out and cleaning up. new video shows what people in the north bay experience as that tsunami surge caused havoc. plus omicron and rising case rate. when will this latest surge peak? the reason why the surgeon general does not think it's going to happen any time soon. and returning to class amid a surge. how schools from stanford to the west contra costa school district are making campuses safe for students to return. a special edition of nbc bay area bay area news starts right now. thank you for joining us. >> we're on early because of the

upcoming playoff game between the steelers and chiefs right here on nbc bay area bay area. we start with the aftermath of that tsunami surge that affected communities up and down the cost. a much calmer scene at san francisco's ocean beach today, but the waves still roaring. just 24 hours earlier, first responders were warning people to leave the beach. people in the north bay were startled by how powerful and destructive the water could be. a dock pulled away from an apartment. >> and a lot of people say the water came in with such force they had never seen before. >> we packed to go to a higher ground just in case. >> reporter: these neighbors are grateful today in tiburon. they have a waterfront apartment unit and kept their eyes on the wild conditions outside saturday morning. >> we could see the water was coming in with a lot more force than we have ever seen before. >> reporter: they were concerned about potential danger from the

tsunami in the area because of the massive volcano that erupted and then they were alarmed by a dock that came off. >> we saw them pulling it and bring it back, quite and effort, three people just trying to, you know, coral it. >> reporter: marin county sheriffs tweeted a photo of dock damage in the richardson bay area and advised avoiding travel to coastal areas to avoid surges. >> i knew it was going to happen so i just avoided it all together. >> reporter: heather belfour stayed inside yesterday and noticed differences even today. >> it's definitely higher than it typically is. usually you can see piles of mud that go pretty far out this time of the year. >> reporter: another neighbor showed this video of water flooding the trailway. >> we are constantly looking out to see the water come in and go out, come in and go out. up after a point it started receding and then it didn't come in. >> reporter: in tiburon,

christie smith, nbc bay area bay area news. >> tonga remains covered in ash. we've just learned a surveillance flight from new zealand has been launched to inspect the damage. satellite images captured eruption friday with ash, steam and gas rising like a mushroom above the pacific ocean. the sonic bum could be heard as far away as alaska. the eruption cut tonga off from the world, leaving many to wonder about the situation there. so far there are no official reports of any deaths. for the latest on this story, head to nbcbayarea.com and click on the link on our trending bar. a stark warning from the u.s. surgeon general today, dr. murthy said omicron has not peaked in the u.s., not yet. he's warning the next few weeks could be very difficult in many parts of the country as hospitalizations and deaths rise. the highly contagious omicron variant has fueled an explosive surge in the last 24 hours. more than 800,000 cases have

been reported nationwide. in an interview on cnn's "state of the union" dr. murthy said states in the northeast are seeing plateaus but the entire country is not moving at the same pace. less look at the hot spots in the united states. we have a map up here to really help bring it home for you. each state a different shade of orange and red. the paler states, as you see them here, fewer hospitalizations. red states, a lot down south and also california, they are seeing hospitalizations increase. let's focus on just california right now. there are more than 13,000 patients hospitalized with covid-19. according to state data, many unvaccinated. this chart looks at the hospitalization rate between vaccinated and unvaccinated. the blue line represents those who have been vaccinated, red line you can see much higher. these are the people who have been unvaccinated. you see mid-october, those who were unvaccinated were ten times

higher, far more hospitalizations for those who did not have the vaccine. november 1, 37 people per 1 million unvaccinated patients in the hospital. a month later on december 5th, you see it here, look at this difference, 35.4 people per 1 million who are unvaccinated are in the hospital. compare that to fewer than 3% who were vaccinated. it's a stark difference there relatively unchanged over the last three months. you see the unvaccinated rate is up here, vaccinated down here and steady. state leaders say in the six days leading up to christmas, unvaccinated people were more than eight time more likely to be vaccinated than full will i vaccinated people. >> great explanation there, terry, thank you. stanford students are set to return to classrooms this week after starting their courses online. because of the covid surge, the

university had all classes return virtual. all students are expected to return july 24th. and schools may be closed for the martin luther king jr. holiday tomorrow but an east bay school district will still be giving covid tests. the west contra costa school district will have three testing sites opened tomorrow. will you have to make an appointment online to get one. the sites are located at the district's office and alvarado adult school in richmond and an elementary school in hercules. a south baytown is getting ready to build a bigger and better restaurant of its version parklets. they rushed a few months ago to provide outdoor dining, not sure how long they would have to last. but now they're set to build semi permanent parklets. after several thousand dollars were funded to the program,

leaders will discuss the details to allow construction to begin. we know it's tough finding covid tests now. we're here to help you do that. head to nbcbayarea.com, click on the covid-19 testing locations link on the trending bar. we've compiled the list of places where you can go to get tested. we broke it down by counties so you can find a place close to you. as the senate prepares to take up voting legislations this week, democratic leaders are both admitting they don't have the votes but vowing to fight on. last week arizona senator krysten sinema made it clear she would not vote to gut the freedom to vote act and john lewis voting right advancement act. house majority whip clyburn told "meantime the press" this morning that the vote is still important, showing who was on the right side of history. >> when people tell me they are for this legislation but against the processes we need to get the

legislation, then i don't think you're on the right side of history. so we have a fight, we have to have these votes. we've got to see which side people are on and if that were to fail as people project it will, then what's the next best thing? >> democrats are calling for the end of the filibuster because it would allow them to pass the legislations on a simple majority vote. right now it's a 60-vote rule and the bill faces overwhelming republican opposition. meanwhile, president biden is set to give a speech wednesday to mark one year in office. today the president and first lady volunteered in philadelphia in observance of the martin luther king jr. day of service. the bidens helped pack boxes for a hunger relief organization. wednesday's speech comes at a time of high drama for the president and his party. in addition to sinema's refusal to end the filibuster to pass the voting rights act, democratic senator joe manchin effectively put an end to the president's build back better

plan. the speech is not a state of the union address. that has been delayed until march. a lot of people remembering martin luther king jr. and his legacy this weekend. stanford university held an mlk jr. multi faith celebration today. it was a virtual event because of covid concerns. one of the highlights, remarks by the new head of the mlk research and education institute. you can hear more after the football game on nbcbayarea.com. taking you to southern california now, students covering up graffiti from with uplifting messages this weekend. after learning about martin luther king's legacy, students at central elementary school in san diego decided they wanted to do something to honor him. you see it there, they covered up a graffiti-plastered fence across from their school with posters they made. posters were filled with inspirational quotes and art. and a small and energetic group of parents tried encouraging people to vote in a

recall election involving three san francisco school board members. the group gathered at lowell high to give out t-shirts, signs and buttons. they're in favor of recalling board members allison collin, low people and month liga. they're not happy with the way the board handled a number of issues throughout the pandemic. >> i personally believe it's extremely important because the problem is the way we handled the pandemic and cut the schools closed has dug us in deep in bong a deficit of learning and deficit of money, and the school is in very dire straits. we need to hire a new superintendent and we can't trust the people who dug us into this hole to get us out of it. >> that election is february 15th but early voting starts tuesday. investigators in the east bay are looking for a group of robbery suspects who already stole a car but a family's dog too. take a look here, this is tito. a mother and her daughter took the french bulldog for a walk in

castro valley last night. a black suv pulled in front of them, four to five suspects jumped out armed with handguns, they snatched the mother's purse which contained her wallet and keys and also took the dog before taking off in the suv. a few hours later police say the suspect went back to the mother's home and stole her car. investigators are working on identifying the suspects and recovering the dog. still ahead -- new details on what happened in a texas synagogue yesterday. tonight we're learning the identity of the man the fbi said took several hostages. and it is game over for novak djokovic. the tennis star kicked out of australia. what he's saying about the deportation saga. and cloudy skies and storm ranger picking up on a few isolated showers out there. we'll have a close look on the impact on monday.

welcome back.

the fbi has confirmed the identity of a man who held four people hostage yesterday at a texas synagogue. we have new drone video of the congregation of berth israel in colleyville, texas, about 30 miles west of dallas. authorities say 34-year-old british citizen malik akram was holding the rabbi hostage. the president called it an act of terror. >> rest assured we're focused and attorney general is focused on making sure we deal with these kinds of acts. >> the suspect akram's family released a statement condemning violence towards anyone because of their religion. we've also just learned police retained two teenagers in england for questioning in the attack. major winter storms are hitting the east coast and bringing plenty of ice and snow. take a look here, you can see the ground blanketed by snow in

north carolina. it created a travel nightmare in parts of the south. meteorologists named it winter storm izzy. the storm is approaching the northeast. the governor of new york said it could be a dangerous situation. >> we're making sure the utilities are ready, as we've seen before, weather events, high winds up to 45 miles an hour, snow and ice can lead to power lines going down and paralyzing people and homes and people lose power at a time when the temperatures are plummeting. >> the storm is expected to hit the northeast tomorrow with coastal flood warnings in effect. britain said it will no longer retire travelers to get vaccinated for covid. just in time for february break for schools. a formal announcement is expected to take place january 26th. people suffering from depression, a sign of hope as

the pandemic continues. researchers in illinois said they identified a biomarker that can detect depression with a single blood test. lauren petty has more from chicago. >> reporter: it could be a game-changer when it comes to diagnosing depression. >> we identified a biomarker that's very simple to measure. >> reporter: psychiatry professor and va neuroscience mark resnick said the biomarker involves a specific protein found in our brain and blood. >> what we found is that when you're depressed, it gets stuck in a gooey mass in the membrane. >> reporter: a simple blood test would detect the biomarkerer and may give those struggling the evidence they need to seek help. >> it's not just in my head, it's in my blood. >> reporter: with suicide race rising, the benefit of a blood test to diagnose depression would be revolutionary. >> just really underscores and validates that depression is -- has a biological origin.

it's a medical condition. >> reporter: she says it's not mental health professionals but primary care doctors who prescribe the majority of antidepressants. >> prime care is real shrine as the third line of defense for suicide prevention so a tool like this, a relatively easy blood test, can really aid in that prevention strategy. >> reporter: the recently published study of less than 100 people found the biomarker may be able to determine if an antidepressant was working, maybe as soon as one week after beginning treatment. >> the statistics are powerful on the small sample size suggesting we have a real biomarker for depression and anti-depression responses. >> reporter: how soon before i can go to my doctor and say can i have that blood test for depression? >> what we're trying to do now is raise the money to set up the will be to do this. >> reporter: the professor and lab are working to expand the

study and hold the clinical trials needed for fda approval. >> we can certainly save both a lot of lives and a lot of misery. >> that was laura petty reporting from our nbc station in chicago. from one-game changer to another, it is official, the world's best men's tennis player won't be able to play in one of the most prestigious tournaments. novak djokovic left australia afters a lengthy vaccination status. three federal judges dismissed the talent to be deported because he has not gotten the covid vaccine. in a statement djokovic said, he was disappointed with the ruling and in part, quote, i'm uncomfortable that the focus of the past week has been on me and i hope we can now focus on the game and tournament i love. imagine having a shot to compete in the alans just two years after a traumatic brain jury. to are one bay area man, that's

a reality. >> almost dyeing a couple times giving you perspective on things -- things that matter and you might only get one shot for and this is certainly my shot at the olympics. this is -- this is the one and that would just really be a dream come true. >> you can hear more of he's story later tonight after the nfl playoffs here on nbc bay area bay area. we're just more than two weeks away from the start of the olympics. opening ceremonies february 4th but our coverage begins february 3rd. you can watch it all right here on nbc bay area bay area. yesterday's tsunami forced postponement of the usa surfing competition in santa cruz. good news today though, the surfing competition was able to resume this morning. this is at steamer lane. you can see the surfers in the waves out there. beautiful day, too. >> a few hazy areas, warming up to the mid-60s. by january standards, yes, it's

pretty warm outside. 61 currently in san jose. mostly cloudy skies, still a chance of seeing a few sprinkles later tonight, tomorrow morning. right now san francisco cloudy at 59, hazy skies in the warming streak and air quality will be important when you look at the tri-valley. livermore, east wind at 11 which brings in slight winds around the bay area. high pressure essentially locked in over us. the air quality may be a bit of an issue as we head into monday and tuesday. notice it's moderate for the entire bay area region. inland east bay and santa clara valley we may see moderate winds as there's light pressure preventing the storms and winds in the east sky. we'll have a few isolated

showers in the santa cruz mountains. by lunch time we should see temperatures near 60s in san jose and highs by mid-afternoon, mid-60s again. look at downtown san jose, 64, 51 in oakland and 59 in san francisco. stormranger picking up on a few isolated showers. not everything you've seen here is reaching the ocean and ground but a few returns off the santa cruz mountains and few more off the west of san francisco. kind of an interesting view, even the high pressure is preventing storms from reaching us, undercutting part of the upper low off the coast of southern california, and you see the clouds drifting it from the south. we had this morning a few sprinkles and looked like round two comes tomorrow morning. notice cloudy skies and at the time a few hit-and-miss sprinkles moving through with mostly cloudy conditions through the day and mild temperatures ongoing for your monday and really not much change. storms for the most part due to

high pressure and misses through the north. it's interesting if you look closely, you see how the central valley sets up combined with the offshore breeze in places like concord, livermore and napa, patchy fog could be setting up for the morning. and san jose could be seeing the low to mid-60s for highs. so next weekend, no big changes here. we're playing defense now with our weather pattern with the high pressure not moving anywhere. the seven-day forecast, you see at the bottom of the screen, a few areas may get close to 70 by the heed of the week. san francisco seeing temperatures climb up. low 60s at times. maybe a little wind thursday to help with our air quality. you see how our 7-day forecast for the valley, especially thursday, mid-to-upper 60s as we head to the weekend. if you like sunshine and dry weather, there's plenty to like in the forecast. and rain chances for the most part staying away from the bay

area. back to you. >> nice january. thanks. coming up -- sticker shock at the pump. the reason why gas prices may still be climbing. we'll explain next. we learn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year?

if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today.

if you dread filling up your car these days because of the price of gas, you are not alone. the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is hovering around $3.30. in california the average is much higher, at $4.65. both are about $1 more than a year ago and triple a said it does not expect prices to drop any time soon. >> crude oil is increasing mainly due to demand, global demand worldwide. economies all around the world are waking up from, you know, the covid-induced economic slowdown and that demand is causing pressure on the oil supplies. >> and he added that demand is expected to pick up even more in the coming months, driving

prices even higher. they've been at the forefront of the bay area social activism for decades. now san francisco's glide is up for a designation as a historical place. the church, built in the 1930s, one of several nominees up for consideration for placement in the national register. the california state historical resources commission will meet virtually friday to discuss its nominees. with the holidays coming up, it might be a good time to be outdoors. here's a look at yosemite park, where admission will be free tomorrow. in fact admission will be free at every national park on martin luther king jr. day. this is all part of the plan that makes the park free to enter for five days out of the entire year. we're gearing up for the chiefs against steelers here on nbc bay area. there's one problem -- snow and lots of it. and maybe it's not a problem. we'll take you there for the cleanup next.

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crews had to do quite a bit of work to get ready for tonight's chiefs/steelers game in kansas city. >> more than 150 workers carried out snow this weekend as crews shoveled from sunup to sundown. last check temperatures in the low 30s. more snow could fall during the game and you can watch this game next right here on nbc bay area. >> let's get one final check of the weather with rod mayeda. >> look at the snow heading up the eastern seaboard, probably air travel issues across the northeast but nothing of the sort here. 60s, low 40s in the forecast. a few sprinkles could be possible but overall dry-looking forecast. by the end of the week, could see 70s possible by thursday and friday with dry weather and mild weather continues across the

7-day forecast. >> looks good. >> not bad at all. thank you so much, "sunday night football" is next. kansas city chiefs/pittsburgh steelers. see you again right after the game. . this is "football night in america" presented by progressive. >> football in kansas city. it's a familiar site for chiefs fan.