No Letup As Heatwave Continues

Aug. 9, 2001 -- The nation baked in another day of smothering heat and humidityas residents from the Midwest to Northeast anxiously anticipated abreak from record-breaking temperatures.

"It's just too hot to do anything," said Robert Koval, apolice officer in Newark, N.J., where the temperature soaredWednesday to 101 degrees and eclipsed a record of 97 set in 1983.

The blistering temperatures and heavy humidity combined to pushheat indexes to 100 degrees and higher Wednesday in many parts ofthe country, including in Wrightstown, N.J., where the index was116 before noon.

"Hot. Muggy. Icky. Sticky," said Brandy Kallenbach, a teacherat the University of Wisconsin-Superior Child Care Center, wherechildren were kept inside.

Even northern California baked. The mercury reached 107 in RedBluff, nearly 200 miles north of San Francisco. Cooler temperatureswere expected in the Midwest and East by Friday.

The hot weather has been blamed in the deaths of several peoplethis week, including a man in a locked car in Oak Park, Mich., aroofer in Madison County, Ky., and a man and woman in their 70s inthe Philadelphia area.

In Wisconsin, health officials believe the heat has played arole in 10 deaths in the past three weeks. Missouri has had 22heat-related deaths so far this year.

About 10 fans of teen pop star Aaron Carter were hospitalizedafter being overcome by extreme heat during an outdoor concert inWilmington, Del. Emergency workers treated an additional 55 people,and the nearly 4,500 fans were hosed down by concert workers duringthe show because of the heat.

In parts of the northern Plains, a cold front brought somerelief from the heat Wednesday, but it packed powerfulthunderstorms that snapped trees and power lines and hurled grainbins across highways.

Grand Forks, N.D., declared a state of emergency following astorm that carried 101 mph wind gusts, dumped 1.61 inches of rainin about half an hour and left about 11,000 XCel Energy customerswithout electricity this morning.

"We've got 50 streets or better that are closed," officer GregLaHaise said today. About a dozen people suffered minorinjuries, he said.

Check temperatures in your area at weather.com.

Gov. John Hoeven sent the National Guard to help clean up thetown of Hillsboro, where 25 percent of the homes were damaged.

The scorching temperatures roasted a number of NFL trainingcamps, where coaches took more precautions following last week'sheatstroke death of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer.

One Carolina Panthers player became ill Wednesday an hour intopractice at the team's training camp, and a second later began tofeel dizzy.

"We all realize what football is about. It's hitting and beingtough. But at some point you've got to draw the line," said GreenBay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, whose coach changed practicesso players could work out in shorts instead of full pads.

High school football players in Traverse City, Mich., raced inwaist-deep Lake Michigan water and sprinted on the sand, trying tokeep cool during practice.

"The heat index was 108 here today," coach Matt Prisk said."We felt the only way we could have a good practice was down onthe water."

In Chicago, at least 18 firefighters were treated for heatexhaustion at a truck crash that closed parts of two interstates.

Farmers struggled to keep their livestock cool, setting up watermisters and fans in stalls. Milk production was down on farms inWisconsin and New Hampshire because of the stress put on cows bythe heat.

"You do the best you can, but it's kind of hard to see thempanting," said Dick Schauf, a dairy farmer in Sparta, Wis.

Archaeologists at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantationoutside Charlottesville, Va., still carried on with their work,digging deep holes on the estate's grounds to study past farmingpatterns.

"Those give us the chance to be about 5 feet down,"archaeologist Sara Bonn-Harper said. "It's cooler down there."

Electricity demand soared as people cranked up air conditioners.The overseer of New York state's electrical grid, the IndependentSystem Operator, said commercial users were asked to cut theirafternoon consumption, but stressed that enough power would beavailable to meet demand.