us heatwave tops 50C

US Heatwave Kills 22 As Temperatures Top 50C

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9:59am UK, Friday July 22, 2011
More than 20 people have died as the United States swelters through record
temperatures in one of the worst heatwaves to hit the country in over a decade.











Hospitals and medical facilities have been inundated with people suffering
heat-related illnesses as temperatures topped 37C (100F) across much of central
and eastern parts of the country.
Beaches and public swimming pools have been swamped with locals and tourists
alike trying to fend off the scorching heat.
The National Weather Service says the hot spell, which has already claimed as
many as 22 lives in the Midwest, is expected to worsen with temperatures
spiralling to up to 46C (115F).



Thousands of people have flocked to US beaches to try and
cool down


Meteorologists warned the death toll could rise, likening the hot conditions
to the punishing heatwave of 1995 that, in Chicago alone, led to 750 deaths over
just a few days.
Vanderbilt University Hospital's Dr Corey Slovis says people become weak,
nauseated and tired in this type of extreme weather.
"People with heat stroke are coming with elevated temperatures and
alterations in mental status, either lethargy or coma," he said.



This board in New York shows the scorching temperatures
during the heatwave


Manchester United players are on tour in the US and are bracing for high
temperatures when they play Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Wayne Rooney tweeted: "Landed in Chicago. Gonna be hard playing in this heat.
Hard enough walking in it."
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson told a media conference in Chicago that his players
would be tested by the conditions.



Manchester United players are feeling the heat while on
their 2011 US Tour


"We've come from the nice, cool atmosphere in Seattle to a furnace," he
said.
Temperatures topped 51C (123F) in Iowa, in the central US, while in Maryland,
near the US capital, weather services said it was 42C (108F) in the shade.
New York City officials have been placing mobile fountains around town to
allow residents and tourists to refill water bottles and cool off.



A council worker in Texas sweats through the prolonged
heatwave


The city's emergency crews have also hired additional manpower and are ready
to respond to any heat-related incidents.
The intense heat is set to stay in place through the weekend