74 million people are under heat alerts. we re talking temperatures up to 25 degrees above average in some places. and right now, texas is bracing for what was just named the first tropical storm of the season, tropical storm alberto, heading toward the gulf coast. and fast. meantime, out west, those deadly wildfires rage on with firefighters battling that relentless heat, and we have team coverage this morning with nbc s sam brock in galveston, texas, nbc s maya egoland in coney island and we have your meteorologist standing by with your forecast. storm prep is already under way there. this is now tropical storm alberto. what is the latest, sam? reporter: sam, we re having a hard time with your mic. let s work on getting that. let s turn to maya who is here in new york, one of the places experiencing these extreme temperatures. how are people coping, maya? reporter: hey, ana, as you can see behind me, some people are coping by taking a dip in the water, but it is ext