37 Die In South, Midwest Heat Wave

[Family Ties Forever!]

I didn't know that 37 people have already died from the heat.

link

37 Die In South, Midwest Heat Wave Emergency Room Doctor Says Biggest Problem Is Dehydration

Posted: 10:57 pm CDT August 16, 2007
Updated: 11:35 pm CDT August 16, 2007

Nashville, Tenn. -- Unrelenting heat that has baked the Midwest and South for the past 10 days has killed more than three dozen people, even forcing officials Thursday to shut down part of a nuclear reactor in Alabama because the river water used to cool it was too hot.

In Tennessee, the Shelby County medical examiner's office confirmed Thursday that heat caused the death of a 53-year-old man found in his apartment the day before, bringing the death toll in Memphis alone to eight.

In all, 37 deaths in the South and Midwest have been confirmed as heat-related, and heat is suspected in 10 more, authorities said.

In Memphis, the mercury topped out at 105 degrees Thursday, a record and the seventh consecutive day of triple-digit temperatures. Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton Jr. compared the heat wave to a devastating earthquake and set up a hotline for people to report concerns and request fans.

"This is pretty akin to a seismic event in the sense that there is no remedy, no solution that we here in this room can come up with that will take care of everybody," he said.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Ala., because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours.

"We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility.

The shutdown posed no safety threat, officials said. The TVA will compensate for the loss of power by buying power elsewhere, Moulton said.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Thursday that the heat caused nine deaths there and likely caused another seven. Six of the nine confirmed deaths are in St. Louis.

There were also eight confirmed deaths in Illinois, four each in Arkansas and Georgia, two in South Carolina and one in Mississippi, as well as one death in Tennessee outside Memphis.

In north-central Arkansas, the temperature reached 112 degrees on Wednesday in a place called Evening Shade.

"It's miserable," said Sharp County Judge Larry Brown, the county's chief administrative officer. Road crews were working shorter hours, "coming in early and leaving at noon. By then it's already way over 100 anyway," Brown said.

At midafternoon Thursday it was 107, Brown said. "It's still like an oven," he said.

In Alabama, state climatologist John Christy said the string of 10 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures is amazing. Fifty-four people were treated in Alabama hospitals Wednesday and Thursday for heat-related illnesses, State Health Officer Don Williamson said.

In northern Indiana, the National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes struck late Wednesday near the town of Argos, about 30 miles south of South Bend, causing limited damage. Some 36,500 homes and businesses in Lake County remained without electricity Thursday evening, with Northern Indiana Public Service Co. estimating it would be Monday before all power would be restored in Gary.

Residents in southern Indiana got a little relief from the heat as thunderstorms moved in - Evansville went from 104 degrees Wednesday to 99 degrees Thursday.

Even people who consider themselves healthy can be vulnerable to heat-related health problems after an extended period of excessive heat, medical authorities say.

Emergency physicians warned that days of heat-related stress can lead to problems such as nausea, dizziness, headaches, cramps and vomiting for people who otherwise are healthy. Those symptoms are the first signs of heat exhaustion.

"It is a cumulative thing," Dr. Franc Fenaughty, an emergency room physician in the Memphis suburb of Germantown, told The Commercial Appeal newspaper. "After four or five or six days you are going to see more people get dehydrated. And, the big problem is dehydration."

Last summer, a heat wave killed at least 50 people in the Midwest and East. California officially reported a death toll of 143, but authorities last month admitted the number may have been far higher. A 1995 heat wave in Chicago was blamed for 700 deaths.


Previous Stories:
August 14, 2007: Heat Wave Blamed For Deaths In 6 States


Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[AB]

We've had 8 or 9 heat related deaths in Tennessee, but none here in Clarksville so far. Everything is turning brown, & we really need some rain and cooler temperatures.

[waichingliu81]

Originally Posted by annball1957

We've had 8 or 9 heat related deaths in Tennessee, but none here in Clarksville so far. Everything is turning brown, & we really need some rain and cooler temperatures.

well here in london england, we have been getting plenty of rain during this month and last july was the wettest for over 20 years

[coffield3]

Wierd isnt it how one side of the country is roasting hot and the other dull with rain! Sorry for those who have died!

[AB]

Originally Posted by waichingliu81

well here in london england, we have been getting plenty of rain during this month and last july was the wettest for over 20 years

Wish you could send some of that rain this way.

[Scoobiedoo30]

they are in my Prayers