Dehydration, heat stroke, heat exhaustion...this is the time to take extreme care. If you have elderly friends, relatives, or neighbors -- especially if there are power outages that might interfere with air conditioning -- check in on them frequently to be sure they are OK. The heat wave is taking a heavy toll:
- A heat wave that has baked much of the nation this week has been blamed for at least 29 deaths, three of them in Missouri.
- The death toll in Oklahoma alone rose to seven. Oklahoma City experienced a high of 107, hot enough to buckle a portion of Interstate 44 buckled, forcing the temporary closure of two lanes.
- In St. Louis, the weather has flip-flopped between sweltering heat and violent storms. As many as 500,000 Ameren Corp. customers in the area lost power Wednesday, making Thursday's heat (July 20, 2006) that much more unbearable.
- Tens of thousands of people also were without power in parts of southern Illinois that were pounded by storms for the second time in three days, with winds estimated at up to 65 mph.
- In New York, tens of thousands of people were still without power Friday, July 21, 2006, the fifth day of a mysterious electrical problem during the hottest week of the year.
- In the West, temperatures soared above 100 degrees in Washington and California. In California, where the state set a record for power usage, the heat may have caused as many as four deaths.
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