announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. >> smoke from california has forced officials to issue an alert today, air quality has risen to unhealthy areas. good morning. it is saturday, august 28. you are watching abc news at 9:00, live on abc7, hulu live and wherever you stream. now a quick look at the forecast. lisa: we definitely have seen better days, but today is not one of them because we are looking at the fog well to the south of us, the central coast and we are just left with smoky conditions. the golden gate ridge showing our air quality under a spare

the air alert, and at best we will be moderate, so another look at the smoky san francisco scene, 71 in oakland and san jose, and we are looking at stagnant ridge of high pressure, eliminating any mixing today and the winds are bringing down more smoke and the chance of elevated fire risk for the sacramento valley. that is what we have a red flag warning and a heat advisory, well over 100 as we look at lake and mendocino county. liz: afghanistan. a successful drone strike targeting terrorists planning possible additional attacks at the airport.

the pentagon said two isis members were killed. this comes as all u.s. citizens are urged to avoid the area to stay safe. juliette mcfarland has the latest. reporter: hitting a member of te islamic state come officials saying the target was involved in planning attacks but not linked to the thursday bombing. the strike coming as the u.s. national security team warrants another attack on afghanistan is likely. >> we are prepared and would expect future attempts, and we are monitoring this specifically , virtually in real-time. reporter: the deadline now less than four days away for the withdrawal. 4200 people evacuated friday according to the white house. chaos unfolding at the airport, a woman seen holding this baby

who is a u.s. evenson and their family going three days without food and water as they try to avoid the taliban. the biden administration saying there are adjustments made on the ground to ensure troop safety after a bombing killed 13 service members thursday. >> they are beginning the process over the course of the next couple of days and they will be mindful of keeping the men and women of our military safe. reporter: the pentagon saying it was just one suicide bomber at the airport and not two. the blast killed about 170 afghans. this morning details about a secret operation dubbed the pineapple express, a group of troops who smuggled about 500 allies late wednesday night into the airport before that deadly bomb. back home, american soldiers working for their afghan

partners. david said he teamed up with his fellow veterans to help evacuate two interpreters and families and are working on helping one more. >> when i am able to top -- -- - am waiting for one of my people there on ground to pull them in. reporters go new deal -- need details -- reporter: new details about refugees. >> this morning i got a knock on the door, and there are two marines standing on the porch and that is how we found out he was involved. reporter: just three weeks away from welcoming his first child. ? he was hoping to come back around the time the baby was born, but he was excited. he would've been a great father. he was ready and he was happy.

liz: community in the east bay are leading a operation to help refugees who may be arriving in northern california. supplies are being collected, toys, food for refugees who may be arriving with nothing. we spoke with some of the families hoping to lend a helping hand. echo we want them to feel at home and we want them -- we do not want them to feel how our parents felt when they had nothing. liz: organizers will collect donations to the weekend. today activists will stand with the people of afghanistan at the worldwide day of protest. this is happening at 2:00 this afternoon at the united nations plaza, and demonstrators are asking leaders to expedite the process for refugees. the protest is part of a

movement involving more than 30 cities. there are a lot of ways you can help refugees. for ideas go to abc action to find supportive resources. this morning, on the states wildfires, locally there are new evacuations warnings as the caldor fire continues the march towards the tahoe basin. the fires are sending massive amounts of smoke and ash across northern california and now the bay area. ryan curry reports from the east bay where outdoor events are still happening. reporter: as smoke billows into the bay area, air quality rose to the unhealthy range causing numerous high schools to postpone opening football games. but some other events still went on. eric swallow held his first town hall event since the pandemic

event at he said he did not want to postpone. >> i saw that high school football games were postponed and so i'm going to let my opening remarks and we will probably have to cut it short. reporter: is contesting wants -- constituents did not want to miss it either. >> i do have concern for people who have medical conditions. reporter: the weekly festivities on main street went on as usual and some people saying they did not want to the evening ruined by the smoke in pleasanton. >> given the pandemic and everything, i do not blame people if they want to be out despite the quality of the air. reporter: officials put out a spare the air alert and say anyone who experiences trouble reading should stay inside.

>> take precautions. you might want to stay indoors if you are somebody who has a pre-existing condition. reporter: those we spoke with say the air quality is something they will be full of as the weekend progresses. in the east bay, ryan 7 news. liz: air quality continues to worsen, and data shows the quality alert is 529, and anything above 500 is considered hazardous. the air quality in tahoe and reno is the worst in the country right now. residents are already leaving ahead of evacuation warnings in south lake tahoe. the fire has jumped both sides of highway 50. flames have destroyed and 11 commercial buildings.

the fire is 19% contained and firefighters say they anticipate tufted editions -- tough conditions in the coming days. >> the wind has continued to align with the canyons and we will continue to focus on the northeasterly section which is where we are seeing the majority of the activity. liz: new evacuation warnings were issued along highway 50 east where most of the active fire is burning. you can check the air quality any time with our real-time weather tracker, a tool live on our bay area connected tv app. you can download the app wherever you stream. still ahead, louisiana bracing for hurricane ida which could become a category four, evacuations announced,

have a live look outside this morning, hazy conditions across the bay area today. we will check in with homelessness, housing, taxes, water, electricity, crime, wildfires. [sfx: bear roar] gavin, you've failed. we have to immediately cut taxes twenty-five percent. fix housing and homelessness. and make life in california affordable again. i'm a businessman, the only cpa running. shouldn't we choose ability this time? do you think john cox will be a better governor than gavin newsom? [sfx: bear roar] does a bear sh*t in the woods?

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ deposit, plan and pay with easy tools from chase. simplicity feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. this unplugged device is protecting our beautiful coastlines and more. put off chores and use less energy from 4 to 9 pm to help keep our state golden. liz: mandatory evacuations have been ordered for those outside the levees in new orleans, but

hospital patients are being forced to shelter in place. victor kendo is in new orleans with the preparations underway right now. reporter: this morning hurricane ida gaining strength through the gulf towards louisiana expected to intensify to a category four. residents are preparing. overnight cars scene lined up at this gas station in new orleans. others boarding up and begging santa. >> we have to do what you have to do to protect your property. reporter: officials closing the levees and the mayor saying it is time to shelter in place. >> we are not calling for mandatory back elation because the time simply is not on our side. we do not want to have people on the road and therefore in radar danger because of the lack of time. reporter: in louisiana the

numbers are so high, covid hospitals are unable to evacuate patients. >> this is just not possible. we do not have any place to bring those patients. reporter: the storm or sing some vaccine sites to shut down early. >> we have to be ready. this is a large hurricane. reporter: about 2000 personnel have been deployed to the gulf coast bracing for the landfall. fema has also prepared -- repositioned resources and the president has already spoken with the governors of louisiana and mississippi and alabama. lisa: we have had some thick smoky conditions, and no wind at all, 10 degrees above average today in san francisco, and we cannot -- expect

improvements until the second half of the weekend. liz: surviving and american wildfire, a new book from a former chronicle reporter with an in-depth look at the 2018 camp fire, what went wrong years later. we sit down with lizzie johnson we sit down with lizzie johnson ♪ ♪ ♪ well well well, what have we here? ♪ ♪ a magical place... that's lookin' to get scared! ♪ ♪ with bats...and ghouls... and cars in disguise. ♪ ♪ i've cast quite a spell now... ♪ ♪ you won't believe your eyes! ♪ (laughter) the spell is cast. halloween time is back with spook-tacular experiences in disneyland and disney california adventure parks!

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liz: california is in the midst of another catastrophic wildfire season. as one reporter for the chronicle, lizzie johnson was there in 2018 when the camp fire wiped the town of paradise out. she talked to hundreds of people and she wrote about her experience in her book. i spoke with her about what she learned as she documented the disaster. thank you for joining us.

i know lexa my journalists you have covered a lot of fires, why was paradise different for you? lizzie: i have been covering fires for a while before the camp fire, and that fire was just unparalleled in terms of destruction and the number of buildings that earned in the number of people that died. it was the first time we had seen a town wiped off the map like that. it stuck with me and i wanted to understand what the town had been and what it would look like as they try to rebuild and figure out how to make a life again. liz: it is so timely as we are again in a month of horrible fires here. what have you learned about how much climate change later role in that fire versus negligence by pg&e? lizzie: that is a tricky thing because all of these different factors combined to cause these huge fires and obviously climate change is creating the fire

season last longer. there is infrastructure that has not been maintained which causes the fires as well, but there is also the fact of how we build in the state and where we put housing. all of these things interact as one to make these fire so devastating. liz: there are so many survival stories from paradise. i remember the day it started and we all rushed up there. of all of the people you interviewed in the stories you heard, is there one moment that sticks with you the most? lizzie: there was a woman i interviewed, and she had given birth to 12 hours before the fire hit town. when the hospital was evacuated she got separated from her husband and put in a stranger's car and there was this moment where they were stuck and were not sure if they were going to make it out. she looked at him and was like, if it comes to this, please just take my baby and run and leave

me here. as i was reporting, i thought about that moment over and over and what it would be to make a hard decision like that, not knowing if you are going to make it out. liz: what do you hope people take away from your book? lizzie: i want understand that after these fires go out, it is not like these places go back to normal. you might see what an anniversary looks like, but you forget what these places were and how this sense of home changes. more and more people are going to find themselves in that place as climate change orson. there something we can learn from how paradise handled that fire and what it was before the fire, and how the town is enduring now. liz: lizzie johnson

for joining us. her book is on store s now. i look forward to reading that. i remember that david woodley and it is -- that day vividly. lisa: and now as we start the fall, the offshore flow, we know what we had ahead of us potentially, but not as bad as it has been, but we are certainly impacted with the fires in the smoke today with the hazardous air. as we look at live doppler 7, the fog has been protecting us all summer, and this is all smoke from blue canyon, but a lot of -- i went to call your attention to the east coast for a huge your cane is occurring. this is hurricane ida, a category 1 but then it makes

moves into the gulf of mexico, four slamming into louisiana.icd this will have devastating effects with 10-15 but storm surge and then it will move up to the tennessee valley. we are looking at, no wind at all, we are really trapped underneath this rich of -- ridge of high pressure. palo alto is at 69, and the aira quality is just a tiny bit better here but not much better. 76 degrees by the delta and some gusty northerly wind for the next couple of hours up towards mount st. helena, knoxville creek, and have a red flag warning in the sacramento valley.

the levels are hazardous from the coast, central bay and the rest of the bay and conditions today will remain moderate to poor. you can see what we are dealing with, smoky air for your saturday is the air quality improves tomorrow. it will take some time. we will get returned to the fog and the onshore flow, but it sets the stage for much better air quality towards the rest of the work week. that will bring gusty conditions in the hills. there will be a caveat with that. 86 in oakland today, mendocino county very hot, 86 in the east bay, and low 90's for san jose with about 92 in redwood city. a slight risk of heat related illnesses because of the triple digit heat inland today, tomorrow gets a little better and then looking at the air quality improving as temperatures decline.

it looks like it will be pretty wasn't as september arrives with temperatures below average. that should be a nice switch. liz: thank you. one bay area team is hoping to make it big on the magic take off, what helen knew exercise could help her diabetes... but she didn't know what was right for her. no. nope. no way. but then helen went from no to know with freestyle libre 14 day, now she knows what activity helps lower her glucose. and can see what works best for her. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. freestyle libre 14 day. now covered by medicare for those who qualify.

>> here are the winning numbers from the megamillion's and that mega ball 23, nobody matched all six numbers. at ticket matched five numbers, and that ticket is worth nearly $185,000. tuesday night that jack bought increases. a bay area teenager is hoping to turn her passion into a winning recipe. this 14-year-old is competing on the magic bake-off. she and a teammate will design

their idea of a modern-day princess in the form of the cake. the pandemic inspired her to get into the kitchen after her activities like swimming and dancing got canceled and now she has big dreams. >> i still do not know for sure, but as of now i want to be a pastry chef at disneyland. liz: you can watch her compete on disney now. disney is the parent company of abc 7. i would take that job. lisa: you know it is smoky out there with the air quality less than ideal, and healthy in the east and the south bay. moderate in san francisco and the north bay. look for excessive heat and smoky conditions, near 100 and a little bit more of a breeze tomorrow. liz: thank you. thank you for joining us here. we are off early today because

of the little league world series live from south williamsport, pennsylvania, so next hamilton, ohio takes on sioux falls, south dakota. the championship, and then taylor michigan battles honolulu , and the winters face-off tomorrow for the championship. abc 7 at 5:00 p.m. have a great day. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

monitor, check and lock down you money with security from chase. control feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. homelessness, housing, taxes, water, electricity, crime, wildfires. [sfx: bear roar] gavin, you've failed. we have to immediately cut taxes twenty-five percent. fix housing and homelessness. and make life in california affordable again. i'm a businessman, the only cpa running. shouldn't we choose ability this time? do you think john cox will be a better governor than gavin newsom? [sfx: bear roar] does a bear sh*t in the woods?

>> announcer: the following is a special presentation of espn on abc. championship saturday and there they are, all dressed in their reds and their grays. we are in williamsport, pennsylvania, this is the 2021 little league world series. team from ohio. o-h-i-o in red, south dakota in the gray and they'll share a field as they try to win their own bracket championship. their fans are ready and so are we for what should be a super saturday in williamsport. ♪