US bakes as heat wave continues

NEW YORK - Several giant video billboards in New York's Times Square were turned off today in a bid to save power as the US East Cost sweltered through a deadly heat wave that sent the mercury above 38 degrees Celcius.

Office workers stayed at their air-conditioned desks while lights on the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building and the halls of Congress in Washington were dimmed to save power.

But despite these efforts to reduce power consumption, electricity suppliers in New York, Washington and across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest reported new demand records, which surpassed the highs set on Tuesday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg - hoping to avoid a blackout such as the one in 2003 which saw New York City's 8 million residents and 50 million people in US Northeast go without power - pleaded for New Yorkers to cut their electricity use at home as the city prepared to face a third straight day of 38degC temperatures.

"(The problem is) in the residential neighbourhoods. If we want to keep the power going we're all just going to have to have to conserve," he told reporters, adding that the city's electricity grid was under "great strain."

Only minor power outages have been reported in cities like Chicago and New York. That helped boost utility shares and the Dow Jones Utilities average touched an all-time high on Wednesday.

The high temperatures have moved east from California, where two weeks of heat killed at least 136 people and caused power failures. The weather has also been blamed for at least 16 deaths in Missouri and three deaths in Chicago.

But while National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Feltgen said the heat index - a measure of how hot it feels when the humidity is combined with the air temperature - reached more than 43degC in many areas on Wednesday, relief is on the way.

Relief on the way

"Cities such as Chicago and Detroit will begin cooling down tomorrow and parts of New England as well," Feltgen said.

"Cities such as New York and Philadelphia and even Washington won't begin cooling down until Friday. Tomorrow will be one more big heat day."

Swimming pool hours in New York were extended and thousands of people flocked to more than 380 cooling centres.

"I've been drinking plenty of water," said Matthew King, 40, who sells watches on a Manhattan street. "It's very hot."

In Washington, the sweltering commute was slowed on Wednesday as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reduced rush hour train speeds to save power.

While the East Coast baked, a tropical storm off Puerto Rico threatened to become the first hurricane of 2006. Tropical Storm Chris was forecast to follow a path similar to last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina.

The expected cool change began moving through the Midwest and brought a deluge, with heavy rains shutting some roads in the Minneapolis area. It also touched off at least one tornado in southern Minnesota near Butterfield.

- REUTERS