Storms leave millions without power in US

12:14, 1 July 2012

WASHINGTON. July 1. KAZINFORM Nearly 4 million homes and businesses were without power on Saturday amid arecord heat wave in the eastern United States after deadly thunderstorms downed power linesfrom Indiana to New Jersey. At least 11 people were killed, according to China Daily.

Statewide emergencies were declared in Washington D.C., Ohio, Virginia and West Virginiabecause of damage from overnight storms, which brought hurricane-force winds along a 500-mile (800km) stretch.

Forecasters predicted more severe thunderstorms as renewed heat blanketed the area onSaturday.

Temperatures surpassed 100 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) in several southern cities, includingAtlanta, where the mercury hit 106 degrees (41 C), and Charlotte, North Carolina, where itreached 102 F (38 C), according to Accuweather.com. The nation's capital cooled down to 96Fahrenheit (96 C).

Restoring power in some areas could take up to a week. Utilities in Ohio and Virginia describeddamage as catastrophic.

"It's going to be a while before some folks get power, and with the heat, that's our big concern,"said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

More than 1 million Virginia customers had no power in the worst outage not linked to ahurricane in the state's history, he said.

Six people were killed in Virginia in storm-related incidents.

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