earthquake. we talked about the delta variant, vaccine effectiveness, and masks indoors with dr. monica gandhi. we will be tonight, extreme heat emergencies as we come on the air. tracking dual heat waves in the east and west. more than 60 million people under extreme heat alerts from coast to coast. heat emergencies from washington, d.c. to philadelphia to boston. washington state topping 110 degrees. more than 4 50 people in oregon requiring emergency care for heat-related illnesses. highways buckling in the heat. nearly 50 wildfires burning from california to montana. ginger zee standing by. new reporting on the deadly building collapse in surfside, florida. heavy rain stalling the search for possible survivors. debris falling from the side of the building that's still standing. and the warning just last april. the report claiming structural damage has gotten significantly worse since a 2018 inspection.

and a pool just two days earlier. what he says he found before the collapse. growing concerns about the covid delta variant. health officials in los angeles county strongly urging everyone to wear masks at all public indoor places, whether vaccinated or not. nearly 100 covid cases linked to a summer camp in illinois. a hospital in texas tracking the delta variant, reporting more cases involving children under 12. violent crime surging across the u.s. homicides up nearly 20% over last year. thee warning violence in his city is an epidemic. matt gutman riding with police, their first call coming within 60 seconds of getting into the car. the fourth of july weekend on pace to be the busiest travel period since before the pandemic. gas prices expected to hit their highest point of the year. why some stations are running out of gas. the scare on the road. the car struck by lightning. a family with three young

children inside surviving the bolt. and america strong tonight. the major league baseball team true. good evening and it's great to have you with us on this tuesday night. i'm linsey davis, in for david. we begin with the searing heat from coast to coast tonight. 60 million americans under heat ale alerts. in the west, that historic, record-breaking heat. and now the second heat wave in a month in the northeast. washington, d.c., philadelphia and boston all declaring emergencies. officials taking steps to save lives. look at the map. scorching heat on both coasts. today boston feeling like it's 105 degrees. philadelphia deploying air conditioned buses as temporary cooling sites. in seattle, highways buckling from the heat. traffic backing up while they're

being repaired. in the west, the heat and drought fueling dozens of wildfires. the lava fire forcing evacuations overnight. and with temperatures staying high for days, very little relief from the heat at night. abc's janai norman leads us off here in new york. >> reporter: tonight, millions sweltering as that record breaking heat invades the northeast. >> at noon today, it felt like 105 in boston. >> that is dangerous heat and certainly that heat advisory is staying in effect. >> reporter: and 102 in new york city. >> we're island girls and this is hot. >> reporter: philadelphia declaring a heat emergency. >> the heat is so strong already and it's only 8:00 in the morning. >> reporter: bringing air conditioned city buses into communities to serve as mobile cooling centers. >> i was concerned about the heat and the seniors. that was what was on my mind myself. >> reporter: heat kills more people than any other kind of extreme weather, and with temperatures this high, don't forget about your pets.

>> keep them out of the sun, you know, just keep them safe, just the same as you would think of yourself being out there. >> reporter: meanwhile, in the west -- >> it feels l >> reporter: after breaking records and buckling roadways in seattle, the heat moving inland. hundreds treated for heat-related illnesses. officials in spoe cane warning of possible rolling blackouts. and the dry conditions fueling multiple fires. the lava fire near the california/oregon border, forcing families to flee. back here in new york city, we're anticipating it will be even hotter tomorrow. overnight, temperatures still expected to be in the 80s. medical experts say multiple days of this kind of heat can have a dangerous cumulative effect so they are urging people to check on their elderly and vulnerable neighbors. linsey? >> janai, thank you so much. and let's get right to abc's chief meteorologist ginger zee, tracking it all for us.

ginger? >> reporter: you can hear the crashing waves off the cool great lakes, that is all natural air conditions. you all have to use it, because you have daily records breaking, all under that ridge of high pressure that's kind of blocking stham's slowly making its way east. heat advisories still in place tomorrow from wilmington all the way up the coast of maine, back to syracuse. but you know to break it, you got to get severe storms and they could be severe tomorrow afternoon and evening, especially. damaging wind, the primary threat. albany to boston, watch for that. the west coast broke the long street for portland and seattle, but it just moves inland to the northern rockies. linsey? >> unprecedented heat and it's not even july yet. ginger, thank you. next tonight, new developments in the deadly condo collapse in surfside, florida, as families are still awaiting word. tonight, c news confirming a letter was sent to residents back in april warning that the damage to the building had gotten significantly worse. one again today there were difficult can dif conditions for the search,

including more heavy rain. falling debris put some areas off-limits. a caravan of dump trucks escorted by police taking debris to is a warehouse for examination. and tonight, we're hearing from residents, including a survivor who miraculously made it out and she says she had been reporting issues with the building for years. abc's victor oquendo in surfside for us again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the dangerous and desperate search, combing through millions of pounds of rubble, looking for those 150 people still missing in surfside. >> nobody's giving up hope here, nobody's stopping. the work goes on full force. >> reporter: more than 200 rescuers hampered by thunderstorms and debris falling pfrom the side of the building. they've reache the basement on the east side of the pile, but some areas now too dangerous to access. >> finding and ttle s, toys. bris a sense of reality to the moment.

>> reporter: all this, as troubling new reports emerge. "the miami herald" publishing photos from a pool contractor, showing exposed rebar in the crumbling concrete at the champlain towers south, just 36 hours before the catastrophic chance. that contractor telling the paper he was struck by the lack of maintenance in the lower level. and abc news confirming a letter was sent to residents in april, warning that the damage had gotten significantly worse, that "concrete deterioration is accelerating" and "would begin to multiply exponentially," after a 2018 engineering report revealed the need for repairs. but the cost was steep. the repairs were priced at $15 million. residents asked to pay anywhere from $80,000 to $336,000 for the repairs. scbi t apse, saying,t.ez "the building swayed like a she had been reporting issues in the building for years. >> there were clear, not just warning signs, but alarm bells.

and the appropriate steps weren't taken to protect human life. >> reporter: the condo association releasing a statement saying it can't comment on pending litigation, adding, "our focus remains on caring for our friends and neighbors during this difficult time." a structural engineer inspecting the champlain towers east and north deeming them safe. we're inside the parking garage for the champlain towers north, the sister building. one of the biggest complaints we heard about the south tower, the one that collapsed, was that their garage always flooded. well, it has been raining on and off all morning long and as you can see here in this garage, it is bone dry. and we're now hearing more harrowing accounts from the residents of the south tower. erick de moura worked from home on the tenth floor. he was about to leave his girlfriend's house last wednesday night when she convinced him to stay over. his unit now part of the rubble. >> that seayed my life. >> reporter: the building's doorwoman frantically called after the collapse. >> she said the building collapsed. what do you mean the building collapsed?

everything. people are dead. i can't believe it. i still can't believe it. >> still incomprehensible for so many. victor oquendo joins us again tonight. officials say they're launching a grand jury investigation into the collapse and victor, how are federal authorities assisting crews on the ground? >> reporter: linzie, the national institute of standards and technolgy, they look at building failures. they're sending a team of six engineers and experts here, scientists, to come here and gather information. then on thursday, president biden and the first lady, they will be here in surfside, they will be meeting with first responders and, of course, the families. linsey? >> victor, thank you. now to the coronavirus tonight, as that highly contagious delta variant spreads across the country. los angeles recommending masks in public indoor spaces, even for people who are vaccinated, but encouraging news from a preliminary study from the moderna vaccine, saying it is effective against the delta variant and several others.

tonight, 179 million people have had one dose of a vaccine. that's 63% of people 12 and older. here's abc's marcus moore. >> reporter: tonight, with mounting concern over the highly contagious delta variant, los angeles county now urging its 10 million residents to once again wear masks in indoor public spaces, vaccinated or not. >> with the new variant coming out, i'm hearing of people getting covid again and i'm getting a little bit nervous. >> reporter: the highly contagious delta variant now making up half the new cases sequenced in l.a. county. dr. anthony fauci saying the cdc is not changing its mask recommendations because the vaccines appear to work against the delta variant. >> they may understandably feel that they want that extra degree of precaution. and that is just fine. but the overall country-wide recommendation of the cdc has not changed. we're going to monitor the variant very carefully, as we do literally on a daily basis, to see if things change. >> reporter: tonight, there is more promising news the vaccine

works against variants. early data from moderna shows the vaccine is likely to hold up against variants of concern, including the delta variant, now in 49 states. an outbreak at an illinois church teen summer camp is now inked to nearly 100 cases of the virus. officials say the camp did not check the vaccination status and masks were not required indoors. meantime, texas children's hospital is tracking more cases of the delta variant in children under 12 who cannot get the vaccine. to protect them, doctors say it's critical that everyone else is fully vaccinated. >> this delta variant is especially adept at infecting partially vaccinated individuals so for those adults or adolescents who may think that one shot of out of two is enough, think again. >> very clear guidance there. marcus moore joins us now. marcus, cases of the coronavirus are averaging just over 10,000 a day and that's the threshold that health officials said we needed to reach to get a handle on the virus, but some states

are no longer reporting daily cases? >> reporter: linsey, that's right. abc inside surveyed state dashboards and found that at least two dozen states are now opting to no longer offer daily updates on the virus. and that is concerning to experts who are tracking the spread of covid-19, especially in light of this new, more contagious delta variant. linsey? >> marcus, thank you. now to the surge in violent crime across the country. children are not being spared. in statesville, north carolina, last night, a 9-year-old girl was killed and 7 and 10-year-old boys were wounded in suspected drive-by shooting just blocks apart. across the country, police officers are the first to respond. abc's chief national correspondent matt gutman with an exclusive look inside oakland, california, pd, officers there racing from one violent incident to another. >> they're chasing a suspect with a gun right now. >> reporter: the first call came in less than 60 seconds after we left the precinct. overnight ride along on the

so-called dog shift. when we got to the scene, a suspect was in custody, but he'd allegedly ditched a gun in a park. >> did we find it? >> reporter: full of kids. for this saturday shift, lieutenant lisa ausmus was in charge of policing the eastern half of the city. she only had 38 officers on duty that night for a population of over 200,000 people. half an hour later, the radio crackling again. there's been a shooting. somebody's apparently down. ausmus racing to assist her team. >> we've got a gunshot wound to the head. >> reporter: within minute us, oakland's police chief areeving, telling us the victim died. a city of 425,000, 65 homicides so far this year. how do you explain that? >> it's clear that violence is an epidemic in this community. it's clear that people have too easily access to firearms and are overly willing to use them. >> reporter: and it's not just oakland. a recent survey of 72 cities showing homicide up nearly 20% over last year.

in chicago, nearly 80 people shot over the weekend, six of them fatally. and in times square sunday, this suspect accused of opening fire after an argument, a stray bullet hitting an innocent bystander, a 21-year-old marine. back in oakland, chief armstrong says there's no easy remedy. >> law enforcement won't be able to fix this problem itself. violence prevention won't be able to do it itself and community won't be able to do it. it's going to take a collective effort from all of this to solve this problem. >> reporter: and linsey, with the increase of scrutiny on police forces, law enforcement experts tell us that recruiting new officers and retaining existing ones is increasingly a challenge. the retirement rate has spiked since last year by 45%. linsey? >> right, and thousands of officers quitting in just the past year. matt, our thanks to you. next tonight, as u.s. troops speed up the withdrawal from afghanistan, there are growing fears for the last known american hostage held by the taliban. tonighten, an exclusive interview with his sister and her direct message to president

biden. here's abc's senior foreign correspondent ian pannell. >> reporter: tonight, the last american hostage in afghanistan and his family's fears he's being forgotten as american troops pull out. mark frerichs was a u.s. navy veteran working as a civil engineer when he was kidnapped by the taliban in january 2020. tonight, his sister speaking exclusively to abc news. >> how are they sleeping at night knowing that they left a u.s. citizen behind? a u.s. veteran? >> reporter: afghan president ashraf ghani met with president biden last week. the white house was asked if biden had a message for frerich's family. >> the president's message is that he will continue to fight every day of his presidency to bring americans home. >> reporter: tonight, frerich's sister sending a message of her own directly to the president. >> you have the power to bring my brother home. please get my brother home safely. we are relying on you. he's an american citizen, and i

know that you would not leave an american citizen behind. >> reporter: the administration says it'll continue to work to get him out, but the deal they've struck with the militants brings no peace to the country and no hope to his family. linsey? >> ian, thank you. when we come back, gas prices soaring heading into fourth of july weekend. why some stations may be running out. and a family car hit by lightning, a married couple and children inside. thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole. ibrance may cause low white blood cell counts

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gallon rising this week to $3.09 a gallon. on the west coast, it's $3.81. and some stations are reportedly running out of gas due to a shortage of tanker truck drivers. >> while the fuel is there, there may not be enough tanker fast as americans are filling - up. the good news is, there's plenty of fuel flowing, it's just a matter of time before stations that have lost supply of gasoline have another delivery made. >> reporter: aaa says there are more families traveling by car this year than there were in 2019, before the pandemic even started. >> it just proves that the road trip is back, stronger than ever. >> reporter: linsey, if you are planning to hit the road this holiday weekend, gasbuddy predicts thursday and friday between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. will be the busiest times for travel. sunday, the easiest day. and if you're planning to leave on monday, aim to return early. linsey? >> helpful advice. thank you, rebecca. when we come back, the car struck by lightning with a family inside. hpv-related cance? you're not welcome here!

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to the index now. a frightening scene on the road in weaverly, kansas. in the midst of heavy rain, suddenly a car is struck by lightning, it appears to take a direct hit. a married couple and young children were inside the car, including a baby. fortunately, no one was hurt. and heartbreak at wimbledon. serena williams forced to retire because of an injury in her first round match. she hurt her leg in the first set, tried to keep playing, but couldn't. williams in tears as she left the court. the crowd giving her a standing ovation as she waved good-bye. and when we come back, a dream 60 years in the making, finally comes true. my heart doesn't pump enough blood so my doctor gave me farxiga. it helps my heart do its job better. farxiga helps keep me living life and out of the hospital for heart failure. do not take if allergic to farxiga. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing.

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60 years to live out her dream. this isn,connecticut, proudly holding two letters written 60 years apart. gwen is a lifelong yankees fan and when she was just 10 years old, she wrote the yankees a letter asking if she could be a batgirl. this is the letter she got back. "dear gwen, while we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys, i am sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men, a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout." gwen kept that letter all this time, and 60 years later, gwen's daughter got the idea to send it back to them. this time, the reponse was much "dear gwen, a woman belongs s not te to reward and recognize the ambition you showed in writing that letter to gwen stadiumh. -old girl."

look at this! >> reporter: her name right on the locker. >> wow. >> reporter: her own jersey, and hat, a thumb's up -- she's ready. and on the field, wiping away tears. the first pitch. game on. >> thank you gwen. >> reporter: watching from the dugout. bringing the baseballs out to the umpire. tonight, gwen on never giving up. >> it was worth writing that letter. it was worth having that hope. even if you didn't get it at first, you just keep on going. >> persistent paying off. thank you so much for watching. i'll see you right back here tomorrow night. for david and all of us, good night.

moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news.c7 news.c7 ne. >> we have been going with our cases in the state of califoci of san francisco very low. >> everyone should recognize this pandemic is not over. >> some the mixed messages but we do know this. some countries are going back into lockdown. some communities are saying put those masks back on. good afternoon and thank you for joining us. i am ama daetz. >> i am liz kreutz. you are watching abc7 news >> to mask not to masks? concerned about the new delta variant have come to the w.h.o to say vaccinated people should still wear masks indoors. that contradicts the cdc's advice. health officials in l.a. county are also saying put those masks back on. stephanie sierra spoke with public health officials here in

the bay area who say even though vaccination rates are better than before, if we are not careful, the delta variant could stat the state back. >> california is bracing for the latest covid battle, the delta variant. it has spread to more than 80 countries and the world health organization predicts they will soon be the most dominant, infectious strain in the u.s. >> the delta variant is bad news. it is about 75% more transmissible than the earlier strains. >> the lead the number of california cases stemming from the delta variant will most likely double within the next month. >> the concern is we can see small clusters of delta -- the delta variant among people unvaccinated were not fully vaccinated congregate together. we are particularly concerned n