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Heavy rainstorm causes woes across Bay Area this Election Day

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Wet weather woes across Bay Area caused by heavy rainstorm

ABC7 News Reporter Dustin Dorsey takes us around the Bay to see many of the problems caused by the storm Tuesday morning.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- It was a messy morning Tuesday as Bay Area residents headed to the polls, just as a Level 2 storm our exclusive ABC7 News Storm Impact Scale moved through the area.

The highest impacts were felt in the East Bay and South Bay, where there were flood advisories thanks to heavy rain.

LIVE: Track rain in San Francisco Bay Area with Live Doppler 7

The Bay Area storm is now at a Level 1.

Into the afternoon we have a chance of a thunderstorms, with the best chance between noon and 4 p.m. Any storm could contain hail and lightning.

In San Jose, things nearly turned deadly for a man living in a two-story structure alongside the Guadalupe River.

"The building was surrounded by water," Steve Holmes said. "So, we asked, 'are you OK?' He said, 'no.' So we called 911."

Thankfully, Holmes was checking the river with the South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition as the river swelled.

Holmes captured video of the rescue efforts by San Jose Fire - the man was able to walk away without getting injured.

But, Holmes worries for others who live along the river on rainy days like Tuesday.

"You have a lot of campers that are right on the edge of the waterway, so when the water comes up, it could literally be over the top of their heads," Holmes said. "If you're stuck in a tent, if you're sleeping or ill, there's a good chance people could lose their lives living right around these waterways."

From the rivers to the roads - traffic delays throughout the morning due to closures, including along Highway 85 in Mountain View due to flooding.

In Half Moon Bay, crews chopped up a tree that fell on Highway 92. It highlights another example of issues the Highway Patrol faced.

"The trees are coming down," CHP Redwood City Ofc. Art Montiel said. "People are losing control, they're hitting power poles. They're spinning out on the on-ramps and the off-ramps. Not only that, there's also flooding."

CalTrans worked to clean up the mess as CHP tried to keep up with the calls.

"On a regular basis or a regular day, we get approximately 10-15 calls," Ofc. Montiel said "On a rainy day, we typically get triple that or sometimes four times the amount that we get on a regular day."

CHP warns everyone to slow down and be safe on the roads, so you don't end up being their next call on busy, stormy days like today.