US heat wave at 40C kills 24

WASHINGTON: A record-breaking heat wave has hit the U.S. with temperatures approaching 40c (104f), leaving up to 24 dead.

Around half of the population – some 150million – have been put on alert over the ‘dangerous’ heat, which has been so intense it has melted roads. Fifty-five major cities have experienced record temperatures, combining with humidity to create an unbearable ‘steam room’ effect. Forecasters warn it is set to feel as hot as 46c (115f) over the weekend.

Dulles Airport in Washington D.C., the combined heat and humidity index – or ‘feels like’ temperature – was expected to hit 49c (121f). And in New York, even overnight temperatures have been as high as 29c (84f).

The ‘heat dome’ currently sitting over two dozen states in the eastern and central U.S. has been in place for most of the week and is not expected to move until Monday at the earliest. Residents and tourists have been advised not to go outside during the hottest part of the day and to drink water

Hospitals are struggling to cope, with reports of patients ‘stacked up’ in corridors. Up to 20 per cent of the surge is said to be due to a rise in heat-related cases.
Among the dead has been a three-year-old boy in Oklahoma.

In neighbouring Missouri 13 were killed by the heat and three elderly people were found dead in separate homes in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Livestock has also been affected with reports of dozens of turkeys and cattle collapsing and dying. And there is to be no respite on Saturday with temperatures expected to reach triple figures again in most cities across the northeast.

The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings for a huge section of the country from Kansas to Maine, forecasting temperatures near or at triple digits today and into the weekend.
Forecasters said the high temperatures and stifling humidity - with barely a breath of wind - will force up the heat indexes.

But New Yorkers hoping to beat the heat were thwarted by warnings urging them to avoid city waterways after a wastewater treatment plant disabled by fire began spewing millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Hudson River.

Officials cautioned against swimming and bathing at Staten Island's South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar Grove Beach, and Brooklyn's Sea Gate beach, especially for people with medical conditions.


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