"12 dead, millions powerless after intense heat" « Thread Started Today at 5:27am »
12 dead, millions powerless after storms during intense heat spell By the CNN Wire Staff updated 10:57 PM EDT, Sat June 30, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: About 3 million still without power in several states due to powerful storms
Downed trees and power lines kill 12 people, including a 30-year-old Kentucky man Many were dealing with the sizzling heat without fans, air-conditioning and refrigeration
"This is on par with Hurricane Irene," Maryland's governor says (CNN) -- Large swaths of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic dug out Saturday hours after killer thunderstorms barreled through, a recovery made more complicated -- and dangerous -- by intense summer heat. At least 12 people, from Ohio to New Jersey, were killed as a result of downed trees and power lines. The destruction prompted the governors of Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio to declare states of emergency, with Maryland indicating it would do the same.
"This is on par with Hurricane Irene," said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, referring to last year's storm that was blamed for at least 20 deaths across eight states.
Neighboring Virginia was particularly hard hit, with six deaths. At one point, the Old Dominion State had about 1 million power outages -- more than any other state and, according to its governor, the most caused by any weather event that wasn't a hurricane.
"This is not a one-day situation; it is a multi-day challenge," Gov. Bob McDonnell said.
Joseph Rigby, president of the electric company Pepco, said it could be a week before power is back up in some areas of Washington.
"Given the damage, you can understand this is going to take some time," he said. "The wild card is the weather." Temps soar across the U.S.
'Only in America': Summer heat America is having a heat wave Triple digit highs scorch the U.S.
The storms raced east Friday and into Saturday from Indiana through Ohio and into West Virginia and the nation's capital, carrying winds gusting as strong as 80 miles per hour. They left behind hundreds of downed power lines and trees that littered roads and damaged homes.
"This was a storm that obviously came upon us very quickly, without a great deal of notice, and the devastation that was caused is very significant," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, noting there's a particular need for fuel, generators and communications equipment in light of the storms.
Nearly 4 million people were without power across the affected states at one point Saturday, a number that dropped by the end of the night to around 3 million.
Those killed included two cousins in New Jersey, ages 2 and 7, who'd huddled with their families in a tent in Parvin State Park when strong winds felled a pine tree, crushing them.
Their relatives all survived relatively unscathed, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection.
Record heat, storms bring despair, 'horror'
A 30-year-old Kentucky man driving in Clark County late Friday came across downed limbs. When Michael Martin left his vehicle to clear the road, county coroner Robert Gayheart said, a tree fell, killing him.
In Washington, where 19 intersections were without working traffic lights at one point Saturday, a couple was electrocuted after they went outside to check on downed power lines. The husband was killed while the wife -- who is in critical condition at a local hospital with burns -- is expected to survive, said police spokesman Araz Alali.
The storm affected Amtrak service, including shutting down service between Washington and Philadelphia on Saturday morning. But those most inconvenienced were aboard a train that left New York early Friday morning ended up grinding to a halt at 11 p.m. that night in Prince, West Virginia, after trees blocked tracks both in front of and behind it, Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm said. Finally by 8:20 p.m. Saturday, the 232 passengers -- who'd stayed aboard the Chicago-bound train, which had air conditioning and food -- had been taken off and put on buses so they could reach their final destinations, according to Kulm. CSX, which is clearing the debris from the tracks, on Saturday night was "working as hard as we can to get service restored on our lines," company spokesman Bob Sullivan said. 5 tips to survive extreme heat
The storm's fury was felt online, as well, when digital clouds were knocked out by real ones. Power outages temporarily knocked out some Amazon Cloud services in Virginia, taking down sites that rely on them, including Netflix, Pinterest and Instagram. The aftermath of the storm was compounded by a forecast of another sweltering summer day.
Without power? Share your photos, videos, stories with CNN iReport, but please stay safe
One in three Americans baked Saturday in an area of nearly 600,000 square miles experiencing unusually hot weather. That included record-breaking conditions in many locales, with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit dangerously common.
Excessive heat warnings were issued in 14 states, indicating dangerous conditions for those unable to find refuge in a cool locale. And while there may be some cooling in some spots early next week, temperatures still are expected to remain at least in the 90s.
In storm-affected areas, many people had no electricity to run fans, air-conditioning and refrigerators.
Emergency rooms in Prince George's County, Maryland, filled up Saturday by people looking to escape the heat, said Fran Phillips, deputy secretary for the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She noted that libraries and community centers across the state would stay open late, to act as cooling center.
And at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, just north of Washington, third round play of the AT&T National was delayed as trees and tents came crashing down and the PGA venue was left without power.
5 tips to survive extreme heat
By Saturday afternoon, the course was eerily quiet -- still closed to fans and volunteers -- even after play resumed.
Even in places where power was not disrupted, people with no air-conditioning were advised to spend the day in a library, a cooling center or some other such place to avoid heat exhaustion.
The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention was among many government agencies trying to keep people informed -- from knowing when the food in your suddenly inoperable freezer can't be eaten to taking a cool bath if you don't have AC. WCSC: New weather bug system could keep carriage horses healthy
The Jackson County medical examiner in western Missouri, for instance, was investigating three deaths that may be related to the heat, according to the Kansas City Health Department.
"Current indications are that this heat wave will continue well into next week, though there is still some uncertainty in the forecast," the National Weather Service said in its warning around St. Louis. "The effects of excessive heat are cumulative... Take action to protect your health." Will 2012 be the hottest summer on record?
Nearly 4 million people were without power across the affected states at one point Saturday, a number that dropped by the end of the night to around 3 million.
A "super derecho" of violent thunderstorms left a more than 700-mile trail of destruction across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic on Friday, cutting power to millions and killing thirteen people.
More than 450 damaging wind reports were received by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) as the derecho took roughly 12 hours to race from northern Indiana to the southern mid-Atlantic coast.
A derecho is defined as a widespread and long-lived wind storm that accompanies rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. The most severe derechos are given the adjective "super."
A line of thunderstorms, 100 miles from tip-to-toe, rolled through the Washington. D.C. area Friday night packing winds of 50-to-80 mph, reports Topper Shutt of CBS D.C. affiliate WUSA-TV. The same clump of storms hit southeastern Ohio and West Virginia with hurricane force winds Friday evening.
Intense heat will continue to dominate many states Sunday and Monday from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic westward to the Plains. Highs in the middle/upper 90s and low 100s will be widespread. This includes many of the locations left without power from Ohio to the Mid-Atlantic after Friday's destructive storms.
"This is the largest non-hurricane power outage in Virginia history," Gov. Bob McDonnell says. "Virginians need to be on guard and to be working together ... and to find out where the shelters are."
The Washington, D.C. area has broken a record high temperature set almost 80 years ago. The National Weather Service says that just before 3 p.m., it was 104 degrees at Reagan National Airport just outside the city. That beats the record of 101 set in 1934.
High temperature records have been falling by the wayside so far this year, and the current heat wave now has more, including all-time records in jeopardy. Never mind highs near 100 degrees. The current heat wave has temperatures pushing 102, 105 even 108 degrees in portions of the Plains, Midwest, South and East.
The Supreme Court’s sad legacy continues: The Constitution under assault … Comprehensive insight and perspective on the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision … Chief Justice doesn’t fulfil his oath to defend the Constitution …. Did Roberts give in to Obama's bullying? …. It appears that Justice Roberts changed his Obamacare vote at the last minute ... Hillary tied to new Muslim Brotherhood president .... Putin's Visit and Israeli-Russian Relations ... Role of Iranian Security Forces in Syria ...
World News Since 1996 Readers in 50 States and 105 Countries
"The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day." - E. M. Bounds
"Koenig International News" can be read in Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, & Korean and many others Add watch.org in the browser Click here for Google translator
Readership: Top 35 Nations U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, South Africa, Germany, Panama, Netherlands, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, Jordan, Norway, Japan, Finland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, India, Sweden, Russia, France, Bahamas, Portugal, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Belgium, Indonesia, Brazil, Spain, Thailand, Romania
![[Search This Thread]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/search2.png "[Search This Thread]")
![[Add Bookmark]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/bookmark.png "[Add Bookmark]")
![[Add Poll]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/addpoll.png "[Add Poll]")
![[Reply]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/reply.png "[Reply]")
![[Share Topic]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/share.png "[Share Topic]")
![[Print]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/print.png "[Print]")
Author
![[email]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/email_sm.png "[email]")
![[send pm]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/message_sm.png "[send pm]")
![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/quote.png "[Quote]")
![[Modify]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/modify.png "[Modify]")
![[Delete]](http://images.proboards.com/new/buttons/delete.png "[Delete]")
![[image]](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120630042155-nr-valencia-heat-wave-00014624-story-top.jpg "[image]")
Logged
