christie shith, today in the east bay. >> once again drawing the short straw. there is just that one straw. >> that's exactly it. i can't run the computers from out of the studios. they are operating near the speed limit. out towards the carquinas and benicia bridges, we are watching a lot of folks out area into the north bay because of get away traffic. storms that we are talking about that we are seeing and that will affect your drive at this time sierra. oakland shows you 880. she got hit with the rain really hard. water picking up off the roadway. use caution into friday. focus on the day before you think about the weekend >> the latest in japan, the country's nuclear safety agency raised the severity rateing for level four to level five on a seve seven-level scale. level five is having wider than local consequences. the country reaching out to the u.s. for help in stabilizing the overheated nuclear plants military fire trucks sprayed with water to try to prevent fuel from overheating and spewing dangerous radiation. relief workers held a moment of silence