Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News At 6 20160312

And you might know this. Violence at trump events is growing. Its a growing concern for this president ial candidate. Earlier today, trump rallies in st. Louis were interrupted by protesters. The st. Louis post dispatch says the candidate taunted protesters from the stage and more than 30 people were arrested. All right. Back to our top story, our microclimate weather alert. Gray and gloomy from San Francisco to the south bay. With heavy showers drenching the area. And tonight a continuing threat of thunderstorms and a flash flood advisory. Now rain and wind brought down trees and power lines. Right now about 4,000 customers are without electricity around the bay area. The biggest outage in east oakland which is now impacting some 1100 homes and businesses. We have Team Coverage of this storm. Lets begin with our chief meteorologist jeff rainieri. Jeff, whats next for us in these next 48 hours . We should say that the very worst of todays activity is over. What were seeing is some lingering instability in the atmosphere right now. So over the next couple of hours what were continuing to find are scattered areas of rainfall. Down to the south bay we have moderate rain continuing throughout near saratoga, los gatos, san jose gilroy. Through milpitas and sinoi as well. Sonoma and napa counties are getting a break. This is helping the river levels, the napa and guerneville river which are not expected to hit that major flood stage thought looked like we could have hit yesterday. Again some good news for parts of the north bay. Dont let your garth down. Into the weekend this will be the one spot the Flash Flood Watch will continue with two more storms coming our way. Well talk more about the timing of these storm systems throughout this hour. Okay, jeff. Takous for so many out of the roads and at your homes potentially. These are tense moments for a caltrans crew in Mendocino County today. That hauler was nearly blown off the cliff by a landslide on highway 1. As a crew was working to clear another landslide up the highway. Thankfully though one was injured. In Sonoma County mainly flooding concerns and all eyes on the Russian River which had been projected to reach flood stage. The river stayed inside its banks. But nbc bay area Jodi Hernandez found out it doesnt mean theres no flooding. She joins us live in guerneville tonight. Jodi, whats the situation now . Reporter people are keeping a very close eye on the Russian River and have been. The water has risen quite a bit here at this location in guerneville. Youre looking at right here its supposed to be a parking lot. And yesterday im told you could actually stand in it, not the case as you can see today. But were nowhere near an emergency situation. The north bay, however, is plenty wet. We need it. But i think its a little too much. All at once . Reporter people who live in floodprone areas of Sonoma County are dealing with the impact of this weeks stormy weather. The north bay has gotten quite a soaking. Crews are busy clearing out toppled trees and fixing power lines. Reporter we took refuge with friends yesterday because our power was out. Reporter some roads have turned into waterways. This couple is vacationing in Sonoma County from new york. They had planned to do a lot of hiking. But getting around is not so easy. Reporter trying to hike on this tray. But its just everywhere we go its needed. Weave weve been going from ton to town trying to hit the trail heads but it doesnt work. Reporter while more rain is expected, fire officials says guernevilles Russian River is no longer forecast to hit flood stage. Still people are worried about the dozens of homeless who camp out along waters edge. Its very dangerous, yeah. We cant even put in boats. The boats would be instantly swept away. Are they in danger . Yeah, theyre in danger. Reporter most are take it all in stride. Theyve dealt with conditions. Back here live in guerneville, im told the river levels are expected to remain steady at just under 26 feet. That is far below flood stage, which is 32 feet. The fire chief tells me that theyre in the process of standing down for the weekend. Things look much brighter. Now, my colleague Christie Smith has been monitoring the situation and the storm damage in marin county. Shes in mill valley with a look there. Reporter good evening, jodi. Right now we are getting a break. Were just seeing cloudy skies though it did rain earlier. Weve had days of rain. When you drive around what you see a lot of is standing water like this and hillsides that are saturated. And neighbors who have been here before. In mill valley, on and off rain soaked an already saturated ground. A tree fell taking power lines with it on molino avenue. Edith freeman lost power this morning. When i got up a little after 7 00, yeah, tried to turn on a light in the bathroom. I said o h. Reporter pg e crews worked on a repair. Most up here, though, taking the storm in stride. It used to happen much more frequently before so many trees have been trimmed. Reporter in San Francisco, a low underpass filled with water. And while most drivers played it safe and turned around, a few took their chances. In san an sell mow, rain was light most of the day but floodgates and sand bags are close by. Its a drill theyre familiar with. The whole building in fact is set up for flood gates. Reporter at three ring cycles they had flood water in mind when picking a floor. Its a particle board. And its got five coats of popo thane plastic on it. Reporter flood waters came into the bike shop previously. At the bike shop they keep an eye on the river online on phone. What i love about it. Reporter today they say not a big concern. But in an el nino season, they keep that phone handy. Within a few hours there were serious heavy downpour it could rise up pretty quick. Reporter we checked in with another couple of Fire Departments first responders. They say the issues they were seeing today seemed to be a small comparison in this area and seemed to be more like slides closer to the coast. Reporting live in sausalito, Christie Smith, nbc bay area news. At this hour, there are about 4,000 pg e customers without power. This weather poses a big challenge. Pg e is working around the clock. This is the Material Distribution Center in fremont. One of three such centers in the bay area. It houses the equipment needed by crews to make stormrelated repairs. This is a 26acre facility. You probably could never be overprepared for anything. Obviously pg e we take our preparation very seriously. And obviously we encourage our customers to be prepared also. Reporter more than 200 crews are standing by for the next 48 hours. The Santa Cruz Mountains were hit hard today. At times causing problems for people already trying to recover from the storm earlier this week. No one more worried about todays rain than karen kirby. As we showed you monday, her home in Paradise Park was flooded by an overflowing san lorenzo river. Today kirby and a plumber raced to evaluate the damage done in case the river spilled over again. I dont know what to do to get started. I dont know if its going to flood again. What we should really do. Im at a loss. Just a complete loss. Reporter kirby said she didnt watch the river rise today but it did not overflow. She also says she doesnt expect to rest easy until the weekends storm is gone. You can stay ahead of the storms with our nbc bay area app. Go to the weather tab, find the forecast in your neighborhood. New at kw67, San Jose Police have made an arrest in the citys eighth homicide of the year. Joshua mendoza, seen here, was booked into jail yesterday. On tuesday police say they received a call about a possible dead body at an apartment complex on montecito vista drive near oak hill cemetery. The victim was dead when officers arrived. His identity has not been released. A bizarre scene in south san jose today after reports of gunshots put an Elementary School on lockdown. It happened in the seven trees neighborhood around 2 30 this afternoon. Police got calls of possible gunshots. When they got to the scene, they found a silver ford crashed into the trees. See it there. But its driver and passenger were nowhere to be found. Nearby dahl Elementary School was temporarily locked down. Still no sign of that driver or any bullets at the scene. Now to a story youll see only on nbc bay area. It is tax season. This year it appears to come with the most sophisticated tax scams police have seen. Several people in the bay area have already been the target of irs imposters. Nbc bay areas Elyce Kirchner joins us from our contra costa news room with warning and advice. Reporter jess, authorities are seeing a surge in criminals impersonating irs agents. And theyre targeting seniors and minorities. If he doesnt recognize the number, james no longer picks up. When youre in that position, its through. Reporter just two days after using Online Software to file his taxes, he got a voice mail from what appeared to be the irs. So he called back. And then hang on, sir. It sounds like they are really in the office. Reporter the person on the phone had personal information. A washington, d. C. Area code and a case number. The 58yearold was already told he owed 90,000 in back taxes. You could pay 9,000 right now and we will close the case. And Hercules Police Department Says they are seeing more victims than ever before. It seems to be very organized. Not just here in hercules, all over the united states. Reporter according to the irs since 2013 there have been nearly 900,000 reports of similar scams, costing victims more than 26 million. Most of the scams originate outside the u. S. And were concerned about what these where these monies might be going and what its funding. We just dont know. Reporter luckily he saw through the scam but worries others wont. Of course, i dont want some other people to fall in this sca scam. Reporter and the is stresses that they will send you a bill before they ever call you if you owe back taxes. Never give out your bank information. And if you are threatened, contact authorities. Reporting live from our contra costa news room tonight, im Elyce Kirchner, nbc bay area news. Thank you, elyce. A body left lying in the street following a deadly hitandrun in San Francisco. Happened this morning. Police say a person walking into the Central Police station told them there was a mans body in the street right near the broadway tunnel. Witnesses told the police that a white van hit the man and then fled. Police have not identified the victim, only saying he was in his 60s. And the driver has yet to be found. Im Michelle Roberts in pacifica where scientists are keeping a close eye on the hills, saying more rain could potentially trigger landslides. Also rain here means snow there in the sierra. Well take a look at the somewhat risky ride to lake tahoe. And speaking of sierra snow, one, two, maybe three feet expected this weekend. Not only that but more bay area rain. Were tracking not one but two different storm systems saturday and sunday. Ill have the timeline on this in just a few minutes. South san jose. A pick up uck went f the roadway through a todays wet weather is being blamed for a nasty crash in south san jose. A pickup truck as you can see there went off the roadway, through a wooden gate, and right down that embankment. Happened just before 10 00 in the morning on monterey road just north of metcalfe. Police said the truck got a flat and the wet roads caused the truck to skid. The husband and wife inside the truck were a little injured but they will be okay. The failing cliffside in pacifica has attracted national attention. But tonight were learning thats not the only problem. Geologists say the hills around pacifica are ripe for landslides. Nbc bay areas Michelle Roberts is on the coast for us this evening with this new concern. Michelle. Reporter the more rain we get the more dangerous it can be. Just the last hour heavy bands of rain have been moving in, certainly causing stormy seas. Theres a lot of wind out there. Pacifica has seen about 5 inches of rain in just the last couple of weeks. And Scientists Say the ground is completely maxed out. Penny mitchell has called pacifica home for two decades. She and her neighbors live at the base of San Pedro Valley park where some worry the stunning views come with a risk. If it ever rains really hard, we could just be washed down to the ocean. Reporter just over the hill from rosita road, geologists with the u. S. Geological survey have buried a water measuring device that looks like this. This is an experiment. Nature runs the experiment. Reporter when heavy rains move in the bay area, jonathan stock tracks two very important ratings. The percentage of water that has already been absorbed in the soil, and the amount of standing water near the surface. Were right at the cusp. If it were to rain half an inch an hour past experience indicates we would see shallow landslides. Reporter stock says for the First Time Since the measuring device was installed four years ago, the levels have reached a high risk zone for potential landslides. And the almost decade weve forgotten a little bit about the danger that lurks on our hillside. Reporter he stopped short of predicting a landslide, saying more research is needed before the study can be used as a Warning System. And while some wish the technology was more developed i wish i knew how to prepare for Something Like that. Reporter others are hoping Mother Nature will take it easy on the pacifica hills. I hope that we continue to be lucky. Reporter well, scientists dont have a timeline on when that Warning System may be complete, but they do say with each rainstorm event they are learning more about how much the soil can handle. Reporting live in pacific car, im Michelle Roberts, nbc bay area news. Thank you, michelle. San franciscos Police Watchdog group says officers wrongly arrested a public defender last year. Online video jamie till letson getting handcuffed went viral. She claimed police overreacted. Today the city civilian Police Oversight board agreed. Members concluded that the four Police Officers had no valid reason to detain her. Till letsen had been advising her client he didnt have to answer Police Officers questions. The chief has apologized but until now had defended the officers actions. San francisco has now officially become the second city in the country to raise the age for purchasing tobacco to 21. Mayor lee signed the bill today. It extends to e cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as well. It takes effect in june. It could get some company soon. Yesterday state lawmakers approved a bill that would raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21 statewide. It now heads to the governors desk. Back to our weather, great for skiing and snowboarding but slow to get there. Expect interstate 80 to be down to one lane in each direction through the sierra tonight. Heres a look at what you can expect. A shot from donor summit. You can see that long line of traffic. Its friday. Good for skiing conditions, and of course one of the final few weekend of skiing perhaps. Chains are required on both 80 and 50 right now. Winds are strong. But as nbcs reporter found out once people made it to the slopes, the slow ride up was worth it. Reporter snow moved across the sierra landscape by gusts of wind. It fell almost constantly at higher elevations, 72 feet at the base of the mountain at boreal ski resort. It impacted visibility but not enough to deter anyone from seeing. This man tells us this is his first time snowboarding. I wasnt too bad. I thought a lot more scary a lot more falls broken bone or something by now but its been good. Reporter boreal expects a foot of snow on sunday. Winters not over. Make sure you get up here and enjoy all the good snow we got. Reporter slippery roads on the way here. But todays story, no real traffic. Traversing the sierra was as easy as it gets. And people were grateful to see snow. For one we need it. As much as we can right now. Reporter but with more snow coming, especially on a weekend, the Road Conditions could change. Joe novares who happens to be a professional driver was driving from reno to modesto today. This type of weather here you just slow down. Dont hurry. Just slow down. I said a few more weeks until ski season . You said it was ending. Its not ending. Nonel nino years. This will keep going, jeff. I think all the rain is pumping up the snow. There were reports early on with el nino. We typically dont get that snow. But remember i looked back at the history during the el nino years. It necessarily does not mean we wouldnt get any snow. So great news for the drought no matter how you look at it. Right now you can see across the sierra we have some rain, also some snow mixing in. Its not super heavy right now. As we just heard watch out for the slick conditions on the roadways. Well pull the bay area into view. The good news right now the north bay is getting a break from heavier rainfall. As youll see in the scrolling sevenday forecast we have more rain coming saturday and sunday with a Flash Flood Watch in effect for marin, napa and sonoma counties. Dont let your guard down just yet. Worst commute through the some nora pass. Take it slow throughout that corridor. For tomorrow morning we have the chance of scattered rain in the south bay. The peninsula and east bay. But the best chance of any consistent rainfall for the morning forecast will be up here to the north bay and 47 degrees. The rain returns by the afternoon tomorrow. That will keep temperatures cold with 57 in the north bay, trivalley 59. And for the south bay coming in also in the upper 50s. The overall rain outlook has that next chance of rain once again returning tomorrow afternoon. And then what you should know about sunday is it looks like from 8 00 a. M. To 8 00 p. M. Light to moderate rainfall that could be rather continuous throughout the day. Its not a major storm but the ground saturated so well need to look out for that. The great news once again if you have not heard the Russian River just missed hitting that major flood stage cresting at 25 feet. It will still be running dangerously high, though, through the weekend. Anyone expected to head near any of the creeks, rivers and streams in the north bay really should think twice not the time to go out there and check things out. Well have more coming up in about 20 minutes. All right. Thank you very much. You can track the weather conditions in your neighborhood. All you have to do is use our nbc bay area app. During a microclimate weather alert its easy to get connected to the weather outside on your smartphone by going inside with the nbc bay area app. Just click on radar on the weather page. There you can zero into your own neighborhood to see if its raining there. That gives you what you need to know when you need to know it. Im peggy bunker. Thats how to stay informed with the nbc bay area app. Still ahead, a president ial visit for the popular south by southwest festival. The message that mr. Obama had for the nations top tech leaders. Plus its more than just a stop for selfies. We take a look at the statue that will watch over the summers olympics in rio. Chicago. Lighting up socime happening now, the violence that canceled that donald trump rally in chicago lighting up social media this evening. Were posting the latest video and trumps comments on our twitter feed. Also churning up swells from sonoma to santa cruz just posted on our facebook page. Video showing just how hard these storms are hitting our coastline tonight. You can also use our nbc bay area app to track the latest forecasts. Were back in a moment. President obama keynoted uby so. A bigtime guest for a bigtime event. President obama gave the keynote speech to the south by southwest conference in austin, texas. Mr. Obama encouraged Tech Companies to reach out and help bridge the digital divide, bringing the internet to underserved communities. He also said some harsh words flowing back and forth between the fbi and apple, those harsh words between the two were not helpful to either side, adding that hed like to see compromise in that case. Well, we are now less than five months until the start of the Olympic Games in brazil. And yet only half of the tickets for the worlds biggest sporting event have been sold. However, the ioc says it is confident that tourists from around the world will flock to rio for the 2016 games. And when they do, they will be greeted by that citys most iconic figure welcoming them with open arms. You will see it first from afar. Often rising above the clouds, giving it a heavenly realm. And it is indeed up there on top a mountain called portovado. It represents the friendliness of the brazilian people, always with open arms to receive the visitor. Getting there is its own journey. The train takes you on a 15minute ride through an urban forest, the largest in the world. And at the top, the tallest religious statue in the world. One that inspires thousands of tourists each year to make the climb. But a spokesman for the archdiocese says you lose a lot if you only come for a selfie. Its actually a catholic sanctuary. So people come here not only to take selfies and pictures, but they come here also to have an experience with god. Construction started atop the statue in 1926 and took five years to complete. The statue is 98 feet tall and has a wing span almost as wide. Its built with steel, reinforced concrete. And then covered in a mosaic of triangular pieces of soap stone, individually cut by the Society Women of rio who wrote the names of their loved ones on the backs of the tiles for divine protection. Having the certainty that their names would be remembered by the christ himself. A jewish architect, peter levy, spent years overseeing its construction. During that time, not one fatal accident occurred. But levy almost lost his own life when he fell from the scoff folding. And his workers held him up. He even said let me go. Levy considered himself protected by the christ and later converted from judaism to catholicism. He put his familys name inside a cylinder inside the heart of the statue. So that he could be forever remembered by the heart of jesus. Mass is held during the week at the tiny sanctuary inside the base of the statue. And people have held weddings and christenings there as well. On a clear day the vistas of the rio landscape below could melt even the most hardened hearts. And even from a distance, it whispers of the brazilian faith in tran sen dense. It is a way to listen to voice of god that speaks in our hearts. Porcovado means hunch back in portugese but in latin where do i go. To the faithful they are up for it. The miracle that organizers are opening for is having all 42 venues completed in time for the game. They must also get the people of brazil who are braving a strong recession and economic turmoil and the zika virus to buy into the games. The olympics start august 5th. Nbc of course is the official network of the Olympic Games. And i will be traveling to brazil myself to bring you live reports. Can i speak with the supervisor onsite . Thats me and im not allowed to talk to anybody. Reporter holding the powerful accountable. The contractor cleaning up radiation at Hunters Point wont talk. But a former worker is breaking his silence tonight, claiming a coverup. Im vicky nguyen. We investigate next. Hunters point in san fancco is one of the largest r right now at 6 30, prize real estate or toxic mess . Hunters point in San Francisco is one of the largest redevelopment projects in the nation. We first revealed a contractor cleaning up the site admitted to mishandling radiation tests and falsifying data. Now a former worker explains how it happened. Senior Investigative Reporter vicky nguyen has the exclusive interview. Reporter jess and raj, Anthony Smith is speaking out tonight for the first time, revealing tactics he says his supervisors used to conceal radiation on Hunters Point. Smith says hes breaking his silence to clear his name and to warn the public. Over here, and in here, pretty much anywhere you see out here it was done illegally. Reporter when Anthony Smith left Hunters Point four years ago, he carried a secret with him, a secret involving radiation, deception, and a government contractor. A secret hes kept until now. Are you relieved to be able to speak out about it now . Yes, i am but it still bothers me. I dont even like being here. You know what i mean . Reporter smith says what he witnessed and what he did caused him to question claims that the former superfund site is clean and safe. For decades, the navy ran radiation experiments on Hunters Point. Then the government decided to repurpose the land for homes, shops and parks. It awarded 300 million in cleanup contracts to a Company Called tetra tech. As a radiation control technician, smith tested soil for radioactive contamination. He left his georgia home in 2002 and worked on and off at Hunters Point for a decade. At first he took pride in his work. But he says that changed in 2009. Thats when things got out of hand. And when you say out of hand, what do you mean . A lot of samples being switched. Reporter as part of his job, smith collected soil samples from areas that may have been contaminated. He says supervisors began instructing him to get rid of hundreds of those samples and replace them with soil from areas that had already been cleaned. I didnt like it. Because it was not right. Thats not the way its supposed to be done. How serious of a problem is this . Very serious. Because the dirt still is still dirty. By dirty you mean its still contaminated. With radiation. Mmhmm. Yep. Reporter smith says he collected samples under this building. Right over there is where we accessed under that crawl space. Reporter he recalls one sample tested positive for radium, an element linked to bone cancer. When i took a sample, it come back hot. And they made me get rid of it. So when you get a sample and it comes back hot, what does that mean . That means its supposed to be some more remediation going on. They didnt do so. Reporter smith isnt the only one questioning the cleanup. Weve learned the state Health Department ordered the building to be retested in december. The state says no contamination was found. Who did the testing . Tetra tech. Yeah, there ought to be some legal action took against them. Reporter smith claims it was faster and cheaper to pass the soil off as clean when it may not have been. Smith says his bosses directed him to dump contaminated soil into open trenches. Trenches now covered or paved. Is there any way of knowing what the contamination levels are in those areas . No, maam. Not until they run it the lab no way. Reporter smith says tetra tech fabricated chain of control forms. He says sometimes his bosses filled them out. I never got to see them until the end of the day. Then all i done was sign my name and put the date. Reporter smith says he also watched tetra tech supervisors tamper with Computer Data that analyzed radiation levels. They could change the numbers. Like say it was reading high at 10,000, your backgrounds 6,000. Theyd take that 10,000, knock it down to 5500, 5800, 5900. Would you consider that fraud . Yeah, its fraud. What was the response when you raised your concerns . If you dont like what were doing you can go home. Automatically. Reporter smith needed the job, so he stuck it out until 2012 when his contract expired. He put Hunters Point behind him until the Investigative Unit contacted him about this. Its an internal tetra tech report. In it the Company Admits to the mishandling of soil samples and submitting falsified data to the navy. Tetra tech blamed four sample collectors on the chain of custody forms, including smith. You were the scapegoat. Mmhmm, yeah. Blaming me for something they was telling me to do every day. Reporter in ooh a series of investigations starting in 2013, nbc bay area revealed how former tetra tech employees and the state Health Department raised concerns about the companys work. But tetra tech has ignored multiple interview requests. So we went to the companys trailer onsite. Hi. My name is vicky. Im a reporter with nbc bay area. We need to speak with the supervisor onsite for tet tra tech. Thats me and im not allowed to talk to anybody. Is there anybody here who can talk about the radiation cleanup and what we can say to reassure the public that this cleanup is safe . I am not allowed to talk to the press. Everything has to go through the navy. Reporter but the navy has also declined our interview requests. According to its record, the company disciplined two supervisors and conducted ethical training. Tetra tech says it remediated the suspect areas. But smith believes the company failed to identify or retest other questionable locations. When youre doing something, do it right. Reporter he worries the health of those who will work, play and live at Hunters Point may be at stake for years to come. Do you trust the cleanup thats happening at Hunters Point . No. Not from what i seen, no. Reporter the navy awarded tetra tech 10 million in contracts after it caught the company falsifying data. But the navy says it has also hired another contractor to provide quality control. Just last month the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Found tetra tech may have violated an nrc requirement. It is now considering enforcement action. Anthony smith, though, says hes never been contacted by the nrc and he says he would tell the agency exactly what he told us. Back to you. Okay. Thank you, vicky. Still to come, dignitaries from the world of politics and hollywood all united. Well take you to simi valley for the final goodbye to former first Lady Nancy Reagan. Also a somber anniversary. A look back at the tragedy that struck japan five years ago today. Thats how former fir lanancy r a devoted half of a truly great love story. Thats how former first Lady Nancy Reagan was remembered today in simi valley. Governor brown and First Lady Michelle Obama led a dignitaries procession at mrs. Reagans invitation only funeral. Followed by former president george bush and laura bush as well as hillary clinton. Nancy reagan planned the funeral to the detail herself, selecting the music, the speak ares, which included her children who reflected on their parents famous partnership. And then there was the circle of their own private world, as clear as if it had been traced around them. Indestructible, impenetrable, an island for two. A brief graveside ceremony followed. Tonight president ial Library Staff will stand by as Nancy Reagans casket is lowered into the tomb beside her husband. And they say they were ordered to put them so close together, almost touching. Nice to watch today. So special. Jeff rainieri is back with us. We talk about what to expect this weekend. With the storm moving in today, there definitely was even a little bit of beauty in the sky. I want to thank mona from fremont. She got double the action with this double rainbow happening as our storm system moved by. There you can see the first rainbow near the lower part of the screen. The second one look at that. So thank you so much, mona. You can send your photos to nbcbayarea. Com. Ill have details on the storms this weekend in a few minutes. A tragic anniversarfive years ae a tragic anniversary was five years ago today that devastating earthquake and tsunami caused the worth Worst Nuclear Disaster in japans history. We were among the first local tv stations in the country to travel to japan soon after this happened. It was thousands of miles away, but the impact and pain hit here in the bay area. A stanford professor who was neither epicenter tells us about the moments he believed would be his last. On march 11th i was in sendai, japan. 5 years since the 9. 0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of japan, unleashing enough force to knock the world off its axis by more than 6 inches. Started shaking harder and harder. I was horrified. Stanfords yoshio nishi was at a conference when it shaking started. He remembers shand leers and air conditioners falling from the ceiling. This kind of vibration. Some gaps opening up. And we thought oh, maybe this is the last moment of my life. The electrical engineer hid under a table and was unharmed. But not everyone was so lucky. An hour after the earthquake, deadly tidal surges rolled over cities and triggered a nuclear melt down at the fukushima power plant, the worst disaster since chernobyl. Every year on this day he remembers the 15,000 people who died. In japan there were ceremonies to remember the tragedy. Five years later, the rebuilding and healing continues. Michael serra with the Japanese American Museum of san jose has been to the region a dozen times. The homes are now being built on top of these 40, 50 feet high on the mountaintops. They had to clear the quarter so that it would be safe for them. There are several remembrance events happening in the bay area throughout the weekend, including one right now. At the Japanese Cultural Center in San Francisco. We have a list of the events on our web site, nbcbayarea. Com. Lets turn things over check in one more time with jeff. Were still on this microclimate weather alert because we have our Flash Flood Watch in effect through this weekend with two more storms coming your way. In the scrolling sevenday forecast the best chance of heavier rain would be in the north bay and San Francisco. Great news to report at least most immediately. Some of you have had to deal with flooding issues. That of course horrible. But a shred of good news as we have a break happening in marin, napa and sonoma counties where some of the heaviest rainfall has fallen. We have scattered to moderate light rainfall through San Francisco and back here across the east bay. As we take a look at the timeline of this weekend i want to spend some time on this. You can see through tonight again just those scattered areas of rain. We should continue with this break through 11 30 tonight. Then as we get ready for saturday, youll find up into the north bay, middle town, calistoga, santa rosa, light to moderate rainfall. Well see the storm system drop down anytime between noon and 3 00 p. M. Its not super strong but we still could have moderate to heavy pockets of rainfall with it. This will continue to push through the south here as we head through the evening on saturday. About a quarter to a half inch with this storm system. Then as we head throughout sunday its looking more and more likely well continue this stream of subtropical moisture across the bay area. For some moderate rain that could continue throughout the entire day on and off into 3 00 p. M. And into the evening hours, then eventually as we head into monday well clear out. Saturday looks like again wet weather, for sunday as well. Rainfall totals not super impressive. Its just the fact weve had so much rain lately that its just going to kind of compound things and keep our flood threat elevated here from the north bay down to the south bay. Were looking at. 25 to. 5 inch. 45 in san jose. North bay possibly from. 5 inch to. 65. That is exactly why we still have our flood threat in effect here for marin, napa and sonoma counties. Its going only to take a little bit of water to possibly bring up some more of these isolated flooding concerns. Dont let your guard down yet. Once we get to next tuesday, wednesday and thursday well have so much warmer weather and sunnier weather and you can relax a little bit. Microclimate forecast for saturday wet and windy at times in San Francisco with 56 expected in the marina. For the peninsula pacifica 58, san mateo 60. San jose 61 degrees. North bay east bay and trivalley stays with this jacket weather. 50s here across napa. Santa rosa and mill valley with that Flash Flood Watch through this weekend. For the trivalley well come in at 57 at pleasant ton and livermore at 66. Rainfall coming back by saturday afternoon. Then sunday chances of rain from 8 00 a. M. To 8 00 p. M. With these storms rolling in as you mentioned earlier, its going to mean some sierra snow. If youre headed that way by sunday evening were talking 1 to 3 feet of fresh snow at the highest elevations. Best news for our drought weve heard in a long time, you guys. 1 to 3 feet of fresh snow sounds great, jeff, thanks. We have a homecoming in the east bay tonight. One of the best players in the country is at the oracle arena. But were not just talking about steph curry. Jim kozimor joins us next. Good evening. Im jim kozimor at the xfinity sports desk. Warriors first game after the allstar break was in portland. Part of a very long sevengame swing. What happened that night was the worst loss of the dubss season. They renew acquaintances just three weeks after the blazers drubbed the dubs by 32. And the headliner that night was not the reigning mvp it was his counterpart, oakland native Damian Lillard who scored 51 points at the expense of the warriors. Today Draymond Green was asked if the defending champs had a hard time forgetting about the loss in portland last month. I wouldnt necessarily say the loss that stuck in our mind. Its how we lost. I think we had double digits numbers in the Third Quarter which changed our game. Once that happened just doing the things that we know we need to do in order to win basketball games. And thats really it. Its not necessarily oh, they beat us. We need to get back. Theyre playing really well. Weve got to give them credit. They played well in the month of february. And theyre trying to keep it going. They havent played as well this month. But been on the road a little bit. Theyve been traveling. So theyre still a dangerous team. The plot gets thicker after the loss to the blazers. Warriors head coach steve kerr said that lillard looked just like steph curry out there. Lillard apparently isnt a fan of the comment, saying to the newspaper the oregonian i dont impersonate anybody, man. I was being Damian Lillard. I respect steph curry because what hes doing is amazing but im my own man. So dont come to me an say im impersonating him. You telling me im impersonating somebody by doing well at my job . Thats disrespectful. Steve kerr addressed that comment tonight and said he was complimenting lillard and even voted for him to be an all star this season in the western conference. Lillard was left off the allstar team this year. Back to my all star, jess. Oh, thank you very much, jim. Quickly name the most popular cities in the u. S. You probably thought of new york, chicago and los angeles. But san jose likely didnt come to mind. Youre not alone. Coming up tonight at 11 00, its a problem that has south bay facing for decades many hear why city leaders are okay with being san jose being a little forgettable they say. Its very memorable to us. Jeff tonight last word as we head to 7 00. Were getting a muchneeded break here from some of the heavier rainfall but we have another storm saturday afternoon and also on sunday the well have more details coming up at 11 00. Stay dry out there. Enjoy the weekend. Well see you at 11 00. We see you ck here tonig at 11. E blake lively and Ryan Reynolds leading an allstar parade to president obamas state dinner. Now on extra. Hollywoods d. C. Date night. The reynolds and the foxes dining with the first family, and canadas heartthrob prime minister. Cheers. The breakdown on mrs. Obamas stunning strapless gown. The president getting emotional about the first daughters. And im starting to choke up. And how Justin Bieber became a punch line. I need you to stop teasing him. Where were the fireworks . I cannot believe how civil its been up here. Weve got the family trump moments after the surprisingly civil debate