Good Morning El Paso 02.17.16

the day has arrived here in the borderland—pope francis will be landing in juarez in just a few hours and so many people are excited. this is video of his mass yesterday in morelia. many people will be crossing the bridge on foot or standing along the pontiff’s route in juarez throughout the day today. and for those not heading into mexico, the faithful masses will be watching him on the jumbo-tron at the sun bowl or from the comfort of their own home where you can folow our complete coverage all day of the pope’s visit. we are hoping not to see anything like this today during his final stop in mexico. the pontiff was greeting the faithful in morelia when some overly- eager people tugged on his sleeve and he looked like he might fall over. it happened twice–and you can see he gets a cross look on his face before telling them “don’t be selfish.” in the meantime …we’re taking you live outside right now from our downtown camera on to of the chase building. the camera is pointed at the “x near the juarez fairgrounds where hundreds of thousands of people are expected later today for the pope’s historic visit. and abc-7 has you covered throughout the day today. we will be on-air all day following his every step as well as streaming it live over on kvia.com. you can also follow us on facebook and twitter for updates. it’s an exciting day for so many people here in the borderland. welcome back to good morning el paso. i’m hillary floren. and i’m stephanie valle. the time now, 6:?? on your — morning. for todays papal visit the borderland will continue to see sunny skies…light winds and above normal temperatures. tomorrow temperatures will remain warm but winds and cloud coverage will increase. a slight chance of precipitation exists friday in the gila wilderness and monday east of the rio grande. now for an abc-7 traffic alert. a lot of road closures could impact your plans today. this is a live look at the border highway, courtesy of our tex-dot traffic cms. it’s already shut down from us-54 to santa fe downtown. you will not be able to use that stretch of road again until tomorrow morning. starting at 10 … that closure will extend all the way to yarbrough. and that section of the border highway won’t reopen till the pope leaves the area tonight. and there are more street closures to go over in el paso. downtown — major parts of segundo barrio. and central downtown streets like santa fe and campbell are also limited. and listen to this… if traffic gets backlogged with people flooding into downtown or the bridge of americas… the off ramps on i-10 from executive center on the west side to geronimo in central could be closed if necessary. scenic drive will also be closed to vehicles… however, it will be open to pedestrians. and the bridges are expected to be very busy later today with many of the roads closed off in this area to outside traffic, it an be tricky moving around. but if you are heading to the bridges, it’ll pay to plan ahead. a c-b-p spokesman told us they’ve brought in more staff to make sure that all border crossing lanes will be open to both vehicles and pedestrians on wednesday and thursday. but he says things will move faster if you come prepared. have all necessary documents ready for border crossing. they urged not to cross tomorrow unless you need to. and if you see something concerning or out of place, say something to officials. / meantime we have a check of the estimated wait times at the international bridges… and we can tell you highway 70 is expected to be open all day. continuing our complete coverage this morning of the pope’s visit… let’s take a look at his plans today over in juarez. the pope’s plane is expected to arrive in juarez at 10. that’s in about 4 more hours. he’ll be welcomed with music and smiling kids! 25- hundred altar boys… 800 children… and 4 symphony orchestras are set to perform. a motorcade will then take the pope to cereso prison where he’ll meet and pray with prison administrators, inmates and their families. at noon… a meeting with business leaders and workers where the pope is expected to talk about conditions employees work in. then it’s off to a seminary for a private lunch and a little bit of rest. we’vbe learned the four o’clock mass will likely start at 430 instead. that’s when the pope will speak to hundreds of thousands of people along the banks of the rio grande. and he will also be waving into el paso, from a ramp that overlooks the city. if you are lucky enough to be the holder of a ticket to see the pope’s mass… you need to know what you can and cannot take. no firearms, bottles, cameras, mobile phone chargers, selfie sticks, unbrellas, seats, and plastic containers. you will be able to take small doses of medicine, water and food, which will have to be prepared and inside a baggie. backpacks and small purses will be allowed, but will be thoroughly checked at each security checkpoint. doors open at six in the morning for the pal mass and close at two. we have more on what’s allowed… and what isn’t — on our website at kvia-dot- com. the streets of juarez will soon be filled with hundreds of thousands of spectators. many traveled to the borderland not knowing where they’ll be sleeping. abc-7 reporter denise olivas found a shelter that has opened its doors for pilgrims. she joins us live in juarez with our complete coverage… denise? a group of parishioners here in juarez is making it their mission to welcome them to the city. this recreation room at san judas tadeo catholic church is typically reserved for martial arts and dance classes– but today it’s a shelter filled with folding chairs, plenty of food mats that will be used for sleep. when we stopped by last night there were a few people taking a nap who traveled from chihuahua city. not too many people late last night when we visited but we’re told dozens were expected overnight. one volunteer i spoke with says they will accommodate has many people as possible: “”she says even after the ma is over we’ll be here to offer food for those who can’t make it home” when we come back, meteorologist krystal klei has your accurate and reliable stormtrack weather forecast. krystal…