22 July 2011 Last updated at 10:39 ET

US and Canada heatwave worsens in eastern regions

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One New Yorker says being outside is like "sitting in a sauna all day long"

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• In pictures: Stifling heat

A gruelling heatwave has intensified over eastern parts of the US and Canada, with Friday expected to be the region's hottest day yet.

Temperatures feel as high as 46C (115F) in places along the crowded east coast, with no relief expected until after the weekend.
At least 22 deaths have been blamed on the heat, and 223 heat records have been breached across the US alone.
As much as 45% of the US population was under a heat advisory, officials said.
Meteorologists have put the temperatures down to a "dome" of high pressure in the atmosphere.
Many regions in the central US and parts of the eastern seaboard have seen heat indexes - a combination of temperature and humidity - topping 43C.
In New York, though, residents were warned to stay out of the water at city beaches after sewage was pumped into the Hudson River.
Air sinks The blistering heat has also hit parts of Canada, with temperatures in Toronto expected to top 35C on Friday, according to Environment Canada.

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Is there any chance of a drop in temperatures in the coming days?

At 38C (101F), Syracuse in New York State has already witnessed its hottest day since 1936, forecasters say.
"This is an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure that really has an exceptional scope and duration," Eli Jacks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the BBC.
"The air is sinking, as it sinks it compresses and gets warmer. It also dries out, so few clouds form to block the high early-summer sun," he said.
The combination of high heat and high humidity make it hard for the human body to cool itself - because sweat does not evaporate efficiently, he added.
Across the central and eastern US, people and animals alike have been struggling to keep cool amid the oppressive heat and humidity.
As the heat peaks in major population centres on the east coast, the number of deaths is expected to rise, officials warn.
Officials in the central state of Missouri say 13 people have died, and there have been fatalities in neighbouring Oklahoma, including a three-year-old boy.

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Stay-cool tips from an Arkansas farmer

Douglas Holmstrom, a 67-year-old businessman and cattle farmer in Lonoke County, tells the BBC:

• When doing outdoor construction work, keep the tools in the shade so they don't burn your hands
• Start work early in the day
• Wear a wet rag around your neck
• "I wear a straw hat, I take plenty of breaks, and I make sure to work with somebody most of the time. You have to watch out for one another"
• Don't get too used to the air conditioning: "The kids these days are so tuned to TV and to doing their games, they can't deal with the heat. If you stay outside and you're used to it, you can deal with it"
• Eat fresh vegetables and fruits - stay away from greasy food

In the town of Hutchinson in Kansas three elderly people were found dead in separate homes.

States more used to cold weather, including Minnesota and North Dakota, have been hit hard.
In the south, more than three-quarters of Texas is suffering from drought amid the worst dry spell in the state for decades.
Smog and sewage Urban areas have opened cooling centres for the poor and elderly, and the National Weather Service has warned people in normally cool areas to be especially cautious.
As New Yorkers roasted in the heat, health officials warned them to stay out of the water at four beaches on New York Harbor after a sewage treatment plant damaged by fire began pumping raw waste into the Hudson River.
Electricity company Con Edison said scattered power cuts were likely in New York in the coming days amid a surge in usage of air conditioning units.
The city's fire chiefs have hired additional crews and officials have placed mobile fountains around the city to allow people to refill water bottles.
Philadelphia has deployed police officers to manage hot, irritated crowds at the city's public swimming pools.

 

 

Across the US, people found ways to keep cool - like standing in front of a mist spray

In Nashville, Tennessee, hospital staff have reported several cases of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Chicago is experiencing unhealthy smog levels caused by the heat, with residents asked not to mow their lawns and to switch off idling cars.
Forecasters said the damage caused by the heat could be worse than that brought about by a heatwave in Chicago in 1995, when more than 700 people died over three days.
Asphalt and concrete pavements and buildings in cities were "re-radiating" the heat, forecasters say.
High temperatures - the number one weather-related killer in the US - claim 162 lives on average in the country each year.
The most severe heatwave in modern North American history took place during the Great Depression in 1936. The heat that summer was blamed for more than 5,000 deaths in the US and Canada.