Bay Area storm: Flash flood warnings, Safeway roof collapses, tree injures child, thousands without power

SAN JOSE -- A major storm known as an "atmospheric river" hammered the Bay Area on Thursday morning, trapping a child under a tree in Santa Cruz, collapsing a grocery-store roof in San Jose, knocking out power to thousands and delivering more than 3 inches of rain to some locations.

The storm first tore through the North Bay, where some of the higher locations had more than 4 inches of rain by mid-morning and continue to be deluged. Most areas, including Oakland, Concord, San Jose and Palo Alto, had received between 2 and 4 inches by 3 p.m.

And the storm didn't let up, with the National Weather Service issuing flash flood warnings in various communities throughout the day.

The brunt of the storm, the strongest in 10 hears, heading south by midmorning, downing power lines and interrupting service, and causing significant flooding throughout the Bay Area.

Flooding was seen into the late night: around 10 p.m., the ramp from northbound Highway 87 to northbound Interstate 280 in San Jose was closed, and drivers in both directions were diverted off Highway 101 in Redwood City.

The incessant rain battering took its toll on the roof of a Safeway in East San Jose, where the roof collapsed on the produce section at a store on East Capitol Expressway near Silver Creek Road just before 4 p.m. The partial collapse exposed a 50-square-foot section of the roof, prompting the San Jose Fire Department to order an evacuation of patrons and employees.

As a precaution, the department summoned its Urban Search and Rescue team, and they determined no one was trapped. One minor injury was reported, but details were not immediately available.

Fire Capt. Christopher Salcido, a department spokesman, said the collapse, which also produced a 75-foot-long crack in the roof, happened slowly enough for everyone inside to be able to leave safely.

At a flooded mobile home park in Redwood City, residents were being evacuated in the evening by firefighters with a small boat.

San Francisco's financial district took a hard hit about 8 a.m. when power was knocked out for more than 85,000 customers because to equipment failure, PG&E spokeswoman Jeff Smith said.

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Bay Area storm: Flash flood warnings, Safeway roof collapses, tree injures child, thousands without power