July 2011 Heat Wave Victims  

Please remember the victims of those who have suffered either from the heat itself or loss of family or animals. A punishing heat-wave has settled over central and eastern parts of the US, pushing temperatures as high as 37C (99F) and causing up to 22 deaths. The National Weather Service warned of "dangerous" levels of heat and humidity creeping east, with no relief expected in eastern states until Sunday. 

AS MUCH AS 50% OF THE US POPULATION WAS UNDER A HEAT ADVISORY. Meteorologists have put the temperatures down to a "dome" of high pressure in the atmosphere. On Thursday, many regions in the central US and parts of the eastern seaboard also saw heat indexes - a combination of temperature and humidity - topping 43C. "This is AN EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG ridge of high pressure that really has AN EXCEPTIONAL SCOPE AND DURATION. "The air is sinking, as it sinks it compresses and gets warmer." It also dries out, so few clouds form to block the high early-summer sun. Meanwhile, asphalt and concrete pavements and buildings in cities were "re-radiating" the heat. "There's no good place to be." Heat is the number one weather-related killer in the US, according to the National Weather Service. In the town of Hutchinson in Kansas three elderly people were found dead in separate homes on Wednesday, while the body of a woman in her 80s was found in her bedroom in the nearby state of Missouri. In Minnesota - a northern state known for its frigid winters - farm livestock have been DYING FROM HEAT STRESS AT A RATE NOT SEEN IN THREE DECADES. Turkeys were hit especially hard. In South Dakota, as many as 1,500 head of cattle have died in the heat. 

Scattered power cuts were likely in New York in the next several days amid a surge in usage of air-conditioning units. Chicago was experiencing unhealthy smog levels caused by the heat. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency asked the city's residents to reduce polluting activities, such as mowing lawns and keeping the engines running on stationary vehicles. Forecasters said the damage caused by the heat could be worse than that brought about by a heat-wave in Chicago in 1995, when more than 700 people died over three days. The most severe heat-wave in modern North American history took place during the Great Depression in 1936. The heat that summer was blamed for more than 5,000 deaths in the US and Canada.