A searing heat wave that had enveloped parts of the central and eastern United States is being blamed for the suspected deaths of at least 19 individuals in New Jersey. As the high temperatures subside, they are making way for severe storms that have already disrupted power supply to nearly 1 million homes and businesses.
Officials in New Jersey reported on Saturday that the state began witnessing potential heat-related fatalities as early as last Thursday, predominantly in the central and northern regions.
“Sadly, many of these people were discovered in homes lacking air conditioning,” explained Dr. Raynard Washington, the New Jersey Health Commissioner, during a press briefing on Saturday. “A number of others were found outside their homes, with some located on streets and even in parked vehicles.”
Governor Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey described the ongoing weather as “the hottest period we’ve experienced in over 14 years.”
“This heat wave is affecting everyone, not just the elderly or those with pre-existing health issues, but people of all age groups,” Sherrill remarked.
On Thursday, LaGuardia Airport in New York set a new record high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), topping the previous record of 101 F (38.3 C) set in 1966, according to Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center.
Trenton, New Jersey, reached 101 F, which broke the record of 100 F (37.7 C) set in 1901. Newark’s high Thursday was 105 F (40.5 C).
Atlantic City, New Jersey, hit 103 F (39.4 C) on Thursday, breaking the city’s record of 100 F set in 1966, Jackson said. Atlantic City reached 105 F on Friday and 106 F (41.1 C) on Saturday.
Heat domes can be dangerous and combine very high temperatures with high moisture, Jackson said.
“In a lot of cases they also had direct sunshine,” he said. “It was relentless. It was multiple days. It was not as cool overnight, as well. The low Friday morning in Atlantic City was 80. The body can’t recover as well. You just have that multiple day buildup and too much added stress on the body.”
But even as the heat moved to the east, lowering temperatures a bit, severe storms blew in with heavy winds that toppled utility poles and split trees, causing their boles and branches to fall onto power lines.
About 900,000 utility customers in parts of the central, eastern and southern United States were without electricity early Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.com.
More than 223,000 customers in Michigan and close to 170,000 in Pennsylvania had lost power.
PPL Electric reported 121,417 without power Sunday morning, including about 47,000 in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area.
Central Hudson in New York State reported that it had more than 430 reported downed wires on Sunday. The utility said about 50,000 customers were affected by the storm and that about 650 still were without power Sunday.
Amanda Vesper was putting her children to bed Friday evening when the first storm rolled through the Detroit area, knocking out her power.
“It didn’t seem that awful. It got quite windy,” said Vesper, 40, of Commerce Township.
As of late Sunday morning, the electricity still was out.
“We’ve been going back and forth between a hotel and our home because we have dogs there,” she said. “We really can’t stay there. I have a small child with autism. Our well runs on an electric pump.”
The outage also ruined the family’s July 4 celebration.
“We had planned on having company over at the house, but had to cancel,” Vesper said. “I went grocery shopping. I’m hoping my freezer holds.”
Jackson, with the Weather Prediction Center, said Sunday will see heavy thunderstorms in and around the Cleveland area. Those storms then will shift eastward and move into Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York — where chances exist for flash flooding, he added.