raining all day but brunt of the strong weather system about to hit us. >> and thousands of people hitting the road right now like these leaving san francisco are in for wet and windy ride home to be sure. >> here's something we haven't seen in a while, localized street flooding because storm drains unable to handle the downpours. team coverage. >> begin with sandhya patel. haven't seen anything like this for a while. >> that's right. look at live doppler 7, entire bay area is blanketed in green right now. no one is escaping this storm. take you in to where seeing heavy and moderate, orange and yellow colors. street level, where it's raining in east bay. it's been a steady rain this afternoon but hasn't been just pitter patter, at times pounding rain from san francisco right now to daley city, south

san francisco. 380. south bay, san jose to parkmore. mountains getting their share as well. first strong level three storm of the season. through tonight, rain heavy at times. gusty conditions through the hills and coast. flash flood watch in effect for entire north bay with exception of the coast until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. most of the bay area under wind advisory. not been strong yet but will pick up. could be 30 to 50 miles per hour so downed trees and power lines not out of the question. use caution. pockets of heavy rain for evening commute. gusty winds, low visibility. we've seen flooding and potential is there for parts of the bay area. hour by hour look coming up.

dan and kristen? >> thank you. working hard to prevent street flooding and problems that come with it. >> impact on the santa cruz mountains and san jose. >> it's been a slow steady rain in south bay. hasn't let up. bound to have impact on the evening commute. nonstop rain in the santa cruz mountains made for messy roads. highway 17, overturned truck blocking lane, slowing traffic. less than a mile away, another driver lost control, rolling over. jeanette lopez in passenger seat. >> hit the wall, lost control and ended up on a little slope to get control but car flipped. >> reporter: must have been so

scary. lopez and drive had to climb out of the window, fortunately not injured. chp officers stationed in many areas because they know not every driver will slow down in the rain. cal trans watching for debris. reminder to get gutters cleared. >> gutters need repair, cleaning. water overflowing, all that kind of stuff. we just get calls coming in and out because people don't realize they have gutter problem until the rain comes in. >> reporter: none of the crews can go out. too slippery to use ladders safely. scheduling work for when it dries midweek. rain is encouraging, all the reservoirs in south bay little more than half the normal average this time of year. >> very happy, continuing water

conservation program, keep monitoring the reservoirs and lakes. >> reporter: fall in the months of january, february, and march, optimistic this is just the start and eventually going to get more. reporting live, janine de la vega, abc7 news. rain is making a dent in precipitation totals but where are we compared to last year? >> drew tuma? >> it's been a slow start. three months into the season and finally have first real soaking of the year. compare to last year, it's a bit of whiplash between the two seasons. year-to-date, up to the 8th last year, santa rosa had 20 inches of rainfall. this year, seven inches. similar each neighborhood.

san francisco, sfo last year, ten inches, barely three this year. oakland nearly ten inches, barely five. similar stories. but the numbers will rise. final totals from today, sandhya patel will be back with look at live doppler 7 where the heaviest rain is falling. our downpour has people in santa rosa's burn zones on the lookout. still a lot of cleaning up to do of course since the october wildfires. city officials say they've worked hard to prepare for wet weather and had unexpected extra time to repair storm drains and address erosion issues. >> given we haven't had amount of rains typical this season, allowed us to continue to improve measures, hillsides and prepare for a weather event like this. this will be test. >> some rain is good for

recovering with green. mulch used as erosion control, when grown, will help stabilize the roads. car crash in palo alto killed a man, page mill road. chp says driver lost control, hit median, drifted off the road and hit tree. only person in car, not wearing a seatbelt. stretch of the road shut down in the investigation. in southern california, authorities issued mandatory evacuations in some areas destroyed by wildfires last month. including parts of ojai where there are fears of mud slides. flash flood watch in effect. could see more than five inches of rain from this storm. abc7 news morning will get early start, join us at 4:00

a.m. before you head out door. >> and have newly updated abc7 news app, look at forecast and get live doppler 7, look at web cams, track the storms and share weather photos with us. >> and enable push alerts for custom mobile alerts where you live. former tech engineer is suing google after he was fired for writing a controversial memo about gender inequality in the tech industry. >> james de moor claims he was discriminated against as white man with conservative political views. >> reporter: former employee says he stands by memo, says that google solicited it at summit. >> would welcome the chance to go back to google. feel i could improve things for everybody there. >> reporter: google fired him

for as alleged -- another employee. three subclasses, conservatives, men and caucasians. >> certain programs aren't open to certain people. and if you declare a certain type of opinion, strong looked down upon. >> reporter: didn't report the discrimination. >> brain withed to believe it was normal. >> reporter: says others have wanted to join but fear retaliation. >> hounded out of jobs because conservatives, refused promotions because they were men. >> reporter: includes screen shots of quote anticonservative postings. >> there's lord of the flies tet mentality there. can be singled out and fired.

>> reporter: google spokesperson writes quote we look forward to defending against mr. damore's lawsuit in court. abc7 news news. california state senators say planning to release more documents detailing sexual harassment accusations against lawmakers and high level staff members. >> however won't see names of accusers or witnesses, will be redacted. at least one lawmaker says the current system for roorting sexual misconduct is a failure that makes accusers fear retaliation. undocumented immigrant acquitted of murder in kate steinle case was in federal court today. >> continues to draw debate over san francisco's status as sanctuary city. >> lyanne melendez in court.

>> possession of gone as felon and alien. could get ten years in federal prison. gun had been previously stolen and jury in the murder trial seemed to believe garcia zarate when he said he found it and it went off accidentally. he already served time for that conviction. attorney will argue double jeopardy if he can prove collusion between local and federal authorities to hurt his case. >> vindictive, revenge. >> second motion to get off. vindictive prosecution, proven retaliation against the defendant. professor of law rory little says the judge will certainly listen to the claims. >> only reason you're prosecuting him is you're angry about acquittal, that's his constitutional right, shouldn't be allowed to do that.

>> today in federal court stated different name, not one used in kate steinle murder trial. >> he's utilized approximately five different names. call that akas. >> name was one used in texas for which he served time for unlawful entry. then brought to san francisco on pending drug case. that was dismissed, he was released. because he never reported to texas probation department, after the kate steinle shooting u.s. district court in texas issued warrant for his arrest. must now serve two years in texas for violating terms of the supervised release. that's after he's tried in federal court on the two gun charges. san francisco, lyanne melendez. abc7 news. just ahead on abc7 news at 5:00, race to replace the late ed lee as mayor of san francisco

is shaping up. one prominent local politician is in, two others say no thanks. >> billionaire tom steyer's political future. self-driving cars, will the change cost jobs? 7 on your side's michael finney on the future of cars in america. >> cars are in bad situation now. wet commute home. traffic on san mateo bridge, backed up. big stretch of red because of accident near the high rise. >> tough out there. live picture from cal trans camera. two eastbound lanes closed because of car fir sorry. i can't make it. it's just my eczema again, but it's fine. yeah, it's fine. you ok? eczema. it's fine. hey! hi! aren't you hot?

eczema again? it's fine. i saw something the other day. eczema exposed. your eczema could be something called atopic dermatitis, which can be caused by inflammation under your skin. maybe you should ask your doctor? go to eczemaexposed.com to learn more.

race for mayor of san francisco takes another turn today with several prominent local politicians announcing intentions. >> mark leno filed paperwork to run while david chu and carmen chu announced they won't seek to replace ed lee. >> it's getting crowded. >> leaves about half dozen big names considering a run. deadline to file is tomorrow night to run in special june 5th election. mark leno officially turned in paperwork. former state senator, assemlyman and supervisor had announced in may he would run for mayor. pledges to shake things up with bigger, broader approach to some of the city's problems. >> homelessness affordability is not unique to san francisco. it's statewide challenge. we need to work with regional

partners to identify the needed revenue sources. >> london breed also mentions -- issues as priority. native san franciscan, raised in poverty and personally moved by plight of those on the streets. as acting mayor, been actively working on this. >> began the process of clearing out tent encampments because a public health issue. providing alternatives, access to shelter system, which we've increased, providing access to navigation centers. >> angela alioto is familiar face and name to many san franciscans, daughter of mayor, run for office twice. >> something that propelled you to run? >> the tents.

absolutely. what a disgrace, what a shame. homeless situation is such a crisis, obvious reason for me to run. passion of mine as you know. >> supervisor jane kim is fighting for affordability, successfully championed free community college. ran unsuccessfully for state senate last year but got a boost in name recognition after endorsed by bernie sanders. >> san francisco has the fastest growing income gap between rich and poor in the country according to brookings institute. my work has been focused on how to grow and strengthen middle class and diminish the gap between the have and have-nots. >> we reached out to city attorney dennis ararera who has announced possible run but spokesperson denied request for interview. abc7 news. a billionaire democratic

donor and san francisco resident tom steyer today announced he's pumping millions into helping the democrats win back the white house. >> $30 million to be precise. made the announcement in washington, d.c., the money will target gop incumbents and house speaker paul ryan in midterm elections. also put to rest any speculation he wanted to run for u.s. senate or california governor. says more pressing things to do. >> god willing, people of america are going to send a wave across the nation. this tide will wash away the stain of the trump administration. >> steyer has been outspoken critic of the trump administration and champion for reversing the effects of climate change. spent $100 million since 2016 on political campaigns. when robe ocars finally take to the cars, could be entirely new job market. and would be nice on a day like this, take a load off you.

so hectic and stressful. >> and changes when autonomous cars come into play will have profound impacket on our society. fewer accidents, won't need auto mechanics as much. insurance will change. lot of things will change with autonomous vehicles. 7 on your side's michael finney is here with that. does it seem like getting more robocalls than ever before? there's a reason. you are. 18 billion robocalls placed in united states last year according to survey by hiya, a free blocking service. say up 75% from 2016. says neighbor scam took off this year. spoof a local number to trick consumers into picking up their

phones. ride hailing companies are targeted in controversial ad campaign. warn users about so-called dangers of using the apps. think before you app. apps sponsored by the national limousine association which competes against the company. spokesperson for lyft calls the ads misleading, uber notes it has efforts to promote safety. with robocars,robocars,robocarss author tracy hyland says may be fewer drivers but doesn't mean fewer jobs. >> people to design and repair the cars, new rod system to accommodate autonomous cars. new insurance policies and legal claims, different ways to

police. >> says the new jobs come in areas often not planned for or expected. that's it. back to the studio. >> appreciate it. hi there. we've been waiting for this kind of storm for a while. live doppler 7, december didn't deliver much with ybut 2018 is. moderate rain here. steady light rain in san francisco. peninsula, half moon bay, redwood city, steady rain. and street level, south bay, getting wet right now. reports from all around the bay area. thank you on social media for sending reports. keep them coming. stay safe and dry. only going to increase.

east bay, alameda, skyline boulevard getting wet. rainfall so far adding up. measuring in inches. san francisco almost two inches. oakland about 1 1/2 inches. livermore one inch, almost two in santa rosa. you're not getting missed. storm impact scale, level three, strong storm through tonight. rain will be heavy at times. gusty in the hills. flooding concerns over the burn-scarred areas. mountains, some snowfall but lake level it's rain. winter advisory for sierra. one to two feet of snow expected over the peaks. reduced visibility. carry chains and be prepared.

temperatures 40s to 60s. kgo roof camera, raindrops hitting lens and roof. pockets of moderate rain. 7:00 p.m., widespread, rainfall pick up in intensity after 8:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m., pops of yellow, downpours. then scattered for 4:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m. commute. latter part of the morning, showers continue. hang on to the umbrellas. mike will be here 4:30 to track this for you. this is additional rain beginning 6:00 p.m. tonight through 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. 3/4 of inch in san francisco to over an inch in clear lake, fairfield. hasn't been gusty so far but

definitely be concerned later. wind gusts 40 miles per hour, could be 50 over the hills. and tomorrow morning will be breezy. temperatures in 40s and 50s. have umbrellas and allow extra time for the commute. reduced visibility and scattered showers for morning. afternoon highs with showers around. breezy tuesday. peeks of sun. good idea to hang on to rain gear and download the accuweather app to keep track. tomorrow, scattered showers, dry out. milder work week into the weekend and level one storm with chance of rain on monday. just ahead at 5:00, a real court fight, battle over who will inherit estate and

the fight over charles manson's estate and remains now involves two people. >> two others expected to make a claim failed to show up in court. long time pen pal of the cult leader and reported grandson. >> commercial rights to mass murderer's name and mementos. died of cardiac arrest in november. san francisco based go pro is slashing jobs. >> about 1,200 people worldwide. >> ending drone business. partly blames cuts on soft demand for newer model cameras. fourth round of layoffs. >> sent the stock tumbling. closing $6.56 a share. might be hard to think about

baseball on rainy day in january. >> i always like baseball but i guess. but oakland a's provided a peek inside new headquarters. warm and dry. >> old uniforms. kelly green. >> showed off the lobby of the new front office in jack london square on facebook live. >> a's hope to build a new ballpark a short distance from

i'm dion lim. coming up on abc7 news at 6:00, team coverage around the bay area with effects of the strong storm. conditions where you live. did you know more than 80 cars are broken into around san francisco? >> cutting up credit cards may not help improve your credit

score, michael finney explains tonight, as we come on the air in the west, major concerns amid pounding rain and heavy winds. and, the storm slamming the east, already turning deadly tonight. the dangerous commutes. the ice, snow and rain. the pileup on an icy highway. alerts at this hour from d.c. to philly to new york. while in the west, those evacuations under way right now. ginger zee leads us off on the west tonight. the white house tonight. will the special counsel, robert mueller, soon be questioning president trump? what we've learned tonight. growing concern this evening amid the deadly flu outbreak in this country. tents set up in the west. emergency rooms packed across the country. where it's hitting hardest and how effective is the flu vaccine? and should you still get it if you haven't already? what surprised us today about that. the urgent manhunt for a suspect. the deputy killed responding to a 911 call.