SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Power Outages Leave Millions Sweltering in 'Dangerous Heat' With 'Hot and Hotter' on the Way
Jul 02, 2012
Continued heat and power outages follow a weekend of destructive storms and oppressive temperatures across the east coast and plains.
As of this morning, millions were still without power including over 90,000 in the Chicagoland area, over 490,000 in the Washington area, and about 450,000 people in Ohio and more than 650,000 in West Virginia. Some residents will be waiting until the end of the week to see their power restored.
Reuters reports that of the 2.2 million homes and businesses stretching from Illinois to New Jersey, the Washington, D.C. area was the hardest hit.
As millions hope for rapid recovery of power, deadly heat continues. Weather Service meteorologist Katie LaBelle stated that the heat wave has "broken hundreds of daily records and quite a few all-time records."
Those hoping for relief from the heat have no comforting forecasts ahead. "Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the plains to the Atlantic Coast for the next few days," the National Weather Service said.
As AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Edwards explained to ABC News, the destructive weather that hit the Washington, D.C. area was caused by a rare occurrence known as a "derecho," which forms "when an atmospheric disturbance lifts the warm air in regions experiencing intense heat, causing thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds to develop."
Dr. Jeff Masters writes on WunderBlog that "Friday's derecho was one of the largest and most destructive in U.S. history."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Continued heat and power outages follow a weekend of destructive storms and oppressive temperatures across the east coast and plains.
As of this morning, millions were still without power including over 90,000 in the Chicagoland area, over 490,000 in the Washington area, and about 450,000 people in Ohio and more than 650,000 in West Virginia. Some residents will be waiting until the end of the week to see their power restored.
Reuters reports that of the 2.2 million homes and businesses stretching from Illinois to New Jersey, the Washington, D.C. area was the hardest hit.
As millions hope for rapid recovery of power, deadly heat continues. Weather Service meteorologist Katie LaBelle stated that the heat wave has "broken hundreds of daily records and quite a few all-time records."
Those hoping for relief from the heat have no comforting forecasts ahead. "Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the plains to the Atlantic Coast for the next few days," the National Weather Service said.
As AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Edwards explained to ABC News, the destructive weather that hit the Washington, D.C. area was caused by a rare occurrence known as a "derecho," which forms "when an atmospheric disturbance lifts the warm air in regions experiencing intense heat, causing thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds to develop."
Dr. Jeff Masters writes on WunderBlog that "Friday's derecho was one of the largest and most destructive in U.S. history."
Continued heat and power outages follow a weekend of destructive storms and oppressive temperatures across the east coast and plains.
As of this morning, millions were still without power including over 90,000 in the Chicagoland area, over 490,000 in the Washington area, and about 450,000 people in Ohio and more than 650,000 in West Virginia. Some residents will be waiting until the end of the week to see their power restored.
Reuters reports that of the 2.2 million homes and businesses stretching from Illinois to New Jersey, the Washington, D.C. area was the hardest hit.
As millions hope for rapid recovery of power, deadly heat continues. Weather Service meteorologist Katie LaBelle stated that the heat wave has "broken hundreds of daily records and quite a few all-time records."
Those hoping for relief from the heat have no comforting forecasts ahead. "Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the plains to the Atlantic Coast for the next few days," the National Weather Service said.
As AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Edwards explained to ABC News, the destructive weather that hit the Washington, D.C. area was caused by a rare occurrence known as a "derecho," which forms "when an atmospheric disturbance lifts the warm air in regions experiencing intense heat, causing thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds to develop."
Dr. Jeff Masters writes on WunderBlog that "Friday's derecho was one of the largest and most destructive in U.S. history."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.