(NEW YORK) — Dangerous, record-breaking heat is ongoing in the West, with the temperature in Phoenix reaching the triple digits every day for the last three weeks.
Phoenix climbed over a scorching 110 degrees on 80 days in 2024 — shattering the record set last year with 55 days of temperatures over 110 degrees.
The heat spreads across the Southwest and the South this weekend, with temperatures soaring to the 90s in cities including Las Vegas, Austin, Dallas and Little Rock, Arkansas.
There are hundreds of deaths each year in the U.S. due to excessive heat, according to CDC WONDER, an online database, and scientists caution that the actual number of heat-related deaths is likely higher.
Meanwhile, as Florida cleans up from the devastation left by Hurricane Milton, lingering river flood warnings are ongoing for parts of Florida and Georgia.
Choppy seas are also keeping the rip current risk high for many beaches in Georgia and Florida’s east coast.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — Cleanup and damage assessments are underway at airports in Florida after Hurricane Milton barreled into the state’s western coast as a Category 3 storm.
Multiple airports in the Tampa, Sarasota and Orlando areas closed in the hours and days ahead of landfall, with thousands of flights canceled.
Bridges and roads were also closed in the wake of Milton, with damage assessments underway.
Here’s a look at the latest on when airports are expected to reopen.
Tampa International Airport
The airport announced it will reopen for commercial and cargo operations at 8 a.m. Friday, after conducting a “thorough inspection of the 3,300-acre campus and its buildings.”
“Roadways are clear and parking garages are in good shape,” airport officials said. “The City of Tampa confirmed the Airport is not experiencing wastewater issues and the Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting station had no significant damage. The FAA reports the air traffic control tower is ready for full operations.”
The airport’s campus did sustain some damage following the extreme wind gusts and heavy rainfall during the hurricane and some areas will need repairs, airport officials said. Among the impacts, six boarding bridges that move passengers to aircraft were damaged by high winds and parts of the main terminal had leaks and need repairs.
The airport is also “evaluating staffing levels after one of the biggest evacuation events we’ve had in recent Tampa Bay history.”
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport
All flights out of the Tampa Bay-area airport have been canceled on Thursday.
Airport officials had previously announced the airport will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday and advised passengers to contact airlines directly “for information regarding cancellations and resumption of service.”
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport
The Sarasota airport will remain closed on Thursday and Friday, airport officials said.
“SRQ is currently assessing conditions and beginning cleanup post Hurricane Milton,” the airport said while advising customers to watch for further updates on social media.
The airport recorded one of the strongest gusts of any location during the storm at 102 mph.
Orlando International Airport
The airport remains closed to commercial and private passenger operations, after the Orlando region was hit with powerful wind gusts and rain overnight, as crews conduct damage assessments.
“Greater Orlando Aviation Authority leadership will make a determination on when both airports can reopen, based on feedback from crews surveying the buildings and grounds,” airport officials said.
The airport noted that a Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) filed with the FAA before Milton’s arrival showed the airport is scheduled to open at 6 p.m. Thursday, but noted that does not take into account damage assessment.
“The airport and partners also need time to bring in adequate staff and to prepare working areas to better serve customers,” airport officials said. “The public should not rely on the NOTAM for a guaranteed opening announcement.”
Orlando Sanford International Airport
The airport, located north of Orlando in Sanford, said it will resume operations on Friday.
Allegiant passengers were advised to check with the airline for questions about how Milton might impact their flights.
Mark Brown, president and CEO of Tuskegee University in Alabama, speaks at a news conference on Nov. 11, 2024, to announce changes being made at the school to tighten security in the wake of a mass shooting that left a teenager dead and 16 other people injured. Image via ABC News.
(TUSKEGEE, Ala.) — The president of Tuskegee University in Alabama announced Monday that the school is being closed to outsiders and that its security chief has been fired in the wake of a mass shooting Sunday on campus.
The barrage of gunfire left a teenager dead and injured 16 other people attending an unsanctioned homecoming event, officials said.
Mark Brown, president and CEO of the historically black university, announced the changes as the investigation of the mass shooting continued Monday and the local sheriff warned those responsible for the shooting that “we are going to find you.”
“The Tuskegee University community is heartbroken by what happened on our campus Sunday morning,” Brown said during a news conference Monday afternoon.
Moving forward, no one will be allowed on the Tuskegee campus without authorized permission or a school-issued identification badge, he said.
“Tuskegee University is no longer an open campus,” Brown said. “Effective immediately, we require IDs for everyone to be displayed to enter campus and worn at all times while on campus.”
Earlier Monday, the university hired a new campus security leader “and relieved our previous security chief of his duties,” Brown said. He did not take questions or elaborate on why the security chief was being replaced.
“Our new campus security chief and ultimately his team will complete a full review, including all implementations of new security procedures,” Brown said.
He said Sunday’s shooting erupted at the event that was “not approved in advance and in no way was sanctioned by the university.”
“Nonetheless, it happened on our campus and we take full responsibility,” Brown said.
The deadly barrage of gunfire erupted between 11:30 p.m. Saturday and midnight Sunday in a parking lot that was packed with people on campus to celebrate the university’s 100th homecoming, Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson told ABC News.
The person killed in the shooting was identified as 18-year-old La’Tavion Johnson by the Macon County Coroner’s Office. University officials said Johnson was not a Tuskegee University student.
At least 16 other people, including students, were injured during the shooting, including 12 who suffered gunshot wounds, according to police.
Several videos posted on social media and verified by ABC News captured what sounded like automatic gunfire and showed people diving to the ground or taking cover in vehicles.
Brunson said numerous shots were fired during the incident.
“I would say that with the amount of shots that were fired, there’s going to be multiple shooters,” Brunson said.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which is leading the investigation, announced Sunday evening that one person had been arrested. Authorities said Jaquez Myrick, 25, of Montgomery, Alabama, was taken into custody while trying to leave the campus after the shooting and faces federal charges of possession of a handgun with a machine gun conversion device.
State police have yet to determine if Myrick was one of the gunmen who opened fire.
No suspect has been charged directly with the shooting.
“I want to say one thing to the people that were shooting: We’re going to make sure we find you. We’re not going to let them disrupt what we do here in Tuskegee.”
Brown said the shooting occurred despite numerous steps the university took before homecoming week to make the festivities safe, including hiring 70 additional law enforcement officers from throughout Alabama and Georgia to help campus and local law enforcement with crowd control.
Brown said efforts were made through social media and advertising to advise visitors that weapons and drugs are prohibited on campus and that visitors could only use clear bags to carry their possessions.
“We did entry checks at all officially sponsored events, some random and some 100% checks,” Brown said. “However, the general campus remained open and we did not, nor could we, have planned for security at an event that was not approved in advance or officially sanctioned by the university.”
Brunson said he and deputies from his department had been at the campus all day and into the night Saturday, assisting university police and the Tuskegee Police Department with security.
He said he was driving back to the school after taking a break when the shooting occurred.
“First of all, it was just chaotic,” Brunson said of what he observed when he arrived at the campus.
He said officers were told an active shooter was held up in a dorm and raced there, running past injured victims, only to learn there was no shooter at the dorm.
“We had to immediately go there. You have to take out the threat first and we found out that it wasn’t that case at that time,” Brunson said. “As we were running to that dorm, trying to get to the active shooter, we saw people hurt, we saw people laying down, people asking for help. But we had to tell them, we’ll be back.”
Brown said he eventually went back to help give first aid to injured victims, including those suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Being there and seeing the faces of the students, seeing the anger and the hurt, being afraid and all of that all into one, it was just a horrific scene,” Brunson said. “I sympathize with the students because you shouldn’t have seen anything like this.”
ABC News’ Faith Abubey and Matt Foster contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Two kindergarteners — a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy — are in “critical but stable condition” on Thursday after they were shot a day earlier at their small Christian grammar school in Northern California, authorities said.
The suspected gunman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after entering the school and opening fire on the students Wednesday, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.
Butte County authorities responded to reports of an active shooter at the Feather River Adventist School near Oroville shortly after 1 p.m., Honea said. A California Highway Patrol trooper was the first to arrive on the scene and found the two wounded students and the suspect’s body with a handgun nearby.
The suspected shooter had met with a school administrator earlier in the day to discuss enrolling a student at the school, which teaches kindergarten to 8th grade and has a total of 35 students, according to Honea.
It’s unclear if the meeting was legitimate or a ruse for the suspected gunman to get inside, the sheriff said.
The meeting was described as “cordial” and did not set off any alarm bells with the school administrator, the sheriff said.
A few minutes after that meeting, the shots rang out, he said.
The suspect has been identified and authorities are working to find a motive, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff said that he may have targeted the school because of its affiliation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we sent an alert out to law enforcement agencies throughout the state of California, advising them of this shooting and advising them that the subject may have targeted this school because of its affiliation with that particular religious organization,” Honea said.
“Our request of those law enforcement agencies was to be vigilant and make sure that those schools are safe and the students are still safe,” he added.
The suspect was dropped off at the school by an Uber driver who has since been interviewed by police, authorities said.
“We’re working to essentially reconstruct this individual’s activities over the course of today as well as into the past to determine why … he did the things that he did,” Honea said.
The FBI is helping to process the scene and dig into the suspect’s background.
Butte County is located about 65 miles north of Sacramento.
