Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News At 11AM 20170110

We do have team coverage. They are stationed from guerneville to San Francisco watching those dangerous spots. Well get to them in a moment but first we need to check in with meteorologist kari hall. Good morning we are seeing some of that rain continuing through the bay area. This is what it looks like as you head out. This is a live look outside of oakland, 880, and it is very slow going. So, some wet roads and pretty good coverage here on the radar as we have seen also some splotches of yellow. Rain moving through the north bay, San Francisco and over to the east bay. And where we see the heavy est rain, just to the south of napa over toward no vat o and san rafael, some heavier rain falling outside the window now. We talked about 880 in oakland, rain move tlg and just to the south there toward hayward and down the peninsula, a more steady downpour thats kind of wind blown, but weve also seen a bit of a break for parts of san jose, but just in a few minutes that rain will be moving right back in. Well see several more waves of this rain as we go into this evening, even getting heavier with some gusty winds. Ill detail all that of coming in in the micro climate forecast. All right, thank you, kari. The greatest damage were seeing is in San Francisco where that tree came down right across the top of a car. Happened in the same neighborhood earlier this week. Nbc bay area chuck is live in visitation valley in San Francisco. Chuck, you talked to a person whose car was just smashed. Reporter you know what, just not one car, but several cars. Theres two cars, one right behind the other, and there is a third car here that was stuck struck by a street light that came crashing down. Behind me you can hear the sound of chain saws as they are trying to chop this tree up. We had aerials of what this scene looked like a short time ago when we heard about this incident. We dispatched our helicopter to the scene and it shows you this large tree, a monterey pine, roughly 60 to 70 years old that came crashing down. Now, here back on ground level, we can tell you that this happened around 6 30 this morning. Thats when lamonte roths child had just come home from work and the tree came crashing down a very short time later. Hell tell you about it. It is no overstatement to say he is incredibly lucky. Thank god for the grace of god. I just happened i pray, you know, when i was getting out the car walking up the hill. I went to sleep and an hour later i was woke up by the sound of the trees. It started with the pole and then it ended with the tree. The crazy thing it happened up here on nash street as well. Reporter thats right, another tree fell just around the corner on brook dale about a few days ago. Power lines snapped by the tree falling, dragged down this street light right here, damaging a third car. Pg e has been called. You might see here back live that theres a large pg e truck behind it. Thats because when this tree was pulled up by the roots, it snapped also a gas line running in this Public Housing section of San Francisco. And, so, that posed a greater danger for even more widespread damage. Thats the latest from here. You can see it here. The city crews working on this. Im chuck reporting live in San Francisco, nbc bay area. All right, hopefully you got a break for a quick cup of coffee, chuck. Thanks for all that workout there. Were also keeping a close eye on Russian River in sonoma county. Right now its above staff flood level. Right here you can see and its causing a lot of flooding. Water levels will remain throughout the day high, but we go now to nbc bay area guerneville. Pete, People Living near the river, they are not out of the woods just yet. Reporter good morning to you, chris. One of the things early this morning youre seeing, the rain right now is coming down. Were on drake boulevard. This is that area were talking about, we showed you this morning, this golf area, the area is flooded. A lot of flooding around the area. I want to point out i talked to Russian River Fire Department. This is from the tributaries in the area, but not from the Russian River. We do know as far as the levels go in the river it is currently 35 feet which is considered to be in flood stages. Anything above 32 feet is considered flood stages in this area. Now, we are seeing flooding in parts of guerneville. Thats for sure. And we spoke to a guy who actually lives in the rv housing community. He had an rv in there and he had to pull that rv out. What he had to say, trying to do this in the flooded waters and as the rain is coming down. Its a pretty big mess. Im planning on getting a truck and coming in this afternoon when the river is supposed to be at the lowest based on predictions, just so i can get in there and hopefully, you know, undo what needs to be undone, you know, which is under the water right now so i can pull it out. Reporter as i mention right now, guys, its at about 35 feet in the Russian River as far as levels go. Its going to dip down a little bit but it will still be above 32. Tomorrow is when theyre expecting it to possibly hit 37 feet in the Russian River. Of course that can affect areas if it does hit that, the Russian River Fire Department tells me theyre going to be fully staffed and ready to go because thats when theyre expecting the big storm to hit. Were live in guerneville, pete, nbc bay area news. Thanks, pete. Today there was a little less flooding on bay area roadways but that did not the traffic was moving quickly. We have been tracking the traffic all morning long. Lets call on him again. Mike, 880 is tying up traffic. Reporter lets look at it. Northbound 880, big rig right there, the one with, well, more than a right angle, more acute than that. They got it righted by that tow truck there but it spilled fluid on the roadway. It blocked majority of the lanes in the northbound direction 90 minutes. In addition to the rain they had to clean up whatever spill there, make sure it stayed out of the soil. They did. Lets look at the status now. Live look past the kocoliseum, showed you, kari showed you this. This is past 66 and coliseum. Still slow here as we look at the map. Ill show you how far the back up continues. Youre jammed up, takes about 45 minutes still from that stretch all the way to the bay bridge toll plaza, 580 clear. That was complicated by the rain, there was a spill, rain complicated things. Chp hasnt said it is because of slick roads. We are always talking about loss of traction that may have played a factor here or in many spots around the bay. The green shows you where roadways are wet and slick. Speeds are going really well because were still sort of in that shadow of the holiday photographic flow. Not everybody has come back to work yet. As we look farther south, the index shows the rain and wet roadways will be less of an impact on the roadways. Kari showed you that system coming in once again that will make the south bay, Silicon Valley wet. Youll watch for more spotty flooding. Be care. Out there. This afternoon and evening commutes, you might want to get an early start. Tell that to your boss. You might get an early afternoon. Thanks. Thanks. Big waves, lots of rain, theyve been taking a toll. You can add king tides to the mix. Whole pacifica being spared heavy erosion. Crews pouring concrete below esplanade avenue. It has been a rough few days in the Santa Cruz Mountains because of the storms. There is good news to report. Traffic is now flowing in both directions in both lanes on highway 17 between Scotts Valley and the summit. Thats where i was this morning as all lanes reopened after a massive mudslide shut down the highway completely in the area early monday morning. It took more than 24 hours to clean it all up, and during that time the two southbound lanes were used for both south and northbound traffic. No divider, it was a little scary out there. The latest storm bringing a new round of nerves for folks who live near the creek in the south bay. The reservoir there already spilling and water from the creek caused major flooding over the weekend in gilroy, closing roads and highways. The latest round of rain also left orchards in gilroy submerged. Ironically, this weeks storms are actually limiting the amount of water to santa cruz residents because the storm damaged a pipeline connected to the citys water supply. Its been shut down for repair so as a result the city is facing a shortterm water shortage. Everybody in santa cruz is asked to cut back water by 30 for the next week until the krcrews can finish those pipeline repairs. Water water everywhere, not a drop to drink. A crucial tool for when we are in micro climate weather like this one. Download the app when Severe Weather heads your way. Other news, a south bay taxicab driver accuse of the sexually assaulting tie customers will be in court today. Campbell Police Arrested Julio Sanchez last month. They received a report about one of the sexual assaults back in october. The victim said she was intoxicated and became separated from her friends when she was in downtown campbell. She said she got into a taxi outside a bar, later woke up inside the drivers home, as she says she was being assaulted. Police identified sanchez as the suspect after reviewing surveillance video. Also happening today, opponents of urban shield, that annual Law Enforcement training drill in Alameda County are asking county supervisors to vote against funding it. The critical Resistance Coalition is holding a News Conference late they are morning in a push to defund the annual training and weapons expo organized by the Alameda County sheriffs office. It takes place at the county fairgrounds. In the past people have protested against the event and what they call the militarization of our police. Up next at 11 00, snow drifts taller than your head. The sierra getting pounded by winter storm. The closures that are affecting drivers up and down the mountain. Plus hundred of uc workers off the job. The demands that they are fighting for today. Kari said that we would have just a minute to dry out and it was probably about a minute and ten seconds. Yeah, that is definitely over. So, we didnt have a lot of time to prepare for this round of rain moving in. So, here we go again with some widespread rain all across the bay area. And this is what youre seeing as youre heading out, at least there is not as much traffic in this spot, but live look outside at san jose, the rain is falling. We have some slick spots on the roadways and also the threat of some hydro planing as that rain get a little bet heavier as we go into today. The winds will also start to pickup. You have to keep a tight grip on the steering wheel. And flooding on some rivers, especially in the north bay. King tides coming up as we speak, and that will be one of the things well have to watch along the coast line over the next couple of days. And then later on this evening, lightning will be possible with some of those heavier downpours. As we get a look at the radar now scanning around the bay area, pretd much all of us getting in on at least some light rain. And then where we see the yellows and the reds that shows some pockets of some heavier downpours right now starting in parts of the north bay from san rafael and extending farther off towards the east, around napa. And then we go into San Francisco, daily city, and the eastern sections of the city, thats where we do have some of the heavier rain moving in. And also approaching the coast line right there at pacifica, there is some heavy rain starting to move in that will also be quite windy as well. And then we head over to the east bay, oakland we see some pockets of some heavy rain up to a quarter of an inch of rain. And the south bay getting a little bit of a break now, but still some rain in the forecast throughout the day. So, a Flash Flood Watch will be in effect as rain totals reach one to 2 inches for all of these areas shaded in green. Now in the Santa Cruz Mountains, there could be another three to 6 inches of rain. Weve already had 2 inches in spots like bolder creek and ben loman. Those are the spots well be watching. Additional rain totals at least an inch for much of the bay area. We also have a high wind warning that will be in effect. That will be with us throughout the evening as winds will continue to increase from the south at 25 to 40 miles an hour and gusts will be even higher. A look at those current wind speeds right now, weve had some gusts up to 39 in San Francisco. This is right now and those winds rushing up from the south will continue to pickup. Here is a look at the forecast through 3 30 this evening. And it will be in the winds coming in from the south at about 30 to 40 miles an hour. And then this evening, still gusty, and then slowly starting to calm down for tonight into the start of the day tomorrow. Looking at the time frame, once again, very heavy rain through lunchtime, and thats where the heavy est rain will be over the north bay from santa rose a over toward napa and then extending toward fairfield. Through the evening commute, we see the heavy est rain moving through the peninsula as well as the east bay and the south bay. Once again, this will be the time frame well be watching for that potential of some thunder and lightning and all of that rain rolling over toward the sierra, look at how hard it is snowing there. Some of the interstates closed and its definitely going to be treacherous trying to get there. Well talk about how much rain to expect as i send it back to you. Kari, we have some video of that. You have to put your tahoe ski trip on hold. This is video out of truckee. Westbound 80 closed at state line. This is the second day in a row parts of 80 have been shut down. A we look at downtown truckee here. If you decide to go, bring chains, extra food, clothing, water, but youre not going to get past koufax. Yikes. Weve been getting stunning storm scenes from our nbc bay area viewers. This is the passenger in this car, cheryl, who sent it from morgan hill. You can see the car is driving through a very large puddle, but the wisdom is drive around. Dont drown. Ali sent us a photo of a tree that went through her fence in the Almaden Valley neighborhood in san jose. Boy, just missed the house. And vincent, a video, a viewer from napa sent us these breath taking drone pictures of napas downtown area under water. And ani sent us a video of a creek essentially turning into a river in boulder creek. That is bold. Thanks to all of you for sending us so many incredible pictures and videos during the storm. When you see news happening, not just weather, tag us on twitter or instagram or post pictures or video to our facebook page. Well, those folks are from san jose, 8 x 8 opening the nasdaq this morning. Dow industrials up 15 points. 5547. Verizon is going ahead with its plan to buy parts of yahoo and that means changes for the company. After yahoo sells the majority of itself to verizon, what remains will be renamed altaba. Basically just a holding company. Yahoo ceo maeries a meyer will leave the board of directors when the deal is complete. She has publicly said she does plan to stay with the company, though, after the verizon deal closes. A driver is under arrest this morning after a brief chase in a car that police say was stolen. It started before 11 00 last night when officers responded to reports of gun fire near south capital and florence avenue. No one was hit, but when officers saw a car matching the description, it took off. Policemanaged to arrest that driver nearby and figured out that that car was indeed stolen. Police say there may have been a second person in the car who got away on foot. Thoutz of Clerical Workers at uc campuses and hospitals around the state are walking off the job. A short time ago police in santa cruz warned striking workers were disrupting traffic near the campus. Statewide, 12,000 workers at all ten campuses and five medical centers are on strike. They are protesting ucs negotiation tactics, they say, in a dispute over wages. Uc and the teamsters have been negotiating over wages since april. Contracts covering these clerical employees expired at the end of november. And live now to sacramento where Governor Brown is introducing the budget for the 201718 fiscal year, the budget will have to account for the possibility of steep cuts in federal funding for health care and other public services. This comes as there is uncertainty about the changes we can expect from president elect donald trump. President barack obama will bid the nation goodbye this evening. The 44th president of the United States will deliver his farewell address in chicago. As many as 20,000 people are expected to attend. Millions more will watch it live on television including on this tv station. President obama is expected to at least one last defense of his Signature Health care law before leaving the oval office, and hes expected to issue what the white house staff describes as a series of admonitions about the challenges we face moving forward. You can watch the full address right here on nbc bay area at 6 oclock. Coming up, fresh off a dramatic rescue in the south bay, in the works far from over. First responders are gearing up for their next call. And happening now, a team is hard at work during this mielk row climate weather alert. We have crews across the bay area at those major trouble spots. But you can also get alerts right to your smartphone when were not on the air. Download the free nbc bay area app. And if you have photos or video of the Severe Weather that you see, send it to us and well put it to work on the air. Tag us on facebook or post them with the hashtag nbc bay area. Were back in two minutes. Over 1,000,000 californians have gotten something thats been out of reach for far too long Health Insurance. How . They enrolled through covered california. Its the Health Insurance marketplace where youll find a range of plans from leading Health Insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates, and benefits. And, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. To get covered, youve got to get going. Open enrollment ends january 31st. Visit covereca. Com today. Crashing down onto a st. Helena home. The owners of the whitehall winery say they thought it was a a centurys old tree came crashing down on a saint helena home. They say they thought it was a healthy tree. Before it was up rooted thats what they thought. It happened sometime saturday night or sunday morning. Speculation is that the tree sucked up rainwater, became top heavy and just couldnt withstand the 50 mile per hour wind gusts. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the tree did topple and cause more than 75,000 worth of damage. A short respite and its back to work for rain weary first responders. Theyve been busy with the flooding. This is video we showed you yesterday of rescue crews saving a gilroy family trapped inside their flooded home. Today they are focused on the new round of rain headed this way, and all the problems that it could bring for the bay area. Nbc bay areas ian cole has more on how there is just really for them no rest in sight. Reporter the break in between the storms is giving responders just a few hours to prepare for the next rain. That could mean creeks at the creek here in morgan hill could overflow once again and tonight that group of Fire Fighters who helped save that family in gilroy say theyre prepared for whatever comes their way. When someone is stuck in the water, these san jose Fire Fighters are the ones who are called, the only Swift Water Rescue Team in santa clara county. Tonight theyre gearing up for the week ahead. The es are reservoirs and ths that come out of it. Reporter they launched into dangerous flood water from the uvas creek in gilroy. Heading to save a man and his son stuck on the second level of their home, the first floor under 8 feet of water. That field is historically flooded time and time again, but this is the first time its been that bad and that large. So, the person at that house has had it happen, but its never been big enough where its gone in his house. Reporter with the family safe, they went back for the scared dog reluctant to be rescued at first, but then giving in. Good boy. Last night was big for us. Its been a while since we had a significant rainstorm thats filled up the creeks like that where we had to do water rescues of that nature. Reporter watch that blew thing behind you right there. The work is dangerous, gliding into flooded areas with unknown debris around and inside the water. But theyre prepared for more rescues if needed overnight and this week. And they go through hundreds of hours of specialized training each year just to prepare for weeks like this one. In morgan hill, ian cole, nbc bay area news. It is kind of funny to talk about a lack of water on a day like this, but the next time california experiences severe drought, San Francisco residents may face new restrictions on water. The examiner says that San Franciscos puc will vote today on new rules and fines in the event of a containment drought. If a state of emergency is declared, San Francisco homes would be restricted to 500 gallons per day. The usgs says the average person uses 80 to 100 gallons a day. Those rules would fall in line with state requirements discouraging excessive water use during the severe drought. Biologists are waiting for the weather to improve so they can figure out why this whale died. The female whales car cast was floating near oakland on saturday. It was towed to angel island and awaited biologists. This is not a rare sight in the bay area. Last year 30 whales and dolphins were found dead, an unusually high number. Biologists expects it is not that theyre dying more often, but rather were discovering more of them close to shore. Coming up our micro climate weather alert coverage continues. Kari hall is still tracking the storm. Low visibility and standing water on the roadways what youll have to deal with as we go into this afternoon and into the evening. The peak of the storm hitting us later on. Ill give you a better idea of the time line. Well talk about some rivers coming up. Plus fema already setting up to help the federal aid coming for those already affected by the storm. Our micro climate weather alert is still in full effect and were seeing damage and flooding from across the bay area at this hour. But heres what were tracking right now. Well take you out to our radar. You dont need to be a scientist like kari hall to interpret that that green is a lot of rain. Just into our newsroom, crews are working at removing this tree which fell on top of a home on several cars just blocks away from the cow palace. Believe if or not, no one was hurt. In guerneville, residents and crews watching the rising water. This is from earlier this morning. The Russian River above flood stage causing nearby creeks to overflow right into neighborhoods. Lets turn to kari hall and get the very latest.  kari, its going to get better. It will get better, but it will take its time getting there. We have to deal with some more of this heavy rain as we go into the rest of this afternoon. We are starting to pickup on heavier rain in the north bay and right over San Francisco. Weve had so much rain, and lets get a look at some of the totals weve had so far in santa rose a. 1. 4 while san rafael has had over an inch of rain. Many of these spots in the north bay getting over an inch of rain, and we still have a lot more of this as we go through the rest of the morning. Heading into San Francisco where the rain continues to fall, anywhere from a tenth of an inch to three quarters of an inch of rain in the presid yo and down the peninsula looking down about half an inch of rain for many spots. The south bay picking up on close to an inch of rain in los gatos while the rest of the south bay, about a quarter of an inch of rain and were also looking at anywhere from half of an inch to over an inch in oakland. So, Copious Amounts of rainfall, still in the forecast for this afternoon. Well take a look at the time line and how much rain you can expect thats coming up a little bit later. Thank you, kari. Scary moments for a watson ville boy. He was plucked from dangerous squatters during a rescue. It was just super scary. Like what was going through my head, like am i going to die. That is charlie. Hes 11. He was walking along this Drainage Ditch with his brother and mother and neighbor when he fell in. Charlies brother grabbed him before he was swept away. The family neighbor jumped in to help. The Fire Fighters got there and jumped into action. Luckily his older brother was there, adults were there, and our personnel and fire, we were able to rescue everybody out of there. But it could have gone far worse. Now, there was a culvert nearby that could have sucked him in. A fire fighter was injured in the rescue. That fire fighter treated and released from the hospital. So, theres a lot of rain in the bay area. Weve been reporting its creating that dangerous situation in the Santa Cruz Mountains. We have new video for you. This was yesterday. Giant red wood crashing down on 17, that was on unstable ground. So, cal trans crews actually cut it down. This is in the same spot where that mudslide was blocking traffic for more than a day. That roadway, by the way, is now open. We had mentioned that earlier. I was listening for that sound this morning. That was in the back of my mind. So, look at this, this is rock fall in yosemite. The National Park is expected to reopen to visitors this morning, but only for a day use. If you are going, you can see that getting there might be difficult because of road closures. Lodges and hotels in the valley arent expected to reopen, though, until tomorrow. It might seem hard to believe now, but folsom lake water levels were extremely low. Given the recent rain, the department of Water Resources now ordered the opening of the dam spill way. Folsom lake is up 13 feet since yesterday and its still rising. The federal Emergency Management agency is trying to get ahead of our storms. Fema has activated its Regional Response center in downtown oakland. Its hoping to be prepared in the event the Disaster Response is needed. Were looking ahead, looking at the next storm and posturing ourselves here with the federal resources in the event that the state calls us for assistance. Fema is paying attention to the sierra where up to 7 feet of snow may fall by the end of the week. Pg e is working around the clock, clearing up and preparing for more damage. Pg e says it is relying on prediction models to forecast the potential timing, location and number of Power Outages this week. It is also bringing in additional crews from washington, oregon and arizona. In total, nearly 275,000 people in the bay area were without power at some point over the weekend. Pg e responded to 1200 outages over the last couple of days, including 300 reports of wires down because of high winds. Dont get caught in the rain without an umbrella or the nbc bay area app which will tell you when rain is approaching your area. It will tell you when to expect it within 30 minutes. Download it today for inju your iphone or android device. It is free. Donald trumps cabinet picks are starting their nomination process. First guy up is alabama senator Jeff Sessions up for the attorney general post. This is a live look at the hearing right now and it is contentious. Earlier californias diane fine stein, asking questions. This is not senator sessions here, but this is a live look at the hearing. Back in the 80s, the senator sessions tried to get this committees approval for a position as federal judge and many in his own party turned him down. Also today, Donald Trumps pick for his his soninlaw, Jared Kushner for Senior Advisor to the president , will be scrutinized. As nbcs Peter Alexander reports, hell have a unique influence inside his fatherinlaws white house. Reporter just hours after his role became official, soninlaw Jared Kushner arrived on capitol hill meeting with paul ryan to discuss tax reform. He will play a broad role in the white house, will step aside as ceo of his familys real estate company, divest substantial assets, and recuse himself from any direct conflicts of interest. Still, kushners appointment is likely to test the limits of the federal antinepotism law created after jfk appointed his brother as attorney general. Earlier on today, kushners lawyer jamie suggesting the law doesnt apply to the white house. Congress passed a law that said that the president can have total discretion over his immediate staff without regard to any other law, including the antinepotism law. Reporter kicking off this morning confirmation hearings for a parade of cabinet nominees with the president elect projecting confidence. I think theyll all pass. Every nomination, theyre at the highest level. Reporter first stop attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions expected to face tough questions over accusations he made racially insensitive remarks decades ago. Remarks that prevented him from getting a federal judgeship in the 8 0s. A senate aide says they failed to finish required ethics reviews, while the Transition Team insists all forms have been filed. The nonpartisan federal Ethics Office calls the fast pace unprecedented. There is a certain sort of casualness, a certain sort of weakened play by different rules of anybody else that seems to envelope the administration. Reporter still the Senate Majority leader is dismissing those concerns. Everybody will be properly vetted as been in the past. Coming up, the battle between the 49ers and the city of santa clara is heating up. A new lawsuit the team filed against the city and the demands that the niners are making. Plus, nbc bay area responds. A company blows off a couple hundred bucks that went missing on a gift card. Im consumer investigator chris kamura. Nbc bay area responds next. Santa clara coun a widespread flood threat now that is wreaking havoc on california and much of the west, the region is being hammered by the socalled pineapple express, relentless rain on the region as you well know, but also several feet of the snow in the mountains. Nbcs miguel reports rivers rising to cresting levels not seen in years. More rain is in the forecast. Reporter overnight, more misery for waterlogged california, a state crippled by drought now being punished with a deluge. A deadly steady storm washing away roads. Bringing down trees across the west. And coating a region in ice with a brutal deep freeze. The roads turned dangerous quickly. Too many spin outs to count. In washington, one family, including this fouryearold girl rescued by Fire Fighters. With dozens of rivers swollen above flood stage, hundreds of evacuations were ordered in reno, nevada while homeowners in guerneville, california, are losing ground. Its not just the river rising, mountains are crumbling. Mudslides leaving homeowners on shaky ground and nerves on edge. A mudslide coming from probably a couple hundred yards up the hill started with a vengeance this morning. Reporter this storm could dump 10 inches of rain and 9 feet of snow. Already in lake tahoe, 33. 6 billion gallons of freshwater is poured into the lake, and even more is headed downstream. Its a good reminder this is not just the bay area, but all the west coast. I know. We might have a little bit of a microscope right now on our area. On our micro climate forecast. Thats right, because we do still have that chance of the mudslides and all the things that you saw there happening round california. Now as we get a closer look at what is happening here at home and san jose, you see the rain drops on the lens. At times you can see those rain drops flying across the lens as well and that is what well see throughout the day, more of this rain. Now, heres a look at where were seeing the most intense rain, right over San Francisco over oakland. Thats where the rain has been really falling here within the past several minutes. More of a steady downpour for parts of the north bay. As we get a closer look at whats happening around tiburon and sauce lit owe, we see the bright yellow rain may be coming down a quarter inch an hour. We cross over to oakland and mora ga where the rain is really coming down, some standing water possible as you head up 880. And also for spots like fremont where the rain will get a little bit heavier within the next few minutes. The peninsula also picking up on some pockets of some heavy rain there and San Francisco pretty much covered with a lot of rain, anywhere from ocean beach over toward the embark dare owe and then a little bit farther to the south you see pretty much that steady rain that is getting a little bit lighter for parts of the mission district. So, widespread heavy rain there. We will see this with us off and on throughout the evening. San jose not seeing much in the way of any of those i heavy downpours right now, but it is expected to pickup again today. And weve been keeping an eye on the river stages. Napa river at saint helena, expect it to rise to 18. 4 feet later on this evening. It is below the flood stage now, but will be rising fairly quickly as the heavy est rain starts to pour. And for the napa river downtown napa expected to reach right there at flood stage later on tonight, and then start to fall into the day tomorrow. A lot of flooding also possible for the Russian River. We had our live report from pete seran os out there, water flooding the dounlt area of guerneville and it will stay there throughout this evening and into the start of the day tomorrow as well before it slowly starts to recede. Going out hour by hour, lunchtime looks wet for everybody. And through the evening commute, we see some of the heavy est rain for parts north bay. But then it starts to spread into the south bay and the east bay. This is also when the winds will start to pickup for san jose over toward fremont and liver moore by 7 00, heavy rain and also the potential of some thunder and lightning. When this heavy rain finally starts to move off to the east, well still have the breezy winds and some spotty light showers left over at times. But even through tomorrow afternoon into the day on thursday, there still may be some lingering rain here in the forecast before we see things quieting down and the chance that we could see another one to 2 inches of rain falling on already a very saturated ground. So, keep in mind that youll have to keep a close eye on those area creeks and rivers, if you live near one. Keep looking out the window and be prepared to move to Higher Ground if you need to do that. And ill have another quick look at the forecast coming up. Scott and chris . Thanks, kari. Thank you, kari. Ive seen a lot of folks at bridges taking pictures. Just from the roadway. Nbc bay area responds to a marin man whose 300 gift he gave to his mother ended up being worthless. Chris chmura is here with that story and what that man got. He bought his mom a 300 visa gift card at a local drugstore. When his mom went to use that card, she says it was invalid. She tried several other times and got the same response. Thomas called income, the company that issued the card. It told them to file a claim with them. Thomas said he did, and after waiting three months, his claim was denied so that 300 gift card was worthless. Thomas reached ut to us and we contacted incomm. In a statement the company it looked into this matter and a replacement card is being overnighted, but didnt explain what happened. Some say treat gift cards like cash. I say treat them like credit cards. Keep good records like thomas did in case trouble arises. If we can help with your Consumer Problem you can call us. The number is 888996 tips or go online to nbc bay area. Com responds. Tomorrow an airline forces a man to check his carry on bag, then refuses to pay when the contents are damaged. Ill see you then. All right. Were not putting up with that. Thanks, crist. A new twist in the showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the city of santa clara. A new lawsuit says city leaders are falsely accusing the team of violating the levi stadium contract. The suit doesnt want money. It calls for the city to sign a document verifying no breach is accord. The mayor ordered an audit of levi stadium finances. City leaders say the team is withholding key documents that pertain to that audit. Coming up, left to rot on the docks, we investigate the reason why this oakland fire boat has gone unused for more than a decade. Over 1,000,000 californians have gotten something thats been out of reach for far too long Health Insurance. How . They enrolled through covered california. Its the Health Insurance marketplace where youll find a range of plans from leading Health Insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates, and benefits. And, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. To get covered, youve got to get going. Open enrollment ends january 31st. Visit covereca. Com today. Weve been investigating the city of oakland examines what went wrong in last months deadly ghost ship fire. Weve been investigating apparent gaps in the citys Emergency Response. It was a key weapon in disaster plan instead is rotting on the docks. Here is Investigative Reporter jackson. Its just a resource thats languishing. This is a piece of aluminum. Reporter lieutenant scott, a 31 year veteran fire fighter, is talking about the sea wolf, oakland once proud fire boat. I think it just fell on the political cutting room floor more than anything. I just dont think anyone knows what to do about it. Reporter for more than a decade the 1. Million vessel has been left to rot at the dock at jack london square. He is now the last fire fighter to have served on the sea wolfs crew. He struggles on his own time to keep the vessel from deteriorating beyond repair. As any boat it becomes a money pit and as you go along things start to breakdown. Reporter it would cost them 100,000 to get its High Pressure water pumps working and fix other corroding components. But its not the cost to fix the boat that keeps it out of service, its the 2. 5 million it would take to staff the station that houses the boat. That sum was cutback in 2003, and without the money, the boat and the station do not have a crew. They should have never close that had fire station. Reporter don parker is a retired oakland assistant fire chief. He says the idle sea wolf is emblematic of what he considers oaklands distressing state of emergency preparedness. It was parker who helped push the 1992 bond measure to procure the boat as well as miles of back up fires to make sure the city has enough water to fight quakesparked fires if aging water mains fail as feared. To take out that fire boat, you make entire parts of your city vulnerable to fire. Reporter but it is not just parker sounding the alarm. A 2012 review of the Fire Departments Emergency Response concluded that without the boat, oakland is vulnerable to typical incidents of terrorism on the water. The outside consultants urge that the boat be restored as a vital tool to protect the port in the post 911 world. There is another risk for not having a fire station on the citys waterfront critics say. It comes from an unexpected source. Freight trains, the slow moving trains can cost precious minutes for crews responding from downtown to the waterfront. There is a chance that you will not be able to get here because of a train. So, youre taking a chance, youre taking a risk. Reporter he says each day some 52 freight trains pass by on the way to the port. Each creates a potential roadblock for first responders. Parker says that is unacceptable. That fire boat is not reinstate and had they dont reopen that station, put Fire Fighters back in there, someone is going to pay the price. Reporter Fire Fighter Union leader says Fire Fighters in port cities are astounded by the risk oakland is taking. When i go to other cities, i go to seattle, long beach, cities that have big ports and i talk to the Fire Fighters there, they are always amazed we dont have a boat. Were kind of a laughing stock in terms of being able to protect our citizens on the waterfront. Reporter city officials did not respond to comment for this story. Nbc bay area news. To be honest, it surprise med, too. Yeah. Well be right back. Some San Jose Sharks are headed to the 2017 nhl allstar game in l. A. Captain joe pavelski, brent burns and jones will all play in the game which will be held at the Staple Center at the end of the month on the 29th. The sharks head coach peter doing what he does best, coaching. Watch game right here on nbc bay area. Before we go, a quick forecast. Yeah, we will see some heavy rain moving as we go throughout the rest of today. Also some scattered showers tomorrow. Finally this rain will be wrapping up on thursday. Everyone wants to know when well see the sunshine. I snow, saturday and sunday. Yes, this weekend is looking great. Thanks so much for joining us. Our next newscast is tonight at 5 00. Stand by, everyone. Were live in five, four, three, two, one. With Janet Jackson. Thats a good one. What . Just do it. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Yep. Yep. Nick and i have a lot of sexual chemistry. There was another spark in that pool, him holding my bare bosom. No the bachelor gone too far . Karin pulls a Janet Jackson for a photo shoot with nick but gets what she wants, she wins the challenge and a rose. I mean i was so upset when she got the rose. I thought it was going to go to the other girl, the really smart girl. Taylor. Taylor. The