good evening. >> a large mud slide damaged a house and vehicles were family members were still in bed. and there is no cell service in the area, but they got word out about their emergency via a satellite internet connection. david louie is live near the slide. >> reporter: now, imagine this. it's early in the morning, you hear a sound of thunder, so you look out the window and you see a house moving, you see your kid's playground being washed away and vehicles are moving in the mud. how do you call for help when there is no cell service and when your land line isn't working? >> some of the cars are getting be washed away. >> reporter: a desperate cry for help. >> if someone can call cal train or whoever. >> reporter: it was 6:45 and a mud slide just knocked a house off the foundation and threatening two others. the area so remote, there is no

cell sister advic cell service. so she used facebook live. the biggest concern was jennifer's pregnant sister. she was okay, and friends did respond. their cars and trucks are were immobilized by mud, but the danger wasn't over. >> when all of a sudden new wter started coming down. that's when we were like no, we need to get out. >> reporter: the five acre property is a family compound with three houses only pccupied three generations. >> close to 300 yards worth of road, hillside, a house, a shed, an entire play area with play structures and stuff for children. a truck, two cars, a camper. >> reporter: here's what he said as he survived the damage. >> unbelievable. this is so unbelievable. oh, my god. >> reporter: the two families are staying with relatives. jennifer and john's kids nicholas and aurora appear

unfazed, but now they face an up certain future. a gofundme page has been set up by a neighbor and jennifer has a new respect for social media. >> thank god for facebook because i wouldn't have been able to get a hold of anybody. it really was a lifesaver. >> reporter: david louie, abc 7 news. a dublin man used a pick ax to save another man's life after a crash on a rain slick road. take a look at the victim's car. the chp says the driver lost control yesterday at highland road between san ramon and livermore. a passing driver grabbed a pick ax from his truck, smashed the rear window of the sinking vehicle and pulled the victim to safety. >> car was upside down, nose down in the water. filling up very quickly. he was trying to get his head out of the water. he was able to find a small pocket of air right before the window was broken out. >> such a close call. neither man was seriously hurt. the highway patrol says it's quite possible the victim would have died if not for that good

samaritan. more trouble for highway 37 in sonoma. the chp tweeted this picture of a downed power pole at lakeville road. they say a drunk driver slammed into the pole causing traffic lights to stop working. pg and e is trying to restore power, but drivers should expect delays in the area. and folks are cleaning up after a 100-year-old tree crashed down on a house after tuesday morning's torrential rain. the 80-foot douglas fir took out a corner of a house and smashed part of a bed room and landed just a few feet from a woman who was sleeping. no one was hurt. it's been a soggy february so far. eight straight days of rain has kept bay area roads very slick and umbrellas open. even light rain is now creating ponding in areas like college avenue in oakland. sandy patel is here with where the rain is now and where it's going next. >> consider this a break. let me show you live doppler 7. rain has lifted up to the north. we do still have shower

activity, it's real light. a gentle shower between fort ross and highway 1. street level getting a little wet. we do have a flood warning for the russian river until 1:30 tomorrow morning. we are expecting the potential for problems to continue. we also have a flood warning until 8:30 tomorrow morning for mark west creek where they have already seen some flooding. and that will be a problem again. take a look at our big storm that is heading our way. this one has a lot of moisture associated with it, another level three for this week, this is the second one. and it will be a strong storm, highest impact santa cruise mountains, north bay. down opours downpours, strong winds and flooding is likely. trees and hydroplanes, power outages and river flooding is high. a moderate possibility of power outages, you're expecting in the north bay and santa cruz

mountains more than 4 inches of rain. and that means rock and mudslides are also going to be an issue. hour by hour look at when the wours part worst part of the storm will hit is coming up. work to fix a dangerous pothole in livermore is taking longer than expected. two of the four westbound lanes will remain closed until 9:00 tonight. it has caused a huge traffic mess. elissa harrington is live at the scene. and why is this taking so long? >> reporter: a couple reasons. first, caltrans officials don't just want to patch this pothole. they want to fix it. so right now, we are waiting for a concrete mixer to arrive. also workers today found some other problem areas. they're working to repair those, as well rather than wait. >> the traffic caused me to miss my plane. >> reporter: it was a rough morning for thousands of drivers like terrence carter. he was stuck for hours along interstate 580. video there sky 7 shows the backup stretched all the way to

tracy. >> i was more than stressed out. i had anxiety. you know, fear of missing my flight which it did happen. and i needed to use the restroom. >> reporter: the california highway patrol closed two of the four westbound lanes because of this, a giants pothole about # feet long. it exposed the rebar in the concrete. repairs could not wait. >> when you have exposed rebar, you just can't have vehicles traveling over that. >> reporter: caltrans crews with jackhammers, hoses and shovels worked nonstop to fix it. a spokesman says a few things caused this pothole to open up. >> you get this much rain over this long of a period, you're going to have potholes. they crop up with no notice. >> reporter: plus this is a major connector between the central valley and bay area traveled by tens of thousands of vehicles a day including lots of large heavy trucks. nobody was heard, but the chp got 15 calls for flat tires.

ray louie was one of the unlucky ones. how bad? >> it was bad. it was a big bump. luckily i didn't lose control of my car. >> reporter: in livermore, elissa harrington, abc 7 news. and breaking news receiptlao the stormy weather. marin county announced dozens of schools will be closed tomorrow because of the storms. they include kentfield, ross valley. many private and parochial schools have also canceled classes. we have a complete school closure list including private schools on our app and abc7news.com. violent end to a wild police chase down the water front in san francisco. a car with four robbery suspects crashed into a police van outside our studios at the corner of embark tecadero and g.

the four young men were quickly captured. the chase took place about 20 minutes after officers got a report of a violent purse snatching at pier 33. >> it wasn't your average purse snatch. there was a fight. victim didn't want to give the purse up so there was a fight and the victim lost. suspects grabbed the purse and away they went. >> the purse snatching victim was not hurt. neither was the officer in the police van. do you ever drive too fast? be honest. a couple of cities want to test a new way to catch you if you're a speeder. a live look from our san jose camera where drivers could soon get tickets from a camera. san francisco is also on the list of pilot cities. vic lee is live along 3rd street with the story. >> reporter: well, if you don't like red light cameras, you will hate speed cameras. san francisco could be one of those cities with speed cameras if a certain piece of legislation passes. and that is because this city has the highest number of

collisions per capita of any city in the state. this is an automated speed camera. it operates like a red light camera. you speed, the camera shoots your license plate and your fine comes in the hail. some 140 cities around the country have the cameras. state assemblyman david chu says they have made a difference. it in washington, d.c., a city with similar density as ours, 82% drop in speeding. a 70% reduction in fatalities. >> reporter: but it's not legal in california. if chu's bill passes, it will be. san francisco and san jose will be the pilot cities. >> slow down. and we need to enforce that and make it a big deal. and this will help. >> between 40 and 60 fatalities occur every year in the city of san jose. >> reporter: at today's media briefing, families of traffic accident victims spoke out support of the bill.

julian's son died when he was run over by a garbage truck. >> all hopes and dreams for his future were destroyed because of a dlash could have been prevented. >> reporter: reaction from those we spoke with was mixed. many compare them to red light cameras. >> they were giving a lot of tickets where it wasn't 100% accurate. so i'm kind of upbeat about it. >> i think that they're a horrible idea. >> stop the accidents at least. or help mitigate them. >> reporter: chu says a ticket will only cost 100 bucks, all of it going to the camera program and not to city coffers. vic lee, abc 7 news. reverend jesse jackson is in the bay area talking about hope and healing. >> while we've suffered a great loss for a moment, i'm still convinced the best is yet to come. >> he talks civil rights and lessons happening right now on capitol hill. side by side, the president plaud, intel's new $7 billion

investment. it's not just the bottles. the flew plan to prevent one of the most common forms of lirt

the gains that our country has made are not permanent and it is incumbent on the attorney general of the united states to fight for the civil rights of all people. >> as kell. >> caller: senator kamala harris condemning the civil rights record of senator jeff sessions urging her colleagues not to confirm his nomination for attorney general. however if did not work. within the past hour, the senate the officially voted to confirm the alabama senator as our country's next attorney general. the 52-47 vote was almost

entirely along party lines. west virginia senator joe manchin was the lone democrat to vote yes. reverend jesse jackson also weighed in on the controversy involving jeff sessions. he was speaking in san francisco today and eric thomas was there to hear it. >> reporter: the reverend crafe was invited to the forum as a living breathing symbol of the civil rights movement who marched alongside martin luther king. >> at the end of the day, you must be driven by hope and love, not by sip civil and despair. >> reporter: but there was another message. it involves the fight in the senate over the nomination of jeff sessions to be attorney general. senate leaders shot down elizabeth warren when she tried to read a letter written by coretta scott king 30 years ago opposing sessions' nomination to the federal bench. today mitch mcconnell defended the move. >> she was warned. she was given an explanation.

nevertheless she persisted. >> reporter: mcconnell says she violated a rule forbidding senators from criticizing each other. jackson says it was an an a b abuse of power. >> just as mcconnell tried to stop hearing the voice of coretta scott king, sessions stopped hearing the voice of her husband. >> reporter: jackson has accused sessions of trying to nullify black votes when he was in alabama. there were similar obstacles during the civil rights error, but there is a solution. >> massive nonviolence resist tense works. it's morally correct. >> reporter: one thing he said that seemed to resonate with everyone in the audience is failing to vote is tan take month for voting for the side you don't like. eric thomas, abc 7 news.take moh for voting for the side you don't like. eric thomas, abc 7 news. head of intel met with president trump to announce a $7 billion new factory.

intel ceo says intel will open an advanced chip making facility in arizona. he showed off the product at the oval office. the new plant called fab 42 is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs. >> fab 42 is an investment in intel, but also the u.s.' future in innovation and leadership in the sechl ami conductor industr. >> he's supportive of the new regulation standards aimed at making u.s. manufacturing more competitive globally. back in june, he was planning to host a fundraiser for mr. trump. the event was canceled following the report. tonight warriors star steph curry is reporting to under armour's ceo's comments about donald trump in an exclusive interview, kevin plank said president trump is an asset to the country and curry says i

break with that description if you remove the et from asset. and the ceo told him his comments were are meant from a business perspective. he distanced himself from the president's controversial policies. curry says he would consider cutting ties with under armour if the leadership is not in line with his core values. dub nation, abc 7 is your home for the warriors showdown saturday with the thunder. kevin durant returns to okc to face his former team. catch all the action and the heated moments no doubt as the dubs are on the road from the confident of your living room. coverage starts at 5:00 p.m. saturday. and then stay tuned for after the game for all analysts. >> that will be a fun night. now to consumer news. a possible refund for old

computers and a warningi inabou your furniture. if you own a la-z-boy lift chair, there is a were wanting. they are recalling 2500 lift claire power adapters that could cause a shock to. chair have a motorized seat that lifts a person from a seated position to standing. la-z-boy said some of the castings can break exposing wires and of course that would pose a risk of shock. although la-z-boy has no reports of any injuries. the power source was sold separately. you can character la-z-boy for a free replacement. if you bought a computer between 2003 and 2008, you probably have money coming to you. $10. payments are part of a class action settlement against six makers of computer disk drives. lawsuit claims the companies conspired to fix prices. so if you boughtcomputer with

disk drive, you are eligible for up to $10. it covers units sold april 2003 through the end of 2008. you don't need a receipt or serial number, but must swear under penalty of perjury you really bought the machines. i'm going to be this daly city this friday to hear your consumer questions. i'll be near the food court friday from 4:00 to 7:00 to meet you. be sure to bring your questions and you may be able to ask one live on abc 7. you can also ask those questions right now on social media. just post them with the #askfinney. we'll have a good time. a bunch of us are going out there. hope to solve a lot of problems. lucky for michael finney and everything out there on friday, just scattered showers. he'll be inside of course. here is a look at live doppler 7. we're tracking spotty light showers taking you into street

level, fort ross, a little bit of shower activity. it has been a mix of rain and snow up in the tahoe area. they have had some flooding up in the sierra because the rain is falling on stop of the snow. right now freezing level is 10,000 feet. temperatures, it's so mild outside. we've had a gentle rain. and it's been nice in terms of that. 63 san francisco, 64 san jose. sfo arrival delays of almost two hours. it is pretty gloomy out there. temperatures upper 50s to the mid-60s in places like concord, santa rosa and it is cloudy out there. we're expecting a stormy day tomorrow with scattered showers friday and a break is coming this weekend. so on our storm impact scale for tomorrow, expecting a strong system. it's a 3. highest impact will be in the north bay and santa cruz mountains, expect downpours, strong winds and flooding tefrly going to be likely as we head into tomorrow. so here is the hour by hour

forecast. tonight the breather. a few showers. really primarily in the north bay. 5:00 a.m. is when the storm really gets going. so we will see in the north bay some pockets of moderate to heavy rain develop. this continues at 7:00 a.m., sliding into san francisco and the east bay. but you'll have to wait until after 8:00, ulg he syou will se downpours at 10:00 a.m. and it keeps coming. this is a warm mosture source. so a tropical connection atmosphere rick river. and that's why you're getting drenched at 2:00 thursday afternoon. 5:00 p.m., the rain will shift into the south bay primarily an. coastal flood warning thursday 7:00 a.m. until noon. low lying areas will likely see flooding with the high tide.

so we're expecting toing a flash flood watch late tonight through friday morning. you can see the areas shaded in green. rock and mudslides are possible. rapid rises on streams and creeks. debris flows. we've already seen the mud slide. wind advisory. we'll be seeing gusty winds and they will have the potential to take down trees and power lines. secure any loose objects if you do have them around your house. 2 to 4 inches expected in the north bay and santa cruz mountains for thursday. this is just one storm. you will notice the rain shadow of the santa cruz mountains, south bay half an inch to three quarters. in the mountains, a rain/snow mix that will clachange over tow above 6,000 feet. sierra under a winter storm w h warning until saturday morning. 18 to 24 inches above 6,000. gusty winds mean chain controls, low advise at, traffic nightmare

there. temperatures in the morning, balmy 50s. rain begins in the north bay and really continues through the rest of the bay area in the afternoon. temperatures will be in the 60s and here is a look at the being a accuweather 7 day forecast. a 3, strong storm for tomorrow. expect a lot of problems tomorrow. friday scattered showers level one. time to dry out this weekend. it is going to be dry and sun any. we'll need that and then next week, we do see a chance of some rain returning wednesday night into thursday. you can always download the abc 7 news app to track these storms, get the push alerts. really critical tomorrow as this is a storm that you should not take lightly. the ground is sosaturated, so a lot of problems on the roadways. as powerful as it is tiny, the chip that could not only heal you, but could help drive your car. and then at 6:00 -- >> didn't come down in front of

me, it came straight sideways. >> wiped out by a mountain of mud. abc 7 news photographer relives his encounter with a slide that destroyed his news van.

an assemblyman wants to change the way plastic water and soda bottles are made. mark stone has introduced a bill that would require to have the lids tethered to the bottle. he says it would make cleanup much easier. lids have in of the most common items picked up during cleanup days. mark zuckerberg's initiative to cure disease says it is committing 50 m$50 million to ds of local researchers for their work at the nonprofit bio hub. the funding will allow the team to use technologies to treat and cure infectious disease.

zuckerberg and his wife have committed $3 billion over the next decade to bio hub. university of california researchers have created a powerful pint size chip. doesn't look like much, but scientists say it represents a new kind of physics. they say it could be used to increase the power of a handheld body scanner similar to an ultrasound. researchers say the chip could also power the next generation of wireless including self driving vehicles so they can detect each other. a lot of potential. and talk about being in hot water. >> the man seen shockingly close to the lava on the big i

coming up at 6:00, get ready. we are about to get nailed again. tonight the emergency measures already in place to keep local residents safe. also, the anatomy of a pothole. you'll see how they're created and plus your chances of getting

reimbursed if your car is damaged by one. and skyrocketing p fwchg an bills. michael finney digs into what is going on. all that and much more coming up in just a half an hour. finally tonight, daredevil or dummy? you be the judge. >> this is the video of a photographer getting just a little too close to the action. he braved choppy conditions to snap pictures of a lava flow on hawaii's big island. >> experts of course say this is a bad idea. not only is the lava more than 2,000 degrees, but the steam contains hydro coloric asicid a shards of glass. definitely in the do not try this at home. for all of us, we appreciate

your time and we'll see you again at 6:00. tonight, as we come on the air, what could be the biggest storm of the winter. the midwest and then the east coast bracing for a treacherous commute tomorrow morning. in some places blizzard warnings already in effect. thousands of flights canceled coast to coast. the ripple effect being felt already. also just in tonight. president trump's pick for the supreme court. when asked about what the president has said about judges, his nominee, neil gorsuch, reportedly saying those words are quote, demoralizing and disheartening. our team with new reporting. taking on nordstrom. president trump takes direct aim at the department store after learning they are dropping his daughter, ivanka's, brand. tweeting from the official presidential account. stocks taking a hit in the moments after. inside the devastating tornado outbreak tonight. families who rebuilt after katrina and their new heartache.