this is cbs news bay area. >> this stretch of highway on the peninsula shut down because of a sinkhole. the work to keep

drivers away and get this fixed to keep you safe. river water surging in monterey county with worries that flooding could make this area and mcintyre island. >> you know the sound all well, tree trimmers, a lot of you contact us saying you're worried whether or not the next storm could send you are trees crashing down. the bay area is between storms but the break won't last long so we will open up the windows and enjoy what we have now. you could see the banner at the bottom drive. for now. here's a live look. it's been a while since we sought this drive from north to south. we found out the recent rain is making a dent in the drought problem. meteorologist paul heggen joins 'sa benefit of the

recently, it's eaten away at drought conditions. the drought monitor with moderate to severe . still through the central valley. one week later. today the update from the monitor came out this is what the situation looks like now . moderate drought across most of the bay area. severe drought in the central valley. everyone improving by one category with the rain we picked up over the last weekend or so. good news on a statewide basis. down to 0% of the state with exceptional drought and almost a 0% of the state with extreme drought. with all of the rain that california is received, literally trillions of gallons of rain during the wet pattern, half the state is in severe drought conditions. more rain on the way going through tonight into tomorrow morning. we will get through the evening , a couple of showers possible through the overnight hours. the bulk of the rain will be moving toward the coast as the sun comes up on friday morning. it looks like it will be

another wet morning commute. this is the first of a couple of waves of additional rain coming our way. we will track with future cast coming up in a few minutes. >> crews are working hard to repair the damage before the next round of rain comes roug a to clean up. >> that's the key that we will have more rain compiling all of this. let's start in san mateo county where this stretch of highway 92 is closed off after a sinkhole opened up. chp tweeting these pictures near highway 35 . the cruise had already blocked the area off since yesterday before the sinkhole had been formed. they saw this coming but did they shut it off after they found a dip in the roadway? >> officers had been redirecting traffic as they work to patch that up. no word on when this will actually happen. in the east bay large boulders are blocking st. mary's road in lafayette after a rockslide. fortunately the crews have been making progress on their work. this is a real

issue down the coast on monterey county. all eyes on the salinas river. water levels are rising. evacuation orders and warnings are in effect. major highways including highway 68 and highway one could be covered with water turning the peninsula including the city of monterey into an island. >> we could not emphasize enough how we need everyone to limit their travel during the next few days. especially the next weather system in order tr the river will crest at different times. >> we will continue watching this. >> santa clara county is preparing former devastating seems like this mess behind me. when the storm hits this weekend it's coming they are urging all of you to set up or the emergency alert and warning system that's alert sec.org. >> your partnership matters. helping us reach every person could make all the difference in the next storm ,

earthquake, fire, or public health crisis. >> let's talk about this. fallen trees are problem. we know this across the bay area, the scene in marin blocking balboa avenue. this is the third tree to go down in the area of marin. you may be wondering if the trees in your property could come down over the next storm. looking outside at mine. seeing if maybe there holding strong or not. it's john ramos reports the companies right now are struggling to meet the demand to trim. this is a big part to inspect trees that you have to make sure they won't fall across the bay area. >> reporter: wintry master shop at a house it feels like the cavalry has arrived these days. like theyare on this day he is

tiburon were a pair of 40 foot cy rush from one job to another. jacob says that for the trees the drought has lasted 10 years because in recent wet years the rain has come down hard and fast and ended abruptly. this may fill the reservoirs but hasn't helped the trees much at all. >> the rain is a little different now. we are getting a lot of rain. this is significant . saturating the soil. the trees have a compromised root system from 10 years of drought and we've seen up routings and failures. >> this has a lot of people looking at the large trees next to their homes in a different light. the demand for arborist inspections is up . what really got the phones ringing was the tragic death of a two-year-old child in sonoma county. a massive tree fell on a mobile home. >> people are concerned about their trees . it's unfortunate that it took an event for them to be more aware of it. we are

getting a lot of people concerned about what happened. >> reporter: jacobs says homeowners should look for cracks in the trunks of trees or in the earth nearby or water welling up near the base and says that the upper branches also show signs of weakness but they may not be obvious to the untrained eye. that's why he seriously recommends an arborist inspection. >> it's like seeing a doctor. if someone walks in the room they look healthy but the doctor could identify the issues more quickly from their experience. >> the may not be a lot of time to waste. while the conditions are here to create arboriculture armageddon. >> john ramos with that story. in sonoma county to more people have died during this week's storms. this time it's a cautionary tale because they think carbon monoxide poisoning could be the reason. the back

story, a crew responded to a home on c ranch after a tree fell on the home and when they did some more inspections they found two men dead in separate bedrooms. the cautionary tale there was a generator powered on inside of the hallway of the house. the sheriff's department reminds all of us to always operate the generator if you're using one on the outside of your home's. with another storm ahead of us remember we have you covered on the air and online and streaming 24/7. >> top stories we are following today the presidents attorney said they have found more classified documents at his home in delaware. the attorney general and responses announcing that he's appointing the former federal prosecutor is the special counsel to investigate how the president still had classified materials reportedly from his time as a vice president. inflation appears to be improving a little bit. the bureau of labor esfell by .1% november and december. one point. the first price drop that we've seen since may 2020.

gas prices are helping. the bay have dropped more than 9% in one month. grocery prices we are watching those. we are understanding that they are up but not as much. ahead, an urgent call to donate blood. from someone who knows how crucial the donations are. >> you are choosing to save someone's life . >> hear more of this woman story of survival. she celebrates a simple act . strangers who saved her life.

this month is national blood donor months. we are working hard to partner with blood services provider via talent to encourage all of you to roll up your sleeves as the need for donations is at a critical level. this is an opportunity to help your neighbor. i spoke with a woman who would not have some arrived a health crisis without the life-saving blood donation from a donor who was a perfect stranger somewhere out there. >> this is our home away from home. >> reporter: denise whitaker is in a happy place where she lights up thinking about how good life is and how fragile. >> i've been in heart failure refer most of my life. >> reporter: denise as she was

diagnosed in her 20s with postpartum cardiomyopathy. a weakening and enlargement of the heart muscle. not many years ago she was told that she only had a year to live without a heart transplant. >> a week after i heard the news i had a massive cardiac arrest. >> reporter: she took this photo from a different ride. the back of an ambulance. >> they said i was moving into the hospital, to stanford university, i was going to wait for my transplant. >> reporter: miraculously a donor heart was available and so did the blood needed for the surgery to save her life. >> i had a new heart and several pints of donated blood that was keeping me alive. >> reporter: it was a hard path back but now simple walks are . >> everything is beautiful. look at the clouds, the rain, it's just stunning. blades of grass shoot up and struggle through the clay. the struggle

produces the beauty. >> reporter: life she says , life is great. somebody did the least they could do giving blood on an ordinary day for extra results for an ordinary stranger. >> they might have felt like this was the thing to do. this is the difference between life and death. you're literally with every donation, you are choosing to save someone's life. >> for saving hers, denise knows somewhere under the sky she sees this as a miracle, somebody who gave her her miracle. >> i hope that they realize the heroes they are . i hope that they see the difference that they are making. >> thank you denise for your story and your drive, taking me along with you. we are backing

a half-dozen local blood drives over the next two days. they will be held across the bay area. next week these are the days were talking about january 18 and 19th. you can find the fullest of times and locations on our website. first alert weather now recent rain on this vineyard in sonoma county. it's hard to get a good look at the vines. the person who posted this wrote, "welcome to wine country ". our efforts alert chief meteorologist. you've been going casual for days. i thought be like paul hagan. >> we will see more rain unfortunately likely more problems over the next few days. looking at what we expect, a big picture pattern showing the dry break. a brief dry break. the rain hasn't gone away but transitioned further up the coast ,

temporarily. going through tomorrow let's take a look at future cast. we remain drive through the evening with some hit or miss showers possible for the northbay as we get to midnight or so but the bulk of the rain will be moving in tomorrow morning. this will be light to moderate rainfall. morng commute but it shouldn't result in any widespread flooding. localized flooding concerns for the rest of the rainy weather pattern but this shouldn't be enough to be a huge all-day concern. the heaviest rain looks like it will move off toward the east in the afternoon with on and off showers possible through the evening. a brief dry break takes over until saturday morning the next wave of rain charging in and approaching the coast already by 5:00 in the morning. this will spread more heavily and more sustained rainfall across the bay area going through saturday afternoon and continuing into the early evening hours as well. accompanied by gusty winds and by the time we hit the evening it will be down to the on and off pattern. it won't dry out until we get further into saturday night. a break in the action taking hold on sunday but yet another wave of rain will be lining up to

head our way sunday night into monday so three more waves of at least light rainfall is not moderate to heavy rainfall causing likely additional problems. this first one falling friday morning into the afternoon talking about generally a quarter inch to half-inch of rain for most of the bay area. high pockets of rain especially north of the golden gate to pick up more than a half inch to an inch u'o morein e erevations in the northbay mountains and santa cruz mountains. a half inch of rain is probably an underestimate. a quarter inch to half-inch of rain, we could probably handle this without any major issues. the issue becomes more rain on top of this. how about the wind? not too strong. the gusts mostly in the 15-25 mile per hour range moving through on friday but then another system has not only more rain but more wind energy associated with more 25-30 and 30-40 mile-per-hour gusts with wind advisories posted to the national weather service. more power outages possible with the saturday

system so be prepared for that. looking at your 70 rainfall charge over the next week we see the next wave of rain coming our way sunday into monday then we go down to a showery pattern tuesday and wednesday with a dry air pattern taking hold by the tail end of the seven day forecast. that can't happen soon enough. it's on track to head our way by the later half of next week but we have to get to the next several days first. the 70 rainfall from the weather prediction center shows widespread 2-4 inch rainfall totals. three different waves but every time the wave moves and we will have to worry about localized flooding if not more widespread flooding with concerns and additional wind damage looking outside from the mark hopkins hotels, temperatures mostly in the 60s. enjoying the dry break with

above average readings with temperatures dropping down to a mixture of the 40s and low 50s and in between the showers tomorrow temperatures will be close to the average. mid to upper 50s with low 60s dotting the map. tomorrow because of the timing of the rain around the morning rush it's another first alert day. saturday the problems will be more widespread throughout the day with heavy rain, gusty wind giving way to a break in the action on sunday with some hit or miss showers on sunday possible before another wave of widespread rain moving in then we go back to showers tuesday, wednesday and lo and behold than a dry day at the end of our seven day forecast next thursday. we have a long way to go. >> this is a volkswagen red and gold report. the 49ers are practicing in rain and wind as they expect similar conditions through saturday's playoff game against the seattle seahawks. the rookie quarterback is set to make his playoff debut. a 1:30 kick at levi stadium and will be his first time he plays the key opponent as a starter. they are undefeated. he says it's business as usual.

>> i'm not trying to make it bigger than what it is. obviously there's more on the line than everything. having six games under our belt. trying to win four quarters. all i have to do is go in and give those guys the ball. it hasn't changed for all of the games that i've played in so far. this will be the mindset going into the playoffs. >> with the red and gold report . a generous donor allowing help

everyone can afford two hours a month. we aren't that busy where two hours a month, you know, we push 24 hours a day. you could take just two hours a month to give that to the food bank. >> volunteer gran to feels good like all the volunteers that you see on your screen because they give back. even in little portions. that's the

call from the san francisco marin food bank. take a couple of hours of your day and volunteered to lift yourself and do something good. now there's an extra reason to do that. here's the headline the food bank says they will get a $25,000 donation if 2500 of you out there sign up to volunteer. you've got 10 days to do this. $25,000 at hand to get but we need 25 volunteers for the stoner to make it happen. joining our food banks director community engagement, katie mcknight. talk to me about this. >> we are blessed with a generous community and a donor who asked what do you guys need and we said we need volunteers. so they put $25,000 and we are hoping the community will step up and serve a little time with the food bank and help get that much needed funding. >> because we spent so much time together during the month of december i have learned when you see 25,000 or even one dollar what's the real

mathematics when it comes to the meals that are provided? $25,000 gets how many meals? >> 50,000 meals. we are able to take every dollar then turn it into two meals. it's great to the food bank because we are getting the benefit of volunteering. packing all the food. we are able to purchase more food with the help of the financial donation. >> i had a chance to be with volunteers during the month of december and i saw service brings us together. i didn't see one political conversation or disagreement over religion, i saw people helping people. they were friends and they were on the line helping each other. tell me about the importance of volunteering just from this perspective. >> this builds community. everyone's coming out 41 main cause which is to feed the 55,000 households a week that we are serving. it's fun and all of our sites whether it's out of the pantry distribution or a warehouse have their own sense of community. >> you will be rich in your heart if you help out. $25,000 that we have, 2500 of you have

to sign up. recent contributions from the viewers have helped to provide 288,239 meals. more than a quarter million moments for these families who don't have to worry about food across the region. we thank you for that and we love you for that. you could be part of that. throughout the year, remember hunger doesn't take a break. volunteer your time at any of the food banks but were san francisco marin county is concerned, sign up we have all the info that you need at kpix.com. look for food

we've shown you the video and coming up at 5:00 our wilson walker reports from salinas valley with a report ahead of the next storm. >> a walmart customer in maryland , even working their first 16 years. he posted this video to tick-tock and started an online fundraiser to help push out. the video went viral. raising thousands of dollars in donations over days and now the veteran can retire from his day job. off of his feet which says he's going to florida to visit his kids and grandkids and he

will go fishing. if you felt something their channel all of that into volunteering and helping out at the food bank. 2500 of you volunteering over the next 10 days. it gets the $25,000. the blood driv next week ptioning sponsored by cbs >> o'donnell: breaking news. the severe tornado outbreak in the south leaving behind significant destruction and reports of injuries. plus, the investigation just announced into president biden's classified documents. tornadoes sweep the south. more than two dozen reports of twisters,s including one that may have stretched over 100 miles. the destruction tonight as tens of millions face severe weather from mississippi to north carolina. special counsel investigation. after more classified documents are discovered in joe biden's private home in his garage. >> and my corvette is in a locked garage, okay. >> o'donnell: the idaho college murder suspect in court, with new cuts on his face. cbs' lilia luciano on when he could face trial.