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Massive, deadly heat wave spreads from Midwest to East

22 July 2011 02:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sweating crowds on the East Coast and in the Midwest flocked to waterfronts and urban cooling centers on Thursday to escape a massive heat wave that has killed at least 22 people this week, APA reports siting Reuters.
The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings for wide swaths of the countryâ€™s mid-section and East Coast, saying the combined heat and humidity could spike the heat index or "real feel" of the warmth to 115 degrees through Saturday.
By early Thursday afternoon in New York City, the thermometer hit 91 but it felt more like 112, according to Accuweather.com.
Other cities watching their local heat indexes rise into the triple digits because of the oppressive mix of high temperatures and humidity included -- among others -- Tulsa, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Washington, D.C., according to the weather service.
In Chicago, where a five-day heat wave in 1995 killed hundreds, the city endured a fifth consecutive day of abnormally high temperatures with the heat index hitting 110 in the early afternoon -- and forecasters warned the heat wave could continue into the weekend.
In Oklahoma, where the heat has exacerbated a severe drought, Governor Mary Fallin said she planned to ease commercial vehicle restrictions to speed delivery of hay and other feed to cattle whose grazing areas have been destroyed by the weather.
Fallin said she would amend an existing drought-related emergency declaration she issued earlier this year to allow hay-haulers to operate bigger trucks with heavier loads on the stateâ€™s roads.
"We have cattle that are starving," Fallin told Reuters, "and we have certain areas of the state where we need to get the hay delivered to the farmers and the ranchers and the cattlemen."