Deadly heat wave grips East Coast as alerts cover 40 million
At least 25 people were believed dead as 40 million faced heat alerts, while storms and grid strain pushed East Coast cities into emergency mode.
The heat wave killed at least 25 people by Sunday, with about 40 million people under heat alerts and cities from Philadelphia to Jacksonville facing dangerous heat index values.
Most of the suspected deaths were in New Jersey, where 22 people died across 10 counties. Two deaths were in Hinds County, Mississippi, and one in Cook County, Illinois. In New York City, more than 378 people visited emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses.
The worst conditions spread after the wave began Monday in the Midwest and pushed east. At least 18 record highs were set on July Fourth in cities including Washington, Baltimore, Raleigh, Norfolk and Atlantic City. Heat index values were expected to reach 100 to 105 on Sunday in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Raleigh, Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida, while the Southwest faced extreme heat watches in parts of Arizona and California, including Phoenix and Tucson, where daytime highs could reach 114 degrees through midweek.
Washington’s Great American State Fair closed midday Friday because of the temperatures, and DC Fire and EMS crews treated 44 patients on the National Mall that day, transporting 11 to local hospitals. Mayor Muriel Bowser urged residents to conserve power as demand climbed, while Pennsylvania officials joined the effort to reduce electricity use.
The U.S. Department of Energy issued an Energy Emergency Alert for the PJM region from Tuesday night through Friday night. PJM Interconnection forecast peak demand of 166,304 megawatts on Thursday, a level that would break the record set in 2006. Amtrak canceled more than two dozen trains in the Northeast.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center logged more than 540 damaging wind gust reports across the central and eastern United States, including 92 mph in Norman, Oklahoma, and 87 mph in Suffolk County, New York. Sunday’s forecast called for scattered showers and thunderstorms across parts of the Plains, Southeast and mid-Atlantic, where 25 million people were under storm alerts.
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