• Police in the town of Watsonville in Monterey County are searching for two 12-year-old runaways — a girl and a boy, who were involved in two hit-and-run collisions. The girl is suspected of taking her mother’s Nissan Altima at 1 am Saturday and perpetrating a collision in San Jose and another in Marina, California before abandoning the vehicle. [KGO]

• SFMTA is assuring the public that there have been no reports of ICE agents boarding its buses. Residents are urged to report any sightings to the SF Rapid Response Network. [KRON4]

• Two people fleeing police in a stolen vehicle crashed into another vehicle in front of the Napper Tandy bar at 24th Street and South Van Ness Avenue Friday evening, which was the scene of another collision by a car fleeing police in February. [Mission Local]
• A group of protesters have been gathering outside Coast Guard Island in Alameda each night since National Guard troops were deployed — and then called off — by Trump. [KTVU]

• On Saturday morning, dozens of kayakers surrounded Coast Guard Island with signs that read ‘No ICE in the Bay.’ [KRON4]
• A van crashed into a home on Gladstone near SF’s John McLaren Park around 4 pm Saturday; no injuries were reported, and authorities were working to secure the building. [NBC Bay Area]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

This weekend's Snell Fire in Napa County is now 100% contained after burning 103 acres, but despite this year’s rainy winter, a weekend of several NorCal fires has officials warning that precautions are still very much necessary.

We reported Saturday that the Snell Fire in Napa County had broken out Friday evening near Pope Valley, and that fire would go on to burn 103 acres. But there’s encouraging news on that front, as KPIX reports that as of 6 a.m. Monday morning, the Snell Fire is now 100% contained.

Cal Fire spokesperson Jason Clay had a very positive update for KTVU. "We’re really in kind of mop-up operations and that’s just our crews working to make sure we’re extinguishing hot spots, removing hazards from trees, and doing that type of work to get this thing shored up," he told the station.

But that same KTVU report details there were three other significant fires this weekend, at Lake Cunningham in San Jose (seen above), plus brush fires in Watsonville and Sonoma County’s Cloverdale. No structures were damaged, and there were no reported injuries from any of the above-named fires.

The good news is that there have been fewer fires this year than at this point last year, as Cal Fire’s Napa unit says they’ve battled 83 fires so far in 2023. The bad news is that’s still about the same number of fires they’ve usually recorded at this time of year. So despite any hopes we may have that this winter’s torrential downpours may limit this summer’s wildfires, 2023 may still end up being a “typical” wildfire year, and experts are still urging precautionary measures.

"Now is really a good time to start doing some of that work around your home, some of that defensible space,” Clay told KTVU. “Clearing brush and vegetation, giving yourself that safety buffer around your home, should a wildfire come your way."

Related: PG&E Not Only Caused the Massive Dixie Fire, a New Report Says It Also Was 'Excessively Delayed' In Responding to It [Joe]

Image: @SJFD via Twitter

The majority of coastal California is at a significant risk of flooding today as a 'bomb cyclone' storm bears down, with some inland areas at risk as well, and officials in Watsonville are taking no chances and have issued mandatory evacuation orders.

Across the Bay Area there are sandbag shortages as residents prepare for the next bout of heavy rain — having seen a preview/reminder on New Year's Eve of what a whole ton of rain in a short period of time looks like in their neighborhoods.

But some cities are at much greater risk of widespread flooding than others, and they are preparing for the worst. On Tuesday evening, the City of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County issued a mandatory evacuation order for a large swath of the city. "If your residence is located within this map's blue-shaded area, you're asked to evacuate NOW or as soon as possible to safely get ahead of the storm's flooding," the city said in a tweet.

As KSBW reports, the city issued the order for "an area that is primarily made up of elderly and vulnerable members of the community and the city wanted to give them extra time to evacuate" given the probability of flooding.

An overnight shelter was established last night at Cesar Chavez Middle School.

A neighborhood has also been evacuated in the East Bay due to a mudslide threat. As KRON4 reports, the Seacliff neighborhood near Brickyard Cove in Point Richmond was evacuated Wednesday morning.

Elsewhere in the Bay Area, there were already some power outages as of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday — just over 5,000 PG&E customers were without power, as Bay Area News Group reports, with about half of those in the East Bay and 240 in San Francisco. PG&E said it was reserving almost 2,900 repair personnel today to respond to calls about power outages and downed power lines.

Up in Mendocino and Sonoma counties, towns near the Russian River are bracing potential flooding that may not arrive until Thursday. As the Press Democrat reports, the river is expected to rise to three times its current level as a result of the storm, and will likely top its banks.

Guerneville, which is particularly vulnerable to seasonal floods, is preparing for a major flood, though perhaps less severe than one it experienced in February 2019. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that the river will crest at three feet above its 32-foot flood stage in the lower section where Guerneville lies, and that will likely impact some downtown businesses and homes. (The last major flood in 2019 crested at over 45 feet, for perspective.)

Free sandbags were being given out Wednesday morning for Sonoma County residents near the river at Monte Rio fire station, Forestville fire station, and Sonoma Landworks in Guerneville.

Guerneville could be in for a doozy of a winter, though, especially if more big storms line up like they have for the past week. Storm runoff reaching the river typically doesn't peak until late January, though the 2019 flood didn't occur until late February and didn't recede until early March.

As we get later into Wednesday and early Thursday, areas that may not typically be thought of as vulnerable to flooding could see water impacts start to emerge. The National Weather Service posted a map indicating elevated flood risk across most of California's western half, with the coastal section at the highest risk.

Top image: gwatsondesign/Twitter

A Watsonville woman who was renting her back master bedroom to a couple on Airbnb made the grave mistake of accepting rent in cash after the Airbnb transaction ended. Then it seems she let the guests stay more than 30 days, and just like those Russian brothers who gamed the system and got to stay in a Palm Springs condo for a couple months rent-free last year, this couple legally became her tenants, and immediately stopped paying rent. But here's a question: Why would anyone need a short-term rental in Watsonville? Vacation?

As KPIX/CBS 5 reports, the homeowner, Poonam Sandhu, is now stuck with these two awful people in her house, using her kitchen, and holing up in her back bedroom. She tried to serve them eviction papers during this three-week standoff, but they just ignored her, as you can see on surveillance footage she shot in her kitchen. And, depressingly, they did something to screw up her sewage system too.

The con-artist couple, just like the Russian brothers, have a record of getting away with living rent-free — there have been several other eviction judgments against them in Santa Cruz County alone.

As real estate lawyer Leo Siegel tells CBS 5, "A hundred years ago maybe you could call Jack the Leg-Breaker, and he would take care of it for you, but you can’t do that anymore."

Airbnb has washed their hands of the case given that the woman essentially did begin renting to the couple as a landlord, after their Airbnb stay. So this truly was her mistake. Doesn't she read the news?

Previously: Airbnb Squatters Leave Palm Springs Condo In Dead Of Night

A fire has torched 75 to 100 at least 500 acres in Larkin Valley of Santa Cruz County between the Watsonville airport and Seascape Golf course, according to ABC 7. Also, parts of Highway 1 are currently closed in both directions in the area. (Northbound traffic, though, has been diverted at Miramonte Avenue and southbound traffic at San Andreas Blvd.) Evacuations have been orders for a few residences of the area.

According to TV news reports, passersby spotted someone along Highway 1 in Watsonville getting out of his or her and starting the fires.

Over in Oakland, a six-alarm fire (or three-alarm fire depending on who you read) is currently roaring at "several buildings in the area of International Boulevard and 93rd avenues." No injuries have been reported.

If you remember, just last month thousands of acres were burned in the Santa Cruz mountains just last month. Be careful out there, people.

Huge plumes of smoke can be seen mushrooming over the Santa Cruz Mountains just above Ben Lomand due to a rapidly growing wildfire. It's gone from 100 acres to well over 1,000 in just a couple of hours. The fire allegedly sparked at the intersection of Summit and Loma Prieta roads.

No lives, as of now, have been lost.

Hundreds of homes, a few compounds, and several schools (C.T. English Middle School, Loma Prieta Elementary School in Los Gatos and Mount Madonna School in Watsonville) have been evacuated. Summit Road at Mount Madonna Road and Pole Line Road are closed. Highway 152 might close down before noon.

Here is some flaming footage. Really, the blaze is spectacular, folks. If you have access to a TV, tune into any station; they're all hysterically on-the-scene live. (Cheryl Jennings is on the phone with a fire department chief right now, practically blaming him and his department for being ill-prepared to fight the fire... WHILE THE FIRE IS RAGING. Real nice.)

The Gate reports that "there [is] no estimate of when the fire would be controlled. The cause has not been determined."

Oh, and will someone let us know where residents can bring their animals for shelter? They tend to get left behind in these situations. Thanks.