- Ten dead across the country as crippling heat and storms sweep nation
- Multiple cities topped June highs, with mercury in Norton Dam, Kansas climbing to 117; was 104 degrees in Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio declared states of emergency
- Massive D.C. storm also swept out Amazon’s Cloud, leaving thousands without internet services like Netflix, Pinterest, and Instagram
- Storms also delayed Amtrak travel along Eastern Seaboard
PUBLISHED: 08:05 EST, 30 June 2012 | UPDATED: 13:09 EST, 30 June 2012
Widespread power outages were reported from Indiana to New Jersey, with the bulk of the service interruptions concentrated on Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas.
Now, three states – Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia – have declared states of emergency, as temperatures again rise to dangerous levels.
A capitol mess: Storm-damaged trees litter the east lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington June 30 after wind gusts clocked at speeds of up to 79 mph
Surveying damage: Debris and downed trees are cluttering the streets in Northwest Virginia after massive storms blew through Washington DC
Crumbled: Resident David Fetchko surveys the damage done to the apartment of his girlfriend in Richmond, Virgina today
Earlier Friday, the nation’s capital reached 104 degrees – topping a record of 101 set in 1934. Temperatures also soared to 118 degrees in Norton Dam, Kansas, an all-time high.
The storms in D.C. also knocked out Amazon’s Cloud service in Northern Virginia, leaving those in the area without services like Netflix, Instagram, and Pinterest.
More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree.
Most were bused to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.
The storms, sometimes packing 70 mph winds, toppled three tractor trailers on Interstate 75 near Findlay, Ohio. Fallen trees were blamed on both deaths in Springfield, Virginia.
Besides the 90-year-old woman, who authorities didn’t identify pending notification of kin, a man driving his car was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities identified him as Khiet Nguyen, 27, of Burke, Virginia.
Dark and stormy: Clouds roll over Lisle, lllinois, as a storm moves into the Chicago area today
No escape: A woman uses a shirt to shield herself from the sun while passing in front of the White House in Washington on Friday; meteorologists are predicting another scorcher across the country today
Not fair: A passing storm brought a halt to rides at the Italian-American Festival in Canton, Ohio. A wave of violent storms sweeping the country has left more than 2million without power
Scorcher: A group of children beat the heat in the water at the Scull Island water park at Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta
Beat the heat: Swimmers keep cool in near 100 degree temperatures at Red Oaks Waterpark in, Michigan
In addition, a park police officer was injured by an uprooted tree in the northern Virginia County, and an 18-year-old man was struck by a power line, Jennings said. He was in stable condition after receiving CPR, she said.
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency after more than 500,000 customers in 27 counties were left without electricity.
At least four utility poles fell on a road in Columbus, Ohio, making it too dangerous for people in four cars to get out, police said. One person was taken to a hospital.
As of 1 a.m. Saturday, Pepco was reporting 406,000 outages in the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, Maryland.
Amtrak suspended its service from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia due to the storms, at least until mid-morning. In the Washington, D.C., area, the Metrorail subway trains were returned to their endpoints due to the storms and related damage, officials said.
‘It has had a widespread effect on the region,’ Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said early Saturday. He said about 17 train stations were operating on backup power due to local power outages, but that he didn’t anticipate service being disrupted on Saturday.
Cool off: Kids enjoy the cool water at Crown Fountain in Chicago
Hot: Brient, 11, and Beau Wood, 7, pictured have a drink in Washington, DC, where temperatures reached 104 on Friday
Hard work: Construction workers Santiago Gomez, Jorge Moreno, Abel Lozano take a break from the extreme heat in Chicago
Fountains: Children cool off at a waterfront park in Louisville, Kentucky
Two young brothers, aged 3 and 5, in eastern Tennessee, had been playing outside on Thursday. The younger boy died later that day and his brother died on Friday afternoon, according to Eric Blach, administrator for the Bradley County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Earlier in the week, a 39-year-old construction worker died at the University of Arkansas.
In Kansas City, Missouri, city health officials were investigating the deaths of three residents, including a baby boy, to determine if they were heat-related and in Queens, New York, an 81-year-old man died from heat exposure.
The fierce heat had spread east from the central U.S., where temperatures continued to rewrite record books.
Shade: Tourists to the nation’s capital use umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun as the mercury rises
Fun: Charnice Hoegnifioh, 10, of Round Lake Beach, Illinois, gets water squirted in her face to cool down
Many areas of the country have suffered days of high temperatures and little rain, which have contributed to deadly and destructive fires in Colorado.
The weather is expected to stay hot through the weekend in the same areas of the country, according to Mr Dlugoenski.
‘The areas of high pressure are going to break down just a little bit as we head into the first part of next week,’ he said. ‘It will still be hot, but I think the record warmth will be more erratic.’
The temperature in Nashville on Friday reached 109 degrees, smashing a record high for the city of 107 degrees reached on July 27 and July 28, 1952.
Water: People refresh themselves at the WWII memorial in Washington
Splash: Caylee Pierce, 14, enjoys the waterslides at Morey’s Ocean Oasis water park, in North Wildwood, New Jersey on Friday
The entire state of Arkansas is in a drought, and many fireworks displays had been canceled for the week of the July 4 for fear of fire.
Agriculture experts said cattle, fish and chickens through the state have died as a result of the heat.
In Indiana, where temperatures topped 100 this week, state health officials logged 46 heat-related complaints on Thursday, according to USA Today.
Scorcher: Saturday’s temperatures are forecast to stay high
Sunday: Meteorologists say the heat wave will continue over the weekend
The state averages 62 heat-related hospital visits per week in late June and early July.
‘We encourage people who don’t have air conditioning to retreat to public areas, libraries, shopping malls, swimming pools or other areas that are cool to allow them to protect themselves,’ Indiana State Health Commissioner Gregory Larkin told the newspaper.
Doctors in Jackson, Mississippi, have seen the number of patients presenting with heat-related symptoms double since temperatures soared to 100 degrees on Friday.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166890/US-Weather-Storms-leave-7-dead-triple-digit-heat-wave-sweeps-America-ahead-July-4th-weekend.html#ixzz1zJ99xnhZ
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