High Heat and Power Outages

It could be several more days before electricity is restored to areas hit by vicious storms that killed at least 13 people and left three million power customers to negotiate sweltering temperatures without air conditioning.

Massive storms sweeping across the Eastern U.S caused the deaths of two young cousins camping with their families in New Jersey after a tree fell on their tent.

Across a swath from Indiana to New Jersey and south to Virginia, officials warned the heat wave could take a toll on the elderly, young or sick.

* * * 

The storm that whipped through the region Friday night was called a derecho (duh-RAY'-choh) , a straight line wind system that sweeps over a large area at high speed.

The storm, which packed wind gusts of up to 90 mph, began in the Midwest, passed over the Appalachian Mountains and then drew new strength from a high pressure system as it hit the southeastern U.S., said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Emergencies have been declared in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, the District of Columbia and Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell said the state had its largest non-hurricane outage in history, as more storms threatened. 'This is a very dangerous situation,' the governor said.

Power officials said the outages wouldn't be repaired for several days to a week.

* * * 

In Washington's northern Virginia suburbs, emergency 911 call centers were out of service; residents were told to call local police and fire departments.

The story indicates that 13 people have died due to the storm. Fallen trees across a railroad track left Amtrack passengers stranded for 20 hours. Full story here.