that big green monster is what is coming for you, bay area. starting in the north, it's going to affect all of us today. we are on storm watch this morning. this is a 3 on our abc7 news storm impact scale, and mike, as we all recall, the 3 has been the number of the week because that's what we had earlier this week and it affected so many of us. >> and so many of us remember that. that damage we had that day,

possibly a repeat today. hi, everybody. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but let's jump right in. the good news with this one is the timing's a little bit slower than the last one so right now, we're just looking at green up in santa rosa. you can see guerneville road and petaluma hill road, some wetness developing there and it's up in the north bay where we're seeing the yellows but notice the yellows are offshore heading towards the north bay. i had a fairly dry commute but you can see here on the golden gate bridge, some areas are still wet. by 7:00, the north bay starting to get pounded. by noon, we're all getting pound. but 4:00, the north bay's not getting pounded while the rest of us are. and by 7:00, it finally starts to taper for all of us. alexis, how's it going. we only have eight incidents on the boards. as you probably know, we got up to almost 150 on tuesday when we had the big storm so i'm expecting that to really increase throughout the day. no issues there and a quick check of dive drive times.

southbound 680 through walnut creek, green, and much better day out of the skreenlt, tracy to dublin only at 32 minutes right now. lingering weather issues coming up in a minute. you remember these images, right? sky7 over the nightmare last month. these are the people who live around the russian river, the rising water there threatening as many as 800 homes. >> and now guess what's going to happen. the river expected to crest again with this storm. amy hollyfield live for us in the north bay this morning. >> reporter: hi, reggie. we wanted to come up here and check on the russian river, keeping an eye on it because it is full. it's worth watching with another storm on the way. it is expected to reach flood stage again tomorrow morning and create some minor flooding. here's what it looked like earlier this week when the rains hit. some people did have to be helped out of their homes by firefighters when the water got up too high, it did go up above the flood stage again. this storm that we're having today is also expected to cause

some issues, but it's not going to be as bad as what we saw last month. just to give you something to compare it to. but some people up here are saying while they do appreciate the rain, they are getting a little tired of all of this, and they'd like to see the river go down and stay down. reporting live in forestville, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. it's going. >> incredible video but so devastating to this family and the neighborhood, a mudslide in san rafael. >> certainly causing a lot of anxiety for the people who live right next door as more powerful storms move in today. abc7 news reporter wayne freedman has the story. >> reporter: juan alvarez, a man patiently trying to resolve a cascading landslide of problems. this is the man who owns the house next door to the house that made national news for all the wrong reasons.

a mudslide on mountain view avenue in san rafael that destroyed the one home in the middle and put red tags on those of his neighbors, compounding juan's problems, this house also served as his wife's place of business. she ran a day care center here. >> we had a lot of problems because insurance doesn't pay for the damage. >> reporter: the house has been a morbid neighborhood attraction since the landslide took it yesterday. >> it just happens. i mean, you can't do anything about it. >> reporter: like today, darious abolassani looked around. he's an expert on soil engineering. what happened yesterday, he says, a matter of ground so saturated on such a steep slope that it just began sliding. often the critical moment arrives with no symptoms. >> if the slope is a soil slope and it sort of gradually moves, you would be able to see some settlement, some cracks in the pavement and flat work around the house so that is when you would be able to see that there is a problem. >> reporter: for juan and his family, tonight the most immediate problem will be finding a place to sleep until

they move back, if they move back. where will you sleep tonight? >> hotel. i rent hotel. >> reporter: and tomorrow? >> tomorrow, i didn't know. >> reporter: that from the owners of the home next to the house that made all the headlines. in san rafael, wayne freedman, abc7 news. a go fund me page is set up to help the families whose home was destroyed. you can seest up to $36,000 in just 12 hours. we do have a link if you would like to contribute at abc7news.com. a los gatos family found themselves caught in a giant landslide that overtook their home, their phone service was cut so they got creative and turned to social media to call for help. >> some of the cars are getting washed away. if someone can call caltras or whoever and send them up to our house. >> perhaps the best use of facebook live we have ever seen by jennifer ray. you could hear how concerned she was. she and her family are okay. now, they were worried about her

pregnant sister who lives next door. their home and all of their cars were trapped by thick mud. friends saw this post, they called for help, but much of what they owned was wiped out. >> our house, a shed, an entire play area with player structures and stuff for children. a truck, two cars, a camper. >> jennifer says facebook live ended up being a lifesaver and she and her family are now staying with relatives. i want to remind you that you can keep track of today's storm, that, can be right here on your ipad or on your phones, get the forecast where you live with our abc7 news app. you can follow along live on doppler 7 any time. also enable push alerts so we can san diego you information as we get it into our news room. snow is the issues on the east coast this morning. this is a live look at central park in new york city. whiteout, conditions clearly a mess out there. >> 16 states on alert right now. a similar situation in d.c. as

you can see. snow already on the ground and a lot more on the way. take you live now to maryland just south of baltimore, 50 million americans are bracing for what's expected to be the harshest blizzard of the season and some poor photographer out there doing his job. this is causing travel delays across the country. >> jessica tracking conditions at the live desk. >> another live look at new york just to give you an idea of how bad things are. there are at least 1,000 flight cancellations in the state of new york alone so you can bet it is having a trickle-down effect. in fact, i want to show you the misery map here from flight aware where you can see new york city, the biggest problem and i have been tracking delays for you at san francisco international airport, sfo not doing very well this morning, that mix of our bad weather here that we expect all that rain and the east coast making it for a bad situation, a lot of flights are said to be late right now. arrivals doing better, both oakland and san jose also doing

better. still necessary, though, if you are traveling out east today, you do want to check your flight status before heading out to the airport. well, this morning, we are still awaiting a decision from the ninth circuit court of appeals in san francisco regarding president donald trump's travel ban. over the weekend, the president called the judge who issued a temporary halt to the ban a so-called judge. yesterday, mr. trump's supreme court nominee had something to say about that. in a conversation with the democratic senator, neil gorsuch called the president's words demoralizing and disheartening. some immigrant tech workers here in the bay area are reportedly pulling out of buying local real estate over concerns at the trump administration. the white house says it's considering changing the h1b visa program and may require companies to try to hire americans first. according to business insider, a couple from india decided not to go through with a recent bay area home sale. they were planning to go back to their home country for a few weeks but didn't want to risk buying a house if they wouldn't

be allowed back in the country. day two for education secretary betsy devos. yesterday, she addressed hundreds of staffers. she voud to work with everyone to ensure the best education in our nation's schools. she was con firmted by the senate on tuesday when vice president mike pence cast a historic tie-breaking let's talk about some temperatures real quick. i want to show you what's going on today. and if i can get the set-up here, mild breezes, petaluma at 58. as we head through tomorrow, we'll get on the backside of that cold front. few low 60s out there but then the sun comes out saturday. upper 50s to some mid 60s starting to roll through our neighborhoods. now, what to expect today, let me show you marin county. there you go, the latest update because i know we're worried about san anselmo and the creeks there, san rafael, san quentin,

mill valley, larkspur, all with light rain right now. bigger picture shows there is some heavier rain lurking offshore but it's going to take it about another hour to an hour and 15 minutes to get here as it rolls through so expect an uptick if you're going to be out on the roads around 6:30 in marin county. let me show you your activity planner for today. first we'll look at a dry san mateo bridge as we look to the west. out and about, good luck with the umbrella, because the rain will be coming downsideways. commuting, it will be heaviest at lunch. the rain will be the poorest time to be out and on the water tie, it's going to be windy, choppy and wet. speaking of the commute this morning, sounds like we're starting off okay. we are and in fact, i just got an updated message from san francisco bay ferry so i'll talk more about that in ten minutes. right now, i want to look at our traffic maps. yesterday was a terrible morning, westbound 580 getting out of the central valley, that pothole repair wrapped up around

10:45 last night. they decided to make further repairs while they were at it so all lanes are open and that commute much better today. state route 17, no change there. that mudslide still blocking the northbound side, so we have all traffic sharing the southbound side and that is one lane in each direction. looks like just slight delays this morning. westbound 37 still closed through novato. eastbound 37, we have one lane open, that is between 101 and atherton. next traffic update coming up. there is a search going on right now for kidnappers who went into a local councilman's home and took his teenage daughter. plus --. 28 years we've been fighting, trying to get this done. and he's free. >> emotional release of a man >> emotional release of a man who spent decades behind bars

did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road.

healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. we'rebut maybe we've had it wrong all along. maybe our most extraordinary moments happen when we feel small. princess cruises, come back new. gus is a handful. we don't know what this thing is, but someday, gus will because this is the thing that gus will build that will change the world. and this is the thing that could change gus' world. gus doesn't know what this thing is, but we know what this thing is. this is the thing we'll help gus get rid of.

and without this thing, gus can grow up to build this thing, whatever that thing is, because that's what we do. we do health things, and we do those things for northern california, birthplace of pioneers. today's storm is level 3. that means a strong storm. look out for flooding, hazards on the road, and possible power outages. stay ahead of today's storm with the abc7 news app. download it now. 5:14 now. a detroit, michigan, man who spent 28 years behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit is now out of prison. 58-year-old bernard young was released on bond yesterday. in 1989, he was convicted of sexually abusing two young boys

but young's attorney found documents saying the boys told police it was the mother's boyfriend who abused them. young has always said he drnt do it. >> i got a good team behind me. i just had to keep the faith, just like they kept the faith in me. i kept the faith in them. i knew this day was coming. >> that's right. >> because i'm actually innocent. >> young is out on $5,000 bond while he awaits a new trial in june. california lawmakers are introducing a bill that would increase the statute of limitations for sexual assault victims. victims currently have three years to take civil action. the assembly bill would extend that to ten years. lawmakers say many sexual assault victims take time to report assault crimes and the measure would provide them with more time to come forward. the bill also seeks to fund all million exams for sexual assault victims as long as they don't exceed $1,000. right now, exams are only covered if the victim chooses to press charges. in today's gma first look,

daredevil nick is vowing the show will go on after an accident during his rehearsal sent five circus performers plunging more than 20 feet. >> we have the details. >> reporter: in this morning's gma first look, circus disaster. five high wire performers in sarasota, florida, losing their balance during practice, plummeting 25 feet to the ground below. >> we have a total of five rescues. >> reporter: legendry daredevil nick walenda, one of the performers on that wire. though he didn't fall and says he is not injured. but his sister was hurt. two others are in critical condition and one is suffering a traumatic brain injury. >> extremely lucky given the height of the fall that they survived. >> reporter: the group was rehearsing a complex never before performed eight-person pyramid that would have set a world record. similar to this one with seven performers. circus officials say the wire rigging was fine. they simply lost their balance. and we'll have the latest on this accident coming up at

7:00 a.m. with your gma first look, abc news new york. the daughter of a milpitas councilman is safe this morning after escaping from her kidnappers. according to the san jose mercury news, councilman garry had to abruptly leave the meaning after learning his 13-year-old had been kidnapped. he says the men forcibly pulled her from the house and made her walk toward town home plaza. she managed to escape and called home. police eventually found her near south park victoria drive. the entire ordeal lasted about an hour. the girl's father says she did not know the kidnappers and they are oont loose it have that is so scary. medical research just named its first individual grant recipients. faculty at uc best of your recollectionly, stafrds, and uccf are among the 40 researchers receiving $1.5 million each.

this grant money is unlike other grants in that researchers are free to pursue a topic of their choice and they can even change their mind. the foundation doesn't focus on a particular disease. researchers pursue individual projects that help the program reach its goal of curing, preventing or managing diseases. whether the roads are wet or icy, this video, a good reminder icy, this video, a good reminder to take it >> oh [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> i'd probably be cursing up a storm too if i saw this. pretty scary stuff as this car spins out of control hitting three other vehicles and nearly hitting two men who were walking up that hill. the car eventually stopped it slammed into that third car and fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. you can see how that happens because it's a situation of black ice. >> wow. thank goodness those two men were not hurt. >> we're worried about this next

storm. >> with with good reason too. hi, everybody. let me show you something that will calm your nerves a little bit. down in the south bay where your commute through the santa cruz mountains, look at live doppler 7. it is quiet right now. enjoy while it lasts. up across the north bay, you can see the encroachment of light and dark greens, that means some light rain starting to make it down to the ground. one of our heavier areas of rain on one of our bridges is the richmond-san rafael bridge. it looks damp but it's not raining rights now. accuweather highlights. damaging winds and flooding rain. scattered showers tomorrow, dry and mild highs through wednesday. i changed the seven day forecast. i'll show you that in a second. here we are at 6:00, scattered showers developing out ahead of the steady rain up in fact north bay which will become moderate to heavy from 7:00 to 9:00. 9:00, it moves into the heart of the bay. by noon clok -- noon it's not south bay. but as we head toward 4:00, the

heavy rain is out of the noish and into the south bay and then by the time we get to the evening hours, all the heavy rain is over. so, for the morning, you can see just a little bit of light rain across the north bay through the morning commute and then during lunch, 2/3 inch to 1 inch of rain for most of us. accuweather 7 day forecast, scattered showers tomorrow, little breezy but no wind damage, 1 on the storm impact scale. look at all that sunshine and low to mid 60s through wednesday now. we are going to be ready for that, and taking a look at the bay bridge toll plaza this morning, it still looks okay, we should have those metering lights flipped on in the next ten minutes or so. and boy, if you're heading out this early, if you're just finishing up that coffee and about to head out the door, you are smart. this is where we're really quiet this morning. of course, conditions will change, but just taking a look at the overall picture here on our traffic maps, i do have live doppler 7 added on top. you can see the rain pushing into the north bay and really is going to cause some tough driving conditions later on. we have mostly green traveling

conditions and really, we are incident free at this point in the morning. also looking really good for mass transit and we did get that service advisory update from san francisco bay ferry. for now, all trips will operate as scheduled. they will continue to monitor the storm and issue service updates as needed. we'll take a look at the south bay coming up. waze completed the expansion of its car pool program across all nine bay area counties. they are working with kaiser peermt to encourage employees to car pool to work. waze car pool launched last year. i was matches drivers who live and work near each other and charges riders a fraction of the cost of a typical ride share. drivers are limited to two trips per day. happening today, b.a.r.t. plans to discuss information in its quarterly report that might surprise many passengers. >> for instance, equipment reliability standards were met in october, november, and december, and complaints

decreased. the report shows that ridership and reliability declined. two of the busiest days of the year were in 2013. in october 6, the dream force crowd and 49 efrz and arizona fans pushed that number past 465,000. next, the seven things you need to know as you start your day. also the video that you're going to fall in love with. some animals getting an early taste of valentine's day. wait until you see a hot gift that humans are giving. that humans are giving. oak's

if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis like me, and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a medication... ...this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain... ...and protect my joints from further damage. humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. humira works by targeting and helping to... ...block a specific source... ...of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain and... ...stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections,

including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas... ...where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. talk to your doctor and visit humira.com this is humira at work. it is 5:24. whether you're just joining us or heading out the door, here's seven things you need to know before you go. today is the day. number one is number 3 on our storm impact scale. and that is the strong storm that's coming in today. look at this. high to very high amounts of all the damaging things you could have from a storm in the north bay and santa cruz mountains.

moderate to very high for the rest of us. . number two, today's storm has people along the russian river in sonoma county once bracing for flooding. right now, the river is at 31.9 feet. flood stage is 32 feet. number three, a live look from san anselmo this morning where people are stacking up their sandbags outside of businesses and homes right now. you can see that doorway. they're preparing for possible flooding today after tuesday's rain already pushed its a nearby creek well above flood stage. number four, we are anticipating a really busy day once that storm starts to move in. for now, though, we're enjoying a really quiet start. here's a look at the south bay. 101 and 880, no incidents that are blocking right now. number five from the live desk, today's storm has state engineers keeping a very close eye on this reservoir just north of sacramento. a gaping hole in the spillway at lake oroville was even bigger in testing yesterday than it was earlier this week. it's forced them to use a backup

instead. number six, new documents released in oakland reveal police and fire officials adviced the ghost ship warehouse dozens of times in the months and years before december's fire that killed 36 people. if you're not a fan of red light cameras then you're going to hate these. speed cameras could be coming to san francisco and san jose if city leaders can convince the state to give the program the green light. the detroit zoo celebrating heart fest, it resolves around valentine's day and as you can see, the zoo animals are enjoying special treats, including this polar bear. >> take a closer look. that is a heart-shaped ice treat. zoo officials say it's filled with fish and veggies. the penguins, the camels,the wolves, also feeling all of the love right now. very cute. visitors say it is fun to see how each animal reacts. he's trying to get behind the rock, hoard that. some play with it. others just tear it apart. zoo officials say the snacks help the animals keep their

instincts sharp. let's go to the human world now. how about this? cheese curds. they're calling these sweetheart cheese curds and they are apparently a hot ticket this time of year and you're saying, what? where is that hot ticket? in wisconsin, of course. have you ever had a cheese curd? >> i've never. >> they squeak when you eat them. i lived in wisconsin for years ad it tastes like salt. >> sounds great. we'll be back with another full 90 minutes of news, including being in the right place at the right time. two good samaritans saved a driver who was trapped in that upside down car. here at the live desk, i've just seen some been out of cleveland, ohio, an explosion there. i'm gathering details. i'll have much more next. and the bay area mayor who and the bay area mayor who

[ alarm weather.eping ] ♪ [ laughter ] cartoons. wait for it. [ cat screech ] [ laughter ] ♪ [ screaming ] [ laughter ] make everyday awesome with the power of xfinity x1... hi grandma! and the fastest internet. [ girl screaming ] [ laughter ] the triple bacon buttery jack, with hickory-smoked bacon, bacon mayo, and my super secret ingredient...bacon butter! it's amazing. let's email the team. email? don't worry, we're not going to get hacked. we've been hacked! what! they got everything! everything!! everything. who could have done this!?! ...professionals. whoa. bacon butter. what!?! ooh, i haven't had lunch. ouch!

the word is out. get my new triple bacon buttery jack before it's gone.

here comes the storm. live doppler 7 showing you that green blob, it's moving into the bay area and that's going to translate to a whole lot of rain. good morning on this thursday, february 9. i'm natasha zouves. do not be deceived for it is coming. i know you're not seeing problems yet, alexis, but just know. >> early quiet. >> this is the calm before the big blob. >> it is. when we stepped outside this morning, did you feel how tropical it felt? it's not supposed to be this warm. we are warmer than our average highs right now because of all the moisture in the air. the leading edge from about pacifica through colma, south san francisco, all the way up to about emeryville, so some light rain there up into the north bay. moderate rain developing offshore but as we go through the 12 hour day planner, you will see that yeah, the heavy rain still in the north bay at 7:00, for all of us at noon, and it will pull out of the north

bay but be around for all the rest of us at 4:00 and then it's over by 7:00. but when it comes through, wind damage and flood damage, i'll give you an update on time frames coming up next. let's find out about that easy commute so far this morning. we are doing great so far. here's a live look at the golden gate bridge. we are seeing some areas starting to see a little bit of that light rain pushing in. so, little sheen on the pavement here across golden gate but no major issues, not in vehicles out there. westbound 580, tracy to dublin, boy, what a change 24 hours makes. we've got all lanes back open, just 36 minutes for you. southbound 680, wide open out of dublin and northbound 85 between 101 and cupertino, that is 15 minutes. we'll talk about mass transit coming up. we are especially concerned about our north bay communities. they were hit hard on tuesday, and it looks like they're going to be in the bulls eye again today. they barely had time to breathe and they're already going to get hit again. matt keller is live with the preparations in place out of today's big storm in san anselmo. >> reporter: good morning,

natasha and reggie. must have just cued the rain because it started to rain and here we are above the san anselmo creek. and things looking good right now. but this water is only going to get higher today. this is what happened on tuesday, and it could very well happen again today. alarms sounded in san anselmo and ross valley signaling imminent flooding. san anselmo creek went well above flood stage. water lapped up against the businesses while building has their sandbags out. emergency crews say if you don't have to be out today, stay home. >> fire personnel and additional water rescue teem and urban search and rescue teams to be on standby if we have mudslides or water rescues so we can keep our 911 system active and available. >> reporter: in the marin county community of kent field, they were in kayaks and row boats. local firefighters needed help evacuating about 100 residents.

everybody was okay on tuesday but today the ground is already saturated. the waterways are full and a lot of rain is coming. be prepared out there. reporting live in san anselmo, matt keller. people living in fact north bay along the russian river are waiting to see what impact the storm will have. >> you may remember this nightmare last month when rising water threatened as many as 800 homes. amy hollyfield live in guerneville with what they're preparing for. >> reporter: we just got here and look behind me. the russian river is high. spilling into this parking lot here, not as high as when we were here last month. that fence was partially covered by water. so, a little lower, but still worth watching with all the rain that's on the way. here's a look at what residents here in guerneville dealt with earlier this week after tuesday's rain. this is becoming a lather, rinse, repeat situation up here in sonoma county. the rain comes, and the river is

spilling over its banks. right now, it's at 31.9 feet. 32 feet is flood stage and it is expected to hit that tomorrow morning after the rains move in. residents here will tell you they know how to deal with this. this is river living. they're expect it. but some say they're also getting a bit tired of it. they're hoping that the rains will let up soon and give them a break. we will be here to keep an eye on the situation as the rain moves in. live in guerneville, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. we are crossing our fingers. this morning, a van is still stuck in the same position a sinkhole on a rural road in santa cruz county. skyland road suddenly collapsed late tuesday night. this blue van ended up inside that gaping hole, wedged at both ends. the driver wasn't hurt. and with another storm on the way today, people who live in this area are concerned about getting around. >> it's going to be a while before we get to use this road to go to town. so, hopefully the other only road out of here stays open.

>> they're not going to be able to remove that van until they stabilize the area around identity. highway 17 will not rehope through scotts valley until monday at the very earliest. crews are working to clear a giant mudslide. there is one lane open in each direction. you're looking at the video of crews who worked through the night clearing mud and debris from the northbound lanes. tuesday's slide hit in the exact same place where one of our morning photographers was hit by a landslide last month. he is still recovering from that accident and now he's talking about it. coming up, the video he took from inside in the first hometowns after the crash and his warning for other drivers. we have good news for you driving west along the altamont pass in livermore this morning. hopefully this is noing gob much, much smoother for you, especially compared to yesterday when this happened. sky7 above the nightmarish backup on 580 as crews had to fix a massive pothole near

greenville road. it took them more than 20 hours to get it done. westbound lanes finally reopened around 10:30 last night. and the chp reopened westbound interstate 80 near the nevada state line about two hours ago. the chp posted these photos on facebook late last night. after a mudslide trapped several cars. no one got hurt there and tow trucks were able to clear those cars overnight. imagine being the driver inside of this white car. fortunately, two good samaritans are being credited now with saving his life after he crashed into a livermore creek. all this happened tuesday afternoon along highland road near collier canyon road. dan rich lives nearby and ran over when he heard the sound of the crash. another man who was also nearby jumped into the creek while rich grabbed a pick axe to break the windows. >> i said, we need to rupture this window is get inside because i could hear him, he was running out of time. >> he says he could hear him banging on the window from inside. the men pulled the driver out to

safety. chp says he crashed because he was just going too fast for wet road conditions. and i want to show you breaking news that we are tracking out of cleveland, ohio. an 18-year-old autistic man and his mother are dead after an explosion at an apartment complex there. these are images that we're getting from our colleagues on the scene. another parent is said to be in critical condition. the mother we learned died just within the last five minutes or so. a cause is under investigation right now. the pictures, though, are simply devastating. a lot of destruction there, so i'm working on getting any additional details. this is starting to make national news and we'll keep an eye on the situation there. terrible. thank you, jessica. happening today, president trump will be on hand when jeff sessions is sworn in as attorney general. the senate confirmed him yesterday but a 52-47 vote. the alabama senator survived a strong push by democrats to derail his nomination. they're questioning his position on voting rights, immigration, and women's health.

he actually attempted senate confirmation once before and failed in 1986 after he was accused of racial insensitivity. after this vote, sessions urged senators to, quote, get along better. the mayor of berkeley now has police protection because he is getting death threats. jesse arreguin started getting threats after calling milo yiannopoulos a white nationalist. he later apologized but still called him alt-rightist. yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at uc berkeley last week until violent protests shut it down. mayor arreguin said the threats will not stop him from standing up for what's right. new oakland police chief anne kirkpatrick will get the highest pay of any chief in the city's history. the city council has signed off on a compensation package and benefits that will total almost $300,000. some city council members say they were hesitant to sign off on the 2.5 year deal but they didn't want to send the wrong message to kirkpatrick after the contract had already been

extended to her. kirkpatrick will be the first woman to ever lead the department when she takes over on february 27. if you live in marin county, let me talk to you just for a second. the san anselmo and corta creeks are likely to flood today. let's all of us join in here and you can see the heavier rains starting to develop as the storm track pushes all the way down to the south. in fact, there's a lot of tropical moisture in this storm and a lot of wind also. let's start with your wind advisory. all right up in the north bay it's already here until 4:00 so damaging winds possible and any time for the east bay hills at bible range and the santa cruz mountains, the best window for damaging wind or the damaging -- yeah, well the best time frame, 7:00 this morning until 4:00 this evening. all right, let's take a look at what's going on as far as flooding. flash flood watch means be prepared. a warning means take action immediately. we're under that flash flood watch until 10:00 in the north bay and until 7:00 tomorrow

morning for the santa cruz mountains. all right, coastal flood warning, 7:00 this morning to noon. just stay away from the beaches, watch them from a distance. temperatures today will be in the low to mid 60s. yeah. it is that warm outside. and lows tonight will be in the 50s. in the storm impact scale, you've heard this, it's a 3, it's strong. it meebz downpours, flooding likely. good morning, mike. and things are starting to slowly fill in we still don't have any major issues on the road. we're enjoying this while it lasts because we know things will change. here's a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. metering lights on. that is one of our slowest spots by now and a live look at our traffic maps with live doppler 7 on top as well. want to take you up to the north bay. flood-prone state route 37 is under water mostly. they were able to get one eastbound lane open between 101 and atherton. the westbound side is fully closed and it looks like we've got a little bit of a backup starting to form there

approaching atherton so we do have chp on the scene providing traffic control once again today. mass transit looking great so far, ace rail on time, b.a.r.t.'s on time, no issues with muni and san francisco bay ferry is saying all routes are operating as scheduled today. they will continue to monitor the storm and issue any service updates as needed. but right now, your trip should happen. we'll check on drive times coming up. calling all drivers who speed, you may want to take your foot off the gas if one local lawmaker gets his way. lawmaker gets his way.

always wins. especially in my business. with slow internet from the phone company, you can't keep up. you're stuck, watching spinning wheels and progress bars until someone else scoops your story.

switch to comcast business. with high-speed internet up to 10 gigabits per second. you wouldn't pick a slow race car. then why settle for slow internet? comcast business. built for speed. built for business.

today's storm is level 3. that means a strong storm. look out for flooding, hazards on the road, and possible power outages. stay ahead of today's storm with the abc7 news app. download it now. yes, we've had lots of rain and snow, but you're going to have to live with emergency drought rules for a while longer. the state water resources control board has voted to keep the regulations in place. a coalition of state and local leaders wanted the board to lift restrictions after the wettest winter in years, but water officials are concerned about what will happen if the rain and snow start easing up. governor brown declared a drought emergency in 2014 and ordered californians to cut water use by 25%. it's been 39 days since the 49ers started their search for a new general manager and head

coach and if you look there, you see they've got them. today, new gm john lynch and new coach mike shanahan will be formally introduced together. the two toured the locker room yesterday. this is shanahan's first head coaching job. he was most recently the offensive coordinator of the atlanta falcons and it's lynch's first front office job. he's a former nfl player and broadcaster who starred at stanford. we will be streaming today's news conference live at 1:00 p.m. on the abc7 news app and abc7news.com. well, warriors star steph curry is responding now to comments ant president trump by the ceo of under armour. in an interview, he said that president trump is an asset to the country. well, curry told the bay area news group, quote, i agree with that description if you remove the e.t. from asset. he said his comments were meant cl exclusively from a business

perspective. curry said he has considering cutting ties with under armour. steph curry and the warriors will take on the oklahoma city thunder on saturday and of course abc7 is your home for that showdown. our kanch starts at 5:00 p.m. on saturday and that's followed after the game with larry beil, and mile shumann. police in three east bay cities working together now to figure out who's behind a rash of car break ins. there were nearly two dozen smash and grabs in danville, black hawk, and san ramon in one night. police say in most cases the thieves sorted out what they wanted to keep and then dumped the rest at a different location. investigators are working on a few leads, and they are reviewing video from security cameras. people we talked to are now thinking twice about what they leave behind in their cars. >> just leave it wherever. yeah, i feel like it. so -- >> reporter: do you feel like you need to change your habits?

>> based on what i heard today, i think i should. >> police say thieves have made off with electronics, sports equipment, and other items people are leaving in plain view. speed demons, you already see them at some intersections to catch red light runners. now cameras might be used to signal speeders. right now, state laws let cities use cameras for red light enforcement but there is a bill that would okay a five. >> year pilot program in san francisco and san jose to use cameras to catch speeders. >> the goal here is to ensure safety and to get people to drive more slowly. not to collect ticket revenues. >> money from speeding tickets would go back into the camera program. 140 cities outside california are use automated cameras to catch speed ez. part of highway 17 in the santa cruz mountains is still closed this morning because of a hud there. >> and that is in the exact same spot where a slide injured an abc7 photographer

>> my air bag went off. the whole mountain came down on top of me. >> this is the voice of ian babcock. all of a sudden, trees and giant rocks began to fall. >> the whole mountain just exploded in front of me. like this. it just -- it didn't come down in front of me. it same straight sideways. right across the windshield and i had about one second to react. >> because power lines fell on top of the news van, he waited until firefighters were there to pry open 2 door. babcock was checked out at a hospital and released and and he has been recovering at home. >> ian is the nicest guy and he works with us here and i'm so relieved after seeing that, that he got out all right. let's talk about the weather today. hopefully we won't see any horrible situations like what happened to ian. >> i hope not too because we will have mud and rock slides. let's just hope they don't hit

anybody. wanted to show you the winds are here. you can see it bouncing around. now we're just waiting for the rain and it will be moderate to heavy rain. today, scattered showers and breezy tomorrow, much lighter storm and the extended period, oh, it has dry weather for at least four to five days. here's live doppler 7. and you can see a lot of green across the north bay and down to about pacifica, yellows lurking off the coast, so as we head towards the 6:30 time frame, we'll start to see some of that moderate rain climb ashore and it is the north bay that's going to be most affected through about 7:00 to 9:00. southbound, you don't have to worry about the wet weather hardly at all. here's a look at the flume of moisture that's 200% juicier than average and once it slams into this cold front, that's when the heaviest of the rain is going to start falling and you can see at 6:00, some of that moving into ft. ross. not quite to santa rosa yet but 9:00 to 10:00, the whole entire north bay, yellow, orange, red, moderate to heavy rain and by

noon it's still in the heart of the bay in the north bay and as we head into the afternoon hours, it comes out of the north bay but it's still in the heart of the bay in the south bay and then as we wind down the evening commute, the rain is tapering. here's a look at my accuweather 7 day forecast. tomorrow's storm is 1. light, a little bit cooler as the breezes will be coming in from the north but definitely dryer. and then low to mid 60s with sunshine and then increasing clouds next week. alexis. yeah, not going to be an easy commute later today. right now, it's looking pretty good. here's a live look at golden gate bridge. very light and we do have wet pavement. just checked the san rafael camera, doesn't want to cooperate to let me show it to you but it is looking pretty soggy. we've got a lot of drops on the lens. live doppler 7 on top of our traffic maps so it is on the way but the majority of the bay area is still pretty dry. wanted to check in on highway 17 as reggie and natasha just mentioned. northbound side still closed. so that remains a sig alert. we have traffic sharing the southbound side so one lane open

in each direction. about a two-mile backup, maybe 2.5 at this point. 7 miles per hour, 12 miles an hour approaching so that's a pretty hefty delay there. and a quick check of drive times. westbound 80, highway 4 not to the maze, 20 minutes, southbound 101, san francisco to sfo is in the green at 10 minutes. president donald trump active on twitter right now, and he has been attacking senator john mccain. the president saying the arizona senator shouldn't be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media and saying, quote, that he's been losing so long he doesn't know how to win anymore. he is referring to mccain's strong words about comments by white house press secretary sean spicer yesterday. mccain had said that folks who say the yemen raid was not successful are doing a disservice to a knave s.e.a.l. who lost his life. latest war of words on twitter this morning. new at 6:00, muni's new

trains are on the way. the route that will be first to make the switch. next, how much would you pay for the iphone that's about to come out? if you answered a lot more than ever before, you might not be too far off. plus your old my name is danita seaton. i'm a gas service representative for pg&e here in oakland. when i work in oakland, i feel like i'm home, because i grew up here in oakland, my family still lives here. every time i go to the customer's house, i treat them like they're my family. if they smell gas, or they don't have hot water, i'm there to ensure that by the time that i leave, they feel safe and they can go back to their day to day life. to learn more about gas safety in your home, visit pge.com/safety together, we're building a better california. afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine.

the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. - gr"wow" means you savehome of "wo50% or more. there are three stages of wow: denial... - is this price right? - acceptance... and "boooyah." wait for it... "boooyah" has three os. ♪ grocery outlet bargain market ♪ right now, get ball park jerky in assorted flavors for just $2.99. [ alarm weather.eping ] ♪ [ laughter ] cartoons. wait for it. [ cat screech ] [ laughter ]

♪ [ screaming ] [ laughter ] make everyday awesome with the power of xfinity x1... hi grandma! and the fastest internet. [ girl screaming ] [ laughter ] welcome back. how does this sound to you? titus andromedon, stranger things breakfast waffles. perhaps tasty-approved prison uniforms. >> netflix is looking to get into the licensed merchandise business. the company posted a job looking for someone who will create fan

swag. the idea is not new, of course. our parent company disney has been doing this game for decades. if you are itching to upgrade when apple releases the new iphone 8, better start saving now. the next iphone will have some radical new features and it will run more than $1,000. >> say what? >> yeah. $1,000 just for the base model. iphone 8 is reported to have a two-lens 3d camera, an edge to edge screen, and also have facial recognition technology. >> they better cook me dinner. >> that's exactly what i was thinking. >> $1,000? >> that is great, reggie. all right. hi, everybody. here's a look at the exploratorium. you see sprinkles are starting to develop in san francisco. activity planner, sideways rain if you're out and about, heaviest at lunch if you're driving and if you're on the water, windy and choppy all day. good news for the russian river, below flood stage and dropping. it will be above from 3:00 in the afternoon to 5:00.

napa river will be above flood stage from 5:00 this evening to 10:00 this evening. and if you're heading to the sierra, flooding rain today, heavy snow tomorrow. and really is not too much happening on the roads so far this morning. we do have one new fairly minor issue, northbound 280 in san jose, right around saratoga avenue, reports of a disabled vehicle sitting in the left lane so that is hard for other vehicles to get around that and sanctuary citi chp knows about that. quick check of the bay bridge toll plaza. it is still dry but it is definitely filling in. we've had those metering lights on for about 30 minutes at this point. drive times coming up. if you bought a computer between '03 and '08, you probably have a little bit of money coming to you. this is parted of a class action settlement against six makers of computer disk drives .the lawsuit claims companies conspired to fix prices of the drives so if you bought a computer with a disk drive or external drive, you may be eligible for $10 per device. you don't need a receipt or

serial number to claim. you do need to go to our website, though. we posted details on how to file, abc7news.com. the areas especially vulnerable to flooding as the rain arrives this morning. and a daring rescue in a fresno county flood. the warning for anyone who's going on driving in the storm today. it is 5:57, we always keep weather and traffic information on your screen, including live doppler 7 right in the corner during the whole commercia

we'your most extraordinarybut withmoments happenses when you feel small. when you're completely outnumbered, overshadowed, and outshined. so what if you dared to explore this great big beautiful pond. what if you dared to feel small. celebrate our princess anniversary sale with award winning itineraries. 7 day fares from $799. visit your travel agent or princess.com. princess cruises. come back new.

it is 6:00 a.m. and look at that. live doppler 7 shows another round of rain moving into the bay area this morning. >> the storm promising to pack quite a punch, possible damage across the bay area. and your commute could be a tough one again. i know it sounds like wear a broken record. good morning, i'm reggie. >> i'm natasha zouves. just starting to get wet at the bay bridge toll plaza. let's get over to mike nicco.

>> good morning, guys. let's start with the good news. live doppler 7, i zoomed down into the north bay and you can see it's just green right now but lurking offshore, you've got some of the yellows and oranges so the moderate rain is developing off the coast and look it's heading up towards the north bay as we speak in fact here's a look at the golden gate bridge and notice the flag on the right is starting to unif you recall. the breezes are picking up. the first signs of this storm are moving in now. heaviest in the north bay by 7:00, for all of us at noon, for all of us outside the north bay at 4:00 and then over, the heaviest part of the storm to the 7:00. i want to keep this good news thing going so let's turn it over to alexis. i'm going to enjoy this while it lasts. no major incidents to talk about. most of us still pretty dry so if you are heading out early, that is definitely the wise choice this morning southbound 680 filling in, starting to see a few brake lights through the walnut creek area. westbound 580, tracy to dublin, boy, 36 minutes right now. i think we were well over