U.S. swelters under deadly heat wave
Thunderstorms bring relief to some areas
Wednesday, July 19, 2006; Posted: 7:52 a.m. EDT (11:52 GMT)
A water hose provides some relief from the heat Tuesday for residents of York City, Pennsylvania.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jessica Blue stood barefoot in the fountain at Manhattan's Washington Square Park, her clothes and hat getting drenched with cool water as the temperature neared 100 degrees.
"I was out shopping, but I couldn't take it any more," the 54-year-old said Tuesday. "Better cold water than sweat. I'm sick of sweating."
Relief from the heat wave was in sight for Blue and others in the Northeast as a cold front was expected to lower temperatures to the mid-80s on Wednesday.
The first signs of cooler weather arrived with a bang starting Tuesday afternoon, when heavy thunderstorms swept across parts of the region, knocking out power to tens of thousands of utility customers from New Jersey to Vermont.
The storms, coupled with the hot weather, were the likely causes of an outage that left about 9,900 Consolidated Edison customers without power in and around New York City, spokeswoman D. Joy Faber said Wednesday. (Watch what relief and threats may come from the West --2:57)
Almost 26,000 customers of New York's Long Island Power Authority were still without power early Wednesday, according to the utility's Web site.
At least 60,000 customers in New Jersey and about 365,000 customers in Pennsylvania also lost power. A 44-year-old woman was killed Tuesday when lightning hit her in a Detroit park.
The storms also sparked a fire at Rhode Island's Port of Providence when lightning struck a dock, sending large plumes of smoke and fireballs into the air.
The heat was likely to persist elsewhere in the country, including the southern Plains and Nebraska, where temperatures were expected to remain high -- more than 100 degrees in some spots -- through the end of the week.
The thermometer in New York peaked at 95 degrees in Central Park on Tuesday and 100 at LaGuardia Airport, the National Weather Service said. The hottest place in the nation was Needles, California, which hit 109 degrees.
While it lasted, the heat caused plenty of headaches on the East Coast.
An electrical cable failed at LaGuardia, knocking out power to one terminal and part of a second terminal for several hours. American Airlines canceled 45 flights and Delta canceled 11 flights. Passengers were bused to other area airports, but officials hoped to return to a normal schedule Wednesday. (Watch as heat buckles highways and strands fliers -- 1:11)
Amtrak travelers riding between Washington, D.C., and New York on Tuesday evening experienced delays of at least an hour that conductors blamed on the extreme heat, which requires trains to travel at reduced speeds.
'This is the worst'
Relief could not come soon enough for many people working outdoors.
"If I see sprinklers or hydrants, I just drench myself," said New Haven, Connecticut letter carrier Ceferino Roman, who walked his route in 20-minute intervals, taking breaks in between. "This is the worst."
On Long Island, auto mechanic Rick Baymack said he was trying hard to stay cool while at work.
"Plenty of cold water," he said. "We stay in the shade, we keep the hoods closed on cars as long as we can, before the car comes in the shop we let it cool down."
Utilities set records for electricity usage, and health departments advised people without air conditioning to cool off in senior centers, malls and movie theaters.
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg reminded residents to conserve electricity. He directed City Hall to do its part: Only natural light filtered into the rotunda Tuesday, and some passageways and rooms were dark.
"There's plenty of light coming through the windows -- you don't have to keep the lights on -- and if everybody did some of that, that would really save some electricity," the mayor said.
The Long Island Power Authority said it set a new peak summer demand record for the second day in a row, with 5,426 megawatts of electricity used Tuesday -- enough electricity to power more than 5 million homes. Peco Energy Co. said demand for electricity in the Philadelphia region to 8,653 megawatts, eclipsing the company's previous all-time electric demand peak of 8,626 megawatts.
Heat turns deadly
The heat that has stifled much of the nation since late last week has contributed to the deaths of at least 10 people, including two in Oklahoma City, one in Philadelphia, two in Arkansas and one in Indiana.
The toll increased Tuesday with word that a 23-year-old man with cerebral palsy died in a Philadelphia suburb after apparently being left in a sweltering van by accident, authorities said.
In the Chicago area, three women, one in her 50s and two in their 70s, died from the combination of pre-existing conditions and heat stress, according to a spokesman for the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
