12 Die in Heat Wave in Texas, 4 Other States
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HOUSTON — At least 12 people have been killed by a week of temperatures above 100 degrees in Texas and neighboring states, officials said Tuesday.
They warned residents to stay inside with the air-conditioning on. Unrelenting sun has prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat advisories for much of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Heat-related deaths were reported in Houston; Dallas; Austin, Texas; and Shreveport, La. The victims included elderly shut-ins who had no air conditioners or could not afford to keep the units running, officials said.
In Dallas, health officials declared a heat emergency triggered by six consecutive days of temperatures over 100 degrees.
Officials in Houston also declared an emergency and opened 13 “cooling centers” for people.
Weather service forecaster Lance Wood said the hot weather was expected to continue through the weekend. After that, “things should cool off a little and we’ll return to normal summer temperatures.”
The normal mid-July temperature in Houston is 93 degrees and in Dallas 97 degrees, Wood said.
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