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(NEW YORK) — Oceans all over the world are experiencing warmer-than-normal temperatures, but waters off the southern U.S. could be on the brink of an ocean heat wave emergency as temperatures rise to unprecedented levels.

More than 40% of all global ocean temperatures are currently experiencing a heat wave, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The heat is even more acute off the coast of Florida, where ocean temperatures are currently “strikingly warm,” Brian McNaldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, told ABC News.

Dangerous heat indexes blanket Florida for over a month

On Thursday, Miami reached a heat index in the triple digits for the 39th consecutive day, extending a record the city had broken the week before, according to the National Weather Service.

“When you’re breaking records by such large margins, that’s what makes it alarming,” McNaldy said. “We’re not even close to what the previous record was, let alone the average.”

The waters surrounding the Sunshine State have been no different. This week, while land temperatures have been about 95 degrees in South Florida, ocean temperatures clocked in at about 94 degrees — up to 7 degrees warmer than they should be this time of year. Water temperatures do not typically measure this high until late August or early September, experts said.

The relentless heat on both land and ocean are expected to persist through the rest of July and August — traditionally the hottest time of the year — forecasts show.

Days with water temperature above 90 degrees Fahrenheit have increased by 2500% in the Florida Keys since 1975, according to Ian Enochs, NOAA research ecologist and head of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory’s Coral Program.

Relative to temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020, the waters surrounding South Florida are 5 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, McNaldy said.

While reliable records only go back between 40 and 80 years for water temperatures on buoys and observation docks in the Keys, inferred heat data indicates this is the hottest ocean waters have gotten since humans have been on Earth, McNaldy said.

How ocean warming will affect marine life

The warming can have “significant impacts on marine life as well as coastal communities and economies,” according to NOAA, which has issued a level 2 alert for the reefs, the highest level, indicating bleaching of the coral reefs surrounding South Florida is likely to occur.

“Florida’s coral reefs don’t respond well to this,” Abigail Clark, an assistant professor of marine science and technology at The College of the Florida Keys, told ABC News.

The effects of a mass coral die-off could be devastating, as 25% of all marine life, including dolphins, turtles and sharks, depend on the reef for survival. The reef also brings in billions in revenue to the state through the tourism and commercial fishing industries.

This bleaching event is different than anything the Florida Keys has ever seen, said Keri O’Neil, director and senior scientist of the Coral Conservation Program at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa. While some of the coral in the region has survived 3,000 years of change, several coral ecosystems have succumbed to the heat in the past 10 days, O’Neil said.

The last four decades have not been kind to the Florida Reef Tract, North America’s only barrier reef that stretches about 360 miles from Dry Tortugas National Park west of the Florida Keys to the St. Lucie Inlet in Martin County, O’Neil said.

The barrier reef has lost about 90% of its live coral cover since the 1980s, O’Neil said.

The Florida Aquarium and its partners restore Florida’s coral reef with a “concrete seawall” that aims to absorb storm surge and wave action. Researchers at the Florida Aquarium have also created an ocean greenhouse near Tampa where they genetically select and breed coral for strength and heat resilience.

The “babies” that were planted four years ago have thrived despite transient periods of warmth because there have also been periods of relief.

Relief likely won’t come this year, as the next six weeks are forecast to be just as hot.

The bleaching events have already started, and alert levels for corals are at their highest mark, across the Caribbean.

“Our staff might come up high-fiving or they might come up in tears,” O’Neil said of the monitoring.

Climate change is likely contributing to ocean warming, scientists say

The ocean warming is widespread. Elsewhere in the world, marine heat waves are currently occurring in the equatorial Pacific; the Northeast Pacific; the Northwest Pacific in the Kuroshio extension region and the Sea of Japan; the tropical North Atlantic; the Northeast Atlantic along the Iberian coast as far northward as Ireland and the U.K.; the Southwest Pacific just southeast of New Zealand; and the Western Indian Ocean southeast of Madagascar, according to NOAA.

The average sea surface temperature for June across the north Atlantic was 0.91 degrees Celsius above average, according to Copernicus, the the European Union’s climate change service. This is around 0.5 degrees Celsius more than the previous warmest June, recorded in 2010.

The warming atmosphere may also be contributing to ocean warming in the region. January through June ranked as the warmest on record for air temperature in Florida, which could be causing increases in ocean temperatures as well, experts say.

The current ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic are typical of late summer, rather than early to mid-summer, experts say.

The warming could also affect the intensity of hurricanes to come later in the season.

Because of the warm temperatures on land and sea, hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University have revised their predictions for the number of named storms in the 2023 season from 13 to 18. When a tropical cyclone goes over unusually warm water, it makes them resilient to wind shear, and gives them a chance to rapidly intensify.

Anomalous warmth may not be directly tied to climate change, but it makes marine heat waves like this more likely, McNaldy said.

Climate scientists have attributed warming oceans to human-caused climate change, as oceans absorb about 90% of the heat generated by emissions. While water is much more difficult to heat than land, it is also much harder to cool.

As the excessive heat and energy warms the ocean, the change in temperature leads to “unparalleled cascading effects,” including ice-melting, sea-level rise, marine heat waves and ocean acidification, according to the United Nations.

The changes will cause a “lasting impact” on marine biodiversity, as well as the 680 million people around the world who live in low-lying coastal areas and almost 2 billion people — about one-quarter of the world’s population — who live in half of the world’s coastal megacities, according to the U.N.

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(UPPER MAKEFIELD, Pa.) — Divers were poised Thursday to search for a 2-year-old girl and her 9-month-old brother who were washed away with their mother in a flash flood in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, after severe weather on Wednesday halted efforts to find the children, officials said.

Rescue crews were attempting to resume the search for 2-year-old Matilda “Mattie” Sheils and her 9-month-old brother, Conrad Sheils, who have been missing since their family was caught in the deluge over the weekend while driving near Upper Makefield Township, authorities said.

“We are in the process of getting dog teams and having the dive unit check the conditions of the river to see if they can get into the water today,” the Upper Makefield Township Police Department said in a statement released Thursday morning.

Crews will also be attempting to bring heavy equipment to the area to help thoroughly comb through what police described as “extremely large debris piles.”

Severe weather in the search area prevented rescue crews from resuming efforts on Wednesday to locate the children, officials said.

The children have been missing since Saturday afternoon when they and their family were caught in the flash flood while driving on Route 532 to a barbecue, authorities said.

The children’s mother, 32-year-old Katie Seley, died after she grabbed Mattie and Conrad and tried to escape their vehicle but ended up being swept away in the violent weather event, officials said.

Seley was among five people killed in the storm. Her body was recovered on Sunday.

Rescue crews are expected to scale back the search after more than 100 emergency personnel scoured the flooded area along Hough’s Creek between Saturday afternoon when the children and their mother were reported missing to Tuesday evening, Chief Tim Brewer of the Upper Makefield Fire Company said. He said crews have used cadaver dogs in ground searches of the creek’s banks and have deployed sonar equipment and drones to search the creek, a tributary that leads to the Delaware River.

“We have searched the entire flood zone more than a dozen times,” Brewer said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, adding that the search covered roughly 117 acres.

Brewer said the focus of the search is switching to a “dive rescue operation.”

“That will mean underwater assets mainly in the creek and we will work out from there. We still have K-9 assets in place, but we are going to begin to scale down,” said Brewer, adding that crews have searched and re-searched the area.

“Tracking logs are over 160 miles, meaning we have backtracked several times,” Brewer said.

The tragedy unfolded around 5:30 p.m. Saturday when more than 7 inches of rain fell within 45 minutes, causing Hough’s Creek to spill its banks and generating a “wall of water” that took drivers on Route 532, also known as Washington Crossing Road, by surprise, Brewer said. He said 11 cars were washed away in the flash flood and at least one was found 1.5 miles from where it was swept into the creek.

The missing children and their family are from South Carolina and were in Pennsylvania visiting friends and relatives when disaster struck.

Mattie and Conrad’s father, Jim Sheils, and their grandmother grabbed ahold of the missing siblings’ 4-year-old brother and escaped their car as it and other vehicles were being washed away, according to officials. The father, grandmother and 4-year-old were found alive, officials said.

“They were caught in a flash flood,” Brewer said. “The wall of water came to them, not the other way around.”

Besides Katie Seley, four other people were confirmed dead in the Bucks County flooding. They were identified by the Bucks County Coroner’s Office as Enzo Depiero, 78, and Linda Depiero, 74, both of Newtown Township, Pennsylvania; Susan Barnhardt, 53, of Titusville, New Jersey; and Yuko Love, 64, of Newtown Township.

The coroner’s office said all of the victims died from drowning.

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(NEW YORK) — A powerful tornado ripped through central North Carolina for more than a dozen miles on Wednesday, destroying homes and injuring residents, according to officials.

The National Weather Service said early Thursday that a preliminary damage survey indicates the tornado was an EF3, with peak winds up to 150 miles per hour. It’s the first EF3 tornado ever observed in central North Carolina in the month of July and the strongest twister for this time of year on record in the state.

The National Weather Service currently uses the Enhanced Fujita scale to rate tornado intensity based on wind speeds and the severity of the damage caused. The scale has six intensity categories from zero to five (EF0, EF1, EF2, EF3, EF4 and EF5), representing increasing wind speeds and degrees of damage. There is also an unknown category (EFU) for tornadoes that cannot be rated due to a lack of evidence.

The 600-yard-wide tornado touched down Wednesday afternoon at around 12:30 ET near Dortches, a tiny town in North Carolina’s Nash County, just outside the city of Rocky Mount. From there, the twister traversed 16.5 miles over a period of about 30 minutes before lifting near the Battleboro neighborhood of Rocky Mount in North Carolina’s Edgecombe County, according to the National Weather Service.

While on the ground, the tornado snapped power poles, uprooted trees and damaged buildings. Multiple mobile homes in the Dortches area were completely destroyed and removed 20 to 30 yards from their foundations. Farther northeast, a residence building suffered major damage as all exterior walls collapsed with only interior walls and a brick fireplace still standing. The twister also flattened a metal truss tower connected to the electrical transmission line as well as caused significant damage to a metal warehouse building near the Belmont Lake Golf Club in Rocky Mount, according to the National Weather Service.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its facility in Rocky Mount was damaged by the tornado but that all staff “are safe and accounted for” after evacuating the building.

Citing media reports, the National Weather Service said there were 16 storm-related injures in the affected area — including two life-threatening — and no fatalities. The Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it had received reports of two life-threatening injuries and one non-life-threatening injury related to the storm.

The tornado is part of a system of severe weather threatening some 57 million Americans. The latest forecast for Thursday shows destructive winds, large hail and an isolated tornado are the main threats from Denver, Colorado, to north-central Oklahoma. And from Michigan to South Carolina, the main threat will be large hail — especially from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit, Michigan — along with damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. There is also a risk for flash flooding at all locations.

Meanwhile, extreme heat continues to plague a swath of the United States with no end in sight. More than 100 million Americans across 16 states — from California to Florida — are on alert for dangerous heat on Thursday, with the latest forecast showing temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the Southwest and heat index values in the 100s in the Southeast.

Arizona’s capital had it’s all-time hottest day on record on Wednesday, with a high temperature of 119 degrees and a low of 97 degrees. Temperatures in Phoenix have now been at or above 110 degrees for the past 20 days and haven’t dropped below 90 degrees for 10 straight days.

A 71-year-old man from the Los Angeles area collapsed and died at the Golden Canyon trailhead in Death Valley National Park in California on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures soared to 121 degrees, according to the National Park Service. While the Inyo County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined the cause of death, park rangers suspect heat was a factor.

It’s possibly the second heat-related fatality in Death Valley this summer. A 65-year-old man died on July 3, the National Park Service said.

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(NEW YORK) — Texas authorities are doubling down and pushing back on disturbing allegations of migrant abuse along the United States-Mexico border.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, Lt. Christopher Olivarez, told ABC News during an interview on Wednesday that leadership consciences are clear over how migrants are treated by the agency.

Olivarez disputed or attempted to clear up a number of allegations that were made in an email a state trooper had sent to his superior earlier this month about what he called “inhumane” treatment of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. from the southern border in Texas. ABC News has learned that the trooper in question has been on the job for more than five years and is not permanently stationed at the border but rather was there on a rotation.

One of the key claims in the email was that troopers were directed by command to “push back” migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande, a river that flows about 1,900 miles from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. The trooper said in the email that commanders only reiterated the order when concerns about drowning were raised.

Olivarez told ABC News that the trooper “misinterpreted” the order. He said that when commanders order troopers to “push back” migrants, they are directing them to verbally tell the migrants to go to a port of entry and not cross illegally. When pressed why the trooper would be so clear in his understanding that the order meant to physically push migrants into the river, Olivarez said the trooper had misunderstood and that it is not the Texas Department of Public Safety’s policy to physically push back migrants.

The trooper also alleged in the email that commanders told them not to distribute water to migrants amid extreme heat. Olivarez categorically denied that claim, telling ABC News that while it’s not their job to be a welcome committee to those attempting to cross the border, they would and have never denied water to anyone in need.

In regards to the email’s litany of alleged injuries to migrants crossing, including to a pregnant woman and children, Olivarez said there is no question that the barriers the Texas Department of Public Safety have put up along the border are dangerous. That is essentially the point, he argued, telling ABC News that the idea is to put these things in place to deter crossings.

When asked if, given the email, there should be concerns about the systemic abuse of migrants along the border, Olivarez said “no.” He said the trooper’s allegations are being investigated but that, at least initially, the email has prompted no widespread soul-searching at the Texas Department of Public Safety and will not change the scope or goals of the agency’s mission.

ABC News has obtained the original email, dated July 3, and has reached out to the trooper directly as well as the Texas State Troopers Association, the union representing the troopers, but requests for comment were not returned.

The U.S. Department of Justice “is aware of the troubling reports” and is working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “and other relevant agencies to assess the situation,” spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday.

The Inspector General of the Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting a full investigation into the allegations.

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(LAS VEGAS) — At least one Delta passenger was taken to the hospital for heat-related illness after the plane sat on the tarmac for hours on Monday in Las Vegas, where temperatures reached triple digits.

Passengers on a Delta flight to Atlanta experienced extreme heat while the plane was taxiing at Harry Reid International Airport, resulting in multiple people being treated, according to an eyewitness statement.

Krista Garvin, a field producer for Fox News, was on the Delta flight on Monday, where she tweeted about the “insane experience.”

“@Delta what an INSANE experience. First, we were delayed because you did not have a flight attendant,” Garvin tweeted. “Then we finally board and sit for almost 3 hours on a hot plane in 111-degree weather. Now we are heading back to the gate cause people are passing out. We are now being told you Can get off but there isn’t another flight out to ATL for days. This is actually nuts.”

Delta Airlines told ABC News it’s investigating the circumstances of why it got so hot in the plane.

“We apologize for the experience our customers had on flight 555 from Las Vegas to Atlanta on July 17, which ultimately resulted in a flight cancelation,” the company said in a statement. “Delta teams are looking into the circumstances that led to uncomfortable temperatures inside the cabin and we appreciate the efforts of our people and first responders at Harry Reid International.”

Passengers have said they were on the plane for at least three hours, while the company said it taxied for over an hour before heading back to the gate.

Another passenger, April Love, told ABC News, that customers were on the tarmac for about three hours and described passengers needing multiple gurneys and oxygen, as well as a flight attendant passing out.

“I saw at least four people getting the oxygen and then I saw at least three gurneys coming,” Love said.

The airline was only aware of one passenger needing medical attention.

The flight was canceled following the incident and passengers received compensation.

“[Delta] finally decided to take everyone off because too many people were sick and they want to try and cool down the plane,” Garvin said. “Praying they let us back on or we will be stuck here.”

Delta reportedly found other flights for customers.

Temperatures at Harry Reid International Airport reached nearly 115 degrees on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Dangerous temperatures have been plaguing much of the U.S. for the past month.

The harsh heat that has been blanketing large portions of the South and West for weeks is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, according to forecasts.

Reno, Nevada, tied its all-time high temperature on Sunday at 108 degrees, reaching that number for the first time since 2007. Las Vegas also tied its daily record on Sunday when it reached 116 degrees.

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(MIDDLETOWN, Conn.) — New England liberal arts college Wesleyan University has ended legacy admissions in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down race-based affirmative action.

In a statement released Wednesday, University President Michael S. Roth addressed the importance of formally ending admission preference for “legacy applicants.”

“We still value the ongoing relationships that come from multi-generational Wesleyan attendance, but there will be no ‘bump’ in the selection process,” Roth’s statement read.

His statement continued: “As has been almost always the case for a long time, family members of alumni will be admitted on their own merits.”

Legacy admissions played a “negligible role” in the school’s admission process because being related to an alumnus indicated “little about that applicant’s ability to succeed” at the school, according to a press release from Wesleyan. But, the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action led to Wesleyan’s move.

Out of 2,280 students admitted for the class of 2027, only 4% had a parent who attended Wesleyan, according to the school. For the classes of 2022 to 2026 that figure hovered between 7% and 8%.

Last month, the high court decided that Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action admissions programs violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, impacting colleges nationwide.

The court’s decision undercuts more than four decades of legal precedent and is a blow to schools that say race-conscious admissions programs are vital to building a diverse student body.

Following the court’s affirmative action ruling, the admissions process for colleges and universities came further under scrutiny, particularly regarding legacy admissions.

Earlier this month, in a federal civil rights complaint against Harvard College, various civil rights and advocacy groups, including the Chica Project and Lawyers for Civil Rights, called on the Education Department to launch a federal investigation into the school’s practices surrounding legacy and donor preferences that disproportionately favor white students.

“Harvard’s practice of giving a leg-up to the children of wealthy donors and alumni – who have done nothing to deserve it – must end,” Michael Kippins, a fellow at Lawyers for Civil Rights, said in a statement to ABC News at the time. “Particularly in light of last week’s decision from the Supreme Court, it is imperative that the federal government act now to eliminate this unfair barrier that systematically disadvantages students of color.”

Nearly half of Harvard’s white students were recruited athletes, related to alumni, children of faculty and staff, or were “of special importance to the dean of admissions,” according to a 2019 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Less than 16% of African American, Asian American and Hispanic students at Harvard fall into these categories, according to the study.

Wesleyan University is the first university to end legacy admissions since the high court’s ruling.

Amherst College in Massachusetts ended legacy admissions in 2021, with then-school president Biddy Martin saying at the time, “Now is the time to end this historic program that inadvertently limits educational opportunity by granting a preference to those whose parents are graduates of the College. We want to create as much opportunity for as many academically talented young people as possible, regardless of financial background or legacy status.”

ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca, Devin Dwyer and Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.

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(MASSAPEQUA, N.Y.) — The wife of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann has filed for divorce nearly a week after the Manhattan architect was arrested in the case, according to a new court filing.

The filing in Suffolk County Supreme Court is dated Wednesday and indicates the divorce will be “uncontested.” The case caption is Asa Ellerup v. Rex Heuermann.

The development comes in the wake of Heuermann’s arrest on July 13 in connection with three of the 10 victims linked to the Gilgo Beach, New York, murders.

In a statement shortly after the arrest, defense attorney Michael Brown referred to Heuermann as a “loving husband” and said he and Ellerup had been married more than 25 years.

Ellerup has no comment at this time, her attorney told ABC News on Wednesday.

Heuermann, 59, a father of two, was charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Costello, whose bodies were found covered in burlap along Ocean Parkway on Long Island’s South Shore in December 2010, according to court records unsealed last week in Suffolk County Criminal Court.

Barthelemy disappeared in July 2009, Waterman disappeared in June 2010 and Costello was last seen in September 2010. The three women were between 22 and 27 years old and all worked as sex workers, court records said.

A fourth victim, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who vanished in July 2007, was also tied to the three women. While Heuermann is not charged in the death of Brainard-Barnes, the court documents said he is the “prime suspect in her death.” The investigation into Brainard-Barnes’ death is ongoing, officials said last week.

“Each of the four victims were found similarly positioned, bound in a similar fashion by either belts or tape,” court documents stated.

A female hair was discovered on a belt used to tie Brainard-Barnes’ legs together, while two female hairs were discovered on Waterman — one on the tape used to bind her body — and one female hair was found on a piece of tape used to bind Costello’s body, according to court documents.

By using mitochondrial DNA testing not available in 2010, all of the hairs were determined to be from the same woman — with more than a 99% match for Heuermann’s wife, according to court documents. Police don’t believe she was involved, as she was out of the country when the killings occurred, according to cellphone records noted in the court records, but that Heuermann had the hairs on his body.

Mitochondrial DNA testing was also done on a single male hair found on the burlap used to wrap Waterman’s body, which was found to be a match to leftover pizza crust Heuermann threw into a Manhattan garbage can in January, according to court documents.

Heuermann is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.

Defense attorney Michael Brown entered a not guilty plea on Heuermann’s behalf at his arraignment on Friday.

The investigation into the suspect includes interviews with incarcerated sex workers, according to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators have been talking to the sex workers about possible interactions with Heuermann, as authorities work to develop a more complete picture of his movements and methods, officials said. For the moment, these interviews are limited to sex workers jailed in Suffolk County but could expand to neighboring counties and beyond.

Investigations into Heuermann have also expanded beyond New York state since his arrest.

Authorities in Nevada said Tuesday they are investigating a connection between the accused serial killer and Las Vegas, where Heuermann had a timeshare.

“We are currently reviewing our unsolved cases to see if he has any involvement,” the Las Vegas Metro Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.

Authorities also said they are looking at possible ties to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where past investigations involving sex workers have led.

A first-generation green Chevrolet Avalanche linked to the suspect was seized this week in Chester, South Carolina, where Heuermann owns four vacant lots, police said. The vehicle arrived Wednesday at the Suffolk County crime lab for processing.

A second, black Avalanche was previously seized at Heuermann’s home in Massapequa Park, police said.

Suffolk County police said Heuermann is believed to have had the green Avalanche at the time of the Gilgo Beach murders before giving it to a family member in 2014 or 2015.

The vehicle became a key piece of evidence after a person who knew Costello told police he had seen a Chevrolet Avalanche at her home prior to her disappearance, according to court records.

ABC News’ Victor Ordonez and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A swath of the United States is facing a dangerous combination of extreme heat and wildfire smoke this week.

More than 85 million Americans across 15 states — from California to Florida — are under heat alerts for Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The consecutive days of record-high temperatures combined with high overnight temperatures makes this heat wave especially threatening, as the longer it lasts, the more dangerous it becomes.

Six more heat-related deaths were confirmed in Maricopa County, Arizona, on Wednesday, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health announced. A total of 18 people in Maricopa County, which includes the cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale, have died this summer of heat complications, and another 69 deaths are under investigation, health officials said.

A 71-year-old man also died at Death Valley National Park in California on Tuesday as temperatures soared to 121 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Park Service. The man collapsed outside the bathroom at Golden Canyon and had likely been hiking the popular trail.

The man was wearing a sun hat and hiking clothes, and carried a backpack when he collapsed, according to the NPS. A helicopter was not able to respond to the scene due to the heat, park officials said. Park rangers performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator but were not able to revive him.

While a cause of death has not been determined, park officials “suspect heat was a factor,” according to the NPS.

A number of cities are shattering records amid scorching temperatures.

Tuesday marked the record-breaking 19th straight day the heat index value was at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Phoenix, Arizona, with no end in sight. Overnight temperatures there also haven’t dropped below 90 degrees for a record 9 days in a row.

In Miami, Florida, the heat index value has been at or above 100 degrees for a record 38 consecutive days.

El Paso, Texas, has counted a record 33 straight days with the heat index value at or above 100 degrees.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, has gone a record 17 days in a row with the heat index value at or above 100 degrees.

Tucson, Arizona, broke its all-time record warm low temperature at 86 degrees on Wednesday morning.

The heat wave isn’t expected to end anytime soon. The latest forecast shows above-average temperatures for the rest of July, particularly in the West and the South.

The last 16 days on Earth have been the hottest on record and the planet’s surface temperature is on track to break a record set only a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, several states in the East are under air quality alerts due to smoke from raging wildfires in neighboring Canada. The smoke was expected to lighten up on Wednesday as the weather front moves through the region.

California is now battling its own wildfires, with heavy smoke drifting over cities such as Fresno and areas up the northern coast. Dangerous smoke was expected to spread into Medford, Oregon, on Thursday.

Severe storms are possible Wednesday night and Thursday across the Plains from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles up through Minneapolis, with damaging winds, hail and possible brief tornadoes.

Multiple counties in far western Kentucky were under flash flood emergencies on Wednesday afternoon. The area is already experiencing widespread flooding due to significant rainfall Wednesday morning — up to 10 inches and more in some spots, according to the National Weather Service.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Wednesday afternoon, describing “significant damage” in the town of Mayfield due to heavy rainfall.

“So, the first thing for everyone is be safe and make sure your family is safe,” Beshear said in a statement. “Remember, we can replace stuff and we can rebuild homes. We don’t want to lose any lives.”

Flooding has also been reported across middle Tennessee as the heavy rain moved through on Wednesday – up to 6 inches in some regions. A flood watch will continue in the region today, which includes Nashville.

The influx of rain is being fueled by the abundant heat, moisture and instability in the atmosphere.

Another small area in coastal North Carolina and Virginia, including Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks, could also see severe storms on Wednesday. A tornado watch has been issued in those areas until 7 p.m.

A tornado has been confirmed to strike Halifax County, North Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon. Another tornado, an EF3, struck north of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, according to the National Weather Service’s Raleigh office.

The Pfizer facility in Rocky Mount sustained damage, the pharmaceutical company said in a statement. Employees who were in the building were able to evacuate and are “safe and accounted for.”

“We are assessing the situation to determine the impact on production,” Pfizer said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with our colleagues, our patients, and the community as we rebuild from this weather incident.”

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(NEWARK, N.J.) — A New Jersey Ponzi scheme architect, whose 24-year prison sentence was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in 2021, has been arrested again Wednesday on charges he defrauded investors by making false promises involving humanitarian supplies destined for Ukraine.

Eliyahu Weinstein and four other men were charged with conspiring to defraud 150 individual investors of more than $35 million and with conspiracy to obstruct justice, according to federal prosecutors in New Jersey.

“This is now the third time this office has charged Weinstein with a large-scale scheme to rip off investors,” U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said during a news conference in Newark on Wednesday.

This time, Weinstein allegedly used a fake name and falsely promised access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula, and first-aid kits supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine, prosecutors said.

“These were brazen and sophisticated crimes that involved multiple coconspirators that can came from Weinstein’s playbook of fraud,” Sellinger said.

Weinstein was convicted twice in New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. His first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and his second case stemmed from additional fraud Weinstein committed while on pretrial release. Those crimes resulted in combined losses to investors of $230 million, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to serve 24 years in prison.

On Jan. 19, 2021, after Weinstein had served less than eight years, Trump commuted Weinstein’s term to time served.

Soon after his release from prison, Weinstein allegedly began orchestrating a new scheme to solicit money from investors through a company called Optimus Investments Inc., according to the criminal complaint.

Weinstein ran Optimus while using a fake name, “Mike Konig,” keeping his true name and identity hidden because, as Weinstein acknowledged in a secretly recorded conversation, investors wouldn’t give them “a penny” if they learned of Weinstein’s involvement, the complaint said.

Weinstein joins a growing list of people who secured clemency from former President Donald Trump and have since faced additional legal scrutiny, as ABC News reported earlier this year.

At the time, ABC News reviewed the 238 people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted during the Trump administration and found at least ten who were back under investigation, charged with a crime, or already convicted.

Legal experts called this recurring theme unprecedented — but not entirely unexpected, given the former president’s unorthodox approach to the pardon process.

“President Trump bypassed the formal and orderly Justice Department process in favor of an informal and fairly chaotic White House operation, relying in some cases on his personal views and in others on recommendations from people he knew or who gained access to him in various ways,” said Margaret Love, a lawyer who represents clients seeking pardons and a former U.S. Pardon Attorney, a Justice Department appointee who helps advise presidents on grants of clemency.

“So, it might have been predicted,” Love said at the time, “that some who made it through that lax gauntlet were going to get in trouble again.”

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(HOOVER, Ala.) — Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who returned home on Saturday after she went missing for two days, searched for Amber Alerts and the movie “Taken” on her phone before her disappearance, Hoover Police Department Chief Nicholas Derzis told reporters Wednesday.

Russell also made searches related to bus tickets in the hours before she went missing, he said.

“There were other searches on Carlee’s phone that appeared to shed some light on her mindset,” Derzis said, adding he would not share them out of privacy.

“Taken,” the 2008 movie starring Liam Neeson, centers around a young woman who is abducted and the quest to save her from her kidnappers.

Derzis said Russell told police that she was abducted and while the investigation is ongoing, “We have no reason to believe there’s a threat to public safety.”

Russell told police that she was taken by a male and a female when she stopped to check on a toddler that she reported on the highway, Derzis said.

“She stated when she got out of her vehicle to check on the child a man came out of the trees and mumbled that he was checking on the baby. She claimed that the man then picked her up and she screamed,” he said.

Russell called 911 to report a toddler walking down the highway before her disappearance, but the Hoover Police Department said in a press release on Tuesday evening that investigators have not found any evidence of a child walking on the side of the road.

“The Hoover Police Department has not located any evidence of a toddler walking down the interstate, nor did we receive any additional calls about a toddler walking down the interstate, despite numerous vehicles passing through that area as depicted by the traffic camera surveillance video,” the press release said.

Police also previously said that they did not receive any calls to report a missing toddler.

The update came amid questions surrounding the circumstances of Russell’s disappearance. Police said in the statement that detectives are continuing to investigate what happened from the time she called 911 on Wednesday at around 9:30 p.m. ET to report a toddler on Interstate 459 in Alabama, until she returned home on foot late Saturday.

ABC News has reached out to Russell’s family for comment.

The Hoover Police Department previously said the 25-year-old stopped her car to check on the toddler she reported after making the 911 call and called a family member to report what she saw. The family member lost contact with Russell, but the line remained open, according to police.

Officers who responded to Russell’s 911 call found her vehicle and some of her belongings on the scene, but there was no sign of Russell or the child she reported. Authorities said Tuesday that Russell stopped at a Target to buy snacks, but they were not found in her belongings at the vehicle.

Police said in the statement on Tuesday that detectives have obtained surveillance video of Russell that shows her walking alone in her neighborhood before she arrived home on Saturday night.

Medics were dispatched to Russell’s residence on Saturday after she returned home to aid an “unresponsive but breathing” person as described in the 911 call, but police said that first responders found Russell “conscious and speaking” when she arrived and she was transported to a local hospital, where she was treated and released.

ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab and Mariama Jalloh contributed to this report.

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