Extreme weather
In the northeast of the United States in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a search after a flash flood swept cars away. At least four are dead and two young siblings among those missing. It is the human cost here of extreme weather which in so many different ways is impacting across North America. On the other side of the country it is the staggering heat. 46 degrees Celsius in Phoenix, Arizona. That's 115 Fahrenheit. A place that knows heat, but this is on a different level. It is expected to rise beyond 47 by Monday. But it's the span of this heat dome in time and area that is so remarkable. In Phoenix, Sunday was the 16th consecutive day of temperatures above 43 degrees. Emergency services are adapting. So buried underneath all this ice, here's our IV fluids that we're going to give them. Heat-related calls are soaring across a vast strip of the south. Further west in Moreno Valley, temperatures are nudging 40. Wildfires have burned more than 7,600 acres already. And in California's Riverside County, more. Not far away, Death Valley, and a temperature of 51. Even by the standards of a place that sells itself as among the lowest, driest and hottest on earth, this is quite a figure. Forecasters reckon the mercury could soon hit 54.4 degrees Celsius. That's more than 130 Fahrenheit. In San Diego, the local TV was highlighting the dangers of hot surfaces. I think this might be the warmest temperature we've gotten so far. Let's see. Wow, 156 degrees Fahrenheit. That is very hot. That's 69 degrees Celsius. No wonder people are being injured. I sat down on a sidewalk waiting for the buzz. And I guess the pavement was hot enough so that I got a burn. Here in Washington, it's positively cold today at just 30 degrees. That's cooler than the last few days. But there are some really notable reflections from all of this. It's the different types of weather events hitting us one after the other or at the same time. If it's not the heat, then it's the storms and the floods or the fires or the terrible air quality impacting far from where those fires are burning. It all feels pretty relentless and hot. Mark Stone, Sky News in Washington.
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