The 220 passengers and all crew members were unharmed, according to the spokesperson. As of 11 a.m., the passengers were currently being rescued and being returned to the nearby Pleasanton station. The train was not derailed in the incident.

Service may be impacted throughout the day as crews work to clear the tracks before they can make determinations on what to do with the impacted train.

National Weather Service predictions showed calm, chilly air Tuesday in the Bay Area. Highs in the mid-50s were consistent throughout, with San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland each expected to top out at 55 degrees. Overnight temperatures could drop to the mid-30s, however, accompanied by calm winds and a dry, rainless night.

Those showers should diminish by Thursday, however, as temperatures were forecast to drop to highs in the low 50s before slowly rising to the high 50s by Saturday, giving the Bay Area its first completely dry weekend of 2023.

Little Free Libraries have sprung up across the Bay Area in recent years in curbside boxes that are as unique as their stewards, from a Victorian steampunk-style version in San Jose to a midcentury mod in Pinole. They’re not outliers, either. The nonprofit that promotes these little book-filled houses has registered more than 150,000 throughout the world.

The idea began in 2009, when Todd H. Bol erected a book-sharing box outside his home in Hudson, Wisconsin. Word spread. Soon, other book lovers began making their own curbside libraries. By 2012, the Little Free Library had incorporated as a nonprofit to promote and inspire neighborhood book exchanges.

The goal is simple: Encourage literacy and the joy of reading by providing free access to books of all kinds. Stewards of the curbside libraries implore their visitors to take a book and to leave one, too. You can keep a book for as long as you like, then pass it along to a friend, return it to the library or replace it with a different one. No one is standing guard or levying late fines.

The Bay Area has hundreds of Little Free Libraries scattered through neighborhoods in every city. You can find a Little Free Library — or the inspiration to create one yourself — via littlefreelibrary.org. Meanwhile, let us introduce you to some of the stewards in Bay Area neighborhoods.

The Victorian steampunk library

Michael and Lori Tierney, 368 N. 64th St., San Jose

Established: 2014

Michael and Lori are both chemists, although Michael is semi-retired. Their Little Free Library, built by Michael with a nod to steampunk and San Jose’s Hensley Historic District, was one of the first 2,000 libraries registered. It’s officially No. 1,878.

“My wife and I both love libraries and books,” Michael says, “and we thought it would be a neat thing to do.”

The couple put stickers in each book that passes through the library, and have so far seen more than 7,000 books come and go.

A few years ago, the library was vandalized — twice — and Michael considered taking it down. When neighbors heard, they rallied behind the little library, encouraging him to continue it and donating money for repairs and books to restock. Michael needed no other convincing.

What’s in the library: At the moment, options include “Hey Ranger 2: More True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from the Great Outdoors” by Jim Burnett, “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy and “CMOS VLSI Design” by M.S. Suma.

A cottage of books

Gillianna Diaz, 430 Boulder Drive, Antioch

Established: 2020

Gillianna’s Blessing Library, contained in a cottage-style box, is the work of 13-year-old Gillianna Diaz, a seventh grader at Antioch’s Holy Rosary Catholic school. Gillianna has always wanted to help others in her community. When she learned about the Little Free Libraries, she told her mother she wanted to open one.

To raise funds for the library, Gillianna used the money she’d earned doing chores to buy chocolates that she sold outside her house, lemonade stand-style. When word got out about what she was trying to do, people from all over Antioch began contributing. She raised $500 in three days.

Sticks and Stones Creations, a local company that does custom carpentry, offered to make Gillianna’s library box on two conditions: that she help build it and that she donate the money she would have paid for the box to charity. No problem. Gillianna enjoyed learning how to build the box. Already a volunteer for Hijas Del Campo, a group that assists migrant farm workers, she used the money to purchase Christmas baskets for the workers and their families.

Although Gillianna has struggled with her own reading, she recognizes the importance of books and literacy, says her proud mother, Nereida Sarat.

What’s in the library: “Dune” by Frank Herbert, “A Feast for Crows” by George R.R. Martin, “Moby-Dick” by Herman Melville

The Miniature House

Rynn Liana Boyden, 263 Sullivan Court, Pleasanton

Established: February 2022

When COVID shut down communities, many people found themselves with a lot of free time. Rynn, a barista who attends Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, began taking walks around their neighborhood, which boasts several Little Free Libraries.

An avid reader, Rynn decided to open their own library. Embarking on a little research beforehand, Rynn checked out all the libraries they could find, taking note of the style of the box, the colors used and the selection of books inside. They borrowed a book from each library to include in theirs, then purchased a custom-made box from Etsy, painting and decorating it to match their own suburban home.

The library is stocked with Rynn’s own favorite books and those they purchased thrifting.

“Reading is very important for our community. I love doing it,” Rynn says. “I think (this) is also a good place for people to donate books and to share what they read.”

What’s in the library: “Richard Scarry’s Best Storybook Ever” by Richard Scarry, “A Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein, “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins

The Midcentury Modern Library

Nicole Botha, 960 Barkley Court, Pinole

Established: 2020

Nicole was still a newcomer to Pinole when she came across her first Little Free Library. She thought it was not only a great idea in general, but a good way to get to know her neighbors and become part of the community.

“I’ve lived in areas where I never got to know my neighbors,” she says. The Little Free Library “has been a bright spot for the community.”

Nicole and her husband built the library box themselves, giving it a midcentury modern feel, and keep it well stocked with help from random donations, including boxes of books left alongside the library.

What’s in the library: “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff: Stories of Tough Times and Lessons Learned” by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, “A Time for Mercy” by John Grisham; “Port Mortuary” by Patricia Cornwell

The Eagle Project

Brian Coons, 557 Kahrs Ave., Pleasant Hill

Established: 2018

The Little Free Library outside Pleasant Hill’s Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is one of the larger libraries in the area, with six shelves packed with a variety of books. The library box was an Eagle Scout project done by then College Park High student Brian, who did all the planning, fundraising, construction and initial stocking of the library.

Now that Brian is at UC Davis, his dad, Richard Coons, has taken over stewardship of the library. He says it is organic and pretty much takes care of itself. People take books and drop off books. The shelves always are filled, and Richard just keeps an eye on it to make sure nothing is amiss.

What’s in the library: “Treasure Island” by Robert Lewis Stevenson, “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown, “Dancing in the Light” by Shirley MacLaine

Little Free Libraries by the numbers

Some 250 million books have been shared through registered Little Free Libraries, profoundly increasing book access for readers of all ages and backgrounds.

More than 1,500 Little Free Libraries have been opened at no cost in communities where they are needed most, through the organization’s Impact Library Program.

Eleven cities have adopted the Read in Color initiative, which has distributed more than 30,000 diverse books celebrating BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized voices, and other communities have joined the Native American initiative to provide books on reservations.

Worldwide, 115 countries have joined the Little Free Library network.

Downpours triggered the release of millions of gallons of raw sewage mixed with rainwater across the region in just two weeks, spilling contaminated water into dozens of rivers, creeks and ultimately into the ocean and San Francisco Bay, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis of 88 reports to the state’s Office of Emergency Services.

“Flooded waters contain pathogens,” warned Eileen White, executive officer for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. “If you touch flood waters, you want to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water to make sure that you don’t get yourself exposed.”

When sewage flows into homes and businesses, expensive remediation and decontamination is needed to make them safe again. Overflows also may have dangerous consequences for the environment, because human waste, pharmaceuticals, shampoos and other harmful products are flushed down drains and toilets.

In one incident, the Martinez Refinery Company reported releasing more than six million gallons of storm and wastewater into the Carquinez Strait estuary, which drains into the San Francisco Bay, on Jan. 4, according to state records. The discharge of partially treated “process water” and storm water was necessary to avoid damage to the refinery, the company reported.

Dozens of other smaller incidents were caused by open manhole covers, broken pipes and overwhelmed treatment facilities, from Corte Madera to Woodside and Half Moon Bay to Pleasanton.

State records show that between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3, a total of more than 14 million gallons of sewage were discharged in the San Francisco Bay region, enough to fill 21 Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to White. The Jan. 4 storm triggered the release of another 8 million gallons, or 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

More recent releases are still being tallied. Experts say the total volume is likely to be much larger than current estimates because the chaotic circumstances surrounding these emergency flooding situations mean it’s nearly impossible to accurately evaluate the true scale and impact of sewage contamination.

Like bridges or skyscrapers designed to bear certain weights, stormwater management systems are designed within the limits of weather — and can’t handle the intensity of storms that might happen only every decade or two.

In dry times, waste from homes and businesses is whisked immediately away to wastewater-treatment plants, never to be seen, smelled or considered again.

But two weeks of near-constant storms have stressed the system, as heavy rainfall and flooding infiltrate sewer pipes.

“We saw 13 times our average wastewater flows,” said Andrea Pook of East Bay Municipal Utilities District.

Most of the releases were caused when storm water backs up into the streets, flowing up through drains or manhole covers forced open by the overwhelming volume of high-pressure torrents, the reports show.

In Redwood City, a manhole overflow sent polluted water into Borel Creek at a rate of 150 gallons per minute. In San Mateo, 100 to 150 gallons per minute flowed into a storm drain that empties into Polhemus Creek. About 50 gallons a minute were dumped into Sonoma Creek. In Oakland, the overflow of three manholes spilled 25,000 gallons into Lake Merritt.

When a sewage lift station in Daly City overflowed because of stormwater, 35,950 gallons of waste were released into the Pacific Ocean. The rupture of a main treatment line in Moss Beach also caused a spill into the ocean. In Pacifica, an overflowing pump station caused 20,000 gallons to be discharged at Linda Mar Beach.  About 34,000 gallons were released in Menlo Park’s Belle Haven neighborhood when a West Bay Sanitary treatment plant couldn’t keep up with the flow.

In Richmond, the West County Wastewater facility pumped sewage directly into the San Francisco Bay, according to a Jan. 11 report.  “It is unknown how long the releasing will be going for,” it said.

Three discharges into Oakland’s San Leandro Creek, Barnhill Marina and an estuary at the foot of Alice Street originated from the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s “overflow structures,” which are designed to discharge water in high-flow conditions.

Farther south, a sewage treatment plant was flooded Friday when the Salinas River rushed over the banks of a levee. Percolation ponds in the city of Templeton also were flooded, sending 300,000 gallons into the river.

Mother Nature is wreaking additional chaos. In Oakland, a tree fell on the sewer line, causing 5,100 gallons of sewage to be released into Sausal Creek. In Crockett, a hillside eroded and collapsed — causing a pipe to break and release 2,700 gallons. When debris blocked a sewer conduit, about 10,000 gallons overflowed into a drain that leads to Oakland’s Lake Temescal.

Records show that a single day — Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve — was responsible for the largest number of reports to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, with 51 discharges in different Bay Area cities.

On that morning alone, there were 15 sewage discharges in 12 cities: Hillsborough, Woodside, San Bruno, Daly City, Pacifica, Burlingame, Half Moon Bay, San Lorenzo, Richmond, Piedmont, Oakland and Daly City.  By midnight, there were an additional 36 discharges in 25 cities: Alameda, Oakland, San Mateo, Richmond, Pacifica, Martinez, El Granada, Montara, Pittsburg, Corte Madera, San Francisco, Antioch, Redwood City, Dublin, San Leandro, Albany, Berkeley, Woodside, Vallejo, Menlo Park, Benicia, Sausalito, Pleasanton, Foster City and Hayward.

The problem isn’t new, said Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, a nonprofit focused on the health of the San Francisco Bay. But the constant rain has exacerbated the issue.

“Over the years, and typically every time it rains, we see sewage spills in the streets and wastewater overflows,” she said. “But the back-to-back-to-back-to-back major storm events is causing a continuous discharge. That’s what is new.”

With continued population growth, the demands on our sewer systems have increased, say experts. Meanwhile, more development leads to more asphalt and cement, so the bulk of the rainfall ends up in our sewage systems.  And our wastewater pipes, often made of clay, are aging, so water infiltrates through cracks and gaps.

The rate at which the urban Bay Area is adapting to these threats is lagging behind the speed at which rain is drowning it, said Choksi-Chugh.  Cities need to invest in replacing pipes and upgrading wastewater treatment systems to increase storage capacity and install more recycling technologies, she said. Cities also could incentivize homeowners to replace old pipes through grants or low-interest loans.

“Our old infrastructure is just not going to be up to snuff,” Choksi-Chugh said. “It’s not going to be able to handle these larger storm events, year upon year. So we really need to be thinking about the future.”

As stormy skies returned Friday, California officials said that the relentless rains that have eased years of punishing drought have come at a terrible cost, already ranking among the Golden State’s deadliest natural disasters — with more rain on the way.

“We’ve now experienced multiple large and damaging storm systems and there are more on the way,” California Office of Emergency Services Director Nancy Ward said in a Friday news briefing. “We’ve experienced destructive flooding of homes and infrastructure, levee breaches and overtopping, mudslides hurricane force winds in many of our communities, and even had a tornado touch down in Northern California. But let me emphasize, we are not out of the woods yet. The threat to communities remains, and waters will continue to rise even after these storms have passed.”

David Lawrence, a meteorologist and emergency response specialist with the National Weather Service Western Region Headquarters, added that over the last 18 days, the state has seen a statewide average of just over 9 inches of rainfall.

“That is a remarkable number,” Lawrence said. “Some locations have seen their average annual rainfall already occur in just the last 18 days.”

Lawrence said that while the weather service did not expect Friday’s downpours “to be overly significant,” another set of storms arriving Saturday “will bring widespread heavy rainfall in some locations, very heavy mountain snowfall as well, in addition to gusty winds up to 50 to 60 mph.”

“Not only could that rain produce additional flooding — and certainly we’ll see some major impacts to travel in the mountains — but those winds could also blow over trees and bring additional power outages,” Lawrence said. “We do see an additional one or two storm systems for early next week before hopefully we do finally get at least a very brief break in the weather toward the latter portions of next week.”

Authorities ticked off the statewide toll to date from the remarkable deluges since Christmas that have fallen on a state that had been parched after a series of dry winters.

• 6,000 Californians under evacuation order
• More than 20,000 still without electric power
• More than 60 major road closures, at least 32 of which are ongoing
• Seven waterways still under watch for major flooding
• Emergency declarations in 41 of California’s 58 counties
• 19 confirmed deaths — a figure that would rise to 20 if a 5-year-old boy missing since being swept away by floodwaters Monday in the San Luis Obispo County town of San Miguel isn’t found alive.

“These storms are amongst the most deadly natural disasters in the modern history of our state,” Ward said.

Authorities urged people to avoid travel over the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, heed precautions and not drive over flooded roadways.

Ward said her office is coordinating with authorities in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Merced counties “whose regions we expect to continue to be vulnerable to these next two or three storm systems, and to include the possibility of a complete cutoff of the Monterey Peninsula.

Monterey County communications coordinator Maia Carroll said Friday the Salinas River already flooded rural roads farm fields near Chualar, causing temporary closures Thursday.

But it will remain a threat through the weekend to potentially flood and close access to Highway 68 between Salinas and Monterey and other major roadways, possibly even Highway 1. If all those roadways have to be closed, the Monterey Peninsula, home to some 54,000 people in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Pebble Beach, could be isolated, perhaps for days. Carroll said ambulances and other emergency equipment have been positioned on both sides of areas where roads might have to close just in case.

“It depends on Mother Nature when we can exhale,” Carroll said.

Cindy Messer, lead deputy director at the California Department of Water Resources, said the Salinas is one of seven rivers and waterways under flood watch around the state. Others include the Sacramento River at Ord Ferry, the Navarro River at Navarro in Mendocino County, the Russian River in Guerneville, Bear Creek at McKee Road in Merced, and the San Joaquin River.

The silver lining, Messer said, is the relentless downpours have eased the state’s withering drought. Overall, statewide reservoir levels remain at about 75% of their average for this time of year, she said. That’s because the largest reservoirs were so low they take a lot of water to fill.

Lake Oroville was at about 47% of its full capacity, Shasta Lake at about 42% of its capacity, Folsom Lake at 42% of its capacity and lastly San Luis reservoir at 40% of its capacity.

“We’ve had an amazing amount of rainfall,” she said.

Six-hour rain totals from the National Weather Service as of noon Friday showed just under half of an inch had fallen in San Francisco and San Mateo between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. Oakland received one-quarter of an inch, and Walnut Creek had one-third. A one and one-half inch downpour occurred over the Santa Cruz Mountains while San Jose was virtually dry with just one-tenth of an inch.

Here are the past 6 hour precip totals for this morning #CAwx pic.twitter.com/4oEfsWfY2b

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 13, 2023

The weather service projected between a quarter and one-half of an inch of new rain in San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland on Friday night. On the coast in places such as Half Moon Bay and Pacifica, forecasts showed half of an inch of rain paired with wind gusts reaching 30 mph. Projections were lower in the East Bay, with Livermore and Walnut Creek expected to reach no more than one-quarter inch of rain Friday night.

Weather service meteorologist Eleanor Dhuyvetter said Saturday is a bigger concern, but those storms aren’t expected to be among the strongest the Bay Area has seen in the new year.

Even so, “with things just so saturated right now, it really doesn’t take much for some of the flooding issues, and that’s kind of the impacts we’re seeing.”

Saturday forecasts called for wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour and an inch of rainfall in downtown San Jose. In Oakland, rain totals could be as high as one inch with 24 mph winds, and San Francisco could see three-quarters of an inch with 21 mph gusts.

Sunday could be even more moderate, with no more than one-quarter of an inch expected in urban centers. But the rain was predicted to linger, with forecasts showing wet conditions lasting into Thursday.

Power outages, many caused by falling trees, were still afflicting thousands of customers in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Tracking site poweroutage.us Friday afternoon showed 3,665 out in Santa Cruz County and 1,589 in Santa Clara County.

Caltrans closed highway 92 in both directions from highway 35 to Pilarcitos Creek Road Thursday after a massive sinkhole opened up. As of Friday, there was no estimated time of reopening for the key roadway.

On Friday night, Santa Clara County staff issued new evacuation warnings to watershed areas near the Uvas Reservoir, Pacheco Pass River Basin and intersection of Highway 101 and Bolsa Road “due to the weather conditions and potential risks of flooding to the general public and property.”

Those areas under evacuation warning risk include Pacheco Pass River Basin for those living in the areas of:

• El Toro Road south of Highway 152 to Bloomfield Avenue
• Lovers Lane between Shore Road and Highway 152

Watershed Areas of the Uvas Reservoir including those living:

• South of Uvas Reservoir including Thousand Trails RV Park and Uvas Pines RV Park
• South of Sycamore Drive and Watsonville Road
• Homes south of Lions Peak
• South of Day Road and Geri Lane
• Watsonville and Highway 152

Highway 101 and Bolsa Road:

• South of Hwy 152, East of Highway 101
• South of Pacheco Pass (Highway 152) and east of Highway 101
• South of Luchessa Avenue and east of Thomas Road
• East of Santa Teresa Boulevard to Castro Valley Road
• North of Castro Valley Road to Luchessa Avenue
• North of Highway 25 between Highway 101 & Bloomfield Road
• West of Bloomfield Avenue between Highway 25 and Pacheco Pass (Highway 152)
• East of Highway 101 to Pacheco Pass (Highway 152)

Residents and visitors “should gather their household members, pets, personal items, important documents, prescription medication, change of clothes, non-perishable foods, water, extra batteries, flashlights, and phone chargers” and “prepare to evacuate to a safe location,” staff said in a statement.

Along the Central Coast, the weather service issued high surf warnings and a coastal flood advisory, citing a combination of high tide cycles, strong winds and heavy rain runoff.

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the weather service issued a winter storm warning set to last from 4 a.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Tuesday, advising travel could be “very difficult to impossible,” and to expect one to two feet of snow at the Tahoe Basin and three to five feet above elevations of 7,000 feet. By Friday afternoon, chain control checkpoints were in place on Interstate 80 and Highway 50.

Staff writer Rick Hurd and George Kelly contributed.

Upon returning to in-person classes after COVID-19 shutdowns, I noticed that the skin under my backpack straps was red and my back ached. I was overwhelmed by the number of textbooks, notebooks and supplies my teachers required me to carry. I wondered if other students’ backpacks were as heavy as mine.

I conducted a research project at Pleasanton Middle School surveying a representative group of 70 students. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that backpacks weigh no more than 15% of a student’s body weight, although some experts — and Senate Concurrent Resolution 86, passed by the California Legislature in 2014 — draw the line at 10%. The data I collected showed that, on average, students’ backpacks were 50% over the California recommended weight. It is important to consider the outliers as well, as some students were carrying backpacks heavier than 30 pounds.

To understand the health consequences of carrying a heavy backpack, I talked to Dr. Monica Benedikt, a family medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Benedikt said that back pain among children is not rare. She explained that back pain can be caused by different factors, including an overly heavy backpack. Dr. Benedikt said, based on her experience and clinical research, that the backpacks children are required to carry are too heavy.

Other health professionals are in agreement. According to the American Chiropractic Association, “Back pain is pervasive among American adults, however it is not uncommon among children and teens either. In a new and disturbing trend, young children are suffering from back pain much earlier than previous generations, and the use of overweight backpacks is a contributing factor.”

According to research by a team led by pediatric orthopedics expert Dr. William Mackenzie, children who experience back pain are at increased risk of suffering from it as adults, which can result in disability and significant economic consequences.

Overloaded backpacks aren’t only responsible for back injuries, they have also been found to cause neck pain, shoulder strain, headaches and a general exhaustion. Some researchers think that girls and younger kids are especially at risk for backpack-related injuries because they’re smaller and carry loads that are heavier in proportion to their body weight.

What should our educational system do about this? I have some recommendations. One solution that school districts could consider is the installation of lockers, as is done in schools across the country. My former middle school in Pleasanton, as well as several other middle schools in the East Bay, including those in the San Ramon Valley and Livermore Unified school districts, do not have lockers available for middle school students.

Another option is for teachers to allow students to use a single notebook for multiple classes and switch to online textbooks. Many schools provide students with Chromebooks, which can be heavy and contribute to the burden on students’ backs. It might be worth considering the use of lighter devices, even though they may be more expensive. While students appreciate the access to technology that the Chromebooks provide, the health benefits of lighter devices should also be taken into consideration.

It is important to raise awareness about this issue among students. Students should try to limit the weight of their backpacks to no more than 10% of their body weight or consider using rolling backpacks.

And with California public schools receiving record funding this fiscal year, I recommend allocating some of these funds toward researching the risks associated with heavy backpacks and finding ways to prevent health issues in students.

Naomi Burakovsky is a Pleasanton resident and a freshman at Amador Valley High School.

The latest atmospheric river-fed storm is expected to pack damaging winds and drop several more inches of rain over much of the Bay Area — a double-whammy that forecasters say should peak Monday morning and linger through Tuesday. Even more storms are forecast to make landfall beginning later this week — threatening to further saturate soils during one of the Bay Area’s most waterlogged stretches in recent years.

On Sunday afternoon, Gov. Gavin Newsom implored Californians to avoid driving through flooded roadways and to prepare for even more water in the near future — noting that 12 people had died over the last week and a half due to storms across the state.

“Use your common sense,” Newsom said at a press conference. “Don’t test fate… just a foot of water and your car’s floating. So it’s really important that people are mindful, and again, just use their common sense.”

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for areas along the Guadalupe River above the Almaden Expressway in San Jose. The river is expected to reach its flood state of 9.5 feet by 9 a.m. Monday before cresting at 11.5 feet at about 4 p.m. that day.

A flood watch also exists through Tuesday for almost the entire Bay Area. Alameda Creek near Niles Canyon and Sunol could reach its flood stage of 9 feet on Monday morning before cresting that afternoon, just shy of its 14-foot, 9-inch record. Also at risk of topping their banks were Arroyo de la Laguna at Verona in Alameda County and the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz County.

On Sunday afternoon, Santa Clara County officials issued evacuation warnings — essentially, advisements to be prepared to leave a moment’s notice — to people living in the watershed areas of the Uvas Reservoir and Pacheco Pass River Basin, due to flooding concerns. The warnings are impacting roughly 1,600 people, according to the county.

“This is going to be dangerous,” said Brayden Murdock, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Updated forecast rainfall totals for round 2, expected to begin tonight between 10 pm and midnight. The heaviest rain will occur between 4 am and 4 pm Monday. Slight lowering of totals from the Bay Area northward and southern valleys. More details in follow up tweet.#CAwx

1/x pic.twitter.com/zs2HzaehAH

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 8, 2023

Standing under a break in the clouds on Sunday in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, Becky Luong expressed fatigue at the unrelenting pace of storms. Her home’s garage in the Portola neighborhood was flooded with about an inch of water during Wednesday’s storm — ruining several pairs of shoes stored down there and leaving damaged a few bags of concrete.

“I’ve never experienced such a big storm like this,” said Luong, who has lived in the city for close to three decades. “It is the wind that makes it worse. This is different. I got scared.”

“I’m tired,” she added, about the recent wet weather. “I’m so grateful to see the sun today.”

Nearby, Nick Bulley waited in line for workers to fill his car with sandbags to protect his house in the hilly Twin Peaks neighborhood. The backyard and first floor of his newly renovated home were flooded during the New Year’s Eve storm with an inch of water, likely causing thousands of dollars in damage. On Sunday, he ran a dehumidifier to suck up all the moisture and limit the cost of repairs.

“This was just an unusual event,” Bulley said. “We weren’t prepared. We didn’t have sandbags. Now we’re making sure we have something to at least toss in front of the doors.”

The heaviest downpours should begin to subside by midday Monday, Murdock said, though chances for additional precipitation should linger through Tuesday. Most of the Bay Area — including San Francisco and Oakland — could see 2 to 3 inches of rain by Tuesday, the weather service said. San Jose is expected to see a little more than 2 inches from this storm.

The heaviest rainfall should fall over the waterlogged Santa Cruz Mountains, where 5 to 7 inches of rain is expected, with a few places seeing as much as 8 inches. To the south, the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Big Sur coast could see 8 to 12 inches of rain in some spots.

Winds of 25 to 35 mph are expected across much of the Bay Area’s lower-lying regions, with gusts potentially hitting 60 mph, the National Weather Service said while issuing a high wind warning. Along the coast and the Bay Area’s peaks, forecasters are expecting winds of 35 to 50 mph and gusts of up to 80 mph.

“This is also going to be a wind event,” said Murdock, adding that “when you do have strong winds after seeing plenty of moisture in the soil, you can see trees fall.”

The storm marks the latest atmospheric river to drench Northern California over the last couple of weeks, whipsawing the region from one of its driest three-year runs in recorded history to a state of perpetual flood risk. Oakland, for example, has received 15.84 inches of rain since Dec. 1 — almost all of it in the last two weeks. That’s more than two-thirds of the 22.89 inches of rain it normally gets in a calendar year.

Still, even though the recent wet weather has begun to alleviate drought conditions across Northern California, experts say even more moisture is needed to put an end the region’s historic drought. Water levels at some of the state’s largest reservoirs — including Lake Shasta, Lake Oroville and Trinity Lake — remain below historical averages for this time of year, even though some have started to tick upward in recent weeks.

He said that federal resources have been mobilized to help the National Weather Service’s forecasts. Five Air Force C-130s and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aircraft are flying over the Pacific Ocean – reaching as far as Hawaii – to gather data on the coming storms.

“These next storms are really going to start seeing some flood stages be reached,” said Anderson, during a call with reporters Saturday. “There’s a lot to keep an eye on and a lot to track.”

For more on the latest emergency warnings, go to aware.zonehaven.com.

High Wind Warning has been issued for our region starting tonight at 8 PM into Monday 4 PM. Expect southerly winds near 20 to 35 mph with gust up to 60 mph in the valley locations and 35 to 50 mph with gust up 80 mph along the coast and highest peaks. #CAwx #highwind pic.twitter.com/VbzaXV22ez

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 8, 2023

The dogs were found inside a home in North Livermore after police became aware of their living conditions.

Police said conditions inside the home were filthy and that many of the dogs were found in crates with no food or water.

Animal services officers from Livermore and Pleasanton, along with a community service specialist from Livermore, determined that the man who owned the home was hoarding the dogs and was unable to care for them, authorities said.

The homeowner’s name was not released. Police said the case was under review by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

The dogs were ultimately transported to the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin. At the shelter, the dogs were vaccinated, had their nails trimmed and were placed in clean cages.

One dog needed emergency medical treatment; that animal has already been placed in a new home. None of the dogs have died, authorities said Friday.

Fifteen dogs are at the Oakland Animal Shelter, 12 are at the the Dublin SPCA and approximately 10 are at the Valley Humane Society. Twelve dogs remain at the East County Animal Shelter.

Anyone interested in adopting one of the dogs or making a financial donation toward their care may call the East County Animal shelter at 925-803-7040, Oakland Animal Services at 510-535-5602, East Bay SPCA at 925-479-9670, and Valley Human Society at 925-426-8656.

#TurnAroundDontDrown is the social media message being blasted by the National Weather Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the AAA Northern California. Even seemingly shallow water from an overflowing creek can be deadly, especially if the current is moving swiftly. More than half of flood-related drownings occur when someone drives into hazardous water, the NWS and CDC say.

Know how to drive safely around floodwater:

Don't drive into flooded areas & standing water. #TurnAroundDontDrown
Don't move or drive around roadblocks.
Don't drive over a downed power line.

Learn more: https://t.co/iBzztwnvWJ. #PrepYourHealth #WeatherReady pic.twitter.com/Tf2VdGdwRP

— CDC Emergency (@CDCemergency) January 7, 2023

It appears that a number of motorists haven’t been aware of these dangers since the first of the series of record-setting atmospheric rivers hit on New Year’s Eve. Images of cars, stalled and abandoned in rising waters, have been abundant in the news and on social media over the past week.

The NWS says to “NEVER” drive through flooded roadways, using capital letters to emphasize that message. That’s because a motorist can’t know the condition of the road under the water; it may be washed out.

As few as six inches of water can reach the bottom of most passenger cars and cause drivers to lose control or their vehicles to stall, putting them and their passengers at risk of drowning, the NWS said. Twelve inches of water will float many vehicles, and two feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles, including larger and heavier SUVs and pickups.

If you end up in a flooded area, and water begins rising around your car, the NWS says you should abandon your vehicle immediately and move to higher ground. Amid rising floodwaters, you’re danger that you and your vehicle will be swept away.

There also are other dangers from going near floodwaters — a reality that seemed lost on people who were recorded climbing on rafts to ride the floodwaters that had suddenly turned their neighborhood streets into rushing rivers.

In fact, those floodwaters may be teeming with household or industrial hazardous waste, sewage and other contaminants — all of which can make people very sick, the CDC said. People also can be injured by branches, lumber, sharp glass or metal fragments and other debris swirling around in the water water. If you must enter floodwater, wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, and goggles, the CDC also said. People also should never go near power lines or drive through standing water if down lines are in the water.

In a report released Friday, prosecutors said all available evidence indicated Officers Brian Jewell and Mario Guillermo were justified in believing 33-year-old Cody Chavez posed a significant threat of death or serious bodily injury to others when they shot and killed him Feb. 17 outside an apartment in the 4800 block of Willow Road. Officers had tried to stop Chavez with less-lethal means before shooting him after he lunged at them.

“The overwhelming, credible and admissible evidence shows that Officer Jewell and Officer Guillermo acted lawfully and in defense of others,” prosecutors wrote.

According to the report, officers were first called to the scene by a woman who said that Chavez, a boyfriend from whom she had previously sought court protection with a restraining order, had come to her apartment. She told dispatchers he had assaulted her, covered her face with a pillow, taken her mobile phone and prevented her from leaving her apartment over the course of the previous night.

The woman told dispatchers she had allowed Chavez to talk his way back into her apartment even though she had sought a restraining court order to keep him from being around her or the apartment. The report said the order she’d sought wasn’t served, had expired and no others were in effect at the time.

Chavez eventually allowed the woman to leave her apartment so she could go to work.

The woman gave officers permission to enter her apartment, but every time they punched in the code to unlock the front door, Chavez relocked it, prosecutors said.

Following repeated attempts to reach Chavez by phone and a public address system, a SWAT team and an armored response vehicle, or ARV, were summoned to the scene. They were joined by a team of crisis negotiators, who asked Chavez to “come outside peacefully” and “tell his side of the story,” according to the report.

Chavez told one negotiator he was at work in San Jose, but officers had already spotted him inside the apartment through a window. Prosecutors said Chavez also sent text messages to the woman telling her to make the officers leave because they were “gonna kick this door in and kill me.”

Officers went on to obtain a warrant for Chavez’s arrest based on the woman’s allegations. They then forced open the door and tried to send in a robot equipped with a camera and a two-way communication system. However, Chavez blocked the door, picked up the robot and threw it out of the apartment, according to the report.

At that time, Chavez was spotted holding a “large kitchen knife” with an 8-inch blade, prosecutors said.

Officers then broke a window to send in a drone to gather information about what was happening inside the apartment. As a team of four officers worked to pull out the blinds to clear a line of sight, Chavez left the apartment with the knife in his right hand, according to the report.

Prosecutors said officers repeatedly ordered Chavez to drop the knife but he did not comply. As Chavez turned toward the team, which was about eight feet away to his right, one officer fired two bean bag rounds at Chavez’s left thigh, but the rounds did not appear to have any effect. Chavez then lunged at the team, leading another officer to fire five projectiles from a less-lethal riot gun at Chavez’ head and chest. Like the bean bag rounds, the projectiles did not appear to have any effect.

Officers Jewell and Guillermo in turn shot Chavez a total of seven times with their department-issued rifles, according to the report. Chavez fell to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy identified three gunshot wounds as his cause of death. The officers were not injured, police said.

Jewell and Guillermo told investigators they opened fire because they feared for the lives of their fellow officers, prosecutors said.

According to the report, to charge the officers with a criminal offense, prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they did not act in lawful self-defense or defense of others in the police department’s attempt to apprehend Chavez.

It wasn’t Chavez’ first run-in with the law. In August 2021 he pleaded guilty to assault with great bodily injury for an unprovoked June 28, 2020 attack on a Jamaican man on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz, and was sentenced to two years probation and a suspended 180 days of jail time.

“When Mr. Chavez ran towards officers from a distance of eight feet with a knife, he was a danger to multiple officers,” prosecutors wrote. “Officer Jewell’s and Officer Guillermo’s use of deadly force was necessary because Mr. Chavez posed an imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to the officers at the window.”