good morning. i'm jade hernandez. california highway patrol is reporting several places that are flooding in the bay area. we'll have an update for you straight ahead. it's rainy and windy out there. and some of the bridges going

to be very tough driving. we'll update you on what the worst drives to work are right now. well, bad news is we're getting some moderate to heavy rain. what's the good news? it looks like it's about gone through. areas like lake county and santa cruz mountains in line for possible flash flood watches. we'll have updates on that. two men and a dog are dead this morning after someone opened fire. what they were doing right before that shooting. it's all ahead here on the ktvu morning news. good morning. welcome to wednesday. it's march 23rd. i'm dave clark. good morning. i'm pam cook. weather and traffic our top story this morning. we do have team coverage. we are on storm watch this morning. reporters jade hernandez and kraig debro are both out in the rain. they're checking for flooding and trouble spots for us this morning. sal is watching for any problems in the commute. but first let's go to

meteorologist steve paulson for the very latest on the storm. pam and dave, thank you. we have this system roaring through right now. but the good news is it looks like rain rates are decreasing rapidly behind it. but not before we had moderate to heavy rain turn showery in nature and colder unstable air begins to move in. as long as that low's sitting there it will funnel in more rain. looks like on the backside lake port starting to see a decrease in the rain. that's good news. already at monitor stage is clear lake. especially at lake port and clear lake oaks expected to go above flood stage on thursday evening. north bay just in line from st. helena to napa drier air is moving in especially into sonoma county and marin county. another strong system is starting to light up the radar. look at fairfield. that is heavy duty rain. back over towards bethel island, concord, danville, livermore, south bay, santa cruz mountains and morgan hill to wattsonville decrease turning more showery in nature. san jose to mountain view over

the dumbarton bridge heavy rain. decreasing rain but heavy rain on the peninsula right now. tough morning for the commute. traffic is moverring along okay as you drive over to the high-rise of the san mateo bridge. there are no major problems heading to the high-rise. this morning's commute is okay on westbound 24 driving up to the tunnel. now we are looking at the flooding conditions. in fact, flooding has also made it -- impossible to park at park and ride. that's where ktvu's kraig debro is right now. kraig. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, sal. it's kind of a fluctuating situation. this is very close to richardson bay. there's a high tide and there's rain you get flooding here. but if you take a look behind me, see the upside down no parking written on the ground. that was completely covered just 30 minutes ago. the water seems to be rapidly receding here. with the rain tapering off and high tide receding, the lot may

be able to service original purpose but not until later this morning at the very latest. that's almost exactly what we had two days ago. we arrived here about 4:30 on monday with the lot almost full of water. when we left at 6:30 the ground was wet but the lot had no standing water. today conditions are worse. always say park at your own risk but today the agency is asking everyone to observe the no parking signs effectively closing the lot that fills up a lot. >> it's one of the most popular spots in the county this lot. this lot will fill up before the commute actually ends and people will search and drive around this lot looking for places to park before they try another spot. it's a very popular spot. >> reporter: it's not just the rain commuters will be handling this morning. there are high wind advisories on three local bridges. this video from about two hours ago on the bay bridge. hayward, san mateo, richmond san raphael also under high wind advisories. look at this live picture now.

if you were with us a half hour ago you saw that both sides of this fence were covered with water. the ground on the inside. but now inside the parking lot there's at least three spaces that are available now that weren't just 30 minutes ago. we're going to keep an eye on the rain and flooding here throughout the morning. reporting live in mill valley, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. all right kraig. time now 6:04. san francisco getting its fair share of rain and wet weather this morning. ktvu's jade hernandez continuing live team coverage from the city. good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. ironically we left the airport where it was coming down extremely hard. we're live near chavez now in the city. as you can tell barely sprinkling here but that does not mean that the california highway patrol is not busy this morning. several accidents just popped up. several in marin, one in redwood city on northbound 101 just south of redwood shores parkway. what i wanted to show you this morning is that rain really coming down at the federal courthouse on golden gate.

the california highway patrol is reporting major flooding at southbound 280 at northbound 101 and the 380 to northbound 101 connector. there's even flooding reported in oakland on northbound 880 on the broadway off ramp. it's not unusual to see these pockets on the freeway during heavy rains, but drivers should take precautions this morning when out on the roads. hydroplaning is often a problem. reporting live from san francisco this morning, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. all right. and our website, ktvu.com, has live radar for you so you can track the storm in your neighborhood. also a slide show of the best storm photos sent in by our viewers. just click on the storm watch tab. this morning federal agents in san francisco police are teaming up to investigate a mysterious airline threat. it involves the flight from the philippines that landed at sfo last night. officers with bomb sniffing dogs inspected every inch of that cargo area of the plane.

the surge came in response to a telephone threat hours earlier against the philippines airlines flight from manila to san francisco. the lead singer from the band journey was on that flight. >> we didn't know anything until we were told that there's a bomb threat. and i called my wife. and then they said you know there was something going on on our plane. that's the only time that i knew there was something going on. >> agents took action the moment the jet touched down at sfo. they evacuated the 337 passengers and 20 crew members. then moved the jet to a remote part of the airport. now they searched the luggage for several hours but did not find anything. time now 6:07. overnight oakland police have been investigating a double homicide. police say two men and a dog were shot to death while sitting on a porch at a home on harmon avenue in east oakland. this happened just after 8:00.

both men were shot several times. they died right there at the scene. witnesses heard gunshots. several witnesses say, but so far police say they don't have a description of the shooters or get away car. if you have any information, contact oakland police. the city of oakland's public essex commission is looking into whether a security company broke the law by giving campaign contributions to city council members while at the same time seeking a $2 million city contract. the company, abc security, made contributions of $1800 to various council members and others running for office in oakland. abc later received a key council recommendation for the contract even though city staff said the company's bid ranked sixth out of the ten bids that were committed. all right. time now 6:08. sal, we've got wet roads everywhere this morning don't we? yeah. it is going to be a tough drive to work. waking up perhaps hearing the rain on your windowpane and

really made the commute not so great. go outside and show you 280 northbound. they're still clearing an accident. they issued a sig alert because traffic coming up from there is bad. a couple of overturned vehicles now. the good news is no one was seriously hurt in this crash. there were minor injuries, but the traffic is damaged if you will. northbound 280 is bad. and so is southbound 280 driving through daly city. and 101 is also going to be slow heading to the airport. this morning you have to give yourself extra time. there is reported flooding. 101 at paul avenue. normal spot there gets flooded where the drain gets stopped up. and 101 right near 280 is not a good place to be. again, you may strongly consider using public transportation this morning instead of taking the car. it should get better later on. if you're going to be driving later, it might be okay. right now not good driving. let's go out to live pictures and show you highway 24 westbound getting up to the

tunnel. it's okay. 680 southbound coming from the benicia bridge is all right as well getting up to the walnut creek area. a lot of fender benders. can't report them all. we'd be here for -- well, we'd be here too long. the newest 580 westbound at highway 24. there's a crash on broadway at third street. vehicle versus a light pole in oakland. broadway at third. westbound bay bridge there is minor back up northbound 680 there's a brand new accident just came in. these accidents are popping up on the screen faster than we can keep up with them. let's move along and take a look at i think this is the last picture right guys? i kind of lost my trip. thank you. let's go to steve. same thing, sal. a lot of weather going on. >> yeah. >> and we have this system and the jet stream taking aim right at us. we're not done yet. after thursday situation should improve. but today and tomorrow could be a little tough here especially for parts of lake county out towards sacramento and even into the santa cruz mountains. quarter to two inches.

good news is it looks like this front is moving through rapidly. that's good. tomorrow though another half inch to maybe two inches of rain. rain on saturday. there's a little disagreement on how much. i think it will be a lesser amount as the jet stream starts to lift to the north and a break on sunday. break until then. the system finally arrived. low spinning right off eureka. as long as it sits there it will funnel in more rain. the front is flying through. live storm tracker 2 rain decreasing in lake county also front's gone through santa rosa, sonoma county into marin county. but from about eastern solano, napa county, contra costa and santa clara county and peninsula and santa cruz mountains especially between san jose and morgan hill monterey highway looks like really heavy rain. areas decreasing flash flood watches out for clear lake at clear lake oaks and lake port. that will be tomorrow evening looks like that's when the situation could get above flood

stage. last i heard it was at monitor stage around 8.6 feet. but expected to go to 9 tomorrow. that's at clear lake. any information you could e- mail me would be great. also santa cruz mountains and coastal mountains down to so lianas valley and yolo causeway water almost to the bridge last check what i heard. lake county 1.4. that's too much. they don't need anymore rain. mill valley three quarters. san francisco a third. oakland quarter inch. today and tomorrow you're in the window. i think by saturday it will start to improve rapidly but five day total two to four inches. already over an inch and a half and more rain there this morning. because the rain is saturated possible mud slides again and more flooding. stay up to date on the latest advisories. 40s and low 50s. cool out there. cold unstable air is coming in. next system is dropping in giving us more rain and intensify on thursday morning. morning rain decreasing. windy at times. cool, then sun, clouds,

showers, possible thundershowers and maybe some severe weather out to the sacramento valley. a funnel cloud on monday. wednesday, thursday, off and on rain into friday and light rain on saturday. we do get a break looks like sunday, monday, pam and dave. 6:12. we're getting sad news coming into our newsroom this morning. several reports saying that actress elizabeth taylor has just died. now the famed actress has been in and out of the hospital in recent weeks as you know. she's been treated for congestive heart failure among many other very serious health issues. she was 79 years old. she is 79 years old. again, these reports are just coming in. we're trying to pull together all of the facts around the reports that say taylor has passed away. we'll bring you details on the facts as we get them as soon as they come in. all right. it's 6:13. the unusual disguise that more than a dozen illegal immigrants

used in an attempt to sneak across the u.s. border. also a new sign of defiance from libyan leader gadafi. why questions are being raised about whether the military operation against libya is really working.

good morning to you. welcome back. time now 6:16. libyan leader gadafi says western powers attacking libya will "end up in the dust bin of history." as ktvu's allison burns reports

from our washington d.c. newsroom, gadafi made his first appearance since the beginning of those coalition air strikes. allison. >> reporter: dave, gadafi's forces are still advancing. the civilian death toll is mounting. and this morning there are questions about whether the military effort against him is working. this is new video of u.s. fighters taking off from the uss key damage in the mediterranean sea as forces continue to pound libyan targets, gadafi sounds as defiant as ever. he made his first appearance since the attacks began and vowed to keep fighting. >> they will not terrorize us. we are making fun of throbbing course. >> reporter: president obama is cutting short his south america trip by a few hours to return to d.c. to deal with the crisis. he's facing questions about the scope and leadership of the coalition effort. he says it's saving lives, but many are wondering how far the u.s. will go to help rebels

under siege by gadafi. >> we are going to be examining all our options. >> reporter: now secretary of state hillary clinton said in an interview that gadafi could be looking for a way out of the country. she says she's been told that people close to him have been reaching out to others around the world asking for help. reporting live from washington d.c., allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:17. well, six libyan villagers are recovering after being shot by american soldiers. military officials say the villagers were helping the air force pilot after their jet crashed earlier this week. officials say when a u.s. rescue chopper flew in to pick up the pilots they started firing on the friendly villagers. despite that incident the villagers say they're not angry. they say they want american involvement including air strikes to continue. and the price tag for that involvement is now topping the $100 million mark. that's triggering a big debate over funding in washington. according to the u.s. navy, the u.s. has spent $225 million on

tall ma hawk missiles to help establish that no-fly zone in libya. it will cost an additional $100 million a week to maintain that zone. military officials say they may have to ask congress for more money but lawmakers on both sides say america can't afford it. the u.s. military is now investigating the capture of illegal immigrants who were posing as u.s. marines. border patrol agents stopped a van on march 14th near a san diego check point. inside they found 13 illegal immigrants wearing military uniforms. and the van had a fake u.s. government license plate. among those arrested were two u.s. citizens. three illegal immigrants are being held as witnesses. the others were sent back to mexico. all right. time now 6:19. let's check our traffic. a lot going on, right, sal? there is a lot going on. tough driving almost everywhere. we're going to start in the east bay this time and look at

the east shore freeway coming in from vallejo. it's low traffic not only westbound but also eastbound approaching the bridges little bit of a back up there. the weather's just not making it for very good drive at all. you have slow downs and puddling water in many areas and a lot of collisions. a lot of collisions. in fact in oakland here at third and broadway a car ran off the roadway and ran into a light pole at the corner of third and broadway. not too far from our studios here at jack london square. moving along and taking a look at the peninsula, 280 northbound still clearing an accident. final clearing stages 280 northbound at hick boulevard. but 280 is a mess especially southbound heading down to highway 380. interstate 380. and then down to highway 92. so it's going to be tough driving on the peninsula. look at live pictures. highway 4 you are going to see heavy traffic in antioch. busy here in bay point and also busy on 680 as you get there heading from concord to walnut creek. and this morning if you're driving in san francisco

northbound 101 the wind seems to have settled down. so has the rain. we can actually see the traffic now. northbound 101 traffic is okay getting up to a windy bay bridge. 6:20. let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. our system is moving through fast. that's the good news. not before it left about half an inch of rain to over two for some areas. we really don't need much more rain because the ground's already saturated. santa rosa two-thirds of an inch. same for petaluma, napa .45. sfo quarter of an inch. san jose a tenth. in lake county they've had over an inch and a half of rain as well. our system is moving in. that's the good news. rain rates decreasing rapidly in the north bay. still in the east bay from about fairfield and vacaville over to the east bay you can see some of that rain especially towards livermore and the allot month pass down to the south bay morgan hill that's heavy rain. and over towards highway 17 santa cruz mountains and from

fremont, dumbarton bridge, 237 peninsula starting to decrease. you can see the drier line moving through. our system will move through really cool temperatures right now. 40s. combine that with the breeze and it's on the chilly side. one more system has to move in at least between today and tomorrow. that will keep the flash flood watches going especially for areas up towards lake county, yolo causeway, sacramento and even into santa cruz mountains south towards so lianas. morning way gives way to sun, showers, possible thundershowers. upper 50s for a few, mid-50s for others. five-day forecast after saturday things should calm down, pam and dave. all right. thank you, steve. we just want to add our breaking news we're following. liz taylor's publicist confirmed she died at the age of 79. we'll have more on that in a bit. also here in the bay area an alarming report about bridges. why cal tran says drivers don't need to worry yet. also the big benefit the

federal reserve is getting from its highly unpopular bailouts. good morning. westbound 24 as you head up to the tunnel traffic is busy. we'll tell you more about the morning commute straight ahead.

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good morning. right now traffic is going to be okay at the bay bridge toll plaza. but we are getting a little bit of a crowd. also there is a wind advisory for the bay bridge. the richmond bridge and the san mateo bridge. the placer county coroner is expected to perform an autopsy today on an oakland man who died at a sierra ski resort. a search and rescue worker found the body of the 58-year- old yesterday on an expert run at sugar bowl. hoffman was considered a very strong skier. now the search team started looking for him after his wife reported him missing monday night. the placer county sheriff's department says a medical condition may have contributed to his death since there were no obvious signs of trauma. time now 6:26. there's a new report that finds an alarming number of bay area bridges and overpasses are in need of repairs. the structures in san francisco they say are the worst overall. the organization for america

says 34% of the bridges and overpasses are considered deficient in the city. in san mateo county it's 22%. the same number for alameda county. santa clara county 19%. however, cal trans is saying just because a bridge is considered deficient doesn't necessarily mean it's not safe. >> what it means is that the amount of work it takes to keep it operational. it doesn't mean it's in any imminent danger. >> now the organization transportation california says it will lobby congress for more federal funding to help fix those deficiencies. now if you want to read the full report on the state of bay area bridges and overpasses, you can do it. it's all on our channel 2 website at ktvu.com. look under the right now section. well, the federal reserve bailout program for big companies is turning a big profit. federal reserve reports making nearly $82 billion in 2010. that's up 53% from the year

before and a profit record for the fed. a large amount of that money though is from increased interest income on mortgage backed securities the fed purchased as a way to stabilize the housing market. well, the sad news from hollywood came just moments ago. elizabeth tear # taylor is dead. we have a look back at her life in more details about what happened this morning. >> reporter: here in the bay area several reports of flooding and wind advisories on bay area bridges. the latest from the city coming up.

there's the bell live in new york this morning where could be another down day today. that's what the futures have been indicating all morning. not a huge drop. european markets, small moves

actually in both directions this morning. look at the bottom part of your screen the dow just started trading. probably going to cross below that -- there it goes the 12,000 mark. that could be a mark we test for a little while here. live look at the new york stock exchange. we'll get a complete business update in just a moment. all right. we'll smile and say good morning to you. thank you for joining us here on the ktvu morning news wednesday march 23rd. i'm dave clark. >> good morning. i'm pam cook. time now 6:30. in case you didn't know it's a wet and windy morning waiting for you. and the number of very serious accidents growing by the minute. ktvu's jade hernandez joining us live in san francisco now with some new video to show us. good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. that's absolutely right. it's barely sprinkling here right now. so we're going to go straight to a very serious accident that one of our crews just arrived on scene to. this video just in. the california highway patrol responded to this accident in the northbound lanes of 280 just north of hick boulevard. someone reported this two car accident just after 5:00 this morning. that's a little more than an

hour ago. a sig alert issued around 5:40. a driver and passenger were injured. we don't know how serious but paramedics were on scene. it appears one of the vehicles involved was a pickup truck. during heavy rains which many drivers here in the bay area are experiencing this morning, the california highway patrol warns drivers about the dangers of hydroplaning. all commuters should slow down on the roads right now. here's another reason to do so. high wind advisories on several bay area bridges. you're looking at the electronic message board just before you hit the bay bridge this morning. a high wind advisory issued around 3:15, minutes before a similar advisory issued for the san mateo bridge. at midnight an advisory warned drivers on the richmond bridge about strong winds when they cross. of course our crews are out and monitoring the situation. we'll bring you the latest in another update. live from san francisco this morning, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. all right, jade.

our ktvu.com channel 2 website has live radar. you can track the storm in your neighborhood. there's also a slide show of the best storm pictures that have been sent in by viewers. just click on the storm watch tab. we are continuing to follow some sad news out of los angeles this morning. legendary hollywood actress elizabeth taylor has died. she passed away peacefully this morning after in and out of hospital for a couple of months. she's had congestive heart failure. her publicist says her children were at her side. taylor first gained stardom as a child and appeared in more than 50 films over her lifetime. she won oscars for her performances in butterfield eight and who's afraid of virginia wolf. in her later years she focused on humanitarian causes such as aids research. elizabeth taylor was 79 years old. police in palo alto investigating claims of embezzlement by a community

leader. the president of the green meadow community association says a former manager is accused of embezzling $70,000 from that group. group members say they became suspicious when the manager suddenly left to open a new gym in redwood city. in contra costa county we're learning about the first criminal case that's been dropped because of the arrest of former drug agent. now the case involved the owner of a massage parlor suspected of running a prostitution service. prosecutors say they had to drop their charges because the agent was their main witness. as many as 40 other cases involving him are currently under review. in just about two hours testimony resumes in barry bonds' perjury trial in san francisco. the first witness a key prosecutor will return to the stand for cross-examination. ktvu's tara moriarty is live outside the courthouse this morning with who else is expected to testify today. tara. >> reporter: well, in order to win this case the prosecution

is going to have to prove that bonds lied under oath. the former home run king is not on trial for that. he's actually not on trial for steroid use. in less than two hours the government's point man on the case will once again take the stand. he was the lead prosecution witness yesterday. the federal drug agent says bonds has not told the truth. in his 2003 testimony impeded the steroids probe. he described how he actually sifted through trash and storage lockers and found a treasure-trove of illegal drugs tied to athletes. now steve will also take the stand. he is bonds' childhood friend who had a fallout with him in his signed memorabilia business. mike murphy will also appear. he's the giants clubhouse manager who will testify to the increase in bonds' bat size. and also the vice president at value co. >> we are going to try our case

in the courtroom and not on the sidewalks. >> reporter: bonds says he always told the truth. yes, he admits using steroids but not knowingly. he says his personal trainer, greg anderson, told him he was taking flak seed oil and arthritis cream. now anderson was escorted out of the courtroom yesterday. he is off to prison for the fourth time. he is once again refused to testify against bonds and will remain behind bars for about a month. that is how long this trial is supposed to last. reporting live in san francisco, tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. an anteoch woman is accused of having an ongoing sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy. police are trying to determine if there are other victims. police arrested the 30-year-old last week. they say she met the boy through her teenage daughter. he has been charged with 27 counts of unlawful sex with a minor and is being held on more than $1.6 million bail. time now 6:36. santa clara man is headed for

prison after filing false claims after that deadly san bruno pipeline explosion. 41-year-old leon sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. prosecutors say he filed thousands of dollars in claims for hotel rooms and car rentals after that explosion on september 9th. he's also going to have to reimburse pg&e for the bills they paid. meantime pg&e says it needs more time to locate key safety documents. last week state regulators threatened to fine pg&e a million dollars a day after it turned over incomplete records. pg&e says some of those documents won't be ready until the end of the year. all right. right now we want to go back over to sal. 6:37 because there's some problems on the roads this morning because of the rain. >> that's right. we've had a lot of collisions out there. a lot of people that have spun out. the latest thing that just came in i was looking at it was northbound 680 just north of

shy coo mor valley road. they're sending paramedics out just as precaution. there's little children on board this car. minor injuries. nothing major. but that's the kind of morning we're having. let's go out and take a look at highway 24 westbound. it is going to be busy driving over to the tunnel. 680 traffic also going to be slow as we mentioned coming from concord to walnut creek. not stop and go but slowing down already. this morning's drive is going to be okay if you're driving on the commute here westbound bay bridge. it is about a ten minute delay. once you get on to the bridge you'll notice it's windy. wind advisories up for the bay bridge, san mateo bridge and the richmond san raphael bridge. also this morning we're looking at san jose. a little bit of rain is moving through here. this is northbound 280 with the headlights coming toward us. here you can see northbound 280 traffic is okay as you drive toward cooper tee know. 6:38. let's go to steve. all right. we have a rainy pattern. good news is the front has

moved through parts of the north bay and in the northern part of the foe anyone will. shouldn't be too much longer as this system begins to wind down. a rainy pattern in place at least today and also tomorrow. the system tomorrow will give us more rain. today quarter of an inch to two inches. already a couple locations exceeded two inches. thursday friday looks to be stronger and heavier. more rain on saturday but looks like the jet stream starts to move north and we get a break on sunday. all signs point towards that. ben almost two inches. santa cruz mountains they don't need anymore rain but they're getting it. up to lake county 1.56. that's a lot of rain. clear lake under a flood watch expected to go above flood stage which is 9 feet tomorrow. mill valley almost an inch of rain. san francisco about a half and oakland a third of an inch. but picking up two inches of rain 2.20 up in the russian river. our system is moverring through. ing see a decrease in some of the rain. but the low as long as it sits out there will funnel in shower activity but at least we get a break towards morgan hill,

santa clara valley, santa cruz, santa cruz mountains, san jose, fremont up to livermore. to the north it's starting to decrease. we're seeing lighter amounts. there are some areas where it's very heavy stretching from eastern solano county, contra costa county back down towards santa cruz mountains. flash flood watch is out. that takes us for wednesday, thursday. clear lake at lake port and clear lake oaks along the coast. santa cruz mountains, coastal mountains and to the valley. ben picked up almost two inches of rain. that's a lot of rain for them. they really don't need that much. but today and tomorrow and probably into early friday possibility of two to four inches on top of that. so as you know we've already had some mud slides up there. possible flooding. keep updated on the latest advisories. this is a five day total. not just today but already have had two inches of rain. santa rosa two-thirds. petaluma two-thirds. napa at a half inch. sfo a third of an inch and san jose picked up two bits so far. upper 40s combine that with the

wind it feels much cooler than that. it's going to be a cool raw day even though we'll get some sun breaks. reason being this next system dropping in will bump that low out of here. a lot of cold unstable air behind that. this system though will bring in colder air. winter storm warning is out for the mountains until 8:00 tonight. heavy snow. be advised you might want to wait it out. sun and clouds later after this morning's rain and wind. and showers possible thundershowers 50s really on your temps or a few very low 60s. breezy, partly sunny, partly cloudy with off and on showers later today. rain returns thursday. takes us into friday morning. one more system on saturday does not look as strong. but we'll get rain probably more towards the north bay and sunday we get a break. pam and dave. okay. time now 6:41. the bay area's wet weather steve just told you about means a lot of snow in the sierra. we're going to take you live. look at this. blue canyon. good morning. highway 4 traffic is going to be very busy this morning. so is the rest of the bay area

commute. give you another update straight ahead.

good morning to you. welcome back. here's a quick look at some of the top stories we're following for you right now at 6:44. legendary movie star hollywood actress elizabeth taylor has just died. she passed away peacefully this morning in los angeles of

congestive heart failure. her publicist says her children were there at her side. elizabeth taylor dead at the age of 79. japan authorities now telling people in tokyo avoid giving tap water to infants because of elevated levels of radioactive iodine. that radiation is coming from that crippled nuclear power plant damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. in a televised address libyan leader gadafi denounced the air strikes being carried out by u.s. and european forces in libya. also this morning nato has warships now patrolling off the coast of libya. they're enforcing a u.n. arms embargo. this morning we're hearing from the four new york times journalists held captive by libyan soldiers. soldiers physically abused those journalists threatening to kill them during the six days they were being held. one journalist says he was hands cuffed so tightly he lost feeling in his hands.

all four were mistakenly driving into a check point guarded by libya forces. their driver is still being held. time now 6:45. testimony continues today in the case against the two men accused of a killing of oakland journalist chauncey bailey. yesterday a caretaker at an oakland care center told the jury he heard shots fired and saw chauncey bailey falling to the ground. ordered the killing and macaque drove the get away car. but saturday confessed to being the gunman. he's expected to be a key witness in exchange for a lighter sentence. a destructive beetle has been stopped from entering the country. u.s. customs agents at atlanta international airport found a beetle in luggage of two passengers arriving from india. experts say that beetle attacks feed and grain products and

would be devastating to u.s. crops. last month the beetle was found on board a ship in new jersey. it has also been intercepted at other airports. time now 6:46. actress lindsay lohan has until today to decide if she'll accept a plea deal that would send her to jail. now lohan is accused of walking out of a jewelry store with a $2500 necklace. she's on probation for a previous drunk driving case. and a guilty plea could send her to jail for 90 days. now she could reject that plea deal, but she'd face a trial on felony grand theft charges. four u.s. senators want apple, google and blackberry to stop selling the apps that help users avoid drunk driving check points. one of those apps allows its 10 million users to immediately alert each other where a dui check point is located. innocent families and children are at risk when drunk drivers can avoid being captured behind the wheel. more snow is expected in

the sierra as storms continue to hit the area. we have a reporter in blue canyon this morning with a look at conditions there. all right. are you under your newsroom there? there you are. >> reporter: i had to carve stair into this thing to get in and out of the blue canyon newsroom. we'll take you inside in just a second and show you what's going on under the snow pack. first on top of the snow along interstate 80 winter driving conditions for another day. let's just make it a whole week. the rest of this week will be winter driving in the sierra. keep it nice and smooth but all the way to the nevada state line pretty much the entire trip through the sierra. require chains or four wheel drive with snow tires to get you where you're going this morning into mountains where by the way the snow totals up here some 600 inches plus. it is just getting buried up here in the sierra.

the houses, ski areas digging out their ski lifts. getting onto a lift is incredible. we're looking at another five feet coming. incredible what's happening as we continue to get buried. check it out. this is the blue canyon newsroom. my little shelter i built out of sticks down there. >> very nice. >> reporter: some serious digging to get inside. let me show you around here. this is the little cooking area out here. get some hot chocolate going a little bit later. but inside it's a shelter built out of sticks three winters ago and i thought this winter this is going to do it, it's going to crush this thing. but here it is. boy scout engineering the thing is still standing and christmas lights still shining some three winters later. >> you're a little crazy. >> reporter: no, i'm serious. it's warmer in here than it is out there. there's no wind. it's not blowing. it's nice and calm. it's wonderful. >> where's the hot chocolate? >> reporter: i'll make it. i will make it.

any add ons i'll have that as well. >> very nice. before you go can you tell us you were talking about five feet expected. a lot of people are looking at the snow thinking i would like to drive up there this weekend. any indication of what it's going to be like on friday? >> reporter: friday's going to be a bad one. what i'm hearing is friday might be the most intense of all the storms that are coming into the area here. have to do something with that light. friday you may want to start the day early. maybe get started on thursday. keep an eye on the timing of the systems keeps changing but i think friday is going to be pretty bad. saturday will be a good ski day and sunday we might see a break in the action. that might be your best day for a powder day. >> all right. bryan there from the blue canyon newsroom. well lit. fix the lights and get the hot chocolate going. check in with you later. >> reporter: will do. all right. time now 6:50. let's see what sal sees on our roads. no snow right? no snow here in the bay area right now. but certainly a lot of rain out there. this morning's commute has been very tough if you are driving

in most areas. let's go outside. i want to show you the bay bridge. typical back up. you'll notice windshield wipers are going and there is a high wind advisory for the span getting into and out of san francisco. also it's windy on the golden gate bridge although that bridge is not under any high wind advisory. still notice the wind kind of gusting as you drive across any bridge. the richmond bridge and the san mateo bridge are also under high wind advisories from the chp. let's go to highway 237. stop and go traffic. it looks like it's pretty slow. remember, there have been a lot of minor fender benders. too many for us to run them all down here. a lot of people have been spinning out in this weather. in fact, i want to show you maps. see the indicators those are all the fender benders we have. most are on highway 280. that corresponds where the rain has been moving through at the hardest. take it easy. slow it down. a lot of stalls and accidents. latest one northbound 280 at saratoga avenue just popped up.

6:51. let's go to steve. sal, thank you. we have good news. system is moving through but north bay seeing decreasing rain parts of the peninsula as well. should start to wind down in the east bay but still santa clara valley, santa cruz mountains out towards parts of eastern solano and contra costa county still getting rain. that's not going anywhere until probably tomorrow. may get sun breaks today. we'll have showers and possible thundershowers. good news rain is winding down for lake county. still flash flood watches out for clear lake at lake port and clear lake oaks through tomorrow night when the warning stage is eight feet. it's at 8.5. supposed to go to nine feet by tomorrow. you can see the decrease in the rain especially towards marin county, napa county, sonoma county. but still a lot stretching from about highway 4 back over to mt. diablo. 580, 680. south bay look at that. from evergreen down to morgan hill and gill roy that is big time. and san jose, campbell, the good news santa cruz mountains looks like it's letting up a

little bit. still some rain but not as bad. on the peninsula still some rain especially towards across bay bridge, the richmond san raphael back over to san mateo and dumbarton. we still have rain to go but looks like things are starting to wind down. that flash flood watch takes us through tomorrow. clear lake, clear lake oaks at lake port. and also along the coast and for the coastal mountains, santa cruz mountains south towards so lianas. ben almost two inches. that's too much. mill valley almost an inch. the city half inch of rain. oakland a third. san jose at a quarter of an inch. 40s combine with the wind and it's cold. i want to show you who was the reporter up there? >> bryan mickey. >> yeah. he mentioned another system coming in and he is absolutely correct. that system dropping down to the west that one does look stronger. not only more rain here but very heavy snow up in the mountains. and winter storm warning continues until 8:00 p.m. tonight. finally back to you two, norton

gets a lot of snow. yearly average is 450 inches well over 525 to 550 now. and there's more on the way. wow. all right. thank you, steve. time now 6:53. the incredible price tag of the japan quake disaster. the loss of life is bad enough. but the latestestimate of the damage in dollars. that will shock you. and frightening video you have to see. a huge shark. look at that. swimming dangerously close to that kayaker.

time now 6:56. $309billion. that's what japan now says the cost of the quake and tsunami could reach. that would make it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record. the death toll just keeps rising. more than 9400 deaths so far. more than 14,000 people missing. and the uso of northern california says it needs donations and supplies to help the japanese victims who have now left japan and now here in the bay area. the uso says it needs several items. you see the list right here on your screen. take a look at them. they also are accepting cash donations as well. the uso has three centers here in the bay area.

in florida a kayaker had an up close encounter with a shark, but apparently there's no need to worry. take a look at this youtube video. it was taken near panama city beach. it shows it's a basking shark which is a shark species harmless to humans. usually it's plankton but that thing looks huge next to that kayak. all right. >> yeah. tell us that's harmless right? time now 6:58. coming up on mornings on 2, you know it's wet and windy. it's a messy day in parts of the bay area. our team, our storm watch coverage continues. also, we have more on the death of a true screen legend. the sad news from hollywood that came just about an hour ago.