America Braces For More: Tornadoes, Floods, And Extreme Heat Devastate Millions

 A weekend of extreme weather brought record-breaking heat to the mid-Atlantic, while a tornado in Wisconsin decimated a local church and flooding prompted evacuations in Iowa and led to emergency rescues in South Dakota—as a summer of intense weather for much of the U.S. shows little sign of letting up.

Evacuations were ordered in the town of Rock River in northern Iowa after six inches of rain led to a levee break in the middle of the night, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood emergency.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds called the flooding “catastrophic” and Rock River was without clean water as of Sunday due to contamination by floodwaters, with a bottled water advisory in place.

In nearby South Dakota, nine people had to be rescued amid heavy rainfall—up to 18 inches fell in some areas over the course of three days—and Gov. Kristi Noem warned the Big Sioux River may reach record-breaking levels.

In Wisconsin, the Apple Grove Lutheran Church in the town of Argyle, founded in 1893, was leveled by a tornado Saturday night—the church planned to hold its 10 a.m. Sunday service at the site of the former building, according to the local ABC affiliate WKOW.

Washington, D.C. and Baltimore broke heat records over the weekend—the nation's capital hit 100 degrees for the first time since 2016 (and the first time in June since 2012) and Baltimore hit 101, breaking a 36-year-old daily heat record.

The mid-Atlantic is expected to continue suffering under extreme heat Sunday and, by Monday, record-high temperatures could reach cities in North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas and other southern states.

"The latest research is that there's not a turning point or a tipping point or a knee in the curve. It's just gonna get hotter and hotter and worse and worse and more and more extreme," scientist and climate change activist Bill Nye told ABC News Sunday. "So this is a taste of the normal of the future, unless we humankind get to work and address it."

Flood warnings were still in place for several northern central states, including Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota, as of Sunday morning, and the National Weather Service has warned of potential flash flooding, strong winds and tornadoes in New England. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are expected in the region.

The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information that could lead investigators to discover the cause of devastating wildfires in New Mexico. The Salt and South Fork Fires have burned more than 24,000 acres and, as emergency crews battled the blaze, others were forced to turn to flood rescue near the towns of Las Vegas, New Mexico and Albuquerque over the weekend. The wildfires near Ruidoso are estimated to have destroyed or damaged roughly 1,400 structures and are barely contained—the South Fork fire was 26% contained and the Salt fire was 7% contained as of Saturday. Residents of Ruidoso will be allowed to return home Monday, but officials are warning upcoming rainfall could lead to more flooding in the area.