abc7 news reporter chris nguyen explains how long the retrofit project will take and why it is so badlyeeded . >> reporter: today in santa clara county, special groundbreaking, as elected officials marked the start of the anderson dam project. >> this dam is seismically unsafe. if we had a major earthquake, we could see the sloughing of the dam . >> reporter: the 1700 foot tunnel will allow them to release more water safely during major storms or emergencies . it will take three years to build and is part of a larger sidegak retrofit project which will take an additional seven years to finish. >> this is not something you can sit at a table and draw a plan and say this is how we're going to build it. this takes a lot of coordination between the federal agencies, the state, and county . >> reporter: if a major earthquake were to hit, engineers say downtown morgan hill would be under 35 feet of water . coyote creek would flood, channeling runoff 30 miles to san francisco bay, putting downtown san jose under eight feet of water. some say the floods of tou thao 17 arik the reminder why this

in san jose, chris nguyen, abc7 news. >>> it is about to get hotter and drier. lot hotter. >> it is always scary when we are talking about fire season. >> it is, because we have fire concerned and health concerns. we start with an excessive heat watch which goes in effect on noon at saturday until 11:00 p.m. on sunday. northbay mountains, east bay hills and the diablo range. high temperatures and this time will be in the mid-90s to low 100s and that increases the risk of heat related illnesses. we have an excessive heat warning in effect from noon friday to midnight sunday night or until 12:00 a.m. monday for lake county and most of mendocino county. also solano county. the warning is in effect until 9:00 p.m. monday. so it is extended beyond the hours of the other mornin it will be quite hot. right now we are experiencing breezy, cool, and comfortable conditions. wind speeds up to 29 miles per hour in san francisco. gusts up to 32 at sfo. we have a building marine layer. we will miss that over the next several days. it is 63 in oakland. 67, mountain view. san j

so we will probably see a softening in the used car market. >> reporter: chris nguyen, abc7 news. >>> cloudy weather will give way to a summer spread by this weekend. spencer has the seven day forecast, next. >>> and a reminder the game five of the nba finals between the milwaukee bucks and phoenix suns is coming up sunday night managing type 2 diabetes? on it. on it. on it, with jardiance. they're 22 million prescriptions strong. meet the people who are managing type 2 diabetes and heart risk with jardiance. jardiance is a once-daily pill that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and jardiance lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacter

in mountain view, chris nguyen, abc7 news. >>> governor newsom is encouraging eligible californians who are behind on rent to sign up for the state covid-19 rent relief program. the program is aimed at helping low income residents pay for back rent and upcoming rent through the summer. >> $5.2 billion to pay 100% of your back rent, april of last year, and to pay 100% of your rent through september 30 of this year.ed directly by covid-19. >> the governor says now is the time to enroll in the program. newsom says the likelihood of the states of fiction moratorium being extended beyond september is diminishing daily because of the economic recovery. the rent relief program also includes help for utility bills and the internet. >>> wildfire worries. fires continue to burn out of control in the west. the latest on the fight against the flames. >>> cutting back. you are being asked to reduce water usage by 15%, so how can you do that? >>> and community policing, what it is and how it could help solve big problems. >>> we have cooler than average days coming our way and then a ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ moni

some consumers may feel they are running out of options, but abc7 news reporter chris nguyen found there is an upside to the lack of inventory. >> reporter: this view of a honda dealership in san rafael is a stark reminder of a car shortage being felt across the country. >> with the pandemic, consumers were less willing to actually ride public transit, ride-share's. >> reporter: economics professor paul lombardi says car prices are up due to high demand and limited supplies. with the economy on the up, and more people looking to buy, new vehicles are harder to find, especially as auto dealers struggle to source computer chips, and delays in delivery. >> a lot of us have not been able to travel or go out to events muscle consumers have more money that they are willing to spend. >> reporter: at major dealerships, used vehicles can also be hard to me , wi t price is up nearly 30% year-to-year. at san jose auto outlet, the owner says you might want to consider independent auto dealer like him, if you are okay with a slightly older, higher mileage vehicle. he has added $2 million worth of inv

chris nguyen found their concern and this year's numbers could go higher. for mac as bay area families prepare to celebrate the fourth of july holiday, healthcare providers are bracing for a possible uptick in fireworks related injuries. >> dr. yvonne grannis, director of the regional bububububu san jose says her team is staffed up ahead of the weekend. with more people hosting backyard gatherings, she says some may be tempted to illegal fireworks potentially putting friends and loved ones at risk. >> every year we see patients who parents didn't know a sparkler was so dangerous. >> she is also chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery and said she has seen too many people come into the e.r with preventable injuries. >> there is nothing fun about a stay in the burn unit are i injuries or permanent permanentt loss or disfigurement. >> the county fire department urges the public to attend professional fireworks displays as opposed to putting their own at home. not only are fireworks illegal in santa clara county, but the severe drought conditions have many

. >> and san jose, chris nguyen, abc 7 news. >>> city officials are downplaying the severity of crime in san francisco despsan videos like this one statistics from the police departments show that crimes have decreased in the city. the police chief and mayor gave a midyear report on public safety. rapes, robberies are down. what is your take on it? >> a mixed report we had some up and some down. violence up, some violence down. if you are a victim of crime it is the center of your life and chances are it has changed your life forever. right now san francisco as a city is reeling from crime and also from public relations nightmare,prroers argoviral on the internet, the mayor and the police chief made it clear today that no crime is good but that even while the numbers are down others are trending up in san francisco and its sole major city and other major cities are dealing with similar issues not as well as san francisco. put that all together but today i asked the mayor and chief or can be done right now to make things better and if they feel the city's district attorney is doing eno

here is abc7 news reporter, chris nguyen. >> reporter: you can see the remnants of a controversial blackmatter mural that is no longer there. in a lawsuit against the city and the police department, five city police officers say they were forced to physically pass and confront the artwork on hamilton avenue every time they went to work. at issue, elements they considered offensive and discriminatory, including a quote from an fbi fugitive who was convicted of killing a police officer in 1973. she eventually escaped from prison and fled to cuba. the lawsuit says the mural included the logo of the new black panthers, which is listed as a hate group by the southern poverty law center. the law firm told abc7 news in a statement that it is important to note that the lawsuit, nor the plaintiffs, have any issue whatsoever with the mural in general, nor the blm movement. the only issue was with two icons/pictures within one of the letters. the images that the police officers association simply asked to be removed from the mural on two occasions. they were told no. the lawsuit alleges that the of