To safety. Other drivers were still trying to get through deep water on the expressway this afternoon. Police have closed down the road from rancho verde Mobile Home Park to stony point road until the flooding subsides. Its not just the flooding but falling trees also posing difficulties. Two trees being removed after falling overnight. We have a live look for you from our camera in emeryville. As you can see, traffic is very heavy on interstate 80 heading toward berkeley. Rain is still coming down. Spencer christian happy to be inside with us. I am happy, youre right. Heres live doppler 7 hd. For much of the north bay which was drenched earlier today, the rain has ended for awhile but we still have pockets of rain which ama and larry referred to a little earlier moving in onshore across the Santa Cruz Mountains, across the peninsula over to san mateo and across the bay out towards san leandro and farther inland to antioch. We have pockets of rainfall and isolated downpours but the steady widespread rain has pretty much moved out for awhile. Its still wet and the going is slow. In the sierra, snow has tapered off in some spots. Chain requirements are still in effect for highway 50 but they have been lifted for interstate 80 going into and out of the central sierra. Back to the bay area, rainfall totals past 24 hours, vary widely from nearly three inches to just over a tenth in san jose but theres more to come this evening. I will give you a look at the complete accuweather seven day forecast in a few minutes. Spencer, thank you. Abc 7 News Reporter lillian kim is live in San Francisco with a look at the damage done there. Lillian . Reporter this is whats been causing problems on rainy days like today. Ficus trees like this one that are all over the city. This morning one came crashing down in one of San Franciscos busiest thoroughfares. Crews in San Francisco have been busy. At lombard street and buchanan, workers cut up a large tree that crashed on a trius. Joe stefani was driving northbound when he saw the tree come crashing down. The roots rocked over the top of the car, and the roots were up in the air as it rocked over the car. But it just went right across all lanes of traffic. Reporter ficus trees have been problematic this rainy season. The weight of the water on the already topheavy trees causes them to fall. Crews have been eliminating or pruning them to prevent incidents like this one. They were planted 40, 50, 60 years ago. We dont plant any more now. Really, many of them are not suitable for San Francisco. They are very tall trees, big trees, and when they come down, they can crash down hard. Reporter crews at the Public Utilities commission are keeping an eye out for possible street flooding. They have been clearing out one catch basin after another. This one on columbus and taylor streets was filled with dirt. An accumulation of the past couple years. The contractor will let it flow down the drain [ inaudible ]. Reporter city workers are looking forward to the stretch of dry days coming up. Time, they say, to dry out and rest up for the next storm. Lillian kim, abc 7 news. You can track the rain with live doppler 7 hd any time with the abc 7 news weather app. It is free on apples app store or google play. We also have more information at abc7news. Com apps. President obama says the u. S. Will respond proportionately now that the fbi has formally blamed north korea for that cyberattack against Sony Pictures. Abc News ReporterMarcy Gonzalez has more on the fallout. Reporter questioning sonys decision to can the controversial film the interview president obama saying despite the threats made by hackers to attack theaters showing the comedy, sonys response sets a bad precedent. We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place starts imposing censorship here in the united states. Reporter the threat and the major cyberattack on sony formally blamed today on north korea. The fbi saying we are very concerned. This, as sources tell abc news the hackers have contacted sony again, threatening that they have more potentially destructive information they could release while also praising sony for pulling the plug on the movie. Calling the decision very wise. Its a time and a world where we pride ourselves on being able to say whatever we want to say and satirize whatever we think deserves to be satirized and now its like a gag order. Reporter George Clooney told deadline. Com last week he circulated a petition asking other stars to support sony to ignore the criminals demands and release the movie. He says not one person would sign on, adding this is just where we are right now, how scared this industry has been made. Today, president obama promised a proportional response to the cyberattack on sony though he wont specify what options are being considered. Marcy gonzalez, abc news, new york. Sonys ceo says the president got his facts wrong. In his first interview since the studio canceled the release of the interview Michael Linton said he disagrees with the notion his company made a mistake, signinaying sony had n choice. The president and i havent spoken. I dont know whether he understands the sequence of events that led up to the movies not being shown in theaters. The Movie Theaters came to us one by one over the course of a very short period of time, we were completely surprised by it, and announced that they would not carry the movie. At that point in time, we had no alternative but to not proceed with the theatric release on the 25th of december. We have not caved. We have not given in. We have persevered and we have not backed down. Youre saying you still want the public to see this movie . We would still like the public to see this movie. Absolutely. A group of hackers sent a new email to Sony Pictures today telling the studio it was quote, very wise to cancel the release of the interview. That email goes on to say sonys data is safe as long as they never release that film in any form. It looked like there were flames roaring out of chevrons richmond refinery last night, alarming many residents for miles around who may have thought there was another big fire. Chevron is downplaying the incident. Critics say the company didnt handle it well at all. Abc 7 News ReporterLaura Anthony live with more. Reporter well, chevron claims they did keep the community in the loop last night during this event, primarily through social media. We take a look at their twitter account. The first incident, the first report of this incident came in before 7 00 last night but the First Official tweet from chevron explaining what was happening didnt come in for nearly an hour. This was no ordinary flare. It was a giant flame that could be seen for miles around chevrons richmond refinery. Its part of the natural Safety Systems that we have in place at the refinery. Reporter chevron Spokesman Says the flaring wasnt planned but he also wouldnt call it an emergency. Its important for the community to know that what they saw last night was really the Safety Systems at work. What was burning off was excess fuel that was in the unit. We were depressurizing the unit making sure it was brought down safely. Reporter according to contra costa countys haz mat director, the fenceline measurements of particulate matter around the refinery did elevate during the flare, but not enough to exceed state or federal limits. Disappointed that chevron downplayed the seriousness of what happened. Reporter contra costas supervisor also sits on the board of the bay area air Quality Management district. This was not normal flaring. This was flaring related to a problem at a unit. Anyone looking at it could determine it was well above the level you would normally see. Reporter the unit that experienced the problem has been shut down. Both chevron and the air Quality Management district will investigate the incident. Laura anthony, abc 7 news. Three san jose schools were under a shelter in place this morning while police searched for a man wanted in a shooting. Shelter in place is ordered for delmar high, blackford elementary and Valley Christian School after one person was shot near southwest expressway around 5 00 this morning. Police closed off the area to search for the gunman, then lifted the shelter in place order just before noon. The suspect has not been found. The family of a fallen chp officer is putting the finishing touches on a floral portrait that will be part of a rose parade float on new years day. The officer was killed in the line of duty two years ago on 680. He was a registered organ and tissue donor and helped save the lives of several people. I hope one day to meet those that received a part of him. I especially hope to one day have the man that received his heart so i can once again hear his familiar heartbeat. The portrait is one of 72 that will be on the california transplant Donors Network donate life float. More than 125,000 people in the u. S. Need organ transplants. 18 die each day because there is no match available for them. Still ahead on abc 7 news at 4 00, the adjustment one major ride service is making to help customers feel safer. Plus santas here. The christmas magic delivered today to kids living in one of the bay areas toughest neighborhoods. And new at 4 30, hes not even in office yet and san joses mayor elect is already in a political battle with the city council. Plus 7 on your sides Michael Finney taking your questions on twitter and facebook. He will answer them live in a few minutes. Contact michael at facebook. Com michaelfinneyabc7. At 4 11 on this friday, we are taking a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. You are much better off if you have fast track breezing through. Cash lanes backed up for a long time. We have a lot of rain out there. Im spencer christian. Live doppler 7 hd, the heavier steadier widespread rain has moved out but pockets of showers and local downpours continue, posing problems and challenges and frustration for commuters. I will have the accuweather forecast coming up in just a moment. Ride car company sidecar is making some changes to help riders feel safer driving with strangers. The San Francisco based company is now letting customers choose the gender of their driver. Sidecar made the move after noticing more female riders choose female drivers when given the option. The company publicized the move in a blog post about riding safely during the holidays just days after an uber exdriver in boston was accused of raping a passenger. Federal Health Officials are warning consumers not to eat prepackaged caramel apples because of listeria poisoning. The centers for Disease Control and prevention is linking the treats to five deaths and more than two dozen illnesses in ten states, including california. The people got sick between october 17th and november 27th. The cdc says its possible other illnesses have occurred since then. Investigators are now trying to determine the specific brands involved. Some kids who go to school in the heart of San Franciscos tenderloin district got an early christmas today. All because of a local Restaurant Owner with a big heart. Abc 7 News Reporter vic lee with this christmas story. Reporter it was a big surprise. Santa coming early. Good morning how are you all doing . Reporter these are the children of the tenderloin. For many, the school is a refuge from the struggles of outside life. You ever seen santa before . No. First time you have seen santa . Yeah. What did you think about santa claus coming . Its cool. Reporter the gifts donated by this man, the owner of lefty odooles restaurant. He was deeply touched by a story abc 7 news aired last year just before christmas. We told the story of the heartbreaking journals students wrote about the challenges in their young lives. One excerpt. Living without my dad is like living without a heart. No emotions come through with me without him. At christmas last year, he brought santa and gifts for everyone just like he did today. He also gave their families turkeys during this thanksgiving. He took the kids to a ball game but christmas is special. It touches your heart and you feel like you have to do something but again, we dont want any kid to wake up without a toy. Reporter this year, trader joes also gave toys. This in addition to the hot lunches they donate every school day to the school. Just being able to see the joy in the kids here and also associating such a Good Relationship with city impact goes a long way. What did santa give you . A transformer. A puppy . Reporter a puppy . Yeah. A stuffed animal thats a pig. Reporter for many of the children here, their toy will be one of the few they receive for christmas. Thats one reason it makes it even more just special that they are choosing things for brothers and sisters rather than themselves because they wont get that much. Merry christmas reporter Merry Christmas to you. Vic lee, abc 7 news. Thats sweet. How cute. Very sweet. Our weather not so sweet. Not so sweet and not so neat. Localized flooding and heavy rain all over the bay area. Its winding down a bit but we have pockets of downpours coming down. A look at live doppler 7 hd, you can see where the wet spots are. The north bay earlier today was receiving most of this rain, now north bay is kind of quiet but weve got Little Pockets of precipitation trickling across the Santa Cruz Mountains and the peninsula, out across the bay, over to the east bay. Its not all trickles. Some of this contains isolated downpours so there are lots of wet spots on the pavement, on the roadways and the evening commute is already under way, no doubt slowed down by the rainfall. We also have a High Surf Advisory in effect until 3 00 tomorrow afternoon for the entire bay area coastline now. We will see occasional breakers over 25 feet. Hazardous conditions along the beaches, surf will be rough. Theres a possibility of dangerous rip currents so bear that in mind. Might be a good time to stay away. Temperatures right now generally in the 50s although the mild spot is hayward, with a current reading of 61 degrees. To a live view from the roof totop camera looking along the embarcadero, its cloudy and dreary looking. Here are the forecast features. Showers winding down overnight. Areas of light rain are possible this weekend but it will be mainly a dry weekend. Winter begins at 3 03 sunday afternoon. Heres the satellite and radar composite image. There goes the front bringing us our third storm of the week which is still affecting the bay area although rain will be tapering off this evening. Weve got a pretty active jet stream right now, a powerful one as well. Long trail of moisture moving generally in our direction. Thats why we dont see an actual end to the rainfall for awhile. We start the forecast animation 5 00 tomorrow morning, at which point there will still be spotty showers and areas of rain moving through the north bay mainly at times tomorrow, so all the wet weather hasnt quite pushed out of here yet. We will have a partly wet weekend, a chance of some more light rain going into early sunday morning, then after that, we should see conditions drying out a bit and a milder pattern will settle in after sunday as well. Meanwhile, in the sierra, Winter Weather advisories in effect until 10 00 tonight. We expect one to two inches of snow above 6,000 feet. Its tapering off a bit. Travel delays and chain requirements are likely. Back to the bay area, look for low temperatures generally in the low 50s overnight. It will be fairly mild overnight with scattered showers we expect. Tomorrow once again, chance of more light rain up in the north bay. Most of the remainder of the bay area tomorrow should be dry. High temperatures will be generally in the upper 50s up north and along the coastline and about 60 or just above 60 around the bay and inland. Heres the accuweather seven day forecast. Notice the mild pattern settling in on sunday, the beginning of winter, it gets even milder monday and tuesday, the first two full days of winter. There may be a little bit of rain on wednesday which is christmas eve. It cools down on christmas day, thursday, but looks like it will be mainly sunny and dry. So santa should have a nice little journey. Perfect. We are counting on that. I am, too. Thank you so much. All that fresh snow in the sierra today has tahoe ski resorts practically doing backflips. Their two biggest holiday weekends are just beginning and they can still use more snow. Despite our wet december, snow levels are still below average. The last snowstorms have done really great things for our sister resorts and the lake tahoe basin in general, delivering over three feet to a lot of the resorts. They have been able to open a bunch of terrain. Looks really cold. Heavenly says they opened two more lifts during the past two days because of snow making and natural snow. Skiers love it. Up next, a group of dads pitching in to give a School Crossing guard a big surprise this Holiday Season. New after 4 30, scientists discover a new species of fish and it sets a record. Tomorrow on abc 7, watch Colorado State and utah in the royal purple Las Vegas Bowl live from vegas, tomorrow at 12 30 on abc 7. An incredible act of kindness left one fast food worker beside herself. A worker handed her not a tip but a 10,000 mink coat to say thanks. She says she was working the drivethrough at whataburger near housto