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Severe Weather Affects Eastern, Midwestern United States

   VOA News 24 July 2010
   A lifeguard sits amid a sea of people and their beach umbrellas trying
   to  escape the heat and humidity of mid-July in Seaside Park, N.J., 16
   Jul 2010

Photo: AP

   A lifeguard sits amid a sea of people and their beach umbrellas trying
   to  escape the heat and humidity of mid-July in Seaside Park, N.J., 16
   Jul 2010

   A  severe  heat  wave  has clamped down on parts of the United States,
   causing many residents to scramble for shade or just stay indoors with
   the air conditioner on.
   In the Washington area, weather experts warned of dangerous conditions
   as  temperatures  hovered around the 38 degree Celsius mark.  Further
   south,  in  Richmond, Virginia, 40 degree Celsius temperature readings
   were recorded.
   Severe  heat  was  also  reported  in other states along the U.S. east
   coast.
   Elsewhere,  heavy  rains  drenched  parts  of  the  midwestern  United
   States.  In Chicago, Illinois, officials say more than 18 centimeters
   of rain fell early Saturday, causing flooding and disrupting travel.
   In  nearby Wisconsin, Governor Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency
   in  Milwaukee  county  after  severe  storms and flash flooding forced
   people  from  their  homes,  damaged  infrastructure  and led to power
   outages. Â
   Officials  in  Iowa  also say flooding has caused a dam to fail in the
   eastern  part  of  the  state  and  that  communities downstream could
   flood.   Iowa  Governor  Chet Culver has activated the National Guard
   and residents who live in the vicinity of the dam have been evacuated.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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