Post by ferryfast admin on Jan 4, 2008 17:15:59 GMT -5
Winds, rain wreak havoc - ferries, Golden Gate Transit buses halted
Marisa Lagos, Rachel Gordon, Peter Fimrite,Steve Rubenstein, Chronicle Staff Writers
San Francisco Chronicle
www.sfgate.com/
Friday, January 4, 2008
(01-04) 07:44 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- (01-04) 13:32 PST SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. Highway 101 in San Rafael and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge were shut down, bus service in the North Bay was suspended, ferries stayed in port and power was knocked out to hundreds of thousands of people today as a dangerous storm blew into the Bay Area.
Getting around the region was a major challenge, particularly in the North Bay. Highway 101 will be shut down until at least 10 p.m. in both directions where it intersects with Interstate 580 because debris from an interchange under construction blew onto the freeway, the California Highway Patrol said.
The Golden Gate Transit district suspended all bus service shortly after 9 a.m., citing the freeway closure and flooding in central San Rafael. A spokeswoman said she did not know whether service would be restored for the afternoon commute.
Traffic was at a standstill on the freeway and was crawling on city streets.
"Drivers can get through the area by exiting on Bellam Boulevard and driving through central San Rafael," said CHP Officer Mary Ziegenbein. "Because of the wind, Caltrans can't go out there to secure the area until at least 4 p.m., and it will take four to five hours" to clean up the area.
Golden Gate Transit ferry service was suspended because of winds on the bay gusting over 70 mph, and Alameda Bay Harbor Ferry, Alameda/Oakland Ferry and Baylink Vallejo Ferry said their boats would remain in port as well. BART and Muni service were also disrupted by the foul weather.
The CHP closed the eastbound Richmond-San Rafael Bridge after a gust of wind blew over an 18-wheel truck around 8:30 a.m. A short time later, the CHP also closed the bridge to westbound traffic.
Ziegenbein said the bridge remained closed this afternoon because high winds have prevented authorities from uprighting the truck.
As much as 8 inches of rain have fallen in the past 24 hours in some parts of the Bay Area. More than 3 inches have fallen in Santa Rosa, more than 2 inches in Concord and an inch and half in San Francisco, the National Weather Service said.
"The real strong wind gusts are the other big story," said weather service forecaster Charles Bell. "Today seems like one of those days when if you can stay home, it's recommended."
Gusts of 107 mph were measured on Kregor Peak near Clayton in Contra Costa County, the weather service said. The wind hit 70 mph on the Golden Gate Bridge, 78 mph on Angel Island and 76 mph on Twin Peaks in San Francisco
Hundreds of thousands of people have lost power since the storm swept ashore early today, and the Peninsula has been hit particularly hard, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said. As of 11:30 a.m., 518,000 customers were without power in the region, including 119,000 in San Mateo County.
"We expect some customers to remain without power tonight and into tomorrow," PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer said. "There is a lot of work still to do."
PG&E has a toll-free number for people to report outages - (800) 743-5002.
The nasty conditions forced authorities to delay or cancel numerous flights at San Francisco International Airport, but operations at Oakland and San Jose airports were normal.
BART service in San Francisco was disrupted after two trains traveling in opposite directions hit downed tree branches between the Balboa and Glen Park stations, and the Municipal Railway halted electronic trolley service on Market Street after a tree fell on a power line.
BART officials were trying to set up a bus bridge between the 24th Street and Daly City stations and provide transportation for those heading to SFO, but the tasks were made more difficult by weather-related traffic delays on local roadways.
The good news, weather service forecaster Steve Anderson said around 11:30 a.m., was that the heavier rain was beginning to taper off in the North Bay. The tail end of the system is passing through San Francisco this afternoon and will head through the South Bay as the day progresses."The winds are decreasing as the front comes through," Anderson said.
But road closures and the resulting traffic headaches continue to plague the region.
The MacArthur Tunnel approach to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco was closed because of flooding, and the Great Highway was shut down by high winds.
Highway 84 in Niles Canyon east of Fremont will be closed because of a slide until at least 6 p.m., Caltrans said. Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz Mountains was closed in Felton, and northbound Highway 17 was closed at the summit because of a downed tree. The southbound direction of the highway, the main road between San Jose and Santa Cruz, was still open.
On the Golden Gate Bridge, strong winds forced officials to turn the two center lanes into buffers between northbound and southbound traffic, said Mary Currie, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Highway, Bridge and Transportation District. The agency has banned trucks from driving across the span because of the winds.
Marin County's Office of Emergency Services was working to help respond to various problems, including trees that fell into houses in Mill Valley, Fairfax and Inverness.
Authorities were keeping a close eye on San Anselmo Creek, which caused millions of dollars of damage to downtown San Anselmo when it jumped its banks on New Year's Eve 2005. By mid-morning the creek had risen to 8 feet, up 6 feet from Thursday night but still 3 feet below flood stage.
In San Francisco, scaffolding outside a four-story Victorian-style apartment at Washington and Divisadero streets caused a scare this morning when it crashed onto car, but there were no injuries reported. Muni diverted buses off Market and onto Mission streets because of damaged scaffolding at a four-story building at Third Street and Market.
Golden Gate Park was getting hammered, with trees down, branches dangling and roadways flooded. Some of the fallen trees were "heritage trees" that were part of the original planting in the 1860s. Trees were also down in McLaren, Glen and Crocker-Amazon parks.
The Great Highway was closed in both directions from Sloat Boulevard to Lincoln Way because of high winds, and O'Shaughnessy Boulevard was shut down from Twin Peaks to Glen Park because of a fallen tree.
The San Francisco Zoo was also closed today because of downed trees, which could pose a problem if they fall into exhibits in such a way that animals could use them to escape. The zoo reopened Thursday, nine days after a tiger escaped - possibly by jumping out of its outdoor grotto - and killed a visitor.
At Ocean Beach, gawkers gathered to watch the waves pound the sand and roar all the way up to the sea wall.
"Coming from Chicago, I'm used to the wind, but the ocean makes it more exciting," said visitor Helen Whittiker, who was taking photographs of herself and three friends leaning into the wind at a 30-degree angle.
Some schools were without power. At Clarendon Elementary School on Twin Peaks, parents were asked to take their children home.
The power was out in Pacifica, and the main shopping center was deserted. Safeway was running on backup power and was selling only emergency supplies such as batteries, candles, bottled water and charcoal.
Pacifica resident Kathy Salet came down to the grocery story to get groceries to make a cake for her husband's birthday, but had to turn around.
"That's not going to happen," she said. "I better go home and eat the ice cream before it melts."
The Pacifica Pier was closed because waves were crashing over the end, and onlookers were gawking at the spectacle from land. Tree limbs and fallen power lines dotted the streets, and the golf course in town looked like a series of small lakes.
The storm was the second in a series expected to hit the state through the weekend. The weather service was warning people that things could get especially dicey in the Sierra, where some areas could get as much as 10 feet of snow and winds could top 100 mph.
Most ski resorts around Lake Tahoe opted to close today because of the heavy winds, but said they hoped to reopen tomorrow with several new feet of snow. Forecasters expect the heaviest snow there to fall between this afternoon and Saturday morning.
Anderson, the weather service forecaster, said snow was already falling at lake level this morning and some areas were getting as much as 3 inches an hour.
"The resorts are getting pounded," he said.
Rachel Woods, spokeswoman at Alpine Meadows resort, agreed. The mountain received 6 inches of snow overnight and was getting about an inch an hour this afternoon, she said.
"It was sunny yesterday and it's just amazing to watch the mountains change in terms of the look and feel, due to the snow," Woods said.
Snow may even pay a visit to the Bay Area. There will be showers on and off all day Saturday, and snow levels will fall to 2,000 or 3,000 feet, meaning flakes may fall on Mount Diablo and even Mount Tamalpais, the weather service said.
Then, on Sunday, another storm will move through. That one will be weaker than today's, but could still bring at least another inch of rain, forecasters said.
Chronicle staff writers Jill Tucker, John Coté, Anastasia Ustinova, Cecilia M. Vega, Michael Cabanatuan, Kelly Zito and Phil Matier contributed to this report. E-mail the writers at mlagos@sfchronicle.com, rgordon@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com and srubenstein@sfchronicle.com.