National

(NEW YORK) — As deadly flooding hits the South, the Midwest is bracing for a severe weather outbreak on Wednesday, which may include intense tornadoes, destructive winds and very large hail.

Deadly flash flood threat continues in the South
A woman in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio, Texas, called 911 on Monday morning, saying her car was being swept away into a creek by floodwaters, the county’s sheriff’s office said on social media.

Within moments, the call dropped, the office said, and hours later the woman was found dead in the vehicle “several miles downstream” of its initial entry point, the sheriff’s office said. The woman was not immediately identified.

In San Antonio, Houston and Waco there were stalled vehicles due to high waters on roads. In Shreveport, Louisiana, there were water rescues and water entering buildings.

In St. Martin, Mississippi, ramps to I-10 and I-110 were closed due to high waters. South of there, at Kessler Air Force Base, several roads became impassible.

More than 17 million Americans remain on Tuesday under a flood watch from Texas to Mississippi.

Heavy rainfall may lead to localized significant flash flooding from Corpus Christi to Houston to Lafayette and Alexandria, Louisiana, and McComb, Mississippi. A level 3 of 4 threat for flash flooding is in place there.

The greatest risk is likely along a frontal boundary laid over central Louisiana and into southeast Mississippi — rainfall may be heavy for a few hours in this area on Tuesday and could lead to significant flooding.

Rains closer to the coast are going to be more difficult to sustain but there is certainly enough ingredients there that if they get going, localized instances of significant flash flooding are possible.

Tomorrow, the level 3 of 4 flood threat is for Houston, Beaumont, Lake Charles, and Lafayette.

On Thursday, the level 3 of 4 flood threat moves to Baton Rouge through Jackson, MS, Montgomery, AL and Birmingham, AL.

This heavier rain for Wednesday and Thursday will come from a developing tropical low over the western Gulf.

The National Hurricane Center gives it a 60% chance of formation into a tropical storm later on Tuesday or on Wednesday. If it becomes a tropical storm, it will be named Arthur, the first of the season.

Severe weather outbreak in the Midwest on Wednesday

About 40 million Americans are in the storm zone where a severe weather outbreak is expected on Wednesday

The greatest likelihood for a destructive outbreak is in Illinois and Indiana, and possible for parts of Missouri, Iowa and Ohio, too.

A level 4 of 5 moderate risk for destructive storms is in place for central Illinois and northern Indiana on Wednesday. This includes Springfield, Peoria, Decatur, Champaign and Bloomington, Illinois, along with Rensselaer, Indiana.

Large and long-lived tornadoes are possible, along with destructive wind gusts up to 80 mph, and hail up to the size of baseballs.

The level 3 of 4 risk includes Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Fort Wayne.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CALIFORNIA) — An Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber crashed shortly after takeoff at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday, the base said.

“Emergency crews immediately responded to the scene and the situation is ongoing,” the base said in a statement.

The crash was reported at about 11:20 a.m. local time.

The base has closed the airfield and said all inbound planes are being diverted.

The Air Force and NASA conduct test flights of new and developmental aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base.

The B-52 Stratofortress — which typically carries a crew of five — is a long-range bomber first introduced in the 1950s that remains a central part of the U.S. military’s air power. Built by Boeing, the aircraft is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons over long distances and has been used in conflicts ranging from Vietnam to operations in the Iran war.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — More than four years after he gunned down 10 Black people in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, Payton Gendron’s federal trial reaches a crucial point on Monday in selecting a jury that will decide whether he lives or dies.

Gendron, who will turn 23 next week, has already pleaded guilty to state charges stemming from the May 14, 2022, attack at a Tops supermarket, including domestic terrorism motivated by hate. He is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Gendron, according to his attorneys, has proposed pleading guilty to the 27-count federal indictment, including 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, but the Department of Justice has rejected his offer.

“The United States believes the circumstances in Counts 11-20 of the Indictment are such that, in the event of a conviction, a sentence of death is justified,” federal prosecutors said in January 2024, when they announced the decision to pursue the death penalty against Gendron.

On Monday, about 1,200 potential jurors who filled out an initial questionnaire were summoned to appear at the U.S. District Court in Buffalo to complete a more extensive inquiry to determine whether they can serve as fair and impartial jurors.

Based on their responses, Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, who is overseeing the case, and the attorneys involved hope to whittle the potential jury pool down to several hundred.

Those who make the cut will be brought back in August to be questioned by the lawyers and judge, who are hoping to seat 12 jurors and at least six alternates for the trial scheduled to begin in October.

Gendron has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

Garnell Whitfield, the former Buffalo fire commissioner, whose 86-year-old mother, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in the supermarket attack, said he plans to attend Monday’s court proceedings.

Whitfield told ABC News that he’s hoping that the upcoming trial will expose those whom he says helped radicalize Gendron, including the social media companies that allegedly provided the addictive algorithms that fed Gendron’s hate of Black people.

“I’m more concerned with that than I am with him. He’s a dead man walking as far as I’m concerned,” Whitfield said.

Social media companies are not defendants in the trial, have not accused of any wrongdoing by prosecutors.

Whitfield and other relatives of those killed and wounded in the attack filed a lawsuit in May 2023 against several social media companies alleging they facilitated the teenage killer’s white supremacist radicalization by allowing racist propaganda to fester on their platforms. The outcome of the case is still pending in the state Supreme Court. The social media companies have denied all wrong doing.

During his sentencing in the state case in May 2023, Gendron apologized to the relatives of the victims, saying he was “very sorry for all the pain” he caused and “for stealing the lives of your loved ones.”

“I did a terrible thing that day,” Gendron said in court. “I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it. I believed what I read online and acted out of hate. I know I can’t take it back, but I wish I could, and I don’t want anyone to be inspired by me and what I did.”

Gendron planned the massacre for months — including previously traveling twice to the Tops store he targeted, a more than three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York — to scout the layout and count the number of Black people present, according to state prosecutors. Wearing tactical gear, body armor and wielding an AR-15-style rifle he legally purchased and illegally modified, Gendron committed the rampage on a Saturday afternoon when prosecutors said he knew the store would be full of Black shoppers.

The attack was caught on a Tops supermarket surveillance camera and a helmet camera worn by Gendron that he used to livestream on Twitch. Before the attack, he also posted a racist screed online containing the names of past mass shooters he admired.

Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal analyst, said Gendron’s attorneys are aiming at seating jurors who can set aside the defendant’s guilty plea and decide the case based on the facts presented at trial.

“This is not a case of guilt or innocence; this is a case … of attempting to save his life,” he said.

Buckmire said that in the current phase of jury selection, potential members of the panel will likely be asked about their personal beliefs about the death penalty.

He noted that the judge in the case has already denied a request from the defense to move the trial from Buffalo in Erie County to Rochester in Monroe County.

“So, it’s deep in the heart of where all of this harm happened,” Buckmire said.

Buckmire said the defense is facing an uphill battle and will likely focus on trying to persuade the jury that Gendron should not be put to death.

“From a fact-based standpoint, it’s hard to say he’s not guilty,” Buckmire said. “I think the only argument here and the only strength of anything they can make out here is he doesn’t deserve the death penalty because of his age [and] the influences he had.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SENATOBIA, Miss.) — A child was killed after an officer fired upon a vehicle following a reported shoplifting at a Walmart in Mississippi, authorities said.

An adult was also critically injured in the shooting, which occurred Sunday afternoon outside a Walmart in Senatobia, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Law enforcement officers who responded to a shoplifting call at the Walmart encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and going into a vehicle, the bureau said.

“Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one,” the bureau said in a statement, noting that the information is preliminary. “An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.”

The individuals in the vehicle went to a local hospital, where the child was pronounced dead, according to the bureau. One of the adults also had critical injuries, it said.

Authorities did not provide further details on the shooting victims, including the age of the child killed.

The Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office were involved in the shooting incident, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which did not provide details on the officer who discharged the weapon or how many times the gun was fired.

No officers were seriously injured, the bureau said.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting and will ultimately share its findings with the state’s attorney general’s office.

“This is an open and ongoing investigation. No further comment will be made at this time,” a spokesperson with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation told ABC News on Monday in response to multiple questions on the incident.

Senatobia is located in northwestern Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

The Senatobia Police Department said the officer-involved shooting occurred just after 2 p.m. Sunday.

“We are committed to full transparency,” the Senatobia Police Department said in a statement. “As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible.”

A Walmart spokesperson said they are working with law enforcement amid the investigation.

“We’re saddened by what took place at our Senatobia, MS, store,” the spokesperson said. “The safety of our associates and customers is a top priority.”

Senatobia Alderman Chris McConnell urged residents to “rely on official information and allow the investigative process to proceed.”

“Please join me in praying for everyone involved, their families, our law enforcement officers, first responders, and the entire Senatobia community,” he said in a statement.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President JD Vance on Monday spoke about the settlement that would extend the U.S.-Iran ceasefire and pave the way for 60 days of technical negotiations to end the war, saying it has been signed “digitally.”

Vance said the agreement marked a moment in which Iran has a “two-path” option.

“On the one hand, if they continue to try to rebuild their nuclear program, this deal ensures they will never have the resources to do that,” Vance told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in an interview on Monday. “On the other hand, if the Iranians are willing to give a long-term commitment — along with proper verification — to giving up that nuclear weapon, we’re willing to welcome them into the world economy, to lift some sanctions and to turn over a new leaf in that relationship.”

Iranian officials have long publicly maintained that the country’s nuclear program operates only for civilian purposes, although Western officials have said their uranium enrichment has gone beyond what would be needed for civilian use. Iran has also said it does not have ambitions to create nuclear weapons, a claim that American officials have disputed.

Vance’s interview followed a Sunday social media post from President Donald Trump, who said the United States and Iran reached an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire in the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Vance said that the deal had already been digitally signed by parties, but also maintained that there would be a signing ceremony on Friday — though it’s unclear exactly what the Friday signing will mean if the deal has already been signed digitally. The vice president did say that the full text of the agreement would be released at some point this week and that negotiations were expected to continue.

The exact contents of the agreement is still unclear, and he remained vague about what specifics were in the the text of the already-signed agreement.

When pressed by “Good Morning America” Anchor George Stephanopoulos about whether this deal was the president going back on promises that Iran would need to provide “unconditional surrender,” Vance responded that “what this deal fundamentally does is it reopens the Straits of Hormuz.”

“You see, oil prices have already come down substantially just in the last 24 hours,” Vance added.

Vance also said that the deal includes provisions that Iran will stop funding terror groups, though he did not expand on what exactly that means.

As a potential deal was reportedly coming together on Friday, Vance took to social media to push back on what he described as “fake information” about the potential terms, which he said were expected to include financial incentives for Iran. Vance said funds would not be released to Iran “for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting.”

Vance also said that since the deal was digitally signed on Sunday, no money for Iran has been released, “and that won’t change, George,” Vance said.

Vance on Monday said forward momentum for the deal would hinge on Iranian officials “doing the right thing,” including allowing for some form of verification to show that Iran is not working toward building a nuclear weapon.

“This is fundamentally a win-win for the American people,” Vance said. “What the president has said is he wants it to be a win for the Iranian people as well. But that requires some real trust building and some real positive conduct from the Iranian political system.”

“We’re going to see if that happens,” he added. “If it does, they’re absolutely going to find the president of United States and the entire team a willing partner, to make their country more prosperous.”

Stephanopoulos pressed Vance about whether Israel’s comments that they are not party to the agreement amid their continued hostilities in Lebanon, asking Vance whether that might complicate the peace settlement.

“Well, George, everything’s going to complicate the deal, as you know, in this region of the world, even a ceasefire, sometimes they’re a little bit dirty,” Vance said. “It goes from shooting a lot to shooting a little to shooting not at all. But what we fundamentally believe is that this is going to be a good deal for the people of Israel, for the people of the Gulf, the people of America, and again, potentially for the people of Iran as well.”

A landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, followed two years of negotiations. It imposed restrictions on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran, in that 2015 deal, agreed to international monitoring and to keeping its nuclear program “solely for peaceful purposes,” according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

Trump withdrew the U.S. that deal in 2018, during his first term.

“There are all of these ways I could explain the ways this deal is fundamentally better for the American people than the JCPOA,” Vance said on Monday. “But the fundamental difference is that the Gulf Coast coalition, our Arab partners in the region, they hated the JCPOA, because they felt that it emboldened Iran to be a bad actor. They love this deal because they feel that it’s going to create a totally new dynamic in the Middle East.”

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Areas in Texas are seeing from 3″ to more than 5″ of rainfall within hours, leading to flash flooding in places like Waco and Austin, with a flood watch in effect for much of central and southern Texas.

Flash flooding on I-35 in Waco led to water rescues and stranded vehicles. The Texas Game Wardens said on social media that their rescue teams and local partners were responding to “numerous” calls involving people trapped by floodwater.

Videos from the area show the flooding as well as first responders helping some of those who were stranded.

“I am sincerely lucky to be alive. When I got there, there were no first responders,” Rick Smith, who filmed a video showing people wading through waist-high water, wrote on social media. “I am so thankful that retaining wall held up otherwise this situation could’ve been a horrible tragedy. There were many of us literally trapped on I 35.”

A stationary frontal boundary is draped across the South, bringing daily flash flood risks to the region through the week ahead.

A flood watch continues for central and southern Texas through much of Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi through Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, depending on location. Torrential rainfall rates of 2″ to 4″ per hour are possible.

Houston is under a level 3/4 moderate risk for excessive rainfall and flash flooding for four days in a row — Monday through Thursday. Significant flood events are possible each day.

A low pressure system from the Gulf could bring more rain to South Texas mid to late week, hence the high rain and flooding potential there.

A widespread 4″ to 6″ is expected across southeast Texas, much of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama through Thursday.

The Houston area and other pockets of the South could see more than half-a foot of rain, and in a worst-case scenario depending on what happens later in the week, a 5-day total of 10″ plus is possible for the Houston region.

Dangerous heat in the Pacific Northwest

Record high temperatures started in western Washington and Oregon on Sunday — with new high temp record for Seattle (89) and Portland (94).

Record highs will be possible again on Monday, with highs near 100 for Portland and near 90 in Seattle.

An extreme heat warning continues on Monday for Portland, along with a heat advisory for Seattle. Temperatures will be cooler on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the 70s for Seattle and 80s for Portland.

Severe threat mid-week

Wednesday, a level 3/5 enhanced threat is in place from Missouri through central Illinois and Indiana. Destructive wind, large hail, and strong tornadoes are possible.

Indianapolis, St. Louis, Springfield and Peoria, Illinois, and Columbia, Missouri, are included in the threat.

A level 2/5 is in place for Chicago, Columbus, Kansas City, Wichita and Toledo.

ABC News’ Jessica Gorman and Camilla Alcini contributed to this report. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are under severe weather threats as storms and summer heat continue on both coasts.

This severe weather threat will impact parts of the central United States, from Texas to Illinois.

A flood watch is also in effect for parts of eastern Kansas, western Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas until Sunday morning.

A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is in effect for parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and much of western and central Missouri — including Wichita, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Springfield, Missouri.

The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.

The severe weather threat shifts back to parts of the East Coast with more than 50 million on alert for severe storms on Sunday.

A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is up from northern North Carolina to upstate New York and includes Raleigh, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New York City; Pittsburgh; and Albany, New York.

The main threats are damaging winds, large hail and lightning.

Heading into next week, the severe weather looks to stall for a couple of days before ramping back up by the middle of the week.

The summer heat and humidity continues in the South, with heat advisories in effect for millions from the Carolinas and Florida out to Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The Northeast will see lower humidity this weekend so the heat will not be as dangerous despite temperatures in the 80s and 90s.

An extreme heat warning is already in place for the Portland, Oregon, area where a life-threatening heat wave is expected Sunday through Tuesday with temps reaching 95 to 100 degrees.

For the West coast, a heat advisory is in place in California’s central valley from Redding to Bakersfield with high temps from 100 to 105 possible. Closer to the Bay Area, high temps around 100 are possible for San Jose and Santa Clara. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md.) — Two women wanted in Maryland for allegedly killing the mother of one of the suspects were captured in Ohio after an individual who offered to help them realized from media coverage that they were wanted for murder, authorities said.

The arrests came nearly three weeks after the victim, 67-year-old Hilde Henderson, is believed to have been killed at her apartment at a senior living community in Silver Spring, Maryland, authorities said.

Officers conducting a welfare check on May 26 found Henderson dead from blunt force trauma, according to the Montgomery County Police Department. She is believed to have been dead for four days, police said.

The victim’s daughter, 29-year-old Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson of Clarksburg, and the daughter’s girlfriend, 36-year-old Samantha Raebel of Phoenix, were subsequently identified as suspects in the homicide, police said. Police obtained an arrest warrant charging them both with first-degree murder and released their photos amid the search for the suspects.

Following a nationwide search, the two were ultimately arrested Wednesday in Genoa, Ohio, thanks to a local tip, police said.

A woman in Genoa unwittingly offered to help the couple, until she and her friend grew suspicious and learned of the ongoing manhunt by searching one of their names online, according to ABC Toledo affiliate WTVG.

Adrienne Behrman told WTVG that the suspects came into her workplace and told her they were homeless, so she offered to help and invited them to stay at her apartment.

“I’ve been down and out myself — homeless, without money, you know, just not wanting to be a charity case or anything like that, and I just felt like I was led to help them,” Behrman told the station.

Behrman recounted, though, that the more questions she asked them about where they were from and where they wanted to go, “things were not adding up.”

She told her concerns to a friend, Nikki Peters, who said she noticed that the last name of one of the suspects from a Cash App payment request for cigarettes didn’t match the name she had been told, WTVG reported.

“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”

“That didn’t make sense to me, because it was still Vanessa, but a different last name,” Peters told WTVG.

While searching Tjongarero-Henderson’s name online, Peters said she found wanted posts for the two women, WTVG reported.

“I almost passed out,” Peters told the station. “[Behrman] was cool, calm and collected, but I almost passed out.”

Behrman said she called 911, WTVG reported.

“That orchestrated the whole thing the way that it needed to be done in order for them to be apprehended and no one else to be hurt,” Behrman told the station.

Tjongarero-Henderson and Raebel are being held at the Ottawa County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Maryland, authorities said.

Police have not released details on what evidence led them to identify the couple as suspects in the case.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MINNESOTA) — A missing woman was found in a Minnesota puddle of mud where she told her rescuers she had been stuck for days. 

Kathryn Woessner, 68, was last seen on June 3 before her rescuers found her on June 6, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. 

Woessner did not have any personal belongings with her, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Woessner told the men who rescued her that her car was stuck and she was trying to get out when she went around to the other side, slipping and falling into a puddle that was probably 2 feet deep, according to Mike Gravalin and Adam Sandbeck, the two men who saved her. 

Woessner told the men the mud was like quicksand, they told KSTP. 

Woessner told the men she had been stuck on her back for days and she was seriously sunburned on her face, Gravalin and Sandbeck told KSTP.

Due to her medical conditions, she was taken to Essentia Health- St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brained, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MIDLAND, Texas) — One victim was killed and 10 others were injured in a mass shooting in Midland, Texas, on Friday morning, and the suspected gunman is dead following a standoff with police, authorities said.

When police responded to an active shooter report around 8 a.m. local time Friday, the suspect, Victor Mata Villarreal, allegedly fired at bystanders and officers, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.

Villarreal, 45, then barricaded himself in an abandoned veterinary clinic, DPS said. After an hourslong standoff, the Odessa, Texas, resident was found dead in the building around 12:30 p.m. local time, authorities said.

Nine victims were taken to Midland Memorial Hospital, where four were rushed into surgery and five were admitted in stable condition, hospital officials said. The five in stable condition have since been discharged, officials said.

The victims have not been identified. DPS said no law enforcement officers were hurt.

Villarreal had been wanted for attempted capital murder of an officer after he allegedly fired multiple shots at police during a car chase on Wednesday, DPS said.

He fled from that scene on Wednesday and went into hiding, according to law enforcement. On Friday, when officers tried to apprehend him, he began opening fire, according to law enforcement.

Midland Mayor Lori Blong said at a news conference, “I would really ask Midlanders to pray for the families of those who have been impacted, for the victims themselves, for the family of the one who is confirmed deceased.”

ABC News’ Alex Stone and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.