >> he bee friend -- befriended this child. >> reporter: a private coaching business run over the years from two separate townhomes in gaithersburg. >> if there are any members of the public that dealt with mr. ballard in the past either as a student or parent and feel they've been victimized, they need to come forward. >> reporter: ballard faces up to 25 years in prison, but he's free on bail and free to be in contact with his students other than the boy he's convicted of molesting. his sentencing is not until december 5th. in gaithersburg scott broom, wusa9. new information tonight about a story you saw first on wusa9 in the wake of the september shooting at the navy yard. we reported that a u.s. capitol police team was ordered to stand down as it responded to the shooting. now an independent review of that decision is complete and

it found that the team was ordered back to the capitol more than 30 minutes after the navy yard attack was first reported and only once those officers were unable to reach the incident command post because of the traffic and concerns that the u.s. capitol was at risk. today the family of one of the victims in that shooting filed a $37.5 million lawsuit against the federal government. mary knight's family said the government had ample warning that the shooter had mental issues and should have been kept from ever entering the navy yard complex. >> why did you let this happen? it's just a life wasted when all you could have done is had a simple gun check. >> nobody else needs to die because the navy doesn't follow the proper procedures of security to stop people from coming onto the property with guns. >> the navy and veterans administration have six months to examine the claim to decide if it has any merit.

now to a checkup on the affordable care act, a new rule under the act requires insurers to cover treatment for mental health and substance abuse, no differently than they do for physical illnesses. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius says nearly six out of 10 people with mental health conditions do not get treatment they need. same thing for nine out of 10 folks with substance abuse problems. while making that announcement during a press conference in atlanta secretary sebelius was was asked about the many americans being kicked off their coverage from obamacare. is there a plan in the white house to help them? >> there isn't i would say at this point a specific plan. the president has asked to take a look at those coverage options. >> president obama yesterday apologized to americans who have been kicked off their insurance plans. we will keep you updated on what the white house proposes to actually do about the situation. still to come tonight a possible end to a local

election that has yet to be decided. >> but first a workplace accident caught on camera, what a blast, but how did it all

here's a tip for you. if you happen to be carrying propane on your fork left, be sure it's strapped down. that was in ohio where a guy learned the hard way. the tank on his forklift was

knocked off and blew up when he ran over it. you can see the flames just engulfed the forklift, but somehow that driver got away, rolled on the ground to put the fire out. he had some burns on his face and hands, but he's already out of the hospital. get ready for more track work on metro over the weekend, this time the red line riders getting the pleasure of seeing three of the stations shut down. so they'll have the buses available while shady grove, rockville, twinbrook are all out of service. you might think a company that makes navigation equipment would know just a little bit about traffic, but some local drivers are taking issue with harry thomas, tomtom's latest -- with tomtom's latest model. now matter how long you sit in traffic at least we're paying less for gas. aaa's latest fuel gauge reports puts the average price of a

gallon of regular unleaded at 3.24 a gallon for the greater washington area, but we found three stations where the gas cracked the $3 mark. that includes arlington auto service along columbia pike, 2.95 at a gulf station on warrenton road in fredericksburg and 2.99 at a bp along lee highway in warrenton. sorry, but we couldn't find anything under $3 yet in maryland or d.c. in our search of gasbuddy.com, but don't worry. you'll get there. the cold weather is hitting us now, but we do have something warm to think about tonight, a new look for the cherry blossom festival staple coming your way next.

campaign 2013 could soon be over in virginia with an end to the attorney general's race. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox in fairfax. the attorney general's race hangs in the balance and here election workers are trying to figure out why thousands of votes may not have been counted. an emergency meeting was called after serious questions arose about absentee ballot totals, totals that didn't make sense.

>> the discrepancies were first noticed by a staff member at congressman gerry connolly's office. >> we think there could be as many as 3,000 ballots that are not accounted for. >> reporter: 3,000 ballots could swing the outcome of the close attorney general's race which now has republican mark obenshain leading over democrat mark herring by only about 700 votes. >> basically due to human error which is what happens sometimes. there's potentially a few thousand votes at stake, so it could impact the election. >> reporter: connolly's staffer knew when people go to the trouble of asking for an absentee ballot, they almost always send it in. the return rate is usually close to 90%, but in the 8th congressional district only 50% of the absentee ballots were counted. in fairfax, peggy fox, wusa9. fans love their sports stars, but do you love them enough to elect one as the mayor out of the blue? that was part of the story line in boston this week when

reports circulated red sox slugger david ortiz had come in third in the voting in tuesday's mayoral election, but today the city announced that the name may have been written in, but the number of votes those names get don't actually get counted. a new plaza near the national mall celebrates the story of washington's cherry blossoms and you'll find the granite plaza along the tidal basin. you'll also find a 360-year-old japanese stone lantern and a memorial plaque that commemorates japan's gift of those cherry trees way back in 1912 around topper's birthday. the japanese government sponsored the plaza project with help from the japan commerce association of washington d.c. >> very well preserved. another local favorite we can thank our friends in asia for was pretty cute at the national zoo today. check out the panda cam video. that's mei xiang cuddling with her unnamed cub. the little girl is 8.14 pounds. of course, you can help pick

her name. log onto www.wusa9.com. >> did we like bow bow? >> poe, the name of the kung fu panda. >> that was not an option. it's a boy. >> i like what i like. >> we like bow bow. we have a nice weekend, a little on the cool side but better than a cold november rain, i suppose, which is also possible. we're looking at temperatures a little below average tomorrow. let's start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, high temperature 54. our average high is 61. temps now in the 40s even downtown, dew point very low, well below 30, relative humidity 34%. winds calming down north, northwest at 8. they will be calming down tonight. that will allow temps to fall quickly. satellite picture radar combined, we had a few cold weather clouds today, some lake

effect snows in through pennsylvania and new york state now calming down as well. 43 in reston, 42 in fairfax, 46 in college park, down at waldorf 45 degrees. so chilly for the high school football, temps in the 40s. by tomorrow bright but brisk. it will be a very nice day tomorrow, breezy all weekend, southwest winds tomorrow become west, northwest winds on sunday as another cold front goes through. don't worry. that goes through dry. sunday a tad bit milder ahead of the front, not much. for tonight clear skies, cold, winds becoming light, low temperatures 28 to about 38. break it down for you. temps in the 30s to start downtown, 45 by 9:00. you should be on the mall doing the heart walk with howard by 9:00, 501 at 11:00, 53 -- 51 at 11:00, 53 by 1 p.m. near 60 sunday and monday, a

perfect day sunday for the ravens game which you can watch right here on channel 9. next seven days, monday is nice, too near 60, but then bottom falls out on the temps. cold front goes through, a couple flurries possible, but the storm is looking less likely, upper 40s tuesday, wednesday and return to the 50s thursday and friday. >> you're most delighted about that flake. >> i'm a little sad the storm is gone. >> a flake or two doesn't hurt anybody. let's check in with jan jeffcoat. she's in the newsroom with a look at what's coming up tonight in your only local news at 7:00. >> redskins coach mike shanahan just spoke to the media about the heartbreaking loss to the vikings last night. >> plus imagine being able to go from d.c. to new york city in just an hour without having to deal with the airport. we'll be joined live by man who wants to bring a high speed train service to the northeast

corridor, see you at 7:00. still ahead a battle for bragging rights, a look at why these two towers are at odds tonight. ready? happy birthday! it's a painting easel! the tide's coming in!

this is my favorite one. it's upside down. oh, sorry. (woman vo) it takes him places he's always wanted to go. that's why we bought a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

don't you love those clever engineers in tokyo? they've created a robot that can actually cheat at the game of rock, paper, scissors and he wins every time. this particular robot has a

high speed camera, recognizes the emerging shape of your hand one millisecond before it pops out with its open answer. it's about developing rapid recognition technology that could be used everywhere from here to outer space. >> i'm so glad you told me that. movie lovers, you are getting a new place to watch those indian art house films you love but can't find. landmark theaters plans to open a 10 screen cinema in northeast d.c., expected to be open by late 2016. this is landmark's third in our area. now there's one in bethesda and one down on e street in northwest. a battle is brewing between new york and chicago and nothing to do with pizzas. >> as dean reynolds explains, this issue is who has the

tallest building. >> reporter: it's 1,451 feet to brag about, but its reign may be ending on a technicality. new york's new one world trade center measures 1,368 feet, but the building's architects say a decorative spire atop the building should be counted and if it is, it would be a birth of the nation's symbol standing 1,776 feet or 325 feet taller than chicago's skyscraper. the relatively obscure council on tall buildings and urban habitat headquartered in chicago here will make the call. there can't be a tie, then? >> there can't be a tie. >> reporter: there's nobody abstaining. anthony wood is executive director of the council which votes today and will announce the decision next week. do you expect pickets?

>> we don't, but what i do expect is a very lively debate. >> milestones of the century! >> reporter: from 1908 new yorkers had the tallest buildings in the country, but then in 1974 chicago overtook them in the race to the sky. is new york about to reclaim bragging rights? >> it's a post modern building. >> reporter: we asked jan masongarb of the chicago architecture foundation for guidance. >> willis tower still is the tallest in terms of how high you can stand above the earth, but when you look at sort of what's totally built from the ground up, then one world trade center wins. >> reporter: one world trade center architect david childs says winning is not the point. he wants his building recognized as standing 1,776 feet tall because of what that number represents. >> the height is important in that it symbolizes that moment of our democracy 1776, can't be

much more important than that. the thing about race for the height, that will always change. this one will always be 1,776. the governor, the port authority and america all if he strongly about that and that's -- felt strongly about that and that's why we've achieved that and it's important for it to be recognized as the height. >> this all lies in just how you define the tallest building. several years ago the board ruled that an antenna didn't count in height. now the question is whether height is defined as how tall the structure is or how high people can get inside. >> i think either the antenna counts or it doesn't. i love the 1,776 thing. why not make the building really that tall? >> they'd have to do a little more work to get it there. cbs evening news is next. cbs evening news is next. >> i'll be back with jan and when i first got shingles it started on my back. and i had like this four inch band of bumps that came around to the front of my body.

and the pain from it was- it was excruciating. i did not want anyone to brush into me to cause me more pain than i was already enduring. i wanted to just crawl up in a ball and just, just wait till it passed.

>> pelley: tonight, could it be an answer to the mass

murders? a sweeping change in insurance rules will increase mental health care for millions. major garrett has the details. the new employment report tells us which way the economy is headed. anthony mason reports. the death toll is rising in the wake of one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. seth doane has the story. and steve hartman "on the road." ed bray fought through d-day honor mandy beach. now he's defeating an enemy that has stalked him for 80 years. >> i don't care if it's about mickey mouse! i want to read one book before i die. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. after every mass shooting people seem to ask "why doesn't anyone do anything about mental health care?" well, today someone did. the obama administration issued