south bay. i'm live in fremont with the latest on what that means for commuters and for job seekers. we've got you covered across the bay area as we take a live look outside, this time from the east bay in oakland. traffic is picking up, that rain certainly is as well. be careful before you head out the door. it is thursday, april 12th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you and thanks for joining us. it's 6:00 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marla tellez. good morning, in for jon kelley. we do want to check that forecast first with meteorologist christina loren. she's in the nbc bay area weather center working your tail off. let's hear more about this morning's wild weather. >> yeah, well chances are thunder or down pours woke you up this morning. take a look at what's still coming down over the south bay. morgan hill just getting slammed at this point. you can see all that orange and

red embedded within the green. that's heavy rain. embedded we have isolated thunderstorms, so pea-size hail likely for this morning, especially if you're headed towards morgan hill along 101 pushing towards gilroy. now, we're going to continue to see this active weather for the first part of the morning. we will get a break later on today. we'll talk about when coming up. first, we'll take you live as you can imagine all this wet weather wreaking havoc on our local roadways. bob redell live northbound 680 between capital and berryessa. bob, what's it like out there? >> good morning, christina. we're just south of the capital avenue exit and this is an example of why you need to slow down and be careful out here in the wet weather. this happened within the past hour. the driver of this box truck because of the slick roads lost control and tumbled over. we're in the northbound direction, the far left rain is where he's blocking -- actually the far left two lanes he's blocking of northbound 680. the good news is the wrecker just arrived so maybe they'll

have this cleared within the next 10 to 30, perhaps 60 minutes. the driver is okay, he's actually with chp right now waiting for his ride so that's the good news as far as this concerned. no one was hurt in this accident. the bad news is for people trying to get to work do have to deal on this backup on the ride up 680. the backup extended almost a mile. something to keep in mind here. if you can find an alternate commute direction on 680 approaching capital, you might want to do this because this could take another 10, 15, maybe 30 minutes. you can see the driver of the wrecker drying to assess how he's going to right this box truck and get it out of here. reporting live here along 680, bob redell, "today in the bay." new this morning, police trying to track down whoever shot two men overnight on the streets of oakland. officers say the two men drove themselves to the hospital after being shot on west street near

29th street overnight. neither was able to provide a description of a possible suspect. officers say the shooting may be related to an earlier shooting blocks away on myrtle street. in that case shots were reportedly fired at a woman, but no one was hurt. some special technology is now being used in the search for missing morgan hill teenager sierra lamar. santa clara county sheriff deputies are using sonar equipment to scan local reservoirs. it's the same device used to find laci peterson when she vanished. hundreds of volunteers continue to help out in that search effort. they're going door to door hoping someone will remember seeing lamar. >> the family just physically can't do it, it's so physically taxing. but they see 500 people come out looking and they see people really do care and are out looking so it keeps their hope alive. >> the family has just created a

website that has all the information about the case and ways you can help with the search. two brothers from seaside missing in big sur have been found, but only one of them is returning home alive. 61-year-old mike marshall was last seen on march 31st when he became separated from a friend while hiking from bottcher's gap to old coast road. his older brother, fred marshall, got lost while searching for him last week. yesterday search crews discovered mike's body in the little sur river. crews found fred nearby alive and in good condition. it is 6:04. vandals strike again at a south bay war memorial. someone shattered a glass panel at a downtown san jose tribute to the veterans of all wars. just last month it had been rededicated after several panels were smashed. yesterday new damage was spotted. it will cost about $5,000 to repair. police are searching for the suspects. work will soon be under way

to bring the south bay on board with the rest of the bay area. stephanie trong is live with an update on today's historic ground-breaking ceremony. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: marla, good morning to you. you know, we've spoken before with many commuters from the south bay who say it takes forever to get to the fremont b.a.r.t. site, especially getting through all that congestion on 680 and 880 to get here, so the ground breaking a great moment for them. we spoke with people here this morning who are very excited as well. >> i think it will work great for everybody because i mean you've got to go to work and the way gas prices are, it's going to be working out great. >> there's never been an extension to go down to san jose to b.a.r.t. i like to go out there sometimes. >> reporter: well, movement south has already started. construction of the warm springs station in south fremont is under way, slated to finish in 2015. a year later is when the ten-mile berryessa extension project is expected to open and

serve an average of 23,000 daily commuters. that's in the first year alone. also expected to create an estimated 18,000 direct and indirect jobs, many in construction. so federal state and local leaders getting ready to celebrate at 11:30, including u.s. senators dianne feinstein. the actual ground-breaking is at 2:00 this afternoon. this morning yet another bay area city is cracking down on lighting up. city leaders in san rafael may extend an existing smoking ban to include apartment buildings and some outdoor locations. city laws already prevent people from smoking indoors and in common areas at apartment complexes. the city council is now looking at banning smoking in most apartments with buildings with 16 or more units. they're also looking at banning smoking in all outdoor dining areas, bus stops, atm machine lines and public event, except

in designated areas. new this morning, a strong earthquake hit the western mexico coast early today. the u.s. geological survey reports a 6.9 magnitude quake hit the waters between the baja peninsula and the northern state of fenora. that follows a 6.4 shaker that struck the mountains of western mexico wednesday causing plenty of shaking in cities up to 200 miles away from the epicenter. just yesterday an 8.6 quake and an 8.2 aftershock rattled the coast of sumatra in the indian ocean. overnight many people in the country's west province chose to spend the night in tents, shelter centers and mosques. they left belongings behind racing to higher ground. tsunami warnings were raised as far away as africa but the big wakes never arrived. several hours later a 5.6

earthquake hit off the coast of oregon. no reports of damage. talking about how soggy it is in the bay area but the central valley had wild weather yesterday. an f-1 tornado struck just south of stockton. caught on tape here wednesday afternoon. the tornado tipped over an empty tractor-trailer, destroyed a shed with winds estimated about 90 miles per hour. luckily no one was hurt. since 1950, about 350 tornados have been recorded in california. 6:08. there's a new effort under way to protect the shoreline from an inevitable katrina. many areas around the south bay shoreline are below sea level. as much as 13 feet below in some places. those areas include homes, schools and corporate campuses, including facebook and google. today community leaders will call for $1 billion in funding to build new levees and restore wetlands to protect vulnerable

areas from flooding. getting some flooding ponding on the roadways with all that rain coming down, it could certainly affect your morning commute. let's check in with christina loren for a look at the weather and the commute this morning. >> people take a look at this and, yeah, the radar speaking volumes this morning. we have heavy downpours still coming down from morgan hill to gilroy, santa cruz. you're getting a little bit of a break but heavy rain just started to subside in that neck of the woods and now we're monitoring isolated thunderstorms developing. we're expecting thunderstorms as we head throughout the day. as a result we could see pea-sized hail, gusty winds and brief, heavy downpours. in fact i just spotted this one just to the north of san francisco. that's what we're expecting. the bulk of the moisture has come through from this front. you can see we're mostly dry right now over the greater bay area. we'll continue to see pop-up storms. temperatures will be on the cool side warranting a jacket just about all day long. later on this afternoon when we

do get some clearing between about 10:00 and 4:00 p.m., we could get enough warmth for some stronger storms to fire up. so we'll be monitoring that for you right here in the nbc bay area weather center. switching gears, as you can imagine, we have some delays on the roadway with all that wet weather that just came through. starting at 680 northbound, reports of a box truck on its side. bob redell just showed you that truck, blocking two lanes for the time week. we'll have a live report and he'll show you how bad that backup is live. east 580 a crash blocking the left-hand lane where a car lost control and went into the center divide. numerous reports of spin-outs all across the bay area and high wind advisories issued for all bay area bridges. just make sure you're on guard before we head out the front door. >> thank you very much. it is 6:10. coming up on "today in the bay" former presidential candidate john edwards' trial is almost ready to begin.

find out what's happening today still ahead. and george zimmerman expected to be in court today. find out what zimmerman's attorney could ask for. and if you're just getting ready to hit the road, here's a live look at what you can expect in the north bay. this is traffic heading through san rafael. 101 seems to be moving along just fine so far. take it easy out there. and for the latest news, t c bay ea.ather, find us on [ male announcer ] a car is either luxury or it isn't.

if you want a luxury car with a standard power moonroof, your options are going to be limited. ♪ if you want standard leather-trimmed seats, you're going to have even fewer. ♪ and if you want standard keyless access, then your choice is obvious. the lexus es. it's complete luxury in a class full of compromises. see your lexus dealer. welcome back, everyone. take a live look outside. waiting for the sun to officially come up. boy, that rain certainly coming down pretty hard across many parts of the bay area. we'll have a look at the forecast coming up. 6:13 right now. the attorney for george zimmerman plans to ask a judge to let zimmerman post bail.

that request could come at this morning's first court appearance. yesterday prosecutors charged zimmerman with second-degree murder in trayvon martin's death in february. zimmerman admits shooting the unarmed teen but says it was self defense. north korea did not take advantage of a launch window for its controversial rocket launch today. the country says it plans to launch the rocket between today and monday. countries like japan, u.s. and south korea think the launch is actually a secret ballistic missile test. north korea maintains it is just a satellite launch. jury selection begins today for a former democratic presidential candidate accused of campaign fraud. john edwards is charged with six felony counts related to money dealings during his 2008 campaign. questions are also being raised on whether he gave money to support his former mistress. she's expected to testify in this case. if found guilty, edwards could face up to 30 years in prison and pay more than a million dollars in fines.

6:14 right now. gop front runner mitt romney has already stepped up attacks on the president and now he's focusing those attacks. the former governor is zeroing in on two issues, women and the economy. he claims nearly all the jobs lost during the obama administration were positions held by women. a group of supporters is releasing new ads focusing on the president's energy policies and the state of the economy. the president is not taking the attacks laying down. >> to keep spending more money on tax cuts for wealthy americans who don't need them and weren't even asking for them. >> a major anti-abortion group will announce it is backing romney after rick santorum dropped out of the race earlier this week. actually he suspended his race. it is 6:15. we're going to talk the rainy weather out there. if you're just getting ready to head out, be prepared. >> oh, my goodness, take a look at this. right now the heaviest rain is concentrated in the south bay

but all this moisture that you're looking at, all that red and orange, that just came through the greater bay area, so we have some pretty flooded roadways out there. localized flooding just about everywhere and we're monitoring some pop-up thunderstorms at this point. one just developed to the north of 80 so you want to take that easy this morning. when you see a cell like that in addition to the rain and brief heavy downpours, we're talking about gusty winds. a lot of instability so give yourself plenty of time to reach your destination safely. we stopped the futurecast at 5:00 a.m. you can see pockets of moderate rain just in time for the morning commute tomorrow but we're going to get a little bit of a break before that next wave of moisture comes through. if you want to make outdoor plans for today, you can do so. you're going to get about eight hours between 11:00 and 7:00 are pretty good-looking weather across the bay area. we stop the weather at 1:00 p.m. and you can see here light showers anticipated over the

city of san francisco at the start of that home opener. so i do believe that rain delays are a possibility. i don't think the game is going to get rained out. good news if you've got a ticket. make sure you're going to be ready for cold, wet conditions if you're headed out to the home opener at at&t park. we are so excited about it, excited to be part of the giants right here. the three-day forecast tells the story. we'll dry you out by the weekend. we're talking about 55 monday making way to 73 later on that afternoon, gorgeous conditions for outdoor plans. switching gears now, we have reports of a box truck on its side and this is 680 headed northbound between capital -- it looks like just as you approach capital. bob redell is live on the scene. we'll have a report from him. major accidents not an issue right now, except for this one. but we have reports of flooding, spinouts all across the bay area, so just take it easy this morning. we'll be here to update you. back to you, ladies. >> christina, thank you.

so we're going to be talking about some flooding. a messy start in one san francisco neighborhood right now. check this out. rainwater seeping into this home on folsom street between 17th and 18th street. firefighters having to mop up most of the water. they did so by now but initially residents reported at least 8 inches of water flowing into that home. >> that is going to take some time to clean up too. in just hours low income families in the east bay will have a new place to seek health care. tonight a community open house will be held at a brand new 17,000 square foot clinic on sierra road in concord. la clinica monument replaces a much smaller facility in pleasant hill. it is expected to serve 15,000 patients every year. 68 full-time employees will work there. the city of oakland is collecting a chunk of change from microsoft. microsoft will pay more than $200,000 as a settle naement in class action lawsuit.

the lawsuit accused microsoft of charging inflated prices on software. microsoft will shell out $70 million to all the california cities and counties listed in that suit. today's giants game will make a little history. 22-year-old madison bum gardner will start against 49-year-old rockies pitcher jamie moyer. the age difference between the two pitchers exactly 26 years and 256 days but who's counting. that will be the third biggest age difference between two starting pitchers in the history of major league baseball. the giants hope youth will be served today after a big loss in colorado yesterday. tim lincecum with his shorter new hairdo took the mound. you saw it there quickly. before the third inning ended, he gave up six runs. the giants did make a comeback, but in the end they managed to take a little beating. they lost it -- a big beating actually, 17-8. tomorrow is the big day here. giants come back to san francisco to play that home

opener. tomorrow's game as well as saturday's and sunday's sold out. it starts at 1:35. probably going to be rainy, but they think maybe a delay, not a rainout. >> let's hope not. just about 6:20 now. the san jose sharks are ready to hit the ice in the stanley cup playoffs tonight. the sharks have made it to the playoffs 13 times in their past 14 attempts. it is a record that's unmatched by any other pro sports team in the bay area, but the team has never won the cup. the puck drops at 4:30 our time in st. louis as the sharks take on the blues. you can catch it on comcast sportsnet california. >> i love all the teams that we can cheer on here in the bay area. >> go sharks! coming up, there's a new chapter in george lucas's latest saga. find out how marin county is trying to get his proposed film studio back on track. and here's a live look at that historic landmark we all love so much. the golden gate bridge traffic despite the rain seems to be moving along just fine as people head into san francisco on this

rainy thursday morning. slow it down out there. we'll check the forecast with christina loren when we come back. it's 6:20.

welcome back, everyone. taking a live look outside. boy, a stormy start to your thursday morning across the bay

area. wreaking a lot of havoc on the roadways with a lot of water coming down, some ponding. be careful before you head out the door. if you can, add a little extra time or just sit back and relax, a lot more ahead. 6:23 right now. oakland is aimed at making city streets a little greener. they are launching a program hoping to help businesses transform parallel parking spaces into miniature parks. the first parklets will be finished in late may or early june. two businesses have already applied for permits to build the parklets. one at alcatraz avenue at san pablo avenue and 40th street near webster street. 6:24. the marin county empire striking back, offering big incentives to get george lucas back into the film studio game. earlier this week we told you lucas is pulling the plug over a proposed compound over complaints by neighbors about the environmental impact. this is what the digital production studio at the

historic farm would have looked like in lucas valley. trying to lure lucas back, supervisors now promising to help block any lawsuits by neighbors and approve the project without restrictions. kfc thailand is apologizing for a facebook post during yesterday's tsunami scare. as people were urged to evacuate, the fast food chain told everyone to hurry home and don't forget to order your favorite kfc menu. today that post is gone, replaced by one asking for forgiveness. >> yeah, that bucket of chicken not that important. >> not worth it, no. 6:25. still ahead on "today in the bay" bar and restaurant owners are fighting back against new restrictions in walnut creek. see what they're doing coming coming up. plus a long-awaited ground breaking taking place in the south bay today. a live report on b.a.r.t.'s big day is next. we still have heavy rain coming down over parts of the bay area. the south bay getting slammed. we'll let you know where this

front is headed and we have another wave of heavy moisture headed towards our area. we'll time the next system out as well coming up. and a live look outside san rafael this morning. adds mentioned, christina is taking a look. when will those clouds part? weekend on ice tap. 6:26 right now. [ teen ] times are good, aren't they, kids?

it's nice having u-verse, isn't it? see back in my day, we didn't have these newfangled wireless receivers. fangled? we had to watch basketball in the living room... that's where the tv outlet was. what is he talking about? and if mom was hosting her book club that day, guess what...you missed it! we couldn't just move the tv all willy-nilly all over the house. ohh! ohh! kids today have it so good. ok. [ male announcer ] the new wireless receiver only from at&t. get u-verse tv for $25 a month with free hd for six months. at&t.

heavy rain, hail and lightning affecting your morning commute. we'll tell you where the showers are headed and when we get another wave of heavy rain in the bay area. and i'm bob redell. we're live in the south bay where an accident related to this wet weather is snarling your commute in san jose. we'll update you on the latest coming up. and an historic moment for local commuters and job seekers. i'm live in fremont with the latest celebration on b.a.r.t.'s extension into the south bay. and here's a live look at

the overcast skies above san francisco as the morning gets started on this thursday. prepare yourself for all the rain april 12th. this is "today in the bay." good morning to you and thanks for joining us. 6:29 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marla tellez in for jon kelley today. it's been a wet, wild one around the bay area today. let's check that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. you are getting your money's worth today. >> certainly, certainly doing just that. now, we've got heavy rain still coming down over parts of the bay area. you just saw from that live shot the clouds opening up and letting some of that blue in. so we are going to see a relatively dry day over the bay area now that the bulk of the moisture has come through w that said, we're also expecting daytime heating to reach levels where we could see strong thunderstorms develop later on today. we're going to continue to

update you on the status of this system. we've got more rain on the way as we head into tomorrow morning just in time for the morning rush yet again. we'll time them out and let you know when you can get out and what's to come for the big giants home opener. speaking of all the rain on your local roadways as people are getting out the door it's going to be a rough commute. let's take it live to bob redell. he's northbound on 680 where we have a box truck on its side. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, christina. the good news is that the tow truck just got this box truck right side up and right now all they have got to do is tow it out of here. they did have the two left lanes of northbound 680 here just south of capital shut down, but within the past minutes, chp reopened it so the roughly mile-long backup should be easing out soon here as traffic is able to start getting back to normal. the chp does tell us that the driver of this truck for whatever reason lost control.

they blame this on the wet weather. that is why the truck flipped over on its side. the driver is okay, was waiting with chp for a ride out of here. right now it's just a matter of looky-lous perhaps slowing down to watch this as the wrecker gets ready to tow this truck out of here. as far as the lane closures, those are over. all four lanes of northbound 680 just south of capital back open an it should be getting back to normal soon once they get that box truck out of here. reporting live here in san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." police trying to track down whoever shot two men overnight on the streets of oakland. officers say the two men drove themselves to the hospital after being shot on west street near 29th street overnight. neither was able to provide a description of a possible suspect. officers say the shooting may be related to an earlier one that happened blocks away on myrtle street. in that case shots were reportedly fired at a woman, but no one was hurt. it is 6:31 right now.

it has been decades in the making and now a plan to finally bring b.a.r.t. into the south bay will become a reality. stephanie trong is live with an update on today's official ground-breaking out there. you put the umbrella away so you're getting a dry stretch right now. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, laura, that's the good news for me and for the commuters. the activity has really picked up the last half hour. a lot of folks coming in are coming from the south bay. daily they have to fight through congestion on 680 and 880 just to get here, hop on the train and go up north to rush off to work. the good news is the work at the warm springs station is under way. the construction started there and is slated to finish in 2015. a year later is when the ten-mile berryessa project from milpitas down to san jose is expected to open and serve an average of 23,000 commuters daily and that's in the first year alone. >> gas is expensive these days.

i don't know, it will probably help some people getting from here and back to work. >> i think that when all the trains connect, say the caltrain to san francisco and you catch the b.a.r.t. to san jose down the other end, i think it's a benefit. >> reporter: another benefit is how much of the expectation of the job creation, i guess, here. they're estimating 18,000 direct and indirect jobs as a result of the project. many of them in construction. first this morning u.s. senator dianne feinstein is expected at a celebration in santa clara at 11:30 this morning and ahead of the actually ground-breaking just south i should say of the berryessa planned station. again that's at 2:00 this afternoon. for now live in fremont, now back to you. this morning police are on the hunt for a group of men involved in a deadly brawl at a bar near travis air force base.

one was killed and the other went to the hospital in serious condition. the shooting happened just before 9:00 outside a fairfield bar called perk's place. officers think a fight broke out between two groups of men. things escalated and ultimately someone began shooting. police say they are looking for more than one suspect. they don't think anyone from the air force base was involved. it is 6:34 right now. san francisco police are searching for a woman who boat a man with her high-heeled shoe. the alleged attack happened over the weekend outside a bar in the marina district near the corner of greenwich and fillmore streets. the man claims the woman bashed him over the head after he tried to break up a fight involving one of the woman's friends. police say they know who the woman is but haven't been able to find her. 6:34. bar owners at one east bay city are not happy over new proposed regulations. a walnut creek business group is against a measure which would regulate all businesses serving alcohol. the city wants those businesses to comply with a new ant

anti-nuisance ordinance. bar owners are worried about losing customers an even being shut down. city leaders will talk about the issue during a meeting tonight. a peninsula neighborhood says it doesn't want friday night lights in its backyard. sequoia union high school plans to install 70-foot light poles on each corner of the football field. the project also calls for a new p.a. system. a group of neighbors concerned about the noise and lights are fighting back. they have now hired an attorney to try to limit how often the school can use that new equipment. construction is expected to start this summer. well, we have some advice for you this morning. allow a little extra time. it's super busy on the roads. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. a whole lot of rain. >> a whole lot of rain. and what i have to bring to the table, a bit of good news. the active weather has for the most part moved through the greater bay area and it's concentrated over gilroy. you can see that here from this live picture over san francisco.

now later on today, this picture will likely reveal some pretty tall cumulonimbus clouds building. we still have an unstable air mass overhead so we'll be watching that today. i want to widen out and over the greater bay area mostly dry. we have a few pop-up thunderstorms starting to develop. they're falling apart rather quickly but once we get the daytime heating, that could be another story. right now watching temperatures on the cool side as well. you'll need that jacket just about all day long but, hey, talking about 60 degrees. san jose, livermore, you'll hit about 54 degrees at 4:00 p.m. in san francisco and oakland today. so with all that wet weather on the roadways, there's a couple of incidents to report. 580 eastbound, this is in livermore, reports of a car fire earlier this morning. now, we do know there's a crew on the scene working to get that fire cleared, but we know

there's a backup as well, at least a mile. so keep that in mind. again, that's 580 eastbound, reports of a car fire blocking the left-hand lane. backups throughout the city of livermore. moving along now 280 northbound, reportedly an accident blocking two lanes and delays beyond a mile and a half at this point so give yourself extra time there and just about everywhere. you want to travel cautiously. the roads are still wet. we have areas of ponding and puddles all over your local highways. take it easy out there this morning. back to you, ladies. >> thank you very much. if you can delay starting your morning routine, wouldn't you rather be inside rather than dealing with sheets of rain coming down. we'll have more on the morning's wild weather and the problems to the morning commute. and mitt romney's focus tournz president obama on the campaign trail. how fi out how romney is targeting women voters next in a live

report from washington.

welcome back. good morning. it's 6:40. the presidential field is getting smaller and the campaign rhetoric is getting more heated.

mitt romney and president obama trading jabs on two big issues. women and the economy. tracie potts is live in washington this morning. this could be just a preview for what we'll be seeing in the general election. good morning. >> reporter: well, it could certainly be because we're already seeing those two trained on each other, focused on each other and on these female voters. president obama says that voters need to take a close look at mitt romney's record when it comes to women's health issues. in fact there's a new obama attack ad out talking about romney overturning roe versus wade, getting rid of planned parenthood, talking about birth control and similar issues. romney says it's the obama administration, it's the president who waged war on women. he claims that over 90% of the jobs out there that have been lost under his administration were jobs that belonged to women. both very focused on this key voting block of female voters. recent polls have shown that

president obama is far ahead in terms of support from female voters, but just this morning key national pro-life group decided to endorse romney now that rick santorum is out of the race. >> okay, thank you. it is 6:42 right now. coming up, 15 minutes of uninterrupted news, including b.a.r.t. finally headed to the south bay. a live report on today' historic ground-breaking is coming up. and this is a live look at the skies above san rafael. it looks like it's clearing up just a little bit out there. we will check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren when we come back. stay with us. at progressive, you can bundle your home and auto policies and save. don't worry, tiny people. flo is a gentle giant. bundle home and auto at progressive.com.

i stmy family,ne. my home... my boyfriend. i can't help it. i'm a fashion stylist! at t.j.maxx, i get designer clothes... all on trend. and, everyone and everything looks good. even my bank account!

fashion direct from designers. savings direct to you. this nonstop fashionista is definitely a maxxinista. t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you.

welcome back, everyone. >> i was just going to ask if the rain woke you up this morning. let's check it now with meteorologist christina loren. >> it probably did. if it wasn't the rain, you're waking up with us in the north bay, it might have been the thunder. we've had thunderstorms rolling through just about all morning long. at this point 6:45 this morning, just as you're getting ready to make your way out that front door, we are left with a lot of aftermath on our local roadways. we had over an inch of rain come down over the course of about four hours. up in the north bay, the golden gate bridge got slammed. you can see from this live picture still dealing with dark clouds overhead but we're going to see blue skies today and a relatively dry day with on and off thunderstorms. let's go ahead and talk about what we're expecting for today. we widen out and show you the greater bay area. at this point the bulk of the moisture is concentrated over gilroy and racing into the

central valley. if you're headed into southern california driving along 5, you really want to take it easy. this system is potent. as we head throughout the next couple of hours, we'll continue to clear out. we'll get a nice, dry break for the first part of the day. relatively dry conditions between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. tonight. then we get another wave of moisture. heavy rain. stop the clock on your futurecast at 5:00 a.m. another rough drive expected as you make your way to work tomorrow. you can see that yellow right over oakland, santa rosa and just to the south of san jose. we stop that clock again at 1:00 p.m. on friday. you see those showers surrounding san francisco. game time for the giants' home opener. right now it doesn't look like it will be a rainout because we're going to see light activity tomorrow. steady for the first part of the day, so delays probable. as we head throughout 9:00 p.m. friday night we'll start to clear out and get a little bit of a dry break. i want to spend a second on this seven-day. if you miss the sunshine, if you miss the warmth, we've got it

for you. you just have to hold on a little bit longer. up to 73 degrees by monday, so that's the good news. let's get to the bad news. we've got a couple of serious situations. a sig alert 580 eastbound approaching livermore avenue. reports of a car fire. backup at about a mile at this point so that's going to take 15 minutes longer than usual. also down in the south bay, 280 northbound as you approach 10th street, a crash still blocking two lanes and delays at about 30 minutes. travel cautiously out there this morning. back to you two. we check out all the damage the rain did in san francisco. water seeping into this home on folsom street between 17th and 18th street. firefighters mopped up most of that water. they went by to help out. but initially residents reported at least 8 inches of water flowing into that home. it is 6:47 now. the south bay about to get on board with b.a.r.t.

stephanie is live at the fremont b.a.r.t. station which will son be a step closer to connecting with san jose. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mar lachlt finally today a ground-breaking being called an historic moment and a really nice moment for all the south bay commuters who will no longer have to rush up here to catch a train at the b.a.r.t. station. work at the warm springs station is already under way and the ten-mile berryessa project would go from that site down to milpitas and north san jose. in the first year alone, it's estimated 23,000 people will be using the extension and there's also great news for job seekers. we're talking about 18,000 direct and indirect jobs, a lot of them in construction. we are expecting u.s. senator dianne feinstein at a celebration at 11:30 this morning, just ahead of the ground-breaking just south of the planned berryessa station at

2:00 this afternoon. live in fremont, back to you. there's a new effort under way to protect the south bay shore line from what one supporter calls an inevitable katrina. many areas around the south bay shoreline are below sea level, as much as 13 feet below in some places. those areas include homes, schools and corporate campuses such as facebook and google. today community leaders will call for $1 billion in funding to restore levees and protect levels from funding. investigators are taking a high-tech approach to finding missing teenager sierra lamar. they are using sonar equipment to scan reservoirs. it's the same type of device to find laci peterson when she vanished. hundreds of volunteers are going door to door hoping someone will remember seeing lamar. >> the family just physically can't do it, it's so mentally

taxing. but they see 500 people come out looking, it brings their spirit up. people are really out there trying and looking so it keeps their hope alive. >> tomorrow it will be four weeks since she disappeared. a new website is dedicated to finding her. the family of the missing teen now posting updates and resources on findsierralamar.co friends, family and members of r.e community can leave messages on the site which als hosts blog updates from sierra's family. a $10,000 reward is available for anyone with information leading to sierra's safe return. 6:50. it will cost you more to upgrade your phone soon if you're a verizon customer. the company will start charging $30 every time the customer wants to upgrade. smartphones typically cost more than they sell for and this is an attempt to recoup some of that loss. the new fees go into effect april 22nd. you may not be getting all you're can you when it comes to your tax refunds. a new survey says only 20% of

taxpayers claim work-related expenses as a deduction. items many fail to include, continuing education costs and travel to work at different locations. and gas prices will continue to creep up during the peak summer driving season. the u.s. energy department is predicting motorists will pay an average of 24 cents more for regular gasoline this summer than they did last year. the agency says the west coast will be shelling out the most during the peak driving season with an average of $4.20 per gallon. 6:51 right now. we could soon see a spike in the number of homes being repossessed by lenders. the number of homes with first-time foreclosure notices rose 7% in march from the previous month. that's according to the listing firm realty track. that marks the third consecutive monthly increase this year. many banks are able to take action on those unpaid mortgages because of a $25 billion

settlement with several li.carniaat inclcaliforniaia. the state attorney general reached that agreement with the nation's largest mortgager. parents complain they're difficult to install. now researchers are blaming poor design by car makers that put seat belt buckles where they block the anchor for the child car seats and parents sometimes ignore an important safety feature. >> we think many parents may believe a tether is optional, but the tether isn't optional. it's absolutely essential to getting the best protection from a forward-facing child seat. >> to prove how essential it is, these crash tests demonstrate what happens if the tether is not used. this morning we're learning more about two college students shot and killed in their car near the university of southern

california. last night hundreds gathered on campus for a candlelight vigil in memory of the two graduate students. officers say the couple were sitting inside a bmw after midnight on wednesday when a suspect approached them and started firing. 23-year-old ying wu was found dead in the passenger seat, ming chu was shot and killed while trying to run for help. students who knew them are devastated. >> we are all alone. we only have the community and each other. >> she's a good friend and she's a good girl. >> police say the shooting may have been the result of a robbery or a carjacking attempt. so far no one is in custody. also in los angeles, dramatic video showing the moments before a police pursuit turned deadly on 101. police were chasing this car through the stretch of highway in the san fernando valley when the driver stop the car, jumped out and pointed something at

officers. that is when police started firing, killing the suspect on the spot. officers are still trying to figure out why the man was on the run in the first place. a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the western coast of mexico overnight just six hours after another strong quake swayed buildings in mexico city. scientists here in california are closely monitoring the activity and the quakes that rocked southeast asia yesterday. jean elle talked with them about what those quakes could mean for the bay area. >> reporter: scientists here at the usgs here in menlo park are reviewing data from four large earthquakes. the first two were over magnitude 8, 8.6 and 8.2 off the coast of sumatra in the indian ocean. panicked people ran for higher ground until the tsunami warning was lifted. scientists say tsunamis were not generated because the earth moved side to side instead of up and down. we now know tsunamis generated far away can damage california's coast. it happened in march 2011 when

the devastating earthquake in japan generated a wave that damaged the santa cruz harbor. these earthquakes give lawmakers something to consider. >> today's earthquake is another reminder that these earthquakes can happen not only once but happen in pairs. 8.6 and 8.2. a tsunami wave could strike the coast of california at any time. >> reporter: several hours after the quakes in the indian ocean, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit off the coast of oregon followed by a 6.5 quake off the coast of mexico. there are no reports of damage. now, the usgs does not think one triggered the other. scientists here say we should all take this sieismic activity seriously as a reminder, because they are expecting a strong earthquake to strike on the hayward fault here in the bay area at any time. it is 6:55 right now. the "today" show is coming up next. ann curry has a look at what

they're working on this morning. good morning. coming up here on a thursday morning on "today," complete coverage of the arrest of george zimmerman. a month and a half after the shooting death of trayvon martin. what is zimmerman saying about the murder charge against him? we'll be asking his new attorney in a lye interview. we'll also get reaction from trayvon martin's parents when they also join us live. also ahead the seventh graders who raced into action when their school bus driver suffered a heart attack. they'll be here to tell us how they remained so cool under pressure. then the five for bidden foods you should be eating to stay fit and healthy. and is there a new woman in prince harry's life? we'll go live to london with details on the possible romance in the works when we get started here on a thursday morning on "today." 6:56. new details this morning about the chaotic moments the night whitney houston died in a beverly hills hotel room. >> the person that called me was irate and i couldn't get much out of her. i got security going there now.

>> okay. we'll send police and fire over there with a person not breathing. does it sound like the person is still not breathing? >> yeah, that's correct. >> houston's body was found in a bathtub at the beverly hills hotel in february. the coroner ruling it as an accidental drowning. investigators found no evidence of foul play, but traces of cocaine were found in houston's system. 6:57 right now. it will be gupz but no roses for the next induction into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. guns and roses lead singer axl rose says he will not go to this weekend's ceremony. the band split up in 1996. he says he's not coming to the ceremony to avoid an awkward situation. not getting along with his ex-band members. a world renowned violinist is hoping to hit the right tune over an age-old problem. he will be dropping by the ucsf campus a little later this morning. he's going to meet with a 101-year-old professor who specializes in treating arthritis.

pearlman has a personal interest in arthritis because his daughter suffers from it. the two are going to talk about public pauly on that chronic disease. it just so happens the professor also plays the violin. we have some new information on that fleed home we've been telling you about in san francisco. it's on folsom street between 17th and 18th street this morning. firefighters say the people living there were standing in a foot and a half of water when they arrived and it turns out it's not just water. >> well, it's rainwater, but it did bring some sewage up with it, so these residents have been impacted. we have notified the department of public health. >> yeah, the department of public works is now coming out to help pump away all of that big mess out there. not a nice way to start your morning. it appears oakland is running away with much-needed profits. the city took in more than $3 million from last month's oakland running festival. the study found runners and visitors outside the bay area each spent nearly $200 during

their stay. the event also generated $300,000 in state and local taxes. local charities also benefit as the event contributed $300,000. and people got in shape. talking all the we weather outside this morning, meteorologist christina loren pulling double duty checking the rain and the roads. >> talking about getting in shape. the rain is probably going to catch you indoors. you will be able to go for a jog later on this afternoon. right now the bulk of the moisture has exited the greater bay area. showers pushing south of gilroy. pacheco pass will be treacherous, at least for the next hour. as we head throughout the day today, we're going to continuously clear you out but we do have the threat of isolated pop-up thunderstorms throughout the day today, depending on how warm it gets. we are expecting the cumulonimbus towers to build just like yesterday. we'll be here updating you throughout the day and on facebook as well. we'll be