McCain or Obama? AOL Elections 2008. Get all your up to the minute results.

News Video

News Video
Find, view and share videos about news and entertainment from around the Web.
See Videos »

Blog Chatter

What are tags?
List

User-Submitted News

Top stories submitted and voted on from Propeller.

Most Popular Stories

Most Commented On

Most Recent Comments

NEWS ALERTS

Get the latest updates sent straight to your inbox.

Sign up to receive AOL News alerts by e-mail.

Heat Wave Kills Dozens Across U.S.

By BETH RUCKER,
AP
Posted: 2007-08-17 12:16:11
Filed Under: Nation News
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 17) - Residents across the U.S. South and Midwest were hopeful that the weekend would bring some relief from brutal temperatures that have killed more than three dozen people and set records for power demand.

Forecasters expected temperatures in Memphis and other parts of the Mississippi Valley on Friday to drop slightly, into the 90s F, a relief from several consecutive days of triple digits.

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.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Alabama, on Thursday because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90 F 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-based utility.

The shutdown posed no safety threat, but it came as TVA hit records for power consumption in the last two weeks in its service area covering most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

The utility will compensate for the loss of power by buying it elsewhere.

In north-central Arkansas, the temperature reached 112 F 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 mid-afternoon Thursday, it was 107 F, Brown said. "It's still like an oven," he said.

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," said Dr. Franc Fenaughty, an emergency room physician in the Memphis suburb of Germantown. "After four or five or six days you are going to see more people get dehydrated. And, the big problem is dehydration."

Untreated, heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke, which often causes death or disability. A fever of 101 F or higher, especially for older people, is cause for concern, and fever of 103.5 F or more is considered an emergency.

"Every day the risk rises for those people who haven't had a break from the heat," said Dr. Mary Ellen McIntire, of the Baptist Minor Medical Centers.

There were nine confirmed deaths in Missouri, 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.

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 acknowledged the number may have been far higher. A 1995 heat wave in Chicago was blamed for 700 deaths.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-08-17 03:00:49
Bookmark

Recent Comments

Post Your Own  
1 - 10 of 372
372 comments

donedaytona 06:40:00 PM Aug 19 2007

Report This!

"EXPERTS" expect that if the heat wave continues, more people may die from it ! Wow ! Who would have thought that ? No wonder these guys are called "EXPERTS" . I bet that not one of us non-experts could ever have figured this out !

Oh, by the way, "EXPERTS" also claim these deaths are directly related to Al Gore's global warming, and the actions of George Bush .

weathwoods 10:09:00 PM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

Bill5209 02:48:39 PM Aug 18 2007

"its all bushes fault. just ask the liberial news media."

It's all Iran's fault. Just ask the Bushbots.

Bill5209 02:48:39 PM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

its all bushes fault. just ask the liberial news media.

aninkwell 01:35:00 PM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

Heat waves lady boomers with hot flashes = road rage.

My car a/c is not working ... get out of my way!

aninkwell 01:33:56 PM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

Heat waves lady boomers with hot flashes = road rage.

My car a/c is not working ... get out of my way!

G75Kafka 11:12:19 AM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

darklex31 08:13:10 AM Aug 18 2007 Writes:

>> global warming anyone? and by the way just how hot will it get before we make some changes in our life style?<<

Good. How about banning airconditioning systems??

G75Kafka 11:03:29 AM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

Folks need to drink plenty of water, stay in the shade, and take a couple of cool showers or baths during the heat of the day to survive the heatwaves.

lewby54 08:39:58 AM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

There is a reason why people are jumping ship, left and right.
http://www.squidoo.com/double_speak/

darklex31 08:13:10 AM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

global warming anyone? and by the way just how hot will it get before we make some changes in our life style?

debrad1207 01:55:34 AM Aug 18 2007

Report This!

Man, I really wish it would cool of here in FL. I'm in marching band, and let me tell you... marching for 3 hours 3 days a week in 95 degree F weather isn't pleasant.

1 - 10 of 372
372 comments

Add your own Comments

Clear
Add
* Want the latest Hot Seat polls delivered to your Vista desktop? Hot Seat Vista Gadget »

CNN.com

More Stories

Top Videos

News Bloggers