>> building a better fate bay area, -- building a better bay area, this is abc news. >> we are crossing our fingers. >> fingers crossed. a stressful day for holiday travelers after several airlines canceled thousands of lights because of -- flights because of omicron. officials are warning the worst is yet to come. you are watching abc seven news at 6:00, live. according to flightaware, more than 10,000 flights have been delayed and more than 2400 canceled outright. our reporter was at sfo, where families are stranded and the staff says the worst is yet to come over the holiday weekend. >> call it the nightmare before christmas as omicron fears jet into holiday panic. >> i keep seeing these cancellations and keep my fingers crossed.

>> she was hoping to fly to united -- on united. >> how many flights have been canceled? >> to my knowledge, 170. the number keeps going up. >> airline staff sick, prompting a slew of airlines, including jetblue, to cancel hundreds of flights nationwide and here in the bay area. it happened to jack. he's worried he won't make it to seattle. >> we are on the 12:50 flights, but it has trouble. we are going at 2:18 now. >> we've been constantly checking all the websites. we are crossing our fingers and hoping we will be able to make this trip. >> do you have a backup plan? >> no, we don't. >> omicron mixed up 50% to 70% of new covid cases in california. bay area travelers questioning

if the trip is worth the risk. >> i'm sure there are people in this terminal now and on the plane who are positive. >> we are thinking and rethinking this. >> as airline staff are stretched thin, scrambling to reschedule flights, others are keeping the holiday hope alive. >> happy holidays. >> and hope for the best. >> at least until take off. >> how many hours? >> about 2.5. >> but we are still on the board to go. fingers crossed. >> united has canceled the most flights across the country and here at sfo. if you are traveling over the holiday weekend, triple check your flight status. a handful of airlines have reported hundreds of cancellations for christmas day. abc 7 news. >> covid tests are becoming one of the must haves this holiday season. a volunteer in the north bay is stepping up to bring them to

people who might not be able to get one. a man has turned his driveway into a pop-up testing site. mario castille -- casti casti ci organization just received hundreds of covid tests. he is giving them away. >> we need to take care of each other. during these difficult times. that's basically what i'm trying to do here. >> we have a wonderful facebook community page, which mario posted he was doing this wonderful service for free. >> what a nice guy. mario gave out more than 50 tests in just a couple hours. he allowed people to test right there on the street in their car . many people are relying on at home covid tests. who is tracking the number of positive cases from those tests? our reporter has what you need to know if you are relying on an at-home test this season. >> planning to go to toronto for the holidays, but omicron

changed his mind. >> we were just concerned. >> he is vaccinated and boosted. still, he has been regularly testing himself for covid at home. >> i have three left. >> he's not alone. this professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist says at-home test are reliable. >> at-home tests are the way of the future. >> but it could skew the case positivity rate. >> it's like seeing the tree fall in the forest and nobody knows but you. >> and infectious disease specialist at uc berkeley's school of public health says this translates to critical covid related decisions. >> we make a lot of recommendations based upon how many cases are out there. knowing how many cases are occurring gives us an early warning for what's going to be happening to our hospitals in a couple weeks, what is going to be happening in people's lives in about a month.

>> contact three groups of people if you test positive, your employer, your school or child costs school, and your primary care provider or care professional. >> you will be all set. >> i have not thought about it. >> if he were to get a positive result, he would probably take a pcr tests next for medical confirmation, which ultimately would be reported. a new consideration for anyone testing at home as california continues to fight the spread of covid-19. >> let's move next to the developing news in the east bay that we have been following all day. interstate 680 northbound is in the process of reopening nearly 12 hours after a tanker truck crash spilled thousands of gallons of gasoline onto the freeway in fremont. because of the gas smell, nearly 100 homes near the crash were evacuated for hours. our reporter talked with some

residents and has more on the effort to reopen the freeway. >> this is christmas eve, right? we are supposed to be home, cook a big feast, just enjoy the day together. >> instead, this mom and her family were woken up early this morning by police officers. >> i was scared because i didn't know what was going on. >> heavy rain caused a car to crash early this morning. the fuel tanker behind it tried to avoid the crash and overturned. the drivers involved had only minor injuries, but the crash wasn't what led to the evacuation and the road closure. 7900 gallons of fuel link -- leaked. we spoke with the chp as crews were in the early stages of cleanup. >> gasoline poses a hazard. it can cause dizziness. as well as the flammability. that's part of what we are dealing with.

we have to make sure the flammable liquids have been properly handled before we begin the process of recovering this rig. the smallest bid could -- spark could send any residual gasoline up in flames. >> they also are looking into the environmental impacts the leak caused. >> slowed down, drive safe, get where you are going safe. we want everyone to enjoy a good holiday. i'm sure there's a lot of unhappy drivers. we want to avoid this type of incident. >> the mom and family were able to go home early this afternoon, after being evacuated for several hours. needless to say, they were grateful. >> investigators in millbrae a flash for that happened in just 30 seconds killed two people during yesterday's storm. two vehicles drove into rising water along hillcrest boulevard near el camino real. according to the city, a public

works employee rescued the driver of the first car. moments later, a flash flood happened, submerging a second car. rescuers later recovered two bodies. they are now working to notify next of kin. people are being asked to stay out of the water in a section of san luis obispo county after a server was killed by a shark today -- surfer was killed by a shark today. a woman surfer helped pull him to shore. when rescue crews arrived, the man was declared dead. authorities say his injuries were caused by a shark attack. beachgoers are being urged to stay out of the water for at least the next 24 hours. the last deadly shark attack in that area was in 2003. >> expect to see weird things we haven't seen before. >> it's the biggest telescope ever to be put into space. we are on the eve of its historic launch.

why scientists think it will help shed light on the origins of the universe. >> we are getting some light spotty showers this evening, head of a moderate storm overnight. i will have your wet christmas day forecast and let you know some days, you just don't have it. not my uncle, though. he's taking trulicity for his type 2 diabetes and now, he's really on his game. once-weekly trulicity lowers your a1c by helping your body release the insulin it's already making. most people reached an a1c under 7%. plus, trulicity can lower your risk of cardiovascular events. it can also help you lose up to ten pounds. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer,

or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, and may worsen kidney problems. show your world what's truly inside. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. the classic hollywood story. we meet the hero, the all-new nissan frontier hero faces seemingly impossible challenge. tension builds... the plot twist the hero prevails in hollywood, this would be the end. but our here, we are just getting started. introducing the all-new nissan frontier.

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as our reporter explains, they expect to make what they call some weird discoveries. >> the christmas morning launch of the james webb space telescope could give the greatest gift of all. data from near the beginning of the universe. unlike previous space-based telescopes, it will analyze ultraviolet light using the largest telescope ever put in space. the complex goldplated mirror will operate from an orbit 1,000,000 miles up, giving it a clearer view than what's possible on earth do to air pollution. -- due to air pollution. >> we will be able to see objects, things that were formed near the very beginning of the universe. >> he is an astrophysicist, who has been working on this mission for 25 years. >> we will expect to see things we haven't seen before. there will probably be different molecules, different chemistry

that we've seen. >> he will be looking for evidence of carbon, important to life, along with ammonia and methane, in the atmosphere of small, rocky planets. it will take 10 days for the large mirror to unfold and up to six months to calibrate it. the space telescope is a cooperative venture of nasa and the european union and canadian space agencies. the massive amount of data collected will become public one year later. >> we are going to hit the ground running and try to analyze the data quickly. we put a lot of effort into planning these programs and we want to be the ones to do discoveries. >> about 70 deep space planets will be targeted for research over the telescope's 10-year lifespan. >> fascinating. coming up, spreading christmas joy on the peninsula. what one community did to

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>> new at 6:00, an eight-year-old boy got a special visit from santa at his home today. >> merry christmas! >> that is young alexander, being lured to his driveway for a big surprise party. he is battling stage three cancer, so some good elves dressed up as reindeer and

snowmen. they brought plenty of gifts, too. >> it's intense, going through chemotherapy. blood, needles, pain -- all the things that cancer patients have to go through. we do all we can to bring them happiness as often as we can. >> just so sweet. the party continued for a while in his front yard. some neighbors even joined in. the gifts were bought with donations from alexander's family and friends. merry christmas and all our best. let's check the weather forecast. we have when the rain will restart. >> nice and sunny in the previous video. we will be getting showers for the next few hours, but the system arrives overnight. it's going to be a storm level. we've had some measurable rain,h falling through parts of the bay area in some trace amounts.

we will continue to see that over the next few hours. temperatures are starting to drop in many spots. even some 40's out there in san rafael and napa. on abc 7's storm impact scale, the system is a two out of five, moderate. it's mostly during christmas morning hours. there could be brief downpours. it will be windy at times. we are worried about some flooding. there is a chance of thunderstorms and some small hail. i want to show you the forecast animation. 2:00 a.m., still mostly dry. notice this line of showers and heavy rain indicated by the red and orange. this is snow in white and pink. even by 7:00 a.m., most of this is in the north bay. some showers ahead of the line of storms. 10:00, we will see this line move through vallejo and san

francisco. we could get a heavy downpour and the possibility of thunderstorms. by lunchtime, it slides to the east bay and the south bay, turning into showers for the evening and continuing into sunday, we start off the morning with some showers turning into rain sunday night. rainfall totals range anywhere from half an inch to an inch and a half. most of this rain will fall during christmas morning. up to 1.5 inches in napa and anywhere from three quarters up to an inch around the bay and less toward brentwood. in the 40's for most everyone with the exception of lakeport at 39. the rain will sweep through and with it will come strong winds. notice the rain slides south tomorrow. temperatures in the low 50's around the bay area and some upper 40's through parts of the north bay. a winter storm warning in effect for the sierra. you do not want to be traveling there. up to 12 feet expected over the peaks and the snow levels will

be dropping overnight into each day. we've got rain to showers tomorrow morning, temperatures will be on the cool side and then showers to rain on sunday. wintry and breezy. finally looking drive thursday into new year's eve. >> coming up in sports, the warriors prepare for a christmas showdown in phoenix. why the 49ers los

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>> now, abc 7 sports. >> for the fans who are quick to blame the loss to the titans squarely on jimmy garoppolo, remember he doesn't play defense or special teams. sure, he threw two costly interceptions. he missed some throws, a big one to a wide open player. jimmy did lead them on a fourth quarter game-tying drive before tennessee kicked a field goal to win it with four seconds left. everyone shared blame in the loss. >> you can't get off the field on the third down.

they have two turnovers. we have zero. >> our best players didn't play our best game. as an offense, we had to not make mistakes. >> what lost the game was the third downs and the takeaways. we lost in both those areas. >> it doesn't change for me. i wish we would've won it. everyone in the locker room does. we have to move on to the next one. >> the warriors are scheduled to play the phoenix suns tomorrow at 2:00 on abc 7. golden state playing on christmas. they don't mind playing on christmas because that means it's the marquee matchup, but steve kerr would like to be, as the song says, home for the holidays. >> i do think there should be a rule on the nba that you can't be on the road two years in a row. just making that clear. i'm confident that next year we

will be at home for christmas or we will all protest and not show up. >> now i miss my daughter's first christmas and i miss her second one. i have a job. you have to go do your job. but we are human beings, too. >> i have three kids. it's a special day and weekend. you tried to balance being present with them. it means you're doing something good to play on christmas, so you have to take the good with the bad. >> i know where i will be on christmas, right here, after all those games,. at 11:00. . warriors and sons at 2:00. >> maybe the christmas gift of a victory. coming up tonight on abc 7, we have quite a holiday lineup. at 8:00 p.m., olof's frozen adventure, followed by shrek the halls, pre and l -- prep and landing, prep and landing two. i will be back with you for 11:00 news. watch our newscasts live and

on-demand. the app is available for apple tv, android tb, amazon fire tv, and roku. start streaming now. finally, a few thoughts about what really matters. here we are again, navigating a second holiday season in the pandemic. unlike last year, we have vaccines and boosters available to everyone, but we also have omicron fueling new anxiety and an alarming increase in the new cases. 175 new infections nationwide every day, wreaking havoc on air travel. spoiling plans for family gatherings from coast-to-coast. a lot of people stuck at the airport, unsure what's going to happen the next couple of days. but still, it's christmas, a time of wonderful children, tradition, kindness, and goodwill. covid has taken a lot from us, but it can't take away the spirit of this special season.

if you celebrate christmas, i hope you have a joyful and magical day with those you love tomorrow. if you don't observe the holiday, have a lovely and restful weekend. from our family here at abc 7 to yours, merry christmas, happy holidays, and all the best for this new year ahead. i always love to hear from you. follow me on twitter and facebook. that'st this edition of editiono news. we appreciate your time. we appreciate your time. have a nice evening. enjoy the gift of being together. the binaxnow covid-19 antigen self test has the same technology used by doctors and detects multiple variants. so in just 15 minutes, you can test, know, and go. available in stores and online. ♪

the classic hollywood story. we meet the hero, the all-new nissan frontier hero faces seemingly impossible challenge. tension builds... the plot twist the hero prevails in hollywood, this would be the end. but our here, we are just getting started. introducing the all-new nissan frontier. enjoy the gift of being together. the binaxnow covid-19 antigen self test has the same technology used by doctors and detects multiple variants. so in just 15 minutes, you can test, know, and go. available in stores and online.

♪ [ school bell rings ] >> ring in the new year with new comedies... >> get down! [ screams ] >> new dramas... >> your whole life is based on a lie. >> stop! >> and returning favorites... >> and i can't wait to get married and have kids. >> whoo! >> plus, prepare to say farewell to the johnsons. >> anything is possible! >> your "on the red carpet: abc winter preview" starts right now. >> hello, and happy new year, everyone. 2022 brings a bunch of new abc shows and specials, plus the return of many of your favorites. let's kick off this edition of "on the red carpet" with one of those new shows, "abbott elementary," a new comedy series set in a philadelphia public school. so who better to give us a preview than alicia vitarelli, from wpvi, the abc station in