US Thunderstorms: Death Toll Rises To 17

 

 

The number of people killed in storms which swept across the eastern United States has risen to 17 – as some three million are left without power in soaring temperatures.

Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and the District of Columbia have all been declared  emergency zones as the mercury hits 40C (100F).
Officials said it could be days before blackouts in Washington DC and elsewhere are fixed and people are being warned of further possible thunderstorms.
Maryland governor Martin O'Malley said: "Unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without any of the warning of a hurricane."
Deaths in the severe weather were blamed mostly on trees falling on homes and cars.
In New Jersey, two cousins aged two and seven were killed by a falling tree in a state park, and in eastern Tennessee, heat was blamed for the deaths of two brothers, ages three and five, in Bradley County who had been playing outside in 105F heat.
In West Virginia, 232 Amtrak passengers were stranded on Friday night on a train blocked on both sides of the tracks by toppled trees.
Electricity firms in Ohio, Virginia and Maryland described storm damage to their power grids as catastrophic.
"It's going to be a while before some folks get power, and with the heat, that's our big concern," said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.