Last-minute Bay Area shoppers brave wind, rain on Christmas Eve

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 6:11PM PT
NOVATO, Calif. (KGO) -- In the North Bay, a Christmas Eve storm brought rain caused some trees to topple overnight. But the weather didn't stop an army of last-minute shoppers from finishing up their gift buying.

Chris Madison showed us the damage done to his Lexus when a large tree fell on Beaver Lane in Santa Rosa during an overnight storm.

"The car is probably totaled - glass inside, the trunk is dented, roof dented," said Madison.

Part of the tree fell against this house. It's not the way Madison wanted to start Christmas.

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"I'm just glad we can get the car out and it didn't take out the car we are taking a road trip in," he added.



The storm delivered significant rain and wind. It was no match for some holiday inflatables in San Rafael. Frosty and Rudolph were down, but not out.

"We came from Morgan Hill - we drove last night, pretty crazy with the fog we couldn't see anything on the freeway," Freddy Peidras said.

Piedras and his family are visiting relatives in Novato but first - a rainy trip to Vintage Oaks Shopping Center for last minute shopping.

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"No, it could be thundering and I'll still be shopping," said Angelica Salinas.



"I procrastinated a bit but found a but found everything I need here," said Zoe Lewis.

In Santa Rosa, many chose to get their shopping done indoors at the Plaza Mall where Santa was waiting patiently.

"Why are we coming, we had to get a last-minute gift for mom," said David from Santa Rosa.



And as the storm moved out, a holiday rainbow showed up.

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