Heat Wave Kills 37 in South, Midwest

[Ghost in the Machine]

Heat Wave Kills 37 in South, Midwest
Published: 8/17/07, 4:05 AM EDT
By BETH RUCKER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Residents across the 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, 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, Ala., on Thursday because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours.

http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=7434&eeid=5353886&_sitecat=1522&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne

[Eurobabe]

1. Yes, and some counties in VA did not LEARN from summer 2002

with the drought. I just received an email from the County of Albemarle VA, for the second time in 5 years they are enforcing mandatory drought restrictions. This one isn't as severe YET, but it could get there. In 2002, restaurants used paper plates, you could not get your hair shampooed at a salon, no car washing, no pools were refilled, etc.

In the meantime, the stupid CBOS (County Board of Supervisors, all CONS, IIRC) keep allowing out of control development and population explosion in what used to be one of Virginia's most livable areas, areas in and around Charlottesville. They never could agree on any long-term solutions to this issue, so they did nothing. Here we go again!

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. I remember water restrictions when I lived outside Atlanta....

and when Lake Blackshear dried up...

I'm glad I have my own well here. I had been wondering about how it was holding out, and found out the hard way when I had to replace the well pump a little over a week ago. The reading was 118' to the surface of the water... the pump was submerged to 160', so I think I'm in good shape for a while...

People take things for granted too much... water, electricity... EVERYTHING... I found that out after hurricane andrew...

[B Calm]

2. I have an Indiana farm pond and I have never seen the water level

this low since the year it was built.

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. I noticed last weekend that the big lake here was down about a foot...

but sometimes they control the depth using the dam & spillways...

It rained here nearly every day for over a week, and now we haven't seen a drop in 2 weeks... I don't see any in the forecast for the next 5 days either..

[riverdale]

4. Michigan still cold as hell

We won't see 80 for several days

[Ghost in the Machine]

7. When I moved from Midland, Mi on June 1, 1982, it was 45 degrees

for the HIGH of the day... we had 8 inches of snow on the ground Easter morning....

I don't miss it one bit...

[tammywammy]

5. We're finally getting a heat break in Texas

At least it didn't hit over 100 until August, but still it's unbearable. It's finally broke though and we're just down in the 90s again. Erin pushed a little rain up into North Texas last night, so that helps. I hope this high pressure system moves on quickly though.

[Ghost in the Machine]

8. it was 103 here yesterday at 6 pm, when I took my son to football practice

I just went monday and bought two 5 gallon water coolers to take to the practices so the team would have ice water... The little league here is great for the kids, but being as how this is such a poor town, and the parents don't all chip in to help, they need all the help they can get...