Thursday, July 21, 2011

Nearly two dozen dead as heat wave moves east


By Karin Matz
July 20, 2011

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A heat wave baking the central and southern United States was blamed on Wednesday for at least 22 deaths this week as forecasters warned that the abnormally hot weather could last into August as it moves east.

The National Weather Service said 141 million people in more than two dozen states were under a heat advisory or warning because of the soaring temperatures, the most recent in a series of heat waves that have scorched the country's midsection off and on since late May.

In Wichita, Kansas, where temperatures have reached 100 degrees or more on 24 days so far this year, forecasters warned that the mercury would hit at least 100 degrees each day through next Tuesday.

"It's just draining, physically draining," said Chris Vaccaro, a Weather Service spokesman.

AccuWeather.com predicted the effects of the current heat wave -- in terms of stress on the power grid, damage to roads and bridges, and lost lives -- could eclipse the effects of the deadly heat wave of the summer of 1995, which claimed hundreds of lives in Chicago alone.

Posted by SuzyQ at 12:35 AM

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