Power outages caused by a series of extremely powerful storms on Friday has left more than two million people without electricity. This, of course, wouldn’t necessarily be a huge problem were it not for the recent wave of overwhelming heat that has plague the States over the past week. As many people attempt to cope with the relentless temperatures, officials from various power companies have stated it could take several days before service is completely restored.
These outages couldn’t have happened at a more inopportune moment. As of Monday morning, several of the areas currently without power are still under heat advisories. These temperatures are thought to have caused at least 16 deaths over the past week. To add insult to injury, more storms are expected in southern Mid-Atlantic region and north-central United States, which could seriously dampen efforts to clean up the mess and restore power to those who need it most.
Although efforts are currently being made to get utilities back in proper working order, some companies have stated that customers may not see a restoration of their service until Friday. This has prompted several folks to make a mad dash for air conditioned locations, such as malls, movie theaters, and other public spots. However, this only serves as temporary relief; once these places close for business, these people will be forced to return to their powerless homes.
“Hot and hotter will continue to be the story from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast the next few days,” the National Weather Service stated. “The widespread excessive heat warnings and heat advisories have certainly decreased in coverage, but temperatures will remain well above average across a large portion of the U.S.”
According to CNN, the number of people without power include approximately 250,000 in Maryland, 500,000 in Virginia, 450,000 in Ohio, 650,000 in West Virginia, and 225,000 in Washington, D.C. Since each household is considered one customer, it’s thought that the number of folks suffering from this overpowering heat is well into the millions.