Bay Area weather: Major storm hits the Bay Area | ABC7 San Francisco

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By ABC7

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Earlier on Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for parts of Marin, Sonoma, Napa, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. Flash flood warnings were issued for areas in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties where recent wildfires burned.

The intense rain was expected to be more isolated during the night. There was one last push of widespread heavy rain and thunder, between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. when the cold front rolled through the Bay Area. Winds said they would be fastest during the final wave and begin to taper around midnight.

POWER OUTAGES

As many as 139,000 PG&E customers were affected by power outages at some point on Tuesday. By 11 p.m. Tuesday night, many Bay Area customers had their power restored.

As of 11 p.m. the power outage totals were:

San Francisco: 1,000
Peninsula: 5,300
North Bay: 900
East Bay: 2,700
South Bay: 12,600

>> PG&E outage map

The people in charge of California's electrical grid declared a power emergency Tuesday afternoon after high winds knocked down a backbone transmission line. It happened near San Juan Bautista. The disruption caused no additional outages, but made it harder to get electricity between Northern and Southern California.

FLIGHT DELAYS

The wet and windy weather made it a terrible day to fly in and out of San Francisco International Airport.

Arriving flights were delayed up to three hours and departing flights are also delayed. Some cross-county flights were canceled because strong winds made it too dangerous to use the long haul runway.

There were no major problems at either Oakland Airport or Mineta San Jose International Airport.

>> Full report from ABC7's Lilian Kim

SOUTH BAY

The areas hit hardest by the storm were some of the same ones hit by wildfires over the summer. The residents of 60 homes were ordered to evacuate Tuesday morning near Davenport in Santa Cruz County -- the location of the Lockheed fire that burned in August. There was also another evacuation ordered for Eureka Canyon Road in Corralitos. It started out a mandatory evacuation for 80 homes on that road, but quickly grew to 2,800 homes by the end of the night. Storm waters grew so wild, they flowed over Eureka Canyon Road -- raising concerns that the road might collapse.

In Morgan Hill, 30 residents spent the night at the Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church arranged by the Santa Clara Valley Red Cross Chapter. They were evacuated when floodwaters inundated their eight unit apartment on Visalia Avenue.

>> Full report from ABC7's David Louie

>> Full report from ABC7's Karina Rusk

High winds brought down power lines early Tuesday morning in the Willow Glen area of San Jose.

>> Full report from ABC7's Heather Ishimaru

EAST BAY

Some people of a neighborhood in Antioch were asked to leave their homes today. Residents in the vicinity of O Street and 7th Street found themselves knee deep in water after a torrential downpour this morning.

>> Full report from ABC7's Cecilia Vega

High winds caused a tractor trailer to overturn around 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The CHP says drivers on the span encountered wind tunnel-like conditions. The empty rig landed on top of a car, but the driver was OK. The three people inside the car all escaped with minor injuries.

>> Full report from ABC7's Alan Wang at 11 p.m.
>> Full report from ABC7's Alan Wang at 5 p.m.

PENINSULA

Residents in one area of Redwood City had to deal with rising waters. Rainwater flowed from wetlands into a mobile home park on East Bayshore Road. The weather also contributed to several accidents along the Peninsula, including an overturned pickup truck on Interstate 280 in San Bruno.

>> Full report from ABC7's Lilian Kim
>> Full report from ABC7's Lyanne Melendez

A fatal crash blocked Highway 1 at Devil's Slide in San Mateo County for nearly four hours. It involved three vehicles. The CHP says one of the vehicles was going a bit too fast and crossed over the center line. A 75-year-old woman was killed. One of the other drivers was taken to the hospital.

SAN FRANCISCO

The stormy weather in San Francisco brought down trees and power lines and flooded streets. The winds wreaked havoc on trees, bringin down large branches at Broadway near Powell Street.

>> Full report from ABC7's Don Sanchez

NORTH BAY

The storm caused problems throughout the North Bay as well. A car stalled after driving through the flooded Sir Francis Drake Boulevard off-ramp from Highway 101 in Larkspur.

In San Anselmo, people are keeping a watchful eye on the creek that runs through downtown. There has been no threat of flooding so far.

>> Full report from ABC7's Lyanne Melendez

About an inch of water leaked through the roof and covered the floor in one room at St. Raphael's Catholic Elementary School in San Rafael. The principal told ABC7 News that a clogged drain on the roof caused the flooding.

FULL STORM COVERAGE:

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Bay Area pounded by rain and wind