(Reuters) – A searing heat wave in the central and southern United States has killed at least 22 people this week, and forecasters on Wednesday said the heat was moving east and could last for weeks.
The National Weather Service said 141 million people in more than two dozen states were under a heat advisory or warning because of the soaring temperatures. The country's midsection has been scorched off and on since late May.
The cumulative effects in terms of lost lives, stress on the power grid and damage to roads and bridges could eclipse the effects of the deadly heat wave of 1995, which claimed hundreds of lives in Chicago alone, AccuWeather.com predicted.
[mashshare]
