Midwest endures scorcher

CHICAGO – The blowtorch heat that blistered California last week gripped the Midwest on Monday, prompting communities to throw air-conditioned buildings open to the public and endangering millions of people with outdoor jobs — including NFL players in training camp.

Temperatures throughout the Midwest and Plains exceeded 100 degrees. The heat index, a measure of temperature plus humidity, climbed as high as 110 in some places. The National Weather Service issued heat warnings for such cities as Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio, and Tulsa, Okla.

Cheryl Harriston struggled to stay comfortable as she handed out fliers supporting an increase in the minimum wage at an intersection in Columbus, Ohio.

“I have my water, my hat, and I stand in the shade a lot,” Harriston said. “And, when I feel that cool breeze, I really take a minute to appreciate it.”

The Midwest could get some relief by Wednesday, but the worst of the heat was expected to drift into the Northeast today, bringing scorching temperatures to New York, Washington and Boston.

NFL teams closely monitored players for signs of heat-related illness. The heat prompted the Chicago Bears to cancel morning practice at training camp in Bourbonnais, Ill.

Chicago resident Tony Tesfay, 43, left his basement room at a halfway house first thing Monday and rode his bicycle to one of the city’s cooling centers – air-conditioned recreation centers and other buildings that were opened to the public to prevent a repeat of 1995, when a heat wave killed 700 people in Chicago.

“I was pedaling slow, not too hard, so I could keep hydrated,” he said. “It took me about 15 minutes. It wasn’t too bad.”

In California, the sweltering heat that punished the state for two weeks subsided, but the number of confirmed or suspected heat-related deaths climbed to 164 as county coroners worked through a backlog of cases.

Cities across the Midwest urged neighbors to check on the elderly and disabled. Utilities expected to set records for power usage and asked customers to conserve electricity to prevent blackouts.

In Chicago, officials made available a special telephone line to request checks on vulnerable neighbors and friends. The Department of Human Services and police responded to nearly 50 such requests by early Monday. The city’s Department of Aging also telephoned more than 300 senior citizens to offer help, such as rides to cooling centers.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office reported two heat-related deaths Monday. Both victims were men in their 50s or 60s with heart disease. In Oklahoma, authorities reported two more deaths that happened over the weekend.

In Wisconsin, sheriff’s deputies put a priority on responding to calls about disabled vehicles. “When it’s 100 degrees and you’ve got kids in the car, that’s not good,” said Waukesha County Sheriff’s Lt. Thom Moerman.

In the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, a youth swim team cut practice short because the water temperature rose to 80 degrees, about 10 degrees above normal.