People in Maryland flock to places with AC during outage

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Since millions are still without power, many in Maryland have flocked to malls, libraries, pools and most any other public place with electricity seeking relief from heat stress.

About 1.37 million customers across 11 states, from Indiana to Delaware and Washington, remain without power. That figure is down from about 1.8 million overnight and a peak of four million over the past weekend, just after the storms hit.

Power and government authorities warn that some customer will not get electricity until the end of this week.

Extreme heat warnings were issued for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. The National Weather Service says those areas will have temperatures near or above triple digits.

Residents of Boone County, West Virginia told CNN journalists that they haven’t received any assistance.

“We have a pool and we have a generator, but a lot of these people have nothing,” one woman complained. “It makes you want to sit down and cry.”

“I know they have a job to do and (power lines) are down everywhere, but you know what? Send somebody down here to check on us. Or set a cooling center up here for us or see if we need water.”

Water and ice are in short supply in the nearby community of Wharton.

“Ever since Saturday, we’ve had people — 40, 50, 60 people — waiting to get some relief and it’s just not coming,” Carlos Jarvis of Wharton says. “… People are in dire straits, really.”

Crowds packed out one of the few public pools with electricity in Germantown, Maryland.

“It’s just great to get out of the heat. It’s super hot without air conditioning in the house, so it’s great to cool off in the water,” one resident says.

2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.