college murders ahead of his first court appearance. the father of one victim speaking out. how he feels about potentially coming face to face with the alleged killer. new images of the crowd fleeing after the new year s eve machete attack on nypd officers. the suspect now charged. was it a terrorist act? new troubles as holiday travelers make their way home. why thousands of flights are canceled or delayed again. actor jeremy renner airlifted to the hospital after he was critically injured in a snow plowing accident. what we re learning. and our tribute to a tv trailblazer. the legendary barbara walters. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. it is good to be back with you and happy new year. this holiday season that has seemingly been bookended with severe weather is spawning some new and dangerous threats tonight. as we come on the air, tornado watches are in effect, stretching from east texas to arkansas and louisiana. already we
storms continuing all the way down to the gulf coast, so from new orleans to montgomery, alabama everyone s at risk. and on top of this we have the cold side of this storm with a lot of heavy snow. someone in south dakota and nebraska will end up with one to two feet of snow by the time we get done with the storm tomorrow. lester? all right, bill. thanks very much. this all comes on the heels of flash flooding on the west coast. dangerous flood waters led to more rescues today in northern california as the region braces for another series of storms. here s miguel almaguer. reporter: the daring and dramatic rescues unfolded all weekend across california and continued today. a devastating deluge triggering a flurry of emergency calls as the suddenly stranded were plucked from submerged cars, flooded roads and homes that took on water. this woman who tried to cross a swamped street this morning thanking rescue teams who likely saved her life.
if it wasn t for you guys, we d be in a lot of trouble. and don t do nothing stupid like i did. reporter: after days of relentless rain northern california was pummeled with the brunt of a powerful atmospheric river, a band of moisture pouring onto the coast. in san francisco, where the city nearly broke its single-day rainfall record, pedestrians floated down busy streets. others used kayaks or surfboards. statewide as roads remain impassable some are still under evacuation orders. it was like mother nature came alive and declared war on sacramento. reporter: in sacramento county where there s been at least one death authorities are bracing for more. i ve worked for the fire department, or previously the elk grove fire department for 21 years. this is the most significant flooding i ve seen in this area in 21 years. reporter: with two more atmospheric rivers expected to hammer the state later this week mudslides, rock slides and flooding are a major concern, especially wit
louisiana. already we re starting to see damage reports come in. while in the west parts of california are bracing for another powerful storm later this week on the heels of this weekend s deadly blast of rain, snow and wind that led to some harrowing water rescues. we ll take you there in a moment. but first bill karins is at the map with tonight s threat to the south. bill, what are you watching? lester, this is as dangerous as it gets. over the last hour we ve been tracking a tornado, a strong confirmed tornado on the ground northern louisiana, and it s wrapped in rain. so you can t see it coming. and at night you wouldn t be able to see it anyways. so this is the scenario that we re going to deal with throughout the overnight hours as these storms will move northward. also on top of this we have flash flood warnings that are up for the same areas that were potentially just hit by the strong tornado. and this flash flood threat will go northwards toward little rock, paducah as we