lying areas. 3 damage is truly ag tonnishing. we will be following this all day. we will see enormous loss of life. this is truly a once in a lifetime event. this 52 foot trawler here just tossed about like a toy. the enormity of this is really hard to grasp. as we have been saying this effect stretched across the ocean to us. let's come back to our live chopper picture now, if we can. the helicopter was showing us pictures of boats still struggling against some tide surge. the tsunami surge. you can probably still see effects, look for the swirls in

the water and you can see some of the reflection there. you might be able to see swirls and eddies in the water showing how it comes in and out. we will be following this all day. here you see most of the damage it looks like at the mouth of the harbor. we will be following more of this. let's go back to gosse and tori now. >> john john fowler with a nice summary. this is ktvu channel 2 news at noon. >> we want to say good afternoon and welcome to obviously a very special edition of ktvu channel 2 news at noon. er i am tori campbell. >> i am we would like to bring the chief.

>> hello. >> the chief is someone we talked to before. chief are you with us? >> i am. as you look at these pictures coming to us from here in the bay area, let's talk about what is happening here and then secondly how you and your team might be thinking about helping out in japan. >> sure, yeah, you are going to have to describe the photos for me because i am with one of your crews. >> actually, let's start there because that is something you told us about, you mentioned you have several crews from japan with you and you said they were not able to get in communication with their families. has that changed? were they able to make contact? >> most of them have been able to do that. two primarily are from very effected area phs areas of the country. one was able to get in touch with his family members. at this point one of them, who is also from the very affected areas of the country has been a

regularly leaves the group and tries to get on the cell phone to find out the disposition of his family, so it is a stressful day for these guys. you know for a variety of reasons. none the least of which is they were hoping to try and get a plane out this morning. that is impossible. we have enlisted the assistance of the consulate of japan in san francisco and in touch with fema around also foreign disaster assistance off erring offering if we get deployed to take them with us. the biggest problem is they are island countries, so when you have devastation to the extent you see it, mobility in and outside of the country is severely limited and problematic. so these guys cannot get home right now. they made a conscious decision this morning instead of sitting there and watching you know tv and the news all day long and

trying to you know feel bad about that they were not there, we put them to work out out here and tuning them up, continuing to do work with them on shoring techniques, on how to prop up collapsed structures and other techniques they will do, that they are here and to keep them busy so they are not thinking about what is going on or at least not quite as much but the bottom line is there -- we got 12 japanese firefighters who are in the rescue business and they want to be home to make sure the families are okay and also to severe their country and we get that. >> chief, i know we have talked to you many many times in the past. you are a disaster expert, covered 9/11, katrina just to name a few. it sounds like you may head to japan. >> the latest i have heard from the fed and i got guys standing by. we have learned far forward for what is going on in san mateo

county. we have stood up our heavy rescue, which is the only one on the peninsula, there are other rescues but not at that level of training and capability. we did that. so far we have not needed to support anything county and also learned forward on our urban search and rescue state and then also the federal side. at this point we are first up for deployment for national teams outside the country if that is requested or to the hawaiian islands or anywhere else u.s. territory. this is kind of a balancing act for the u.s. government. they need to figure out what impact to their assets are going on. then out of the inventory each side of the united states east coast, west coast, has a predominant team that upons internationally. on the west coast it is los angeles county fire department. l.a. county just had the remainder, the other half of their team

just came home yesterday from new zealand, so they are having to flip this around pretty quick. i don't envy them, that is their equipment and everything associated with that. so get na going right now. they are first up to international deployment but we are first up for at least on the domestic side in case they can't take care of it or can't do it. so i have told our folks, tell the fed you know if we can't get these guys out on a domestic flight we would be happy to take them if they want to to diploy us to japan. >> okay thank you for joining us again this morning. >> we have serious news we want to pass along. someone from the coast guard on the phone with us i believe. rachel. >> this is petty officer rampel polish with the u.s. coast

guard. >> okay. and we understand that the coast guard is now looking for a person who got swept out to sea in crescent city, a person who was in a group of three people who went to the coast to take pictures of the tsunami wave. three people i believe were swept out. two came back and the coast guard now looking for one person. >> reporter: that's correct, ma'am. the coast guard just after 10:00 a.m. received reports of three people being swept in waters near the clam mat river, which is obviously cold at this cold at this time of year. the coast guard has helicopters in the air and searching for this man in the water at this time. >> this is kind of the worse case scenario. crescent city has been hit bad, a surge of waves. have you heard of damage that has been done?

>> we have not heard anything more than what you just reported but we do have crews on scene and currently assessing the situation and doing updates shortly. >> and again, crescent city, because of the topography is vulnerable to this. there was a tsunami that hit there back in 964 after that earthquake in alaska, where i believe 11 people were killed. and -- and so there -- there is real concern i believe that crescent city -- it sounds like they are very -- usually prepared for this kind of thing. cricket? >> the coast guard recommends that people stay clear of low lying coastal areas in general during this situation such as a tsunami. however, given the senator of what we are nature of what we are seeing, we are recommending everyone evacuate those low lying coastal areas and not in this case with the man in the watered go toward the shore and take photos or look to see what is happening. please stay clear and be safe in this situation. >> can you tell us again the search effort underway right

now involving helicopters, tell me about who -- who all is involved in the search. >> right now we do have crews on the scene and in the air, the ones in the air are helicopter crews, two people made it back to shore safely and one person still is unaccounted for. we do have at one point three helicopters were in the air a few moments ago. i should be getting an update shortly as to the status of the operation. >> okay. petty officer rachel polish from the u.s. coast guard. thank you for joining us. we will be in touch with you as far as the latest on this rescue effort goes. >> thank you so much. >> we have been talking about transportation being affected, people asked to stay off certain roads. i know bart was a major concern. let's bring in ken live from oakland. we got word from bart a few minutes ago the usgs told that major transit agency it appears the worse was over, of course, the major concern here would be the transbay tube. >> yes, that's right, we are

here at the lake merritt station, also home to bart's emergency operation center which was activated but there has been developments that it has now been deactivated after word from federal authorities that the worst is over and it does not appear bart service will be disrupted. bart had been monitoring the wave heights, if they were above 8 feet for a time they could have shut down service from west oakland over to daily city. they were monitoring that situation, deciding whether they needed to make that move. of course if they had done that that would have included the transbay tube. it is thetance bay tube and some of the stations below water, essentially below sea level raising concerns if the wave action had been significant coming in from this tsunami. now what we know right now of course is that bart service is operating normally. they have essentially a normal ride for friday. as part of their work this

morning in monitoring this situation, being prepared in case they had to pull the trigger on closing down a portion of their service, bart had moved police officers to some of bart police officers to some of the san francisco stations to preposition them there in case they needed to close the station or even evacuate a station. but again, the word we have received just in the last few minutes from bart is that they have received word that the worst is over. they don't expect anymore significant wave action and they don't expect to -- to take any action to disrupt service for the rest of today. live in oakland, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, ken. joining us live again we were concerned about that all morning about whether bart was going to be delayed at all or cancelled. there was originally reports it could happen as early as 8:00 so we have been on stand by but obviously now we have gotten the clear that bart will be running. there was a vallejo ferry cancelled this morning and still a number of roads closed

along the coast essentially just as a precaution because of the concerns of the tsunamis. we are getting viewers from bell va deer, san rafael, tiberon reporting surges in water level at the richardson bay. we are hoping to get pictures soon but again the main focus has been in the santa cruz harbor manned and the damage done there as we close in on one of the boats, one of the ships, i guess it would be a boat, right, bill? >> yeah, tori, i have been watching. there are so many stories going on obviously and we are covering them and you are hearing about them, but this picture you are seeing right here is the big story in our area. this is tsunami damage that has occurred in the santa cruz harbor. it has been going on multiple tsunami waves. i have been trying to count the surges. what we are doing is every time you see current coming in and out of that bay you basically are talking about another tsunami wave. they are small. they are not big, but what is happening is you are getting this water when it funnels out

is ripping boats from moorings. again this is reminiscent of 64 in crescent city, it ripped the boats off their foundings and in tiberon, in 64 boats came off their moorings, similar to santa cruz right now, 64 being the great alaskan earthquake, so what we are seeing is really sort of unprecedented stuff. you are looking at a tsunami not one wave but multiple waves in progress. we are fortunate we are observing it from a position where it appears that people are safer safe and not having major major problems. i suspect and we have heard from experts like john fowler and others that the waves should be getting smaller as time goes on and that appears the case based on, i am looking between the boats, this is a visual check, see how they are not drifting around and going

in and out. we were watching that for the last three hours, the last two and a half hours, that was the surge. things are calm right now. that is good news. the ocean, the pacific ocean, the giant pacific ocean is disturbed, so all day and probably into the evening we will hear reports of unusual occurrences. what i mean by that is the main waves have gone through. now they are refracturing, being pushed back out into the ocean, almost like you see at a beach when a wave comes in, it is too steep and rushes back up and hits the wave behind it, can you picture that? that is what we will see in the open ocean or beaches, so in. >> areas that have not experienced much they may experience an increase or a large wave or in the open sea they might see something that is unusual. again, this is about -- this -- something like this happens about, gosh, every 10 years maybe ever -- you know this is the biggest quake in japan's history. this tsunami is one of the

bigger ones. we have had tsunami warnings before and we all remember those and they usually amount to nothing. this one felt like it might but then the call came in from crescent city and down there in santa cruz and saw what was happening. what was happening not a wave but water levels go up. they fill up all the way up into that narrow narrow channel and then they empty out rapidly almost like flushing the toilet. you you can visualize that water rushing out. what we are seeing is the harbor patrol and folks down there in the harbor putting boats back together because these guys are smart guys, they know what is going on. but what i am looking at now and what you are looking at looks much calmer. so hopefully the major stuff is done. so, again, what am i saying? well, this -- this picture right here and what we have been watching for the last

three hours it is the story for the west coast of the united states, santa cruz harbor and crescent city. >> bill martin keeping an eye on it there. this is the strongest quake to hit in some 1200 years, let's go back out to our crew at menlo park. >> reporter: to shed more light on the whole tsunami thing we are learning they are not only mysterious but very very odd in how they actually operate. what we did was we talked to one real expert on tsunamis and here is what he had to say. >> that is the orientation of the harbor and the depth of the harbor and you can get eddies and because it is more than the typical tide currents it is going to cause damage if the moring lines aren't set properly. >> san francisco bay is quite

another story. >> we tend to see much smaller damage. >> since the earthquake produces several shocks it is more like many stones creating many tsunami ripples. >> that adds complex city to the tsunami wave, so you don't get a single wave but waves that are complex. >> reporter: now of course, the bottom line remains this, that as -- while the worst may be over, the reality is that if you go down there and start take taking pictures and looking around you could be surprised -- >> thank you -- >> -- so you have to be extraordinarily careful if you go down there at all, best advice let us handle it, let the officials handle it and we will make sure you see everything worth seeing. >> tom, we have gotten a quote

from a senior science advisor there that the quake ruptured a path of the earth's crust 150 miles location and 50 miles across. i don't know if you could help put that in perspective for us about how significant that is. >> reporter: well, that would be an earthquake about halfway to los angeles. you would be getting halfway to los angeles. and this happens in a short period of time, about two minutes or so. so what happens is you keep getting these infusions of more and more energy, more and more of this rumbling but what keeps pounding away at the ocean, as that displaces land underneath the ocean that land, if it comes up or goes down, then the water above it has to fill in that void or get out of that space created and that is what starts the whole wave thing going. as it continues to move forward it is not like the ocean is one temperature, one homo genius kind of thing. there are various barriers and things like that and how that

approaches a land mass how that land mass is created has a lot to do with how quickly that water will well up. so it is a complicated thing but the models created today will give people a good idea of the protocols they need to take. those will be studied over and over. you may see changes in jetties, you may see changes in the width of harbors and may see certain kinds of things that have not been done before simply because it is now advicable to do those things. the reality of the situation is we are learning plenty from this because one of these days one of these earthquakes is going to occur around here especially in the northern part of california. >> tom live at the offices there in menlo park. we have been following this story on a number of fronts and learned of a rescue operation

in northern california, a situation where according to the coast guard three people went into the river near the mouth of the c lamouth river. one person is still believed to be in the water. if we can bring bill martin into this. when you talk about being in the water up in this area near the clamouth river and a water rescue this is not an easy situation. >> no. as soon as you said that, i know the river well. this time of year a ton of snow, a ton of run off. now picture folks down there close right into the ocean, picture the tsunami going up stream, the bulge of water moving upstream and i tell you when you are standing there it seems harmless. would you look at the water coming up, not much different than what claudine did showing us the water coming in

underneat that underneath that thing now imagine all that water races out and that is where the damage is done. there is heavy flow there. it is probably at its high mark and then you add a tsunami surge of perhaps eight feet. i don't know what it was at the river mouth but perhaps eight feet. then anywhere you are standing it is going to accelerate and flood its banks. again we are looking at live pictures of santa cruz harbor. right? i can't tell you how much -- how important this picture is. you are looking at what the damage of multiple tsunami impulses into the monterrey bay, into the santa cruz harbor. why the santa cruz harbor? the way the harbor faces, the way it is set up, the way monterrey is set up, the perfect shape for this tsunami

to be pressed up into there. everywhere else it has an opportunity to dissipate. on the beaches it spreads out or moved down the coast. as all this water was funneled in it lifted the boats up perhaps three or four feet. you heard a lot of creeking. not intimidating but as it went out boats started to snap their moorings and it starts bombarding other boats that is where you get your damage. see the debris flowing out there? that is what i watch. there is a current. there it is, see the pier there? >> yeah. >> that water is racing out. there has been a tsunami impulse that is now draining and momentarily or in the next few minutes or go we can watch and the thing should go slack

and we may see another impulse and we may see the current going the other way. we are actually seeing this as it is happening. it is unprecedented and unfortunately as i say i am pleased and happy that people seem to be safe in this area but as a piece of nature this has never really been seen before on live -- live cameras. >> yeah, will we obviously going to keep a close eye there, amazing as we look at the bridge there, all the people crowded on the bridge watching the surge but again hopefully staying safe. right now we want to go back to san francisco where claudine wong has been standing by near 4 points and seeing the water that is certainly you said acting a bit unusual there. >> reporter: certainly that is the way it characterized. i am actually -- larry come over here. larry, you have been surfing out here for decades you said. >> about 35 years or longer. >> we saw you earlier, we put that video of you coming out of the water because i know you

were out there. tell me what you see that makes you think this is a little unusual and that is not what we are used to seeing. >> right now the tide is coming in and higher than it should be and it was surging, you could not tell if was low tide coming in or -- >> you guys know these waters well. you spend a lot of time studying -- >> all the time. huge. >> when someone tells to you coman you you, when can you tell they are hitting. >> when the tide is going out it is actually coming in and it keeps changing, coming in and going out and usually the tide is every six hours, 7 hours. >> do you think you will go back out given what you kind of experienced when you were in the water? >> sure, we go every day. >> but you said it was a little unpredictable making it a little more dangerous. certainly they were not all

that excited to see -- >> no, i think they were probably pretty mad at us but it is what we do. >> will be safe. i know you are out of the water now. thanks for your insight. i want to show you a couple of more things we noticed out here. first you can see the ferryboats coming across. they were an issue. we talked about the vallejo that didn't run. we have seen more ferries go back and forth. there is one you are looking at there rocking a bit in this current. then we have seen a couple of coast guard boats. i can see at least a couple of ferry services. you know they say that things are getting back to normal. certainly they are trying to get people where they need to go and trying to get past it but as we see more swells come in certainly it does affect things. the water is higher. we have noticed tide coming in. as larry said they have noticed it is higher than normal. but you take a look at this beach, earlier you could see 12 feet of the beach and we would turn around and the water would come in and the waves would

crash on the pier and that is one of the reasons why obviously they don't want you along this water. they don't want you along this peer. with did stop by aquatic park this morning before they shut that down and talked to people who wanted to go out on boats and one of the situations where the folks said look we called your coast guard. they said you want to do your swim go ahead and do it and then got them right back on the radio and said on second thought let's just be safe. that is the theme going on today, let's just be safe. it looks like the worst of it is over at least here in san francisco but still keeping the pier closed, keeping this area clear, there are surfers in the water but again that is not recommended at this point. they want you to take a step back and if you want to look do it from a distance. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news.

>> i know a minute ago you showed us that peer that is taped up but i see people walking behind you. the area where you are appears to be okay for people to stand and watch. >> reporter: yes, you know what they have done if you look beyond them that is fort point, that is an area that people actually like to drive out to, places to park and that is where surfers have done. what they that have done is cut off access to that area. so you can walk through the area that gets you further down but that is it. they normally open the gates at sunrise, they did not do that today. if you are on a bike or walking you can get here from the christie field and east beach and that area but you are not able to drive in here. they are trying to minimize traffic at this point so it does seem to be very popular place because this is where you see a lot of people on bikes and tourists come through here and like to ride to the golden

gate bridge so they are letting that happen, again because they shut off the parking lot and the area and the pier they are limiting access, not cutting everyone off but limiting access to this area. >> claudine wong bringing us live coverage all morning long. thank you so much. >> we want to mention that we are extending our coverage obviously of ktvu channel 2 news at noon for a significant amount of time because of this situation with the earthquake in japan and the tsunami here. we want to go back to the coast card for an update on update on the search happening. >> the coast guard is deploying helicopters for a man swept out at sea -- excuse me near the waters near the clamouth river. he and two friends were taking photos and were swept by rogue

waves generated by the earthquake off the coast of japan. two of the men were safely able to get back to shore and one is still unaccounted for, so the coast guard is on scene and currently conducting a search for this individual. >> am i correct in understanding they went into the water at 10:00 a.m.? >> the coast guard received a report just after 10:00 a.m. this morning. right after that the coast guard was on scene. >> so now we are two and a half hours away from that. how wide of an area are you searching? kind of how wide has this search grown now? >> the search is up and down the crescent city shoreline. generally in these situations the water is fairly cold. as you know the surge is tough at this time. just given the conditions with the tsunami so we are searching a wide area. >> you said it was a rogue wave. do you have any idea of the height? >> i don't at this time but we