East Coast heatwave's death toll rises passes 30; 15 in Philly
Pastor Dale Morgan
East Coast heatwave's death toll rises passes 30; 15 in Philly*
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Deaths blamed on the East Coast's recent heat wave
climbed past 30 Thursday with various coroner's reports, and 15 of the
deaths were in Philadelphia alone.
The Philadelphia medical examiner's office said seven people found dead
Wednesday died of heat-related causes. On Wednesday the office had
reported eight other heat-related deaths in the four days of scorching
temperatures.
Most of the victims in Philadelphia and elsewhere were elderly.
New York City's medical examiner, which attributed six deaths to the
heat wave Wednesday, added a seventh Thursday: an 88-year-old man found
in his Brooklyn home with hyperthermia, an abnormal elevation of body
temperature.
Another seven heat-related deaths have been reported in Virginia. Two
have been reported in Maryland, including one man who collapsed after
using a push lawnmower in the heat.
Also, the Montgomery County coroner reported that a 65-year-old man died
Tuesday from sunstroke in the Philadelphia suburb of Pottstown.
The region suffered through temperatures in the high 90s from Saturday
through Tuesday.
Philadelphia medical examiner's spokesman Jeff Moran said city's death
toll was "a bit high, but I would not call it that unusual."
He noted that some heat waves in the 1990s had been far deadlier, with
118 deaths ruled as heat-related in 1993 and more than 70 in 1995. Also,
the fact that this heat wave was the first of 2008 was a factor, he said.
"The first heat wave of the season usually hits a good deal harder,"
Moran said.