area and decided to get around it by driving. now the problem there is that this grass is so saturated that these cars got stuck in the mud. they had to be towed out of here. >> what were you thinking going through here? i'm sorry. i don't mean to be rude. >> i thought i was -- would be able to pass up this river. but i got stuck. >> to be honest with you, we've never seen it this flooded. this is bad. i don't know why these guys came into the mud to try to avoid everything else. now it's a 300, $400 tow. >> reporter: late this afternoon the drains were cleared of that debris. the waters began to recede. not far from here at one point it was raining so hard that the storm drains were backed up and the manhole covers, believe it or not, blew off. now, crews from the public utilities commission, the p.u.c. acted very quickly to secure them. now, this is the area that was flooded before. as you can see, one lane has been open. we're still using this area right here to do this live broadcast for you. but again, while they're allowing cars to go through here, they are not allowing motorcyclists because they're waiting for the crews to clean this area because, again, this is very dangerous right here to be -- could be dangerous for a motorcyclist. that's why they have to wait on these crews to clear this area out. i'm live in san francisco, leeian lyanne melendez. >> let's go to wayne freedman in sonoma county. >> he's watching rising water levels. >> reporter: i am indeed. the north bay is an area of budding problems, not pressing proble problems. they that could chachblgt i'm going to show you santa rosa creek. you see that sidewalk over there. it's been closed by santa rosa. there are worries that this creek may overflow its banks for the first time since 2005. we're only getting started: what could be more peaceful and reassuring than delicate drops falling on a lake? how about when it isn't a lake. but valley ford road west of petaluma? >> there's a lot of rain. >> have you seen people try to go through it? >> no. >> so we stuck around and, of course, someone did try it. a quarter mile gauntlet attempted by one truck that looked and sounded like a boat that somehow made it across even though another car did not. flooded or not, there was no easy driving today. this was highway 101 through sonoma county. it felt like a game of russian roulette with slightly better odds. this caused the longest disruption. a eucalyptus tree that fell across both northbound lanes near east washington boulevard. nobody hurt but it scared quite a few. >> luckily no one was underneath. >> exactly. no reports of cars hit or damaged or anything. >> still in petaluma, this school bus went off the edge of the road. it had one student on board. some high school kids helped to get him out. >> he was screaming. he was definitely shaken up. >> which might describe north bay with rivers and streams more than gently stirred. that's one of them behind me. as we said, santa rosa creek. it could go over the banks. it's not likely to happen tonight. it depends on the rain and there are concerns about people downstream when all the water gets to them. we'll be keeping an eye on it. in santa rosa, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. wayne, thank you am. we've learned that the guerneville school district is closed tomorrow because of flooding. >> the rain came down overnight. by morning, the downpour turned into light showers. it was good news for commuters. although it wasn't exactly for me coming in. >> you took an hour and a half to get in. that's where vic lee and dean smith are now on highway 101 on the peninsula. vic, what's the ride like tonight? >> reporter: well, the ride is pretty smooth. i got to tell you. we're just passing almost passing hillsdale boulevard. it is not raining. that may be one of the reasons why it's a smooth ride. take a look for yourself. i'm going to switch the camera around here. there we go. by the way, i'm not driving. dean is driving. not me. san mateo public works department says there are no major issues in this latest storm. just the usual problems when there's rain. the kind of problems we saw as we drove around the peninsula today. >> the downpour on the peninsula came mostly overnight. a light rain fell in the morning. just light enough to make it fun for youngsters like ellie and her little sister julia. >> didn't rain that much. i can play in the puddles. when the wind blows, my umbrella sometimes flips around sniept at my school, there's a very big puddle. >> reporter: the heavy overnight rains caused trees to tumble here in foster city. a huge eucalyptus crashed down next to hotown houses. fortunately, it fell away from the homes. same thing at the science and technology park on the 1300 block of willow road in menlo park. a big old pine fell in the parking lot. amazingly, it missed the cars. not far away in atherton, a big tree branch took out a power pole. its lines dangled precariously low. crews responded immediately. there was minor flooding, mostly on streets that always seemed to flood. none of this tdeterred the postl worker. through rain, sleet snow as the saying goes. there's one that may have stopped deliver ris. up in the mountains above skyline boulevard. a section was closed. part of the narrow road had slid during a recent storm. last night's rain took out more pavement. old timers here seemed to take all of that in stride. >> there are big trees here. things are going to fall and be like they are. but it's part of being up here. >> we're back here live 101 san mateo. no rain, traffic is moving well. we're getting a break. vic lee, abc 7 news. be thankful for the break, vic. now let's get a check on how the rain will continue to play out. >> by morning, much of a brake. dan and kristen, let me show you live doppler 7. a little reprieve from the downpours. but we're still seeing steady rain in the north bay. this is street level radar. into marin county we go. san rafael, lucas valley. we're seeing moderate pockets of rain around laurel grove avenue, kentfield area. towards the santa cruz mountains, lighter rain, bear pthere is a steady stream of moisture. phase 2 or the second part of this atmospheric river is heading in our direction. that means more problems are likely. urban and small stream flooding until 10:00 a.m. friday. there's still a possibility. ukiah, 101, southward. remember turn around don't drown. santa clara, santa cruz counties under that small stream advisory until 10:30 tonight. a flood warning near st. helena. expected to be above flood stage tomorrow morning. we're watching the napa river near napa expected to be above flood stage thursday morning. listen to your emergency officials. keep an eye on the rivers. flood warning in sonoma. we've seen the creeks and streams go over the banks. that will continue. guadalupe river above the expressway, under a flood warning tomorrow. flooding is expected. a level 3 through tomorrow morning. additional half an inch to inch of rain. more flooding problems and wind gusts 45 to 60 miles per hour. i'll be back to time it all out including the morning commute coming up. >> sandhya, thank you. you can track the weather conditions where you live with the abc 7 news app. you can get the up to date forecasts and check out live doppler 7 and enable push alerts. notifications by any new weather warnings or hazards. abc 7 mornings will be on early again tomorrow to bring you extended coverage of the storm. join us starting at 4:00 a.m. meteorologist mike nicco will have your hour-by-hour forecast and alexis smith will have your drive time traffic. >> a case out of vallejo. a state judge decided that the man who is serving 40-year sentence for kidnapping denise huskins will stand trial for rape. >> matthew muller is serving as his own attorney. here's reporter melanie woodrow. >> newlyweds are reliving the nightmare brought to their lives in 2015. both testifying for the first time about having their home broken into and then being bound, blindfolded and drugged before muller kidnapped huskins. a crime that originally was called a hoax. muller has to -- including kidnap for ransom, false imprisonme imprisonment. muller is serving a sentence after pleading guilty to a federal kidnapping charge. he's representing himself in this case. huskins recounting in painful detail muller raping her twice. describing the room where she was blindfolded and blacked out swim goggles for 48 hours. testifying after the second rape she felt defeated drained and helpless. amy norton is quinn's attorney. >> i can't believe what she had to go through. >> while muller was drugging and raping her, he had various tasks to perform for a ransom. >> they were really brave and really -- i was so proud of both of them. >> muller did not cross-examine quinn or huskins. >> i'm sure they were relieved. >> muller telling the judge, i don't know how i'm supposed to put object a case your honor. >> muller has been given discovery. because he decided to defend himself, there were logistics around getting him everything. >> muller's wife has known him before the kidnappings says she loves and stands by him. >> if you know him, you would know he's a completely differen person than what you thought. in vallejo, melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. all this week, we're looking at the issues facing b.a.r.t. as part of our commitment to building a better bay area. >> tonight we get response frs b.a.r.t. officials about the slew of issues our reporters and producers saw on the trains yesterday. drugs, fare evaders we're hearing from b.a.r.t. >> yesterday six abc 7 news reporters and producers spent the entire day riding the system from the first train in the morning until the last one at night. documenting everything they saw. the good, and the bad. >> that's right. >> both sides. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony live at the lafayette b.a.r.t. station with reaction from the top brass. hauer a? >> reporter: that's right, dan. our crews yesterday, they recorded dozens of images and observations pretty much everything they saw. a day in the life here on b.a.r.t. perhaps the most memorable and troubling to regular b.a.r.t. riders, the fact that many of their fellow passengers didn't buy tickets. >> it happens all day every day at b.a.r.t. stations throughout the bay area. fare evaders jumping over gates or going through them. it was easily documented by various producers and reporters in our dawn to dusk coverage of the b.a.r.t. system. debra allen knows the problem well. an expensive one causing the system an estimated 25 to $30 million per year. >> been going on since i came in, in 2017. i came out of the gate asking staff when will we do something about this? what are we going to do about it? >> reporter: upgrated the fare gates could cost millions. >> it's a work in progress. >> the fare inspection teams are new and b.a.r.t. is adding more of them. the police chief rojas says a larger crackdown on evaders would take many more officers than the 35 typically working a day shift. >> the cost would be astronomical. it's equivalent to having a police officer on every corner. if you look at us having 40 stations, up to 60 strai 0 traie system, that's over 100 officers on one shift. >> besides that, they found a slew of other issues. many trains and stations were clean and orderly. in some locations, there were piles of trash. >> what type of drug was it? was it crack? >> no, fentanyl. >> many people appeared to be homeless. >> what happens is when we're trying to be a social service -- we have zero funds to do that. we have nowhere to take people. n warm beds that b.a.r.t. can provide. that's where it's really hard. >> reporter: we're back live here. the lafayette b.a.r.t. station. our reporting yesterday coincides with a recent survey they did about rider satisfaction, b.a.r.t. did. the director, debra allen, told us that our findings coincided with what their riders are telling them. that their service is not quite up to what they would like. in lafayette, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> thank you. even as we've been focusing on the existing problems, work is under way to extend service into san jose in two phases. >> david louie looks at what's expected to open by the end of this year and what lies ahead beyond that. >> reporter: here's proof that b.a.r.t. is inching to san jose. a ten-mile extension with stations in milpitas and ber berryessa is mostly complete. the intent was to did he congest freeways 880 and 680 with a transit alternative. because santa clara county was part of the b.a.r.t. system, residents had to approve tax measures and get federal funding to pay for the $7 billion project. >> we're building an infrastructure project that's going to really change the dynamics of these communities and change how people move about to and from work and places they need to go. >> phase one which extends from a warm station in fremont is costing $1.3 billion. expected to carry 23,000 daily passengers. mixed use house lg built or is under construction at both transit station toss lessen the need for vehicles. they toured berryessa station and its ground the other day. the station reflects the fact thaits on the banks of the creek and it was a prior -- our ancestors in this area. >> this is further evidence that it's under way. bringing b.a.r.t. to downtown san jose. a six-mile mostly underground extension will lead to a station at alum rock, then to downtown san jose and near sap center before reaching a terminus in santa clara. this has a $4.7 billion price tag. unlike san francisco where b.a.r.t. construction disrupted market street for years. santa clara street will be spared by excavating and boring a different way. service expected to start in 2026. in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. now, if you would like to join our conversation on b.a.r.t., go to abc7news.com. >> then click on the building a better bay area b.a.r.t. link and scroll to the bottom of the page to submit your comments. we may read them onr tv.ar dow. that damage is going to continue. take a look at live doppler 7. notice that there are some showers around parts of the bay area. moderate showers in the north bay. around lucas valley road, wood acre, you're looking at street level radar where it's coming down. i do want to track that area of heavier rainfall for you. 5:32 sears point. definitely watch out. any more rain on top of saturated ground will cause problems in the east bay. san pablo avenue, grizzly peak boulevard in the east hills, we're seeing light showers right now. it has amounted to over 3.5 inches in santa rosa. over 4 inches in kentfield and ben low man. getting 2 to 2.5 roughly. 1.57 in concord. season to date, 88 to 104% of average. we're heading in the right direction. temperatures, you may have noticed, they've come up today. this is a warm storm. numbers right now mainly in the 50s and 60s. while the winds are problematic still, gusting to 51 on mt. tam right now. 32 la honda. wind gusts in the hills today, 66 to 75 miles an hour. the winds will ratchet up again. it's a strong level 3 storm through tomorrow morning on the storm impact scale. half an inch to 1.5 inches of rain. expect more flooding. the gusty winds 45 to 60 miles an hour could topple more trees and cause power outages. russian river at guerneville expected to be above flood stage tomorrow with moderate flooding. flood stage is 32 feet. expecting navarro river to be above flood stage with moderate flooding there. keep your eye on the rivers. it is raining at lake level and blue canyon. big concern is the flooding higher elevations seeing snow. winter storm warning extended until saturday morning. additional feet of snow expected. the gusty winds, mix of rain and snow not going to be a good way to go up there obviously. the snow levels will be coming down over the next few days. mt. tam cam showing a windy and wet view. stormy for tomorrow morning again. mixed wintry precip for friday through sunday. a drier pattern setting up for early next week. 7:30 tonight, pockets of moderate rain in the north bay. the rain lifts towards the north bay at 9:30. that's where the focus is until the overnight hours. intensely of the rain picks up at 3:00 a.m. could see thunderstorms. as we head into the morning commute, another round of heavy rain and some wind. although not the same intensity as this morning. expecting the problems to just get worse because the ground is soaked. 7:30 tomorrow morning, you're looking at scattered showers. pockets of moderate to heavy rain at 10:30 and noontime. focused in the east bay. the santa cruz mountains. heading into the latter part of the day, the afternoon evening commute will be scattered light showers. in terms of rainfall totals, many will get anywhere between a half an inch to 2 inches there. there will be some spots that will get less. flash flood watch until tomorrow morning. watch out for more flooding. small streams and creeks overflowing. rapid rises on the rivers as well. coastal flood advisory. 4 to 8:00 a.m. that will lead to flooding in the low-lying areas. we have high wind warnings and advisories through tomorrow morning. that's because the wind gusts will be in the 45 to 60 mile an power range. so more trees going down. possibility of power outages. stormy tomorrow morning, 40s, 50s tomorrow afternoon. scattered showers, still windy. mainly 50s and 60s. you can download the app. accuweather seven- -- valentine's day. chance of thunder, wet and windy. colder system brings us a mix of light rain and some snow showers between 2500 and 3,000 feet. that's a level 1 light system drying out monday through wednesday of next week. we will need that. >> thanks, sandhya. trying to become a hip young brand again 165 years after it's founded. >> how the company hopes its one retailer plans to go public on wall street. >> more than 1 million vehicles are being recalled because of potential safety issues. >> michael finney is here with those stories and more. >> let's start about two blocks down and one up from where we are right now. levi strauss plans to go public for the first time in more than three decades. the san francisco-based clothing company filed for an initial public offering today. levis announced -- i should say launched 165 years ago and went public in 1971 before going private again in the 1980s. the company hopes by going public, it will be able to open more stores throughout the united states and overseas. levis has been doing really well the past few years and wants to can tal eyes on that. ford is recalling 1.5 million vehicles due to safety issues. the detroit-based automaker says sme of the f-150 pick yun trucks from 2011 and 2013 have transmission defects causing the trucks to temporarily downshift to first gear. ford is also recalling about 27,000 of its lincoln continental cars made from 2017 through 2019 because of improperly functioning door latches much the 2019 ford mustang, lincoln nautilus and navigator are being recalled, for, get this, blank dash boards. >> really? >> we reported on that before where they kind of go out. >> thank you, michael. the rain is keeping guest frs the oakland zoo today. we'll show you how coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, a lot of rain problems areawide. spencer will update the forecast also. what type of drug was it? was that crack? >> no. this was fentanyl. >> building a better bay area coverage on b.a.r.t. continues with a look at what we found during a late-night ride. that's coming up at 6:00. rainy weather forced the oakland zoo to close for visitors today. but the storm did not keep the animals from going to work. >> mud might be a problem for some but not for the african elephants. they love it. as you can see this video provided by the zoo. they explored in the mud inside their exhibit. >> they did have a blast. open field day at the oakland zoo. world news tonight with david muir is next. i'm dan ashley. i'm kristen sze. for all of us here, thanks for joining us. see you again at 6:00. tonight, the midair scare. severe turbulence. the images coming in now. passengers jolted, belongings thrown across the cabin. the emergency landing that followed. several onboard hurt. also tonight, the abc news exclusive. actor jussie smollett in his first interview with our robin roberts, on the alleged hate crime attack, and tonight, for the first time, he reacts to that surveillance image put out by chicago police. a potential persons of interest. what he says about that image. the tragedy here in new york city. two nypd detectives racing to the scene and then shot by friendly fire when other officers arrive. a veteran detective is killed, another in the hospital tonight. will he sign it? president trump and what he said today on the deal from democrat and republican negotiators. deal or no deal? with another shutdown now looming.

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