The Nation - News from June 7, 1985

Churches offered air-conditioned refuge for the poor, Alabama provided fans to poultry farmers and some merchants ran out of ice as Southerners baked and crops wilted under a six-day, record-breaking heat wave blamed for four deaths. But forecasters promised that relief from the 100-degree-plus temperatures was just a few days away. Southerners huddled around fans and air conditioners, driving demand for electricity to a record high for the third straight day, according to the Southern Co., whose subsidiaries serve Georgia, Alabama, northeast Florida and southeast Mississippi.