closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc you are looking at an effort to a swollen river from causing more damage to the boardwalk in santa cruz. good morning i'm cheryl jennings. and i'm eric thomas in for kristen sze. let's get to katie marzullo. >> reporter: if you are not familiar with the santa cruz boardwalk and the main beach we'll try to lay it out for you the river should go along this bluff into the ocean. it made this hard right now it is threatening the boardwalk. it is machine vs. mother nature following two days of rain. >> we've been here 105 years the river has done a lot of things. it sometimes gets exciting here. >> reporter: there's a lull in the storm and crews are

working against time to build up a an sand berm to prevent the river from flowing under the boardwalk. locals are worried about the spot. >> i learned to swim here at the mouth of the river. i was surprised today when i saw some of the steps had washed away. the ones that i used as a little girl. >> reporter: the river water ripped a wooden staircase from its mount. >> i've never seen it like this. it is alarming. i hope they can save. >> reporter: as for why this happened now? call it a perfect storm. likely several contributing factors including the area has not seen much rain this winter, too much sand built up at mouth of the river block the flow of water to the sea. now all the crews can do is bill the berm and way >> we have to wait and see -- wait and see what happens.

so far, so good. >> reporter: since the river has only gone along this stretch of concrete wall the spokesman tells us no structural damage has been done yet as you know, more rain is on the way. katie marzullo abc7 news. that next ron of showers hitting the already saturated ground could mean more downed trees and potential for more traffic accidents. one this morning took a live on highway 13 in oakland. amy hollyfield is near the scene with more. >> reporter: this accident has people on edge. look at these beautiful trees surrounding highway 13. with more rain coming people fear that more could fall. within fell this morning and it caused the death -- one fell this morning and it caused the death of an 18-year-old man. four in the camry were victims of a ter able chain of events.

a -- a tree fell the camry was southbound 4:30 this morning the first to incounter the tree. >> it ran into the tree driving up and over it. the tree is approximately a foot in diameter. >> reporter: the four people got out of the car and were talking over the situation. they saw a truck coming didn't the road they all scattered. >> truck ran into the tree, broke the tree in half, the lower half of the tree broke off and was forced up the embankment, running over the young lady who ran up, trapping her. >> reporter: while she was trapped her friend was hit and killed by either the truck or the camry. everyone else was physically okay but traumatized by the tragedy. >> once they found out their friend passed away they were hysterical. >> reporter: the accident was the talk at nearby coffee shops this morning. >> 13 is a beautiful highway. there's a lot of tree there is. >> reporter: with more rain

expected over the next few days the accident has people nervously thinking about how the beauty of this area can turn deadly. >> it makes me concern if we get wind and the rain continues and the ground gets soaked, yes i have trees all around my house i'm concerned about that too. >> it was raining all day yesterday. some of those pines are ready to turnover. >> reporter: a spokesman for caltrans tells me the agency has two people who handle treating all of the trees for alameda and contra costa countities, two people. they say they do a lot of proactive work looking for trees that looks vulnerable when they hear a storm is coming but they say there is only so much they can do. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. while oakland was the deadliest example of the problems created by the weather it wasn't the only example. a tree fell blocking highway 17 it damaged a car before

5:00 this morning the road closed more than an hour the driver whose car was damaged was not seriously injured. if you are flying out of san francisco today you want to leave extra time. the weather is causing some flights to be delayed more than two hours no major delays at oakland or san jose for up to the minute information check out flight tracker at the bottom of abc7 news.com. now let's check in with mike in the weather center. i'll show you that in a second i wanted to show you why katie was in santa cruz and why that river swelled so much more than 10 inches of rain nell some areas over the last three days in the santa cruz mountains all that runoff went by the boardwalk. nearly s in if, 2 1/2 in oakland in the south bay only a 10th of an inch you'll get more coming with the next system. right now not to worry much

about trees winds aren't bad 17 half moon bay live doppler quiet with the best returns having moved out of the north bay now for -- to the santa cruz mountains. i'm worried about tomorrow's storm when we could see more flooding, more trees. we'll talk about that coming up. in the last half hour the man accused of killing the daughter of former oakland raider has been found guilty for a second time. ali was convicted of strangling his girlfriend during an argument in san mateo 13 years ago. an appeals court ordered a new trial after finding possible racial discrimination during jury selection. ali killed her during an argument at a drug treatment center. investigators believe and you attended candle star an apartment fire that sent a firefighter to the hospital. the firefighter lying on the roof of the building. this is on top of the building

underwood drive with flames all around them. one man fell through a hole in the roof while battling the fire he's expected to recover but he's being treated for second degree burns. >> thankfully their equipment saved their life but significant burns to his hand. firefighters credit a good samaritan with rescuing a woman from the first floor unit where the fire started. the fire broke out 2:45 this morning it displaced 17 people, including eight children. the red cross is helping all of them find temporary housing. attorney for an occupy oakland protest was injured during a demonstration last fall says he has new information suggesting his client's injury was no accident. olsen's attorney said he discovered the skull fracture was caused by a bean bag round fired by a police officer. i was believed olsen was hit in the head accidentally by a tear gas canister.

now his attorney says it was more likely the officer intentionally aimed for olsen's head. oakland police have declined to comment conducting their own investigation. today is the deadline for california school districts to notify teachers they could be laid off. around 20,000 notices will be issued. mar 15th, is the legal deadline for districts to issue lay-off notifications. -- not all teach receive notices will lose their job. new guidelines for women's reproductive health. why you may be seeing your did too often. from elected to convicted. former governor trading in his blazer for prison blues today. meeting between afghanistan's president and u.s. defense secretary, following a deadly shooting

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defense officials are denying that president karzai demanded in a meeting with defense secretary panetta american forces be pull out of afghan villages. the issue came up in that meeting and karzai indicated a desire to become an independent nation quickly. this after an american soldier allegedly killed 16 afghan civilians sunday that accused soldier has been moved kuwait. president karzai also said afghanistan says it believes

it can take the lead in security next year. those talks come one day after the taliban broke off political talks with the united states. former illinois governor rod blagojevich has started his 14 year sentence at a colorado federal prison. blagojevich arrived at the prison a little over an hour ago. jurors convicted him on 18 counts, including charges he tried to sell or trade president obama's old senate seat. before leaving his chicago home this morning blagojevich told reporters he -- saying good-bye to his family was the hardest he's had to do. the second governor to go to son in recent years his predecessor george ryan was also convicted on corruption charges. president obama defending his policies as gas prices continue to rise. today he called critics of renewable energy nothing more than naysayers. several republican presidential candidates have criticized the rise in gas

prices. mr. obama says the real solution is to develop alternative fuels. >> reporter: there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. there's no silver bullet. anybody who tells you otherwise isn't really looking for a solution, they're trying to ride the political wave of the moment. >> according to aaa regular prices average $4.34 in observing lap. san jose $4 upon.35. -- $4.41 in san francisco. storm number two coming in later tomorrow into saturday then we still have a chance of snow showers here in the bay area we'll run down how much to expect in your neighborhood and when that flooding could begin. apple reaches another mild stone days before the new ipad goes on sale -- >> what will it take to get

people to put out cigarettes? new shocking tactics

appear begins selling its new ipad tomorrow but shares soar today shares top $600 for the first time at the start of trading this morning. -- the price could be volatile again tomorrow when the new

ipad goes on sale. analysts say apple could sell a million right way. millions more may have to wait two to three weeks to get theirs because of demand. let's talk about this storm. life the rain because we need it. i was driving two hours to get to hayward last night. >> i that's a long commute. that's what need to realize it -- it is going to take time to get around through sunday patience definitely needed wet weather gear and keep an eye out for falling trees, i'm worried about that starting tomorrow. nice snows in the sierra, more this weekend. the problem is you need to leave about now or in a few hours before the winter storm hits up there and driving gets tricky. no rain requirements now once the storm starts tonight that will be an issue back home, santa cruz beautiful picture what is left of all that beautiful beach before the boardwalk. so many people like to utilize

that have lunches on the weekend that is -- shows the devastating affects of water rushing water, you can't compress it, it is going to tear up everything it runs into. let's hope they can get that fixed. quiet out there, last three hours you can see a definite i don't want to say drying radar returns aren't as impressive steady drizzle better part of the day. 60s livermore, fremont, watson, mid 50s everywhere else. showers north, drizzle around the coast and mountains and the rest of us stormy tomorrow evening when we get the next punch. second punch could be more devastating because of the saturated ground. weekend showers, mountain snow, breezy. when the heavy rain leaves breezes still hang around

especially sunday mid 60s in the east bay and south bay monterey bay low to mid 60s around the bay also inland. tonight steadier rain mild temperatures upper 40s to low 50s that's when the next system starts to come in last night finally that one moved out of the way you can see another moisture plume moving in behind it that's why we have the dampness today and the drizzle. this next storm most heading east that's why i think the north bay has the best chance of seeing scattered showers during the daylight hours. as we head towards overnight, steadier batch of rain moves in for tomorrow's morning commute throughout the day, heavier rain to about 10:00 another wave come going the south we are going to have two heavy bouts of rain within 12 hours of each other that's why i next the next part can be

more devastating. saturday evening it has moved out more showers sunday and snow levels 2,000 feet white mountaintops by sunday evening. half inch to inch peninsula 3/4 east bay up to an inch south bay inch and a half north bay up to three inches in our mountains. here's that winter storm watch for this evening through saturday morning upgraded to winter storm warning soon as we expect several feet of new snow. this is a colder storm that snow will drop to 5,000 feet. highs this weekend in the low to mid 50s that's the cold we need for the hail that may fall. sunshine monday when spring starts and warmer with weather after that >> start of spring with rain and hail, thanks. >> at least we have rain. government's latest effort to get americans to quit smoking relies on shock value.

>> my tip to everyone is don't believe this can't happen to you, because it can. >> the cdc will run television, radio and newspaper ads containing graphic eye-catching images of health problems smoking can cause, including loss of limbs, paralysis and heart disease it is a 54 million dollar campaign the latest and most bleak anti-smoking campaign ever backed by the cdc. health officials hope the ads wilt get 50,000 americans to kick the happen -- will get 50,000 americans to kick the habit. the american cancer society and government advisory group says it is not necessary to have a cervical cancer screening every year. they say women can wait between three and five years between screenings they say women should have the hpv test at the same time. they have found testing every few years just as many deaths

as testing every year they say annual testing brought on false positives, unnecessary biopsies, risk of infection and unnecessary stress. starting today the agriculture department is offering a choice when it comes to the ground beef additive known as pink slime the name given to the filler material treated with knew money to kill germs critics wonder if it is safe. the usda is allowing schools to order without it if they choose. usda buys a fifth of all food served in our schools. we have ideas for to you celebrate st. patrick's day this weekend. >> what's

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today at 3:00, prize winning pastry from a bake-off finalist. you can't trash 'em why not cash in on them. michael finney will have advice for selling old printers and cell phones. romance rejection why it may cause men to drink. we'll have those stories and more at 4 and 5. this weekend, everybody can celebrate like they are irish. >> don sanchez has what's hot. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: ireland's tenors combine classical, folk and pop in a show sunday afternoon in the marin center a day

after the st. patrick's parade in san francisco. more spirits from the irish session at brick and mortar music hall. theater works presents new comity about a romance between two historical reenactors and what happens when the past and present intertwine at the lucy stern theater. the alvin ailey dance theater makes annual visit to berkeley. bouquets to art enchanting show in which floral designers interpret works of art in flowers. a girl turns pink after eating too much pink cupcakes -- [ inaudible ] see a photo show coloring myths at the mum napa gallery in

rutherford. don sanchez, abc7 news. from all of us, thanks for joining us. >> who wants to be a millionaire is next. have a great day, stay dry. have a great day, stay dry. we'll see you later. closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc honey, i can't find my internet cord. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. you're downloading movies. fast! from here? where is her cord?! we switched to at&t high speed internet and got wireless access. no more cords. wireless, okay, honestly, can i just get a cord, please? dad, the cord's invisible. [ female announcer ] call at&t today to get high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a 1-year price guarantee. it's the fastest internet for the price. oooh. videos online? here? how much is that? nothing. at&t high speed internet at home includes access here.

our invisible cord is really long, dad. oooh. [ female announcer ] get access to the entire national at&t wi-fi hot spot network for no extra charge. so call today to get high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a 1-year price guarantee. aren't you glad we switched to at&t? yes...but i want my own invisible cord. you already have one. oh. ♪