American East Coast roasts for second day

Washington, July 8 (IANS) America roasted for another day as temperatures approached or surpassed the 100-degree Fahrenheit (37.77 degrees Celsius) mark for a second consecutive day in many East Coast states with a deadly heat wave sweeping over the region.

Richmond, Virginia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania; Mount Holly, New Jersey; and Newark International Airport in New Jersey all registered triple-digit temperatures early Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said.

At Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland, temperatures also hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.77 degrees Celsius) Wednesday afternoon, 4 degrees shy of Tuesday’s high of 104 (40 degrees Celsius).

The rising temperatures buckled roads, slowed trains and pushed utilities toward the limit of the electrical grid’s capacity. Scattered power breakdowns affected customers up and down the coast and usage approached record levels.

In the national capital of Washington, nearly 1,000 customers were without power Wednesday, while New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Electric & Gas, reported about 8,300 customers without power.

About 1,170 customers in Connecticut, 9,246 customers in New York state, and 1,696 in Massachusetts were still without power.

Power providers in Pennsylvania and other New England states were reporting very sparse and scattered breakdowns, generally under 100 in each state, CNN said.

Waterparks, pools and even fire hydrants became gathering places for people trying to cool off as the record-breaking heat wave continued to roast much of the region.

The weather service has issued an “excessive heat warning” until 8 p.m. Wednesday and an “excessive heat watch” for Thursday morning through Thursday afternoon for parts of eastern Pennsylvania and parts of Delaware and New Jersey.

Officials are advising people to stay indoors as the prolonged heat and humidity creates a “dangerous situation”.