Two more heat wave deaths in Memphis
Pastor Dale Morgan
Two more heat wave deaths in Memphis*
By Beth Rucker, Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE — Two more deaths in the Memphis area have been linked to high
temperatures, bringing the heat wave death toll there to five, officials
said Tuesday.
The temperature in Memphis rose to at least 100 degrees again Tuesday,
the fifth consecutive day of triple-digit highs, as hot air blanketed
the south-central portion of the nation. Monday's top reading in the
city was 105.
"This is unusual. Last summer we had two (heat-related deaths) all
summer. This is five deaths over a six-day period," Shelby County
Medical Examiner Karen E. Chancellor said.
The latest two deaths were a 75-year-old man found in a home with no air
conditioning and a 77-year-old woman found in her backyard where she
apparently had been gardening, Chancellor said. Both were found Monday.
The National Weather Service predicts Memphis temperatures will rise
beyond the century mark through Friday.
Temperatures were in the 90s at midday Tuesday from the western Plains
to the East Coast, with scattering readings of 100. On Monday,
thermometers registered above 100 in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Texas,
Nebraska and Kansas, the weather service said.
South Carolina and Missouri have each reported one heat-related death,
and Illinois blamed three deaths on the heat since Thursday. Kentucky
officials said the heat may have been to blame for one death, but that
had not yet been confirmed.