Based on a recent report published by the Associated Press, the heat wave that has tormented Americans in Eastern U.S. will intensify in the following days. The weather has caused a lot of troubles to authorities who had to restore the electricity in various cities across the coast.
Residents living on the Eastern coast of the United States were exposed to devastating weather conditions in the past month. Last week, several cities in this region were affected by powerful storms and winds. Their damages were worsened by the heat wave that seized the entire area this weekend.
The powerful storms destroyed great part of the cities’ electrical network leaving people completely unarmed in the face of the ensuing heat wave. Inhabitants were forced to find new solutions to protect themselves against the hot sunrays as their refrigerators and air conditioners were no longer working.
According to Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, the consequences of the Friday storm were negative because authorities were taken by surprise and they didn’t have time to prepare. O’Malley explained that a hurricane is usually predicted within three days and inhabitants know what to do to protect themselves and their properties. Last week’s storms were as powerful as a hurricane, but they showed up unannounced.
14 people lost their lives during the storms in the mid-Atlantic region. The most affected states were Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky and Washington, but reports show that the damages were also registered in Indiana. Now that the heat wave is going to intensify in the following days, utility crews are working to restore electricity and set up cooling shelters to help residents.
Most people, who can’t use their air conditioners at home, choose to spend their time at the cinema to escape the heat. Eddie Shoemaker, an usher at Landmark Theaters’ Bethesda Row Cinema told the press that customers ask him whether they have electric power or not and then spend the rest of the day at the cinema complex.
The power outage will last for several more days, according to officials’ estimates. Until then, residents will have to help each other and share supplies among them to survive the heat wave.
