Death Toll Soars to 148 Despite Letup in Heat

CHICAGO —  Twenty-six more people have died from the heat in Chicago, pushing Illinois’ heat-related death toll to 50 and the nation’s casualties to 148, even as Saturday brought a glimpse of cooler weather to parts of the country.

An additional 20 deaths in Chicago may be heat-related and were under investigation, Mayor Richard M. Daley said, announcing the latest death toll from the heat wave that scorched much of the nation and produced New York City’s hottest July on record.

With the deaths in Chicago and elsewhere, the nation’s heat-related toll rose to 148 on Saturday.

“This heat is some serious stuff, man,” said George Wilder Jr., a security guard working downtown who took the day off to check on his 85-year-old grandmother. “She’s doing fine. I’m glad, because I only have one grandmother.”

Chicago hit 99 degrees during the week, though by Saturday a front moving through the region lowered temperatures to the 80s. Despite the cooler weather, Daley urged residents to check on relatives and friends, particularly those who are elderly or ill.

“You could save their life,” he said. In 1995, more than 700 elderly Chicagoans died in the extreme summer heat.

Parts of the East continued to sizzle, with Philadelphia peaking at 99 degrees Saturday, making it the ninth straight day above 90 degrees, and temperatures soared in New England.

In New York, where temperatures had climbed above 90 for the last eight days, the thermometer “only” hit 88 degrees in Central Park. So ended the hottest July in New York City history.

Forecasters were predicting that the first few days of August would offer some much-needed relief to the Big Apple.

The brutal heat stretched across much of the nation. In more than a dozen states, people were found dead in homes and apartments without air-conditioning or fans. In North Carolina, a migrant farm worker found dead had a body temperature of 108 degrees, authorities said.

Missouri reported six new heat deaths Saturday, bringing the total there to 42. Most of those who died were elderly and had air-conditioning but didn’t use it because they were worried about high utility bills, officials said.