abc's steve osunsami reports from ocracoke island. >> reporter: it was late in the afternoon.ng girl swimming with her father was riding on a boogie board when the shark struck seriously wounding her leg. >> the mother yelled that the child had been apparently bit by what appeared to be a shark. >> reporter: the 6-year-old suffered wounds to her calf and foot. they were severe enough that emergency personnel airlifted her to the only trauma hospital in the area two hours away. she was losing blood but made it thereralive. if authorities confirm it was a shark attack, it will be the 13th in the u.s. so far this year if confirmed. none have been fatal but in 2010 there were 2 deaths in 36 attacks. earlier this month carolyn cartwright's 10-year-old daughter cassidy was bitten by a shark on another beach in north carolina. >> when he pulled her out of the water, her leg was just wide open, and it was just -- a lot of blood. >> reporter: cassidy survived her went encounter, which also happened in shallow water. an attack in t thashallow water is where many sharks like to feed. it'

steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. >>> and still ahead on "world news," news about healthy living. the new numbers on women and heart attacks. and dr. besser here on what you should do. >>> the strange storm that swallowed one american city. we'll take you inside that sand. >>> and nancy reagan, on her milestone birthday. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. sort of like two in one. how did you guys think of that? it just came to us. what? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. lights, camera, activia it's the est job in the world. to be there for them, you've gotta feel your best. that's why i love eating ctiviaiaight every day. activia light helps me fee good inside. which helps me be on top of things love how you feelr dior you money back. morning starts with arthritis pain... that's two pills before the first bell. [ bell rings ] it's time for recess... and more pills. afternoon art starts an

steve osunsami, abc news, indianapolis. >> the growing reality across so much of thth nation. >>> this evening, a huge part of the country is dealing with dangerously high temperatures. there are heat warnings in more than a dozen states now, and this heat is on the move. abc's barbara pinto is tracking it tonight. >> reporter: the country's midsection is suffocating under a sticky, hot blanket of misery. >> smash the old record. >> this afternoon, just hot and humid. >> so far, hot air. >> reporter: in oklahoma city, omaha and minneapolis, uncomfortable and dangerous. in milwaukee, organizers called off this half marathon after runners collapsed. >> some people were kind of passing out. >> reporter: this is the 12th straight day of 100-degree temperatures in oklahoma city. the 20th so far this season. wichita falls has spent 36 of the past 38 days in the triple digits. >> plenty of fluids. keep a little shade on your head. that will help. >> where are you going to go right now? going head over to wet willy's. that will help, too. >> reporter: there are 14 states under heat advisories

abc's steve osunsami is in north carolina tonight. >> reporter: it was late in the afternoon. the young girl, swimming with her father in just a foot and a half of water, was riding on a boogie board when witnesses say the shark struck, seriously wounding her leg. >> the mother yelled that a child had been apparently bit by what appeared to be a shark. >> reporter: the 6-year-old suffered wounds to her calf and foot. they were severe enough that emergency personnel air lifted her to the only trauma hospital in the area, nearly two hours away. if authorities confirm this is a shark attack, it will be the 13th in the u.s. so far this year. earlier this month, carolyn cartwright's 10-year-old daughter cassidy was bitten by a shark on another beach in north carolina. >> when they pulled her out of the water, her leg was just wide open. and it was just -- a lot of blood. >> reporter: cassidy survived her encounter, which also happened in shallow water. an attack in water only a foot and a half deep seems unusual, but most attacks occur close to shore, where sharks like to feed. wit

here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: it didn't take us long to find passengers today who paid $25, $50, sometimes $100 for checked bags that failed to meet them at baggage claim. >> why are you paying all this money for nothing? i don't know. i just don't think it's right. >> very customer unfriendly. >> reporter: robin s ss she wants her baggage fees returned. you want your money back? >> yes, i would like my money back. >> reporter: it's not supposed to be this difficult. under new federal rules about to kick in, the airlines are supposed to reimburse passengers for baggage fees if baggage is lost. and pay consequential damages when the luggage is late. but when you read the rules closely, it's pretty clear that the airlines only have to pay when the bags are lost for good. that's a profitable loophole in the rules. little comfort to the owners of the nearly 31 million bags that are misplaced and rerouted every year. we caught up with mike hopkins in tokyo today, on business, and fresh from climbing mt. fuji. when he arrived in japan, his bags were in los angeles. >> i had absol

half of the country in the sweltering heat tonight, and abc's steve osunsami is in atlanta to report for us. >> reporter: across north georgia today, where the heat and humidity made it feel like 105 degrees, the local tree trimmers gave up at 2:00 p.m. and called it a day. >> we had a fella that fell out even at 9:30 in the morning from heat exhxhstion with throwing up. >> reporter: it's miserable heat. oklahoma city's 14th straight day above 100 degrees. in union county, south carolina, they were handing out fans and they ran out. >> it concerns me because there are people out there suffering, when something as small as a $15 fan can make a difference in their life. >> reporter: it was so dangerously hot, summer school in philadelphia was forced to close early today. city inspectors in dallas went from home to home today making sure families had air conditioners that worked. >> most of the time i get out with the water hose and wet the house down. try to cool it off some. it's kind of really rough. >> reporter: since the start of this month alone, record temperatures were either ma

but pareres say they want the warnings, josh. >> steve osunsami, thank you. >>> joining us to discuss it is andy dehart from the national aquarium. five attacks on young swimmers since last summer. is there a reason why children might be the target of sharks? >> unfortunately children are not the target and humans are not the target for the shark bites that happen. they're in all the waters. and they're out there hunting prey items, which are normally fish. the flash of a pale hand or an arm can look like their normal pray item when they're in the murky, near-shore waters. and accidents do happen. >> we heard they're rather rare. are there precautions that everybody can take to make sure this doesn't happen? >> well, the first thing is not to worry about it. the risk of shark attack is extremely low. there's less than 100 attacks worldwide. only four or five fate a the reality is sharks have more to fear from us. we kill 200,000 sharks a day. 70 million a year. but there are some steps we can take. as mentioned earlier, avoid swimming at dusk and dawn. these are peak shark feeding tim

here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: across north georgia where the heat and humidity made it feelat 2:00 p.m. and called it a day. >> we had a fellow that actually fell out even at 9:30 in the morning from heat exhaustion, was throwing up. >> reporter: it's miserable heat. oklahoma city's 14th straight day above 100 degrees. in union county, south carolina, they were handing out fans and they ran out. >> it concerns me because there are people out there who are suffering when something as small as a $15 fan could make a difference in their life. >> reporter: it was so dangerously hot, summer school in philadelphia was forced to close early. city inspectors in dallas went from home to home, making sure families had air conditioners that worked. >> most of the time i get out with the water hose and water the house down to try to cool it off some. it's kind of really rough. >> reporter: since the start of this month alone, record temperatures were either matched or broken nearly 670 different times. in cities across the country. >> i can't remember it being this hot this early and th

abc's steve osunsami has the details. >> reporter: it didn't take us long to find passengers who paid for checked bags that failed to meet them at baggage claim. >> why are you paying all this money for nothing? i don't know, i just don't think it's right. >> it's very customer unfriendly. >> reporter: robin humphrey says she wants her baggage fees returned. you want your money back? >> yes, i would like my money back. >> reporter: it's not supposed to be this difficult. under new federal rules, about to kick in, the airlines are supposed to reimburse passengers for baggage fees if their bags are lost and pay consequential damages when the luggage is late but when you read the rules closely it's pretty clear the airlines only have to pay when the bags are lost for good. that's a profitable loophole in the rules. little comfort to the owners of the nearly 31 million bags that are misplaced and rerouted every year. we caught up with mike hopkins in tokyo on business and fresh from climbing mt. fuji. when he arrived in japan his bags were in los angeles. >> i had absolutely no clothes wi

steve osunsami, abc news. >> my goodness. us now are jordan and craig manage numbgnum and their lucy. hi, lucy. how are you? >> good morning. >> good morning. >> it is wonderful to have you all with us this morning. if you could tell me, jordan, there on that remote beach. you've been there for a couple of hours. just walk us through what happened. >> at that point i was standing in the water, probably about ten feet away from lucy and her little sister, they were right next to each other on their boogie boards and i w w in the same depth of water as them. i heard her scream so i immediately turned towards her and at that point saw the shark right next to her. so i immediately recognized the shark so i ran over to her and at this point not -- it hadn't really crossed my mind she had been bitten. i just wanted to get her and her sister out of the water. >> you called to your husband craig. you were out further. >> i was out a little bit further but pretty close still. >> what was going through your mind when you saw this happe

steve osunsami, abc news, surf city, north carolina. >> a lot of good tips. >> yes, definitely., they mistake the swimmer for maybe a turtle or a seal if you have a wet suit on. that sort of thing. >> you'd never think it could happen in shallow water like that. that's the scary part. >> very scary. anyway, she said that -- she told her parents she doesn't like sharks, she does like dolphins a lot better. >> good call. good call. >>> now to india where a frightened and hissing leopard mauled 11 villagers before it wawacornered and killed. at one point the big cat bared its fangs and leapt through the air, tackling a man and knocking him down. the leopard held its ground against wildlife officials carrying batons and tranquilizer guns. finally villagers managed to beat back the cat using knives stones and batons. >> you always tease me for not liking animals. >>> 200 million americans are bracing for another day of blistering heat and humidity now blamed for nearly two dozen deaths. today's danger zone spans two dozen states from the plains to the east coast. abc's matt gutman is

abc's steve osunsami is in topsail beach, north carolina, with the latest on that, good morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning, robin. that little girl was a little thing playing in water that was this high. just 18 inches. surprisingly high enough for a shark attack. the 6-year-old girl was floating ononer boogie board. had no idea what was lurking in the water just 18 inches below. the shark came from behind, grabbed on to her right leg and wouldn't let go. her mother, watching a few away, started screaming. >> mother yelled that the child had been apparently bit by a -- what appeared to be a shark. >> reporter: she was air lifted to a hospital two hours away. this morning, her family is grateful she is alive and in good condition. here on the carolina coast, this is the fifth shark attack on a young swimmer since last summer. 13-year-old carlin swence needed 60 stitches. >> i felt like something grabbed my foot. but then, it got really sharp. and it wasn't letting go. >> reporter: kendall parker nearly lost her hand and wrist. >> i thought it was my dad just joking around. i pull