May 24, 2013
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people without power is slowly getting smaller, but the number of deaths blamed on the storms that blasted through the mid-Atlantic Friday night is getting larger.
Officials now say 24 people were killed. And, they're expressing concerns that the number could grow because of the heat wave that's been suffocating the region and the widespread use of generators, which emit fumes that can be dangerous in enclosed spaces.
Utility crews are struggling to catch up with a backlog of millions of people without electricity for a fourth hot day. Power is back for more than a million customers but lights -- and air-conditioning -- are still out for about one and a quarter million homes and businesses in seven states and the District of Columbia.
Utilities are warning that many neighborhoods could remain in the dark for much of the week, if not beyond.
(Copyright 2012, The Associated Press)
