getting a drenching from antioch to lafayette, livermore to fremont, san francisco, the peninsula and down into the south bay and the santa cruz mountains as well. because of all this rain, a flash flood warning is in effect on alameda creek until 4:30 this afternoon. a bit farther south, a flood warning is in effect along a long expanse of coyote creek until 6:40 this evening. also a flood warning in effect until 9:15 in upper coyote creek and mark west creek. a flood warning in effect until 8:15 tomorrow morning. this storm is a strong storm ranking 3 on the storm impact scale and will continue producing scattered downpours, flash flood warnings and flood warnings in effect. winds will increase 40 to 60 miles per hour during the evening hours. here's a forecast animation over the next couple of hours. we'll see rain continue to be rather steady and heavy over most of the bay area but break up later tonight into pockets of rain and showers. that pattern continues into early tomorrow morning. i'll give you a look at

tomorrow's weather in just a few minutes. >> thanks so much. a large portion of the saensanta cruz mountains has been under a flood warning all day. >> the river was forecast to crest right about now. >> david louie is at the bank of the river in felton. david. >> reporter: ama and dan, the flood stage for the san lorenzo river is 18 feet. as you can see right here from our vantage point, it is a little lower than that at about 14 feet. it is still raining here in the mountains and that, of course, means that people cannot lower their guard. the threat of the san lorenzo river flooding is something residents live with in felton, ben lomond. in some spots such as this one in boulder creek, the river current looks menacing with the power of an unbridled horse racing toward the finish line or in this case toward the mouth of the pacific ocean next to the santa cruz boardwalk. in felton grove, a small uncl f

unclaif -- enclave, they put up barriers. the river is not a good indication of the river rising. instead they look at towns upstream. >> it might be doing this here and pounding up there so that's where it really matters. it's all the stuff coming down the river. >> reporter: so how prepared are you for this one? >> oh, i've got nothing that can get wet this time except for my place. so if my place gets wet, i just hose it out. so yeah, i'm prepared. >> reporter: the super saturated soil nearby couldn't keep this tree firmly rooted. it slid and blocked the road which has been blocked for a week by earlier storm damage. storm water has created some striking sights in the form of water falls cascading down hillsides, flowing past trees and rocks that might soon be eroded. young mina clearly likes the rain, so much so she doesn't bother with a rain hood. she says she's 3 3/4 years old.

>> do you like walking in the rain? >> without my hood. >> you like getting bet, huh? >> yes. >> reporter: well, somebody is having some fun in this rain. now, the revised forecast for the san lorenzo is calling it to be just shy of flood stage at 9:00 tonight so that will be welcome news if it does not flood. however, everyone is keeping an eye on the situation. of course the original forecast was for it to rise to 22 feet. we are live in felton, david louie, abc 7 news. >> david, thank you. pg&e crews are back at work trying to prevent damage to a transmission tower. this is in a remote area of orinda where a hillside has caved in and a mudslide could overrun the tower. pg&e has been flying in equipment by helicopter in an effort to shore up the soil. as you can see they have been building a road to get to the area. crews will be working through the night. fortunately, the tower isn't threatening any structures. >> there are no customers in the

actual area of the transmission tower. it's in a very remote area of orinda so there are no homes or businesses in that area. >> engineer been working on a plan to protect the tower since they discovered had mudslide a few weeks ago. drivers are being encouraged to stay away from dolittle drive because of downed power lines. authorities closed a section of the road after a vehicle slammed into a power pole. crews were able to open a lane in each direction about 1:30 this afternoon. dolittle drive is one of the aternate routes to oakland international airport. palomaris road is closed again. the mud and rocks are still coming down a canyon wall and giant boulders are blocking the road as well. it runs from 580 in castro valley down to niles canyon. crews will have to deal with the mess and right now with the mud and rock on that hillside which are still moving, they haven't

been able to get started. we have breaking news out of san jose. a mobile park -- mobile home park, i could say, has been evacuated because of flood danger. >> it's the south bay mobile home park on oakland road along coyote creek. abc 7 news reporter katie marzullo is there live with the breaking details. katie. >> reporter: it's south bay mobile home park on oakland road here in san jose. firefighters are on scene. a lot of firefighters, paramedics as well, and the possibility they might have to evacuate. it might not come to that, though, so that's some good news. i have captain mitch matlow with me now to explain exactly what's going on. it's a very fluid, pardon the pun, situation, but tell me what's happening here. this is just in the back of the park, correct? >> that's correct. so this park backs up to the coyote creek drainage. coyote creek is inundated right now because of the flow coming out of anderson is uncontrollable because it's spilling over. because of that, it looks like the back of the park is under about 8 inches of water. right now we have not had to start any evacuations.

we're attempting to pump that water out of the park. if we can do that, these peep will be able to stay in their homes. if we can't, we have evacuation centers already preestablished. we'll open one of those evacuation centers and move those people from here to there. if i have to temporarily shelter them in the meantime, if got buses coming to temporarily house them. >> how many units are we talking about? it's not the entire park. >> no, it's not the entire park, but we're estimating 30 to 40 units will be affected by this. >> so you touched on this but to clarify that's whatting rigwhat now, they can stay for now? >> the people in the park for now can stay or if they choose to they can leave. we haven't started a voluntary evacuation. if it comes to it, we will mandate that the people at the back of the park evacuate. but again, our goal is to get pumps back there working to pump the water out so that these people don't have to leave their homes. >> as we've been standing here with you, we've seen a lot of people come up either on foot or

in their cars desperate to get inside, whether they live here, they have a parent who lives here. what are you telling them? >> we're not letting anybody come into the park because we don't want to complicate the issues by having more people come in. if it comes to it and we have to account va, those are people we won't have to evacuate because they won't be in the park. if there are special circumstances like they have to get inside to care for a sick parent or something like that, we are letting them in. however, generally speaking, we're not letting any traffic into the park right now. we are allowing people to leave and that's what we're trying to do is just keep the population here down as low as possible until we figure out if we can keep these people from having to be evacuated. >> reporter: since we're on scene up front at the entrance, we haven't been back to see what it looks like. can you describe the pumping process, how many units are back there, how it works? >> i don't have any information about how many pumping vehicles are back there right now. i have been told that there is a pumping rig back there. i have been told that they're going to try to make it work. beyond that i don't have any information right now, sorry.

>> captain, thank you very much. we appreciate that. so that's what's happening right now for this mobile home park that is along coyote creek in san jose. dan, ama, back to you. >> katie, thanks very much. state water officials say an important goal has been reached at the oroville dam. overnight the water level fell below 850 feet, that's down 50 feet from last week. officials had hoped to reach that level before today's storm hit and they did. even so, an evacuation warning is still in effect, which is one step below an immediate evacuation order. >> the threat of that at this point is significantly reduced. quite frankly we are in a much better position today than we were last week and i feel better about that, but i want to make sure that people are paying attention. >> butte county officials are investigating a possible norovirus outbreak at a red cross emergency shelter in chico. about 20 people have exhibited symptoms at the silver dollar fairgrounds, including five red cross workers. about 110 people are staying at the shelter.

a swift water rescue team from menlo park is in sacramento right now ready to go wherever they're needed for this next round of storms. 14 menlo park firefighters are on standby prepared to be dispatched for water rescues. that area is expected to get as much as 10 inches of rain over a 20-hour period. and expect cancellations and delays if you have a flight today, especially out of san francisco international airport. always a problem in bad weather. here's a live look from our sfo camera. 104 flights have already been cancelled there. an airport spokesman tells us 266 flights are delayed. mineta san jose international reported a handful of delays earlier today because of the weather. there are no major cancellations or delays out of oakland. a police officer near los angeles was killed today in a shootout with a suspected gang member. another officer was shot and injured and so was the suspect. police in whittier say the suspect was driving a stolen car when he was involved in a crash. as the officers approached him, the man started shooting.

police say the man was paroled just two weeks ago. officers lined the streets as the body of their fallen colleague was taken from uc irvine medical center to the orange county coroner's office. whittier police say this was the third officer in the city's history to be killed in the line of duty. a man was found seriously injured at the recology recycling center today. the fire department says the man's injuries were consistent with being crushed. he was found on top of a load of recycling at the center on pier 96. officials say workers spotted the man, stopped the equipment and called 911. an ambulance took him to san francisco general hospital in critical condition. our storm coverage continues. scenes like this are playing ougout all over the bay area. people are going to extreme lengths to get through the water and it's not working for everyone. plus getting through the sierra can be tough, even for experienced truckers.

why one driver had to turn to the chp for some different kind of assistance. and -- >> we're continuing manipulating your emotions. >> movie manipulation. the man who makes the movies sound amazing and holds a dubious honor at the oscars. we'll tell you how. and taking a live look at our traffic across the golden gate bridge on this soggy monday. it is flowing in both directions. your northbound is on the right-hand side. stay with us, we are back after a quick break.

take a live look at live doppler 7. you can see the storm moving through the pay area right now. spencer christian will be back

with the forecast coming up in just a few minutes. well, flooding is a big concern in the san joaquin valley. the san joaquin river is rising. >> the don pedro river which captures water from a key tributary of the san joaquin is at 97% capacity and rising. >> and that means voluntary evacuations are under way right now in the area. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live from lagrange with a look at what people are facing. laura. >> reporter: hi, dan. we're standing on the roadway just down below the spillway here. let's show you what we're looking at here just down the way. it is really windy out here so our shot may be a bit shaky. but they just opened the spillway for the first time here in 20 years. this was preceded by a large-scale effort to warn residents down below that all this water would be coming their way. with a major spillway set to open, police went door to door

in this low-lying rv mark in modesto urging people to get out before it's too late. >> we're evacuating all the river areas in case it floods, because they will be opening the spillway at 3:00 p.m. the water will reach here probably six to eight hours after that. >> we want to give people an opportunity to collect their belongings and move to higher ground. >> reporter: for the first time in 20 years, officials opened the spillway at the don pedro reservoir. >> this decision was made in conjunction with the army corps of engineers. in order to minimize downstream flows that could potentially be damaging. >> reporter: that means in places like this, the already swollen river could go up another five feet. some here choosing to stay or at least leave their rigs, protect them as best they can, and hope for the best. >> how are you guys doing? >> covering the roof so it doesn't leak that much. >> the river is coming up. they expect it may come up more.

>> i know. i'm just going to put more sandbags. >> reporter: and we're back live here. we're showing you the closed roadway here. they actually had to close this roadway. all morning they spent taking away sections of the road because the water coming out of the spillway is actually going right across the roadway so they have had to close it. the water is flowing. again, people concerned down river about flooding. they're telling us that they're going to have to leave the spillway open here to relieve pressure on the reservoir for at least four days. so this is going to be a process that is going to take some time to play out. live at don pedro reservoir, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> thank you, laura. today's storm has caused problems for people all around the bay area, some small, like a man who had to ride his bike through the waters. >> look at that, pedal hard, right? others big, like the rescue of people stranded near coyote creek because of those same rising floodwaters. abc 7 news reporter jonathan bloom is live in morgan hill with a look at what's happening today in the south bay.

jonathan. >> reporter: well, dan and ama, this right here is the origin of the problem. that spillway is connected to anderson lake, which is so full that water managers are having to drain the lake out that spillway, which in turn drains into coyote creek. that has caused the creek to flood its banks and turn into a veritable river, a river where we saw firefighters perform a dringing swift water rescue. the 911 call came from an island in the middle of coyote creek. >> the water was rising on both sides of a piece of land that they used to be able to walk to. >> and so that became an island? >> it became an island. it wasn't an island a week ago. >> reporter: sky 7 show how the creek has flooded its banks into the nearby woods, which was a popular spot for transients to set up camp. >> it's a problem we've been dealing with in this neighborhood for a while. the homeless. >> reporter: firefighters say the people they had to rescue

were on what's not an island paradise. >> how many of there are you? probably ten people, right? >> reporter: san jose has the county's only rescue team that's allowed to enter the water and this was their second rescue of the season. they work out of an inflatable boat wearing helmets, life vests and dry suits in water that is anything but inviting. >> it is contaminated water and then there's the debris. all these years of drought have allowed garbage to collect along the waterways, plant material, rocks, that are all being displaced by the fast-moving water and being carried downstream. >> reporter: they got the two stranded people on board and paddled back to shore. both suffered hypothermia and one sustained minor injuries. >> i don't have any details on the injuries. they're both very cold. they're going to the hospital to get warmed up and get treated. >> reporter: no sooner had that ambulance left that firefighters were called to another rescue. these have ended happily, but they say the worst flooding

could actually be tomorrow and they warn residents to stay far away from that creek, which while magnificent to look at is also quite dangerous. jonathan bloom, abc 7 news. a lot of people spent their three-day weekend in tahoe and there was plenty of snow for them to enjoy. kirkwood mountain resort reported more than 7 inches in the last 24 hours. over the course of the season it's received a whopping 42 feet of snow. that's eight feet over its annual average. >> some drivers have been getting into trouble on the roads in the sierra. the truckee area chp had to help out a big rig driver who jack-knifed. the driver said he was too scared to drive any farther, so an officer who had commercial tractor-trailer license jumped in. thanks to that officer and a push from a patrol vehicle, the truck driver was able to continue on his way. well, we have team coverage on this storm that's moving across california right now. drew tuma will give us more details on the snow in the sierra. >> but we begin with spencer christian and a look at what's

going on right now. >> right now it is raining all over the bay area as you can see on live doppler 7. you can see the blanket of green indicating light to moderate rainfall, but look at all the yellows an oranges, indicating moderate to heavy rainfall. let's get an update on the sierra from meteorologist drew tuma over in the weather center. >> spencer, you know when it rains here, likely there will be snow in the sierra and a lot of snow still coming their way the next 24 hours. we have chain controls in effect on many of our roadways, 80 and 50 right now, it is treacherous travel out there. it is for that fact a winter storm warning is in effect and will last until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night. in all those areas you see shaded in pink. take a look at additional snowfall through tuesday evening. 40 inches in donner, 29 in tahoe city, 26 inches southlake tahoe and kirkwood likely almost three feet of additional snowfall. this is just adding onto a snowpack that is very healthy. look at this, from north to south, we are above normal for this time of the year and

statewide 176% of normal. it's not only in our snowpack that's above normal but many cities across the bay area have already seen their yearly rainfall. for more on that, we'll send it back to spencer christian. >> here's a look at those cities. we have no fewer than five locations in the bay area that have already exceeded their annual average rainfall totals. sfo, san francisco, oakland, santa rosa and livermore. and the rain continues to fall with our current storm, which is a strong one ranking 3 on the storm impact scale. we'll continue to see scattered downpours through the evening hours, flash flooding, flash flood warnings and watches are in effect. winds will gust 40 to 60 miles per hour during this storm. a flood watch is in effect for the entire bay area until 4:00 tomorrow morning. heavy rain will cause rapid rises in streams and rivers, mud slides and rock slides are possible as well. here's our forecast animation starting at 5:00 this afternoon. we'll still have most of the area covered by moderate to heavy rainfall at that time, but in the evening hours, mid to late evening hours, we'll see

the storm break up a bit into pockets of rain. it will reorganize a bit as the next storm comes in late tonight and early tomorrow morning. and let's take a look at that storm. well, before i get to that, i should mention winds will remain quite strong. a wind advisory in effect for all of the bay area, especially our low-lying areas and right around the bay. that's in effect until 3:00 a.m. tomorrow. we have a high wind warning in effect for the hills of the bay area until 3:00 a.m. tomorrow. winds may gust 40 to 60 miles per hour in those areas. 9:00 tonight we'll see winds 20 to 35, 38 miles per hour. then during the late night and overnight hours, we'll see winds begin to diminish just a bit and moderate going into tomorrow morning. our storm impact scale shows the storm coming in tomorrow is a light one ranking 1 on the impact scale and will produce morning showers, an isolated chance in the afternoon hours. winds will relax a bit as i just demonstrated to you. here's the forecast animation for tomorrow's storm starting at 6:00 a.m. the morning commute will be a

wet one. we'll see pockets of rain and maybe some isolated downpours as well. the pavement will certainly be wet. there could still be pooling and ponding for the morning commute. by midday tomorrow, we'll see that storm breaking up into pockets of late rain and showers. it will wind down in the late afternoon hours and going into tomorrow evening we should have a little bit of a break. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. tomorrow's storm ranks 1 on the storm impact scale. we'll have lingering showers into wednesday morning. that system also ranks 1 on the storm impact scale. mostly cloudy but dry on thursday, but there's a chance of evening showers coming on friday. and then on both saturday and sunday, we expect rain to return. light storms ranking 1 on the storm impact scale. it's going to be a wet week most of the week. >> all right, thanks, spencer. well, you already know bay area traffic is bad, but do you know just how bad? where we rank when it comes to traffic congestion around the world. that's an in

hey, we all know that pay area traffic is bad but one city made the top five list of the most clogged cities in the world. san francisco takes that title, ranking fourth on the list. a traffic study calculated how much time drivers spend stuck in traffic during peak travel times. it found being stuck in traffic caused the average u.s. driver $1400 last year. here are the top five congested cities. number one, los angeles. number two, moscow. number three, new york city. number four, again, san francisco. and five, bogota, colombia. a former east bay naval base has been named a test site for self-driving cars. the station at the concord naval weapons station will be one of ten proving grounds nationwide. the goal is for research teams, automakers and startups to test self-driving technology and share information to improve technology. well, there is a new nominee for the president's cabinet. >> the white house is running so

smoothly. >> but not everyone agrees. the protests under way on this presidents' day. plus, we are tracking the storm moving through the bay area. just ahead, it was mudslides, not flooding, affecting some north bay residents. we'll have a live look coming up. sure, you could buy this.

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and here are the stories making headlines at 4:30. the bay area is soaked from continual rain and, guess what, more is coming. right now the santa cruz mountains are in a flood advisory that should expire soon. other bay area advisories have expired, though that could change depending on how much rain we see. reporter laura anthony tweeted this video of the swollen tualame river. the sheriff urged people to evacuate low-lying areas. reporter jonathan bloom tweeted from coyote creek in san jose where a rescue crew brought two people to safety. their camp alongside the creek suddenly became an island because of so much rainfall.

flooding wasn't an issue in marin county but mudslides were an issue forcing road closures. lyanne melendez is live with a look. >> reporter: well, it's actually fortunate that it was a holiday today, because for the most part people stayed home and off these roads and that allowed crews to deal safely with all these mudslides that we had. at 5:30 this morning, public works crews were set out to secure the area after a mudslide covered part of the road. >> you don't know when they're going to happen. thankfully there were no individuals involved in these incidents so no one was hurt where the mudslides took place and the road closures took place. >> reporter: because of the holiday, few people were using these roads. crews were waiting to do some cleanup before putting up some k-rail that would secure the hillside. with the ongoing rain, the slide was still moving, making it somewhat dangerous for workers. a smaller, yet more complicated

mudslide in san rafael closed part of highland avenue. the marin county road department was worried about a eucalyptus tree at the top of the hill. >> concerned about one big euc tree that's been undermined so it's an unsafe situation. >> reporter: the county decided to cut down the tree to keep it from falling on some power lines. tony says the last time they had a mudslide here was ten years ago. the hillside was recently worked on. >> there was a crew here for many, many months securing the hill, so it's -- where the new slide is just west of where the old slide happened. >> so it could have been worse? >> it could have been. >> reporter: this recent storm was not big enough to activate the emergency operations center which has been mobilized five times already this year and once last december. in marin county, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. well, all of the rain we've had is putting a damper on renovations at a popular san francisco park. alamo square was shut down last may for a $4 million update to

the irrigation system and the landscaping. part of the park has reopened, but the project manager says the recent rain has slowed irrigation trenching. people who live near the park have noticed. >> i barely see them work. my window looks out on the park. i think i've seen the tractors working three days since january 3rd. >> the project manager says that while the rain has created a mess, it's also been beneficial to the lawn and trees that have already been installed. alamo square is scheduled to fully reopen in the spring. track traffic and weather where you live all day every day with the abc 7 news app. enable push alerts to get breaking updates sent right to your phone. presidents' day in the past has been marked with department store sales and a day off from school and work. >> but this year across the country, not my president's day protests against the trump administration are taking place. late this afternoon, president trump decide who will be his new

national security advisor. >> lana zak is live in washington with the latest. >> reporter: hi, it's good to be with you. you know, president trump decided that general h.r. mcmaster would be his replacement for national security advisor flynn. unlike flynn, he is far less controversial and highly, highly respected. we're already hearing tweets of approval coming out from members of congress. but there was still plenty of controversy in the political world today. not my president protests attracting thousands from the nation's capital to cities across america. >> i thought it couldn't get worse and every day it gets worse. >> reporter: to atlanta and chicago. >> we're a month into this administration and you have this many people till out in the streets protesting because they're concerned about their country. >> reporter: thousands turning out for the fifth straight week of protests following the inauguration of president trump, who insists that all is going smoothly in his administration.

>> you've seen what we've accomplished in a very short period of time. the white house is running so smoothly. >> reporter: trump supporters who ventured into the crowd feel the president is not getting a fair shake. >> i think it's a bit of a bumpy start, but nothing like the media makes it out to be. >> reporter: and president trump continues to lash out against the media on twitter. but at the same time in europe, vice president pence says their administration is committed to the freedom of the press. >> both the president and i strongly support a free and independent press, but you can anticipate that the president and all of us will continue to call out the media when they play fast and loose with the facts. >> reporter: but the importance of getting the facts right is the message being sent by sweden's prime minister after president trump incorrectly suggested there might have been a terrorist attack in sweden over the weekend. >> we must all take responsibility for using facts correctly, and for verifying any information that we spread. >> reporter: dan and ama, one of the issues that really

galvanized many of the protesters today was that executive order, temporary travel ban on seven predominantly muslim countries. we are told by the white house that they expect to have a new version of that travel ban out this week, perhaps even as early as tomorrow. reporting live from washington, lana zak, abc 7 news. back to you. >> thanks so much. one of abc news top correspondents challenged president trump's fake nes media. >> there is a reason the founders put freedom of the press in the very first amendment, reporters willing to pursue the truth even if that means incurring the wrath of the most powerful person in the world. >> that's jonathan karl yesterday filling in for george stephanopolous. karl said other presidents such as jefferson and roosevelt were critical of media when they were

president. it didn't stop journalists from doing their jobs then and it won't now. you can watch the entire commentary on our website. dakota access pipeline protesters are defying an order from state and federal authorities. . spring rain is washing garbage from the camp into nearby rivers. campers who are protesting the possible environmental risk of the pipeline say the flood fears are overblown. well, the severe weather is not just here in california. >> in texas, more than 100 homes have been hit by tornados. we'll give you a closer look at the damage. i'm spencer christian. rain continues to fall all across the bay area as you can see from this view of the skyline of san francisco. and it's going to move into tomorrow morning's morning commute. i'll have the tomorrow's the day we'll play something besides video games. every day is a gift. especially for people with heart failure.

but today there's entresto... a breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. tomorrow, i'm gonna step out with my favorite girl. ask your doctor about entresto. and help make the gift of tomorrow possible.

severe weather causing all sorts of problems for millions of americans in central and western parts of the united states ch states. at least three tornados touched down in san antonio, texas, damaging 100 homes there. >> reporter: video capturing the moment vicious storms pounded san antonio, texas. tornados tearing through homes, knocking down power lines and leaving behind a trail of debris. one packing winds up to 105 miles per hour and staying on the ground for more than four

miles. >> the roof is gone, the water was coming in everywhere. >> reporter: in austin, severe thunderstorms ripped the roofs off of homes and businesses. on the west coast, the cleanup in california continues. a weekend of flash flooding wreaked havoc on the roads. the powerful storms dumping as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas. at least five people were killed, including one man trapped underwater in his car. the floodwaters also creating massive sinkholes. this one in studio city swallowing two cars. crews had to rescue one driver. in northern california for the first time in ten years, water flowing over the morning glory spillway at lake berryessa. and with even more rain expected, officials are still monitoring the damaged oroville dam. last week nearly 200,000 people evacuated over concerns of flooding. and an unusual sight in chicago, with record-breaking temperatures, people enjoying a day at the beach.

meantime here in california, flooding fears remain. the national weather service issuing a warning suggesting evacuations could be possible as a result of this week's storm. we'll start with live doppler 7 as our presidents' day drenching continues with moderate to heavy rainfall over most of the bay area right now. our current storm is a number 3 on the storm impact scale, a strong storm. it will continue to produce scattered downpours into the evening hours with flash flood watchings and warnings in effect. winds will be gusty overnight. rainfall totals from today's storm are quite impressive. more than 2 inches in mill valley, santa rosa. every other location around the bay area, virtually every other location has had nearly an inch and a half of rainfall. we have another storm coming in tomorrow, a lighter storm ranking only 1 on the storm impact scale producing scattered showers. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast. in fact we'll have two

consecutive days, tomorrow and wednesday, of light storms ranking 1 on the storm impact scale. we'll get dry weather under mostly cloudy skies on thursday. the early part of friday will be dry but evening showers will develop and we'll have rain both days this weekend with storms ranking 1 on the storm impact scale. it doesn't end. there is a rise of people fleeing the u.s. refugees on the run. many are heading north to canada. i'm 7 on your side's michael finney with the rainy weather, lots of people flying out of the bay area are facing delays and cancellations. so what can they do if their flight is cancelled? i'll have the answer coming up next in ask finney. and in honor of black history month, we're using our abc 7 news bay area instagram feed to recognize people who have made a difference where you live. today we pay tribute to the buffalo soldiers, the name once used for all african-american soldiers. hundreds of those soldiers were stationed at the presidio after

the spanish-american war. these soldiers were some of the army's most dedicated despite a lengthy struggle for equality and

take a look at live doppler

7. you can see the storm that's moving through the bay area right now. that's a lot of green. >> boy, it sure is. we'll stay on top of that as we continue to be on storm watch for another week it looks like. as president trump works to tighten immigration into the united states, there's now a rise of people leaving the country and many are crossing the border into canada. abc news reporter janai norman explains why. >> reporter: some families fleeing on foot. >> we made it. >> reporter: immigrants in limbo, packed up with everything they own. and taking cabs right to the canadian border. some even willing to be arrested so they can begin making a refugee claim. >> why are you here? >> reporter: the number of those illegally seeking asylum is skyrocketing. >> it's an illegal entry so these people are arrestable. you cannot tell their identity and all of that. >> reporter: in january, 452

incidents, an increase of 230% over january 2016. >> these numbers have increased a lot here just in the last ten days, two weeks. >> reporter: the influx started picking up in november. the canadian immigration website crashing election night. recent immigration raids and the president's executive order banning refugees from seven muslim countries continue fueling fears. >> these are campaign promises. some people are so surprised we are having strong borders. >> reporter: justin trudeau has promised to keep canada's borders open. meanwhile president trump is preparing to introduce a new executive order on immigration. janai norman, new york. new at 4:00, uber's ceo says he's hired eric holder to investigate the sexual harassment allegation made against a company official. the move comes a day after a former employee claimed her immediate supervisor repeatedly asked her to have sex. susan fowler made the allegation

in a blog post yesterday two months after she left the san francisco-based company. she says she reported her claims that uber's human resources department, but the company sided with the manager and threatened to fire her for complaining. time now for ask finney. 7 on your side's michael finney answering questions sent to him via facebook, twitter and e-mail. first up, ryan asks what can you do if an airline cls your flight because of bad weather? >> well, i've got some bad news for you. when your flight is cancelled due to all the rains and the storms we're having right now, there isn't much you can do or make the airlines do since bad weather is outside of the airline's control. there are no regulations forcing them to do anything. now, you can ask for a refund. back in the day they would do that occasionally. now generally not. so all you can do is wait, look for another flight. >> like today, right? lots to deal with. reggie from hayward asked how can you challenge a poor credit score given to you by a bank? i paid my mortgage for 17 years without discrepancies.

how do i fix it? >> let's start out, banks don't give you a credit score. they don't give them out. the companies that do, don't allow you to dispute them. but that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do at all. you can still dispute errors on your credit report. here's what you do. you contact each. three credit bureaus separately. explain what you believe is wrong and why. then the reporting agencies have just 30 days to fix your report or tell you why they will not fix it. now, once it's corrected, your credit score will reflect those changes and hopefully that means your credit score will go up. it sounds worse than what i just said honestly. you fill out the paperwork, do it two more times, acceptsend i and in 30 days it will be fixed. >> dafri asks my son's new car battery had to be jump started not long after buying it. the store where he bought it said the battery was incorrectly installed and charged him for labor and parts. how do we get reimbursed? >> getting reimbursed really

depends on who installed the battery. if your son initially installed the battery, you're probably not going to get a refund. but if the auto shop installed it, call and tell the company you contacted me and i said they should pay for correcting their mistake. now, if that doesn't get them moving, call my hotline here at the station. let me give it to you. 954-8151, open every weekday 10:00 to 2:00. the number is on your screen, we'd love to hear from you. one of the national zoo's giant pandas is heading to china. bao bao is scheduled to leave tomorrow aboard a special fedex plane called the panda express. she'll make the 16-hour flight with a keeper, veterinarian and her favorite foods, bamboo, apples and sweet potatoes. she is part of the cooperative breeding program with the china wildlife conservation association. the heavy rain didn't stop thousands of people in the north bay from celebrating the year of the rooster today. all the festivities, including

the traditional lion dancers and drums moved inside the discovery museum as the rain pelted outside. natasha was asked to emcee the event. more than 2,000 people braved the elements for the celebration hosted by the marin chinese cultural association. the activities were old and new this year. families could make high-tech laser cut lanterns and festival goers could celebrate with calligraphy and enjoy lucky new year food. now to a man who has put his mark on some of the silver screen's biggest hits. kevin o'connell has been nominated for an oscar 21 times and he's never won. could this year be his chance? well, a massive tree fell in the north bay. we talked to one woman who just lost her home. floods and mud, 7 on your side's michael finney has what you need to know about insurance coverage. and how to save up to 10% on nearly everything you buy. these stories and more on abc 7

news at 5:00.

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all right. let's take a look at tonight's primetime lineup on abc 7 at 8:00. it's "the bachelor" followed by "quantico" then stay with us for abc 7 news at 11:00. preparations are under way for sunday night's oscars. >> it's very exciting. one man appearing sunday night has a distinction of the most nominations, sadly without ever winning. >> abc 7 news reporter marci gonzalez introduces you to sounded tsound editor, kevin o'connell. >> reporter: from "top gun" to "twister" to "armageddon" kevin o'connell has been behind the sound mixer making 200 films so much more than what you see on screen. >> what sound mixing is is all about emotion. we're continually manipulating your emotions. >> reporter: and he did just that for "hacksaw ridge" making the sound and intensity of every

encounter and each explosion transport the audience to the battlefield. a project he's clearly passionate about and for which he is nominated for an oscar for best sound mixing. >> do you think this could be your year? >> you know, it would be great if it was. i think that everything happens for a reason. >> reporter: hedging confidence a bit because he has been here before. >> kevin o'connell -- >> reporter: nominated over -- >> kevin o'connell. >> reporter: and over again. >> kevin o'connell. >> reporter: getting a total now of 21 nominations, more than anyone else in history without a single win. >> are you like the susan lucci of the oscars? >> golly, i guess i would take that as a compliment. he ultimately won when it was her time to win. hopefully when it's my time to win, i will too. >> reporter: o'connell and so many of his friends in hollywood

hoping his time will finally come on sunday. >> i've had people say to me the third time will be the charm. then it became the 6th, then the 12th, then the 17th, then the 20th. now it's the 21st time will be the charm. it would be a nice thing to happen and i couldn't think of a better project for it to happen on. >> reporter: marci gonzalez, abc news, los angeles. >> you can watch the oscars live only on abc 7 this sunday. jimmy kimmel is hosting the oscars for the first time. the awards show starts at 5:30. speaking of winners and losers, we could be seeing another powerball rush in the coming days. no one won saturday's multistate drawing so the top prize for wednesday's jackpot is expected to reach $403 million. the lump sum payment after taxes is already $244 million. >> not too shabby. >> we're licking our chops. we have a office pool. you can get those numbers on the

abc 7 news news and weather app. >> thank you for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. >> abc 7 news at 5:00 starts now. and i thought it's quarter to eight in the morning, it's very dark outside. >> that's because a massive tree was blocking the light that would have normally come in from the window and she's not the only one dealing with the fallout. abc 7 news was there as two people were rescued in san jose. why the two had to be decontaminated afterward. >> and going door to door, a spillway was just opened for the first time in 20 years and people are being warned to get out of the way. a 100-year-old cypress tree fell in petaluma, a vehicle was totaled and a house was damaged. residents feel like they're the ones who were uprooted. people were lucky to escape unharmed. good evening, i'm ama daetz in for kristen sze.

>> and i'm dan ashley. thank you for joining us. today's rain and wind are certainly creating more trouble for petaluma. that tree collapsed on wilson street in the middle of the stormy weather this weekend. melanie woodrow is there live with the story tonight. melanie. >> reporter: dan and ama, luckily, nobody secured. it's been a real mess here since saturday night. this sort of yellowish house. this is where the tree fell from are. this property here. this homeowner is not around today, but his neighbor tells me that he was actually in san francisco saturday night, so he wasn't home. he's okay, but you can see the tree fell into a truck and that blue home, the woman that lives there, she was around saturday night. luckily she wasn't injured and, boy, is she taking all of this in stride. these aren't the home improvements bridget mortimer had in mind when she moved in. >> everybody told me i had to downsize. what a way to do it. >> reporter: originally from ireland, most recently