sewage everywhere, damaging every room in this two-story home. >> we keep calling everywhere. there's nobody in the city to help us. if they could have come one hour, it could have done something. >> reporter: at least five homes were affected including jason chen's house. >> into the other room. it was -- it was really nasty. >> reporter: he's clearing out whatever survived the backup and will be staying elsewhere for the time being. the sewage contamination and smell is unbearable. city crews did eventually show up saturday night and began working to fix the problem. another neighbor tells us this may have been caused by the weekend rains and recent work on a neighborhood sewage line. >> the rain pushed debris into the main line. i think they're unsure whether this new sewer line had caused the problem. >> reporter: the interim director of millbrae public works told me the same thing by phone. he said the private contractor

left the line uncapped and that's how debris clogged it up. the sewer plumbing company has not returned my calls for comment. in millbrae, sergio quintana, abc 7. we're still not in the clear when it comes to stormy conditions. we saw spotty showers and even hail in san francisco. david posted this video on instagr instagram. he slowed it down so you can clearly see pea-sized hail that fell this morning. el nino-powered storms caused a string of problems in the south bay. san jose firefighters say rain overnight led to dozens of calls for spinouts to downed wires. alameda off ramp on northbound 880 in san jose re-opened around 7:00 this morning after closed for several hours because of flooding. let's take a live look outside right now. we can see dark clouds from our bay bridge toll plaza camera but blue skies as well, sun trying to peek through. we're getting a brief break from the rain. sandhya patel tracking the rain.

>> favor this break. the isolated showers we have right now will turn into more wet weather later this week. live doppler 7 hd right now, you'll see where we are still picking up a few showers. right around the napa area. we take you to street-level radar. notice also into vallejo, across 80. so if your commute takes you through that area, you'll need those wipers. we have a few showers around the monterey bay and the showers will be winding down in the next hour or so. how much rain? since friday our storm totals over 10 inches. most other areas were between 2 to about 5 inches of rain. we're tracking another storm on our storm impact scale. we've been using this scale all winter. 1 is light. 5 is severe. the 1 coming tuesday night into wednesday is a 1. light rain and wind expected. with most areas s picking up a tenth to a half an inch of rain. now our wet pattern is going to continue for most of this week. the storms will get stronger as we head into the weekend.

i'll be back with a detailed look at where they rank on our storm impact scale plus hour-by-hour timeline coming right up. ama? >> thank you so much. the storms are here again and for now the drought is on the run. today in the north bay it was time to release water from lake mendocino which feeds the russian river water shed. wayne freedman made the trip north to give us a look and joins us live. >> reporter: behind me, see the russian river. there's quite a difference between what we see now and what we saw last week. it's practically water world. yes, a product of the rains we had last weekend but also as you said, we had a little help. let's talk about what was versus what is now. friday we had bare dirt where the russian river flowed, now there's more water than people around here have seen in a long time and here's why. something else that no one in these parts has seen since the end of 2012. a large release upstream at lake

me mendocino, this is what it looks and sounds like. that would fill the average swimming pool how fast? >> two or three seconds. >> reporter: mike manages this region and dam for the army corps of engineers. this release is about flood control. >> well, it comes down to dam safety. we have to keep enough room for the future storms. >> reporter: one other advantage all of this water going out here, it's going into the ocean. you know what comes back up following the water? steelhead. look. it will take sharp eyes, but, yes, there is a large fish moving upstream just below and they're not rare around here. >> really good example of a -- >> reporter: at the adjacent fish hatchery this is the busy season as they swim into traps and sort them and produce 250,000 hatchlings per year, maybe more now. >> we're pretty much on an average year right now. >> reporter: and with this

release? >> we're hoping it will be a little bit better. well, today also brought big water release outside sacramento. the bureau of reclamation opened the flood gates again today at fulsome lake. the lake is so full from the recent rain that some water needs to be let out to make room for the mountain snow pack runoff to come and that flow will be doubled tomorrow morning. tomorrow, crews hired by the city of pacifica will start the process of tearing down a red tagged apartment building on the coast. abc 7 news was at 320 esplanade as demolition crews put up fencing and tarps. tomorrow they will start removing asbestos and lead. the actual demolition is set to start on thursday and will take four to five days. city leaders had to take emergency action because of erosion caused by el nino on the cliff below. >> we are concerned that the building could actually end up on the beach below and if so, would cost a lot more to demolish and it would also then

potentially hurt someone who's on the beach. >> the estimated cost of the demolition is $200,000. the owner of the building has filed for bankruptcy and the city is in a court fight to get them to pay up. let's take a look at another problem caused by all our rain. sky 7 hd was in north san jose )(q building around 8:3s morning.)(q building around 8:3s firefighters say it looks like the weight of the rain caused that roof to just cave in at this building off ringwood avenue. nobody was hurt. drivers pushed through more than a foot of water today, the creek nearby often floodses during heavy rainfall. pascadaro and the lane around it emerged. stay off the road because the water is deeper than it appears. watsonville, this is a good example of what happens when someone doesn't make it through the floodwaters. the water is deep enough on green valley road, the ducks are

swimming along. the driver, the driver, though, they had a vehicle full of children and decided to go around a road closed sign. officers were able to get everyone out of the car safely before it was towed back to dry land. >> you see a duck, don't drive through it. >> exactly zblchl lyexactly. teed today was a good day for skiers and snowboarders in the sierra, this is our lake tahoe corner at heavenly resort, foggy and snowy conditions this afternoon. fresh powder has fallen thanks to our storm. the barriers put up to protect a san francisco neighborhood from flooding appear to have worked. abc 7 news was at fulsome and 17th street as city workers loaded up the plastic barriers. they were placed along the block this weekend to keep water from e entering homes and businesses. san francisco motorcycle club, they were installing a flood-proof door today. the business spent $110,000 to repair damage from laughtst wins

flooding. >> put new floors, new plumbing, check valves and new sheetrock. >> the interlocking barriers will be put up in this neighborhood whenever more than an inch of rain is expected in a 24-hour period. and you can use the free abc 7 news app to track weather powered by el nino. just enable push alerts to receive breaking weather information. we also have resources to help you plan for these storms at abc7 news.com/el/nino. new details on the search for a driver who hit a little boy as the boy was walking to school this morning then ran away. the zechaccident was a series o events that started at a livermore car dealership. laura anthony is live in liv livermore with more information for us. >> reporter: it started just after midnight here at this car dealership when surveillance cameras caught several people stealing cars. one of them that ford fusion that hit that little boy in castro valley. now let's show you a picture the chp just released of a suspect.

they believe the driver of that car that hit the little boy who's been identified as 29-year-old daniel morris of castro valley, he is still on the run. >> i heard a crash. >> reporter: larry says he heard a loud noise and then ran outside of his castro valley home. >> so i went to my bedroom window and i saw the guy get out and run. down the hill. >> reporter: pinned underneath the dark ford fusion, a 6-year-old boy who'd been walking down the street just÷ú seconds earlier. >> preliminarily it looks as if his left leg was pinned against the utility pole. information suggests he had stopped on his way to school to bend down and look at some worms. >> reporter: the injured boy is a student at nearby marshall elementary. >> we're extremely saddened by the incident. it's, you know, one of our students. we know that it impacts the family of the student as well as

the rest of our students and staff here. >> yeah, hope he makes it without losing his leg, yeah. we're supposed to know later today. >> reporter: the ford was one of five cars stolen during this elaborate theft after midnight captured on several surveillance cameras at livermore ford. >> we had a fairly sophisticated vehicle theft crew come into our city. >> reporter: the thieves spent more than an hour prying open two key boxes and driving cars off one by one, pickup, two suvs and two se dance including the fusion. after the crash in castro valley, police took various items out of the fusion including a wallet and this backpack. despite an expenansive search, e suspects escaped into the neighborhood. in livermore, laura anthony. san francisco police arrested this man for the beating of a soccer referee last month. investigators took 30-year-old gabriel rene lopez into custody in richmond friday. police say he was ejected from the game in the city's ocean

view neighborhood. he's accused of punching the referee from behind. the referee suffered a broken jaw and lost several teeth. last friday night oakland's police radios went sigh lechlen while. police, fire and others on the system couldn't communicate on their two ways. vic lee is live at city hall with the story. vic? >> reporter: this appears to be one of those rare stories when almost no one wants to talk on camera. police and fire department referred us to city hall, city hall has yet to respond though we did ask them for a comment this morning. the pure and simple fact is that oak lav oakland's public safety radio system needs fixing. in the past several months, oakland's public safety radio system has had at least three failures. police, fire, and other first responders on the system had to use other means to communicate with dispatch and each other. radio systems consultant david

cruz says the outages put public safety at risk. >> they're serious enough where nobody can get on the air for periods of, like 30rks minutes a time. >> reporter: friday night the radios shut down again, this time for 11 minutes. >> it sounds like there's an inherent problem somewhere in the network and they don't know how to fix it because they don'ts up what's going on. >> reporter: oakland's radio system has had a rocky history of glitches and interferences. at the time david cruz was hired as a consultant to help solve the glitches. a major problem he found is signals from cell phone sites bleeding into radio channeling causing disruptions. still over the years, oakland's radios have continued to experience problems. the oakland public schools police force oversees 90 campuses. they rely on oakland's police dispatch system. >> we've had some outages and we monitor the opd radio system.

opd's tried to work us and and they're trying to fix that problem. >> reporter: the county's goal is to eventually transition to the countywide radio system. longtime critics like the police union say the system is on its last leg and that the transfer can't come soon enough. vic lee, abc 7 news. new at 5:00, police in two bay area cities believe the same group of thieves broke into two gun stores over the weekend making off with several guns including an assault rifle. here's the video of the first break-in at the old west gun room on carlson boulevard in el cerrito. they jumped a fence. they gave up when the burglar alarm began blaring. two ours later petaluma police believe the same group targeted the independence armory on lakeville street. they used a 1990s honda accord to ram through the front gates, the doors. the owner of the store told the santa rosa press democrat" the thieves took $12,000 worth of guns. we have new details about a

pickup truck stolen from a bay area non-profit. monument crisis center posted this picture of the ford f-350 and said the truck was found this morning near the shopping september center in concord. the truck has minor damage. someone stole it last month from their headquarters. they provide food to 50,000 people every year using the truck. still ahead, remembering nancy reagan. we're going to take a look back at her legacy and how she shaped the image of the white house. researchers discover another benefit to eating fruits and vegetables. how it could help young women as they age. also why thousands of employees in the bay area will be getting a pay raise next

walnut creek, burlingame, campbell, and all the bay area, this is abc 7 news. >> flags are at half-staff today

at san francisco city hall in honor of former first lady nancy reagan. mrs. reagan passed away over the weekend. she's being remembered for her fight for alzheimer's research as well as her just say no to drugs campaign which she launched in oakland. historians say she worked behind the scenes to shape the ronald reagan white house. >> it became accepted, yes, fifrls ladies communicate with the president, influence staffing positions, do influence strategy. >> mrs. reagan will be buried this friday at the reagan library in southern california right next to her husband. the public will be allowed to visit to pay their respects on wednesday as well as thursday. researchers say even a short break from certain kinds of personal care products can lead to a drop in hormone-disrupting chemicals in the body. the study released today finds teen girls see a big drop in chemical exposure with just a three-day switch in cosmetics, shampoos and lotions. teen girls may be at particular risk since it's the time of

rapid reproductive development. the uc berkeley study focused on products containing some of the following chemicals. parobins, oxibenzone. they've been found in animal subjects to interfere with the body's endocrine system. young people can protect themselves from breast cancer by eating fruits and vegetables. the study followed thousands of women and found when they ate fiber-rich food in early adulthood, risk for breast cancer dropped by between 12% and 19%. fiber from fruits and veggies was found to produce the greatest benefits. that fiber is believed to help reduce high estrogen levels in the blood which, of course, has been linked to breast cancer. if you got a sports authority gift card for the holidays, don't wait any longer to use it. >> got to hurry up, right? "7 on your side's" michael finney tells us why. >> last wednesday we reported sports authority filed for

bankruptcy. well, they are in chapter 11 now. it has $93 million outstanding in gift cards, so what happens if you're holding on to one of those? shelley hunter is a gift card girlfriend for giftcards.com. >> should always your gift cards immediately and particularly in this case for sure, get down to the store and if you have a sports authority gift card, use it. >> sports authority plans to close about a third of its 450 stores. the one close to you could be one of those being closed. so just for convenience, alone, you should cash in that gift card sooner rather than later. this is the week walmart workers get their big raise. nearly 80,000 workers in california, about 9,000 of them here in the bay area, get raises this week as the retailer ups its pay for workers across the board. walmart made a splash a couple months back when word got out that all walmart employees would make at least $10 an hour. they're getting a raise but that

figure is not quite accurate. when first hired and still in training, some workers will be paid $1 less. tomorrow is the ihop sponsored national pancake day. walk into ihop and you'll be treated to a short stack buttermilk pancake for free. i got so excited. it's all part of a fund-raiser for children's miracle hospitals. the pancakes are free. patrons are asked to donate to the cause. ihope hopes to raise more than $3 million this year. tomorrow join me for my annual "7 on your side" tax hotline. experts will be here from 4:00 until 8:00 taking your questions over the phone and on facebook or you can leave your questions in advance by posting it on social media with #abc7now. we've got a ton of experts. we want your questions. >> yeah. perfect. all right. thank you, michael. we got questions about the weather. meteorologist drew tuma joining us with the accuweather forecast.

it's sandhya. >> gee, you got a lot shorter, sandhy a sandhya. >> i did. hi there, kristen and ama. out here we have a cool breeze and mix of sun and clouds. we're only going to get a short break before all the other storms come in this week. let me show you live doppler 7 hd. i'll take you into street level radar where we are seeing a few light showers right now. and pockets moderate. you'll notice right around vallejo, crockett, across 80, american canyon, 29 there, ve ve nearby sha getting wet. san francisco, .098 in february, to 2 1/2 inches so far. oakland, .046. nothing really. march has been better. san jose has been better from about a third of an inch to 2.67. let's hope this trend continues. right now it does look promising in the accuweather seven-day forecast. chains on 50 and 88. sierra still seeing snow.

resorts picked up a foot and a half to 5 feet of snow. the lake tahoe camera, see all the fresh powder on the ground. just a beautiful sight. statewide snow pack, 82% of average. feeling like winter. mid to upper 50s. san jose, half moon bay, 55 degrees. a live look from our exploritorium camera. a little bit of stun breaking through. we are looking at temperatures primarily in the 50s from santa rosa to livermore, napa 60 degrees. dark clouds continue in san jose. here's a look at the forecast. the break through tuesday afternoon. rain tuesday night through wednesday afternoon. and then a wet pattern is continuing for the rest of the week. high surf advisory remains up until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. wave heights continue to remain in the 18 to 20 foot range. so watch out for those large breakers. there's a risk of being swept away. on our storm impact scale, we have light system coming in tomorrow night into wednesday. light rain and wind, tenth to a

half inch for most areas. hour-by-hour timeline, tomorrow morning it's going to be chilly. clouds on the increase by the afternoon hours then in the evening, 6:00, light rain in the north bay. you have to wait until later at night to see the rain at 11:00 p.m. for your wednesday morning commute, expect wet roadways at 4:00 a.m. 5:00 a.m. as well. scattered showers for 8:00, wednesday morning, continuing through the early afternoon. over the next seven days, we are expecting several storms. rainfall totals will add up anywhere between about 3 to 4 inches for some areas. santo rosa could pick up close to 5 inches of rain. so el nino, even though it's weaker, continues to influence our weather with those big waves and more storms. upper 30s to upper 40s tomorrow morning. the chill will be in the air. you will need to bundle up tomorrow afternoon. mid 50s to the low 60s and it's a mostly dry day until the evening. accuweather seven-day forecast. chance of rain tuesday night going into wednesday. that's a 1. another system for thursday, and then another one for friday,

both 1s on our storm impact scale. tuesday, excuse me, saturday and sunday, stronger storms, 2 on the scale. 1 for monday. ama, kristen, i know you were at dan ashley's benefit concert as i was as well. all i kept hearing is, this is a 3, it's materializing. people are catching on to the storm impact scale. great to hear. >> thank you so much, sandhya. all right. a case of right place, right time. still ahead, the story behind this dramatic rescue involving a chp officer who just happened to spot this dangerous situation. new at 6:00, "7 on your side's" michael finney has big incent ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

oh, my gosh, makes your heart stop, right? dramatic video shows the moments a chp officer pulls two children from a burning car. the officer spotted the car smoking on highway 1 and followed it into a parking lot.

it stopped, but the people inside were slow to get out. so he ran to the back doors and pulled screaming young children who were in their car seats and helped an adult escape from the front. all four were treated for smoke inhalation and will with fine. >> wow. scientists say they found the real reason so many baby sea lions are starving. the female sea lions haven't done a good job of foraging for high-quality food for their babies. we want to note that food is high fat, high calorie diets is harder to find right now because of the drought. the young lions are often found weak on the beach. scientists say the problem is only expected to get worse. tomorrow at 5:00 -- 5:30 of the total solar eclipse. a team traveled to the micro

micronesia for the totality. we'll bring it to you tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. "world news tonight with david muir" will air at 6:30. there they get almost five minutes of totality. look for the place to get the longest span to bring back to you. going to be exciting. >> it is. up next, video that's going

coming up at 6:00, the cleanup after the storms. the direct hit to santa cruz county. those stories on abc 7 news at 6:00. what is cuter than a panda? a bunch of baby pandas, of course. >> add a panda trying to ride a rocking horse. little baby one. the cutest. this video from china shows the baby panda just hanging out with his friends. that's cute. >> still a giant panda despite it being so little right now, right? "world news tonight with david muir" is coming up next. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm ama daetz. "world news" coming up next but tomorrow night at 5:30, special

coverage of the total solar eclipse live as it happens tomorrow at 5:30. we have several breaking stories this monday night. the race for the white house. michael bloomberg says he will not run, arguing that if he does, it may help donald trump win. trump, and his message for ted cruz. and hillary clinton, what she just asked of bernie sanders. and a major victory for erin andrews. just in, the $55 million verdict. after suing her stalker and a major hotel. accusing the hotel of putting the stalker next door, recording her. deadly storms tonight, powerful winds, flash floods, and lightning strikes. and the other system moving from the south to the east. one of the most famous athletes in thwo