Petaluma by 6 36 and 7 04 tonight. Were thank not only this storm system thats over us but another one offshore thats set to hit for tomorrow. Ill have full details on that and exact river levels on where things could go really bad the next 24 hours. Okay, jeff. Well get back to you shortly. We havent had this problem in awhile. In Sonoma County jeff was referring to it. The Russian River is expected to overflow its banks. Kim yonanaka yonanaka in knoxville whats the game plan there . Reporter first off everyone is hoping that all the el nino preps will pay off. They are watching the Russian River very closely to see how it will handle all of the rain and runoff. Because it directly affects this creek also reaching a critical stage. You can see how waters starting to push up the culvert. It will turn around and push this way. Reporter wendy lives on mill street in guernville. It is already underwater. So shes moving her livestock out today. With the threat of more rain on the way, five creek is in danger of overflowing, pushing as much as 6 feet of water into nearby homes. It comes so fast. This came in days. And were busy working on the house you dont pay attention. Next thing you know its go time. Are on summer home park road, crews worked to bring down 160foot tree. Now unstable following a landslide. Residents remain trapped until the roadway is clear. A lot of rain headed this way. All the tree guys and the roads guys, everybody is fueled up and ready to go. This is just sort of the tip of the iceberg from what ive heard as far as the forecast. Got a lot of rain coming our way and already saturated soils. That could end up being a long next couple of days. Reporter todays steady rain caused road closures and a warning to residents in lowerlying areas. Theyve been told to get their animals and Farm Equipment to higher grounds. All over Sonoma County, crews are either at work or on call through this weekend. Wowed hope it wouldnt go over 32. Thats when it starts causing problem force a lot of people, flooding the houses, lowlying areas. Reporter right now Sonoma County is in stage two of its flood plan. It will go to stage three if the Russian River gets to 32 feet and thats when possible evacuations will occur. Reporting live in guernville, kym yonanaka. Take a look at a driver in sebastapol his car ended up stalling at the he needed firefighters to bail him out. You see it there. The street is now closed. This will be a common sight tonight. Downed trees. Already were seeing closed roads in sausalito. These two trees shutting down parts of santa rosa avenue and glen drive. Thankfully no injuries but more problems are expected as the winds pick up tomorrow. The heavy rain brought down the roof at a santa rosa kmart this morning. The collapse happened around 7 45 in the morning. Rain seeping into a portion of the Garden Centers roof which already had a dry rot problem. There was some damage to inside the store as well. Given the conditions here and our concerns weve closed off a portion of the store which is the Garden Center and electronics portion of it. Now, the up side is the collapse happened before kmart opened so employees were around but no one was hurt. The store will be open tonight but that Garden Center is still offlimits. Were going to stay on top of the storm throughout the weekend both on air and on line. A good way for you to stay uptodate on the weather in your neighborhood is to download our nbc bay area app. A tense standoff in a quiet and up scale san jose neighborhood. A father takes his 3yearold daughter hostage. This happened in willow glen. It lasted for more than seven hours before finally ending just a short time ago. Nbc bay areas Laura Malpert is at the scene for us this evening. Laura what do we know about the parents involved here and especially that little girl . Reporter well, raj, the good news is that girl is safe and unharmed. Take look here behind me. Neighbors say this willow glen neighborhood is usually very quiet. But today it was in virtual lockdown amid a swarm of police. A 3yearold girl waves to her mom as shes carried to safety after being held hostage by her own father for more than 2 1 2 hours. She was fine, safe and sound, and happy to see her mom. Reporter San Jose Police say this all started when a woman reported her soontobe exhusband was holding their daughter at gunpoint in her willow glen home. Erica ridgway who works nearby says the couple was meeting to sign papers when the man pulled out a gun. The mom got away but the man took his daughter inside. And the grandmother showed up about 15, 20 minutes after the hostage situation took place. She told me that he came by to finalize the divorce papers. Thats when this happened. Reporter after releasing the young girl the man barricaded himself inside the home. Police and swat teams set up a perimeter while two Elementary Schools nearby were ordered to shelter in place. To see this happen on this particular street is really shocking. And i live two, three blocks away. So to know that this is happening in your backyard is kind of disturbing. Reporter the man surrendered just after 4 00 this afternoon and is now in police custody. Police say he is 34yearold thomas chalms. Laura malpert, nbc bay area news. Tonight we have new details on a hate crime at san leandro. According to the criminal complaint we just obtained, the man arrested is a white supremacist. 21yearold cody sisson, seen here, faces felony charges of vandalism with a hate crime enhancement. Police say over weekend he spray painted racist graffiti across a San Leandro School district office. We have blurred out the words and the message has since been removed. Police arrested sisson yesterday. They say he was under the influence of drugs and that he admitted to the crime. Documents show he told police he hoped the graffiti would quote cause terror. A family is voicing sadness and sanger tonight after losing its civil lawsuit against the sfpd. A federal jury cleared four officers who shot and killed alex nieto. The civil suit accused the officers of Excessive Force. Nbc bay areas Christie Smith was outside the courthouse today with nietos family and supporters. Christie. Reporter good evening to you, raj. Emotions ran high outside of the court this afternoon. Supporters of alex nietos family said they would continue their fight at least in the community while attorneys from both sides reacted to the outcome. Its a sad day for my clients. Reporter attorneys for the family of alex nieto reacted outside the federal court after the jurys decision. For people who are put their faith and reliance in the Justice System this is a hard pill to swallow. Reporter the verdict four San FranciscoPolice Officers did not use Excessive Force in the shooting death of the 28yearold in a Bernal Heights park in 2014. I very much feel for the family. However, i did not think that the officers violated the constitution when they used lethal force against mr. Nieto on this particular day. And the jury agreed. Reporter officers fired after they said he pulled what the believed was a gun but turned out to be a stun gun. He carried one for his Security Guard job. The familys attorney disputes how it unfolded and notes officers fired dozens of rounds. Nieto was hit 14 times. Supporters of his family say their fight isnt over. You know, i just feel now my emotions are running everywhere. Im mad. Im sad. Im also happy that we came this far. It took us two years to bring this case to federal court. Were going to continue marching in the streets. Were going to continue marching against police brutality. Reporter we asked the family attorney whats next. And he said at this point theyre considering all their legal options. Reporting live in San Francisco, Christie Smith, nbc bay area news. The new high tech idea for solving traffic problems in the bay area. Im Jodi Hernandez in the east bay where bart is considering cracking down on inconsiderate commuters. Ill have a live report coming up. And good afternoon. Im meteorologist Jeff Rainieri. We have a Flash Flood Watch in effect until sunday afternoon for our Northern Counties right around the bay. Were tracking our isolated flooding concern as this storm arrives and a stronger one is on the way for friday. Thats in about six minutes. Dwindling police force. The sajot says officers will drastic changes to an already dwindling police force. The San Jose PoliceDepartment Says officers will now be asked to work mandatory overtime, even more. Nbc bay areas David Trujillo has been following the problems facing that department. He broke the latest news on twitter. He joins us live. Damian. Reporter it didnt happen overnight. Many tell me fatigue is already a big problem within the force. And they say a new challenge to their newly agreed pension reform will only make things worse. Officers tell me this standoff in willow glen today only exacerbated the situation. With minimum staffing levels, cops say they are getting worn out. Police officers are human. A lot of people forget that. Our people are tired out there. Reporter today the chief announced mandatory overtime beginning this sunday to make sure enough officers are on the streets. He also says he may cancel the next Police Academy class because the numbers are so low. Instead theyd ask another agency to do the training. And this community deserves better. Reporter but an angry chief was joined by the mayor and other city leaders to denounce this complaint filed by a former councilman pete constance. It challenges the recent pension agreement between the city and the unions, an agreement meant to undo the damage done by a pension reform measure. Flatly i think hes wrong. Reporter he now lives near sacramento. Unfortunately, there are some who dont live in san jose that want to fan the cooling embers and reignite the fire that drove our city apart. Reporter the Police Union Warns if victims of crime dont see a cop at their doorstep immediately, they can blame constant. That quite frankly is absurd. Reporter reached by phone, constant says per measure b, voters should have the ultimate say on pension changes, not unions or politicians. Once you tell the voters they have the opportunity to make these approvals, then you must return to the voters. Reporter for now the chief says he must implement mandatory overtime to keep public safe, even if it comes with consequences. Tired officers can make mistakes. I mean, thats a reality. However, we dont have a choice at this point. Reporter the Police Union Says that in an informal survey, 30 of the officers within the ranks said that theyre ready to retire, retire early, or move to another department. They fear that this Pete Constant proposal will ex pa dice that exodus. Live in san jose, im damian trujillo, nbc bay area news. Damian, thank you. One signature away from raising the smoking nature california. 21 would be the new 18. State senators approved a measure today that would make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy tobacco products. That includes things like cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. Hawaii was the first state in the United States to raise the age to 21. Californias measure now goes to governor brown, who can either sign it into law or veto it. His office says the governor does not comment on pending legislation. Bad manners on bart. Bart is considering cracking down on those seat hogs, people who take up more than the seat that they should. Under the plan if commuters take more than a single seat theyll be slapped with some steep fines. Nbc bay areas Jodi Hernandez is at the busy el cerrito bart station tonight. Jodi thumbs up or thumbs down . Whats the response so far . Reporter the bart board of directors discussed the proposal for the first time today. Some expressed concerns on exactly who would be targeted and how it would be enforced. But commuters tell us something should be done to stop inconsiderate seat hogs. Move over or pay up. Thats the message bart could soon send to inconsiderate commuters. Folks who insist on using more than one seat on crowded trains. Theyll spread out. Theyll just spread their bodies like theyre gorillas or something to take up as much room as they can. Reporter the board is considering a proposal that would mean stiff fines for riders who take up too much seat space. 100 fine for the first contact. 200 for the second contact. And 500 for each cusubsequent contact. Reporter bart member joe keller came up with the idea after fielding complaints from the commuters he represents in east contra costa county. Many stand on their feet and work. When they get on a train theyre paying over 6 for a fare. And they find somebody taking two seats. Reporter barts also tackling another big complaint. Theyre stepping up efforts to keep trains and stations clean. A new study just named bart as the second germiest Transit System in the country. Depending on the time of day, it could be anywhere from somebody coughing on a window to a friday night where somebodys throwing up inside the bart trains. So i dont touch anything. And when i get to work i wash my hands. Reporter bart says theyre hiring more workers. And in addition to daytime crews, they now have teams doing deep cleaning overnight. Bart urges riders to be patient when it comes to their cleanup efforts. They say theyre on it. As for the seat hog proposal, the board is set to vote on that in two weeks. Reporting live in el cerrito, Jodi Hernandez, nbc bay area news. All right. Lets turn things over to chief meteorologist Jeff Rainieri. You saw it there behind jodi. This time an hour ago it was pouring behind her, jeff. Now it looks a little clearer. Some of the heaviest rain we we tracking in the 5 00 hour has now moved off towards the east. Were still under the threat here of moderate rain at least through this evening. What were dealing with is the first system the cold front continuing to drop down tonight but then quickly behind it a second storm system for tomorrow. And thats why were under this microclimate weather alert with our flooding threat remaining elevated especially up into marin, napa and sonoma counties. Well have more on that coming up. But i want to get to our rainfall totals. This is why were under a Flash Flood Warning right now in petaluma where theres some isolated flooding happening along the 101 corridor. There was heavier rainfall. Rona park 3. 22. San anselmo, 8. San bruno. 98. Then towards men low park just. 11. South bay little to nothing as the storm system has been breaking apart just as forecasted by the time it got to you. Only. 01 inch in milpedas. Campbell and morgan hill as well. What are we in store for tomorrow morning . We get rainfall coming back for the south bay. 51. East bay at 48. San francisco starts at 53. Well keep that rain through the afternoon with the heaviest possibility in the north bay. Also San Francisco. Temperatures remain cool here for the peninsula in the south bay with upper 50s and low 60s. I want to give you an overall expansive look at whats to come. Not only that rainfall tonight and the chances we had throughout friday, but another system on saturday evening and also on sunday evening. I really think out of all of this were under the worst of it right now through friday morning. Well have more coming up in our river flooding potential and thats in about five minutes. Okay, jeff, thank you. As traffic gets worse in Silicon Valley, a tech giant tries to solve the problem. Im scott budman. Coming up, a look at how big data is trying to make traffic a little smaller. According to sources happening now. A former rival offers his endorsement to donald trump. According to sources, ben carson says he plans to formally back the donald tomorrow. Thats getting a lot of buzz on our web site. Right now in miami the republican president ial candidates are debating. Florida is a key state. Also marco rubios home turf. The pressure will be on him tonight. Were tweeting out updates as the candidates have vowed to turn down the rhetoric. Back in a moment. False and corrosive. Ats how the apples response in the crt fight over unlocking thSan Bernardino shooters iphone. False and corrosive how the feds describe apples response to unlock the San Bernardino shooters iphone. The federal Prosecutor Says the fbi and Community Needs know whats on that iphone. They can only do it with apples help. Apple says if agreed the back Door Technology could fall into the wrong hands and put other apple devices at risk. The hearing is scheduled for march 22nd in riverside. Its no secret our traffic is getting worse as our local economy continues to grow. Heres a live look at oakland and san jose during this evening commute. Sluggish to say the least. Busy, of course. Now some tech heavyweights think they have a plan for fixing our traffic problem. And a story youll see only on nbc bay area, our business and tech reporter scott budman talked exclusively to researchers behind a new plan to fix the gridlock. Scott is in san jose. Reporter jessica and raj, traffic has gotten worse here in the south bay as the economy has gotten better. So perhaps its fitting that a tech