PHOENIX (AP) — Priscilla Orr, 75, was living in her old white Kia in a supermarket parking lot last summer after telling her family she lost her money and home to a romance scam. But the car broke down, and the air conditioner stopped working, leaving her vulnerable to the dangerous desert heat. Orr collapsed last July as she walked on the lot’s scalding asphalt, which registered 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 C) as the air temperature topped the triple digits. She was dead by the time paramedics arrived. Orr was among over 400 people who died last year in metro Phoenix from heat-associated causes during a 31-day streak of sizzling days of 110 F (43.3 C) or higher that stretched from the last day of June through all of July. That’s about two-thirds of 645 heat-related deaths confirmed from the whole year in Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and Arizona’s most populous county. No other major metropolitan area in the U.S. has reported such high heat-associated death figures. |
Brown scores 20, Brink leads defensive stand in final seconds of Sparks' win over MysticsBrazil's Vasco da Gama and 777 Partners in legal battle for control of soccer clubCade McGee's 2Stock market today: Global shares edge lower after Wall Street sets more recordsHeading to Albania, UK's Cameron marks progress in joint effort to stop illegal migrationJoseph Mershon drives in four runs and Ohio State upsets Nebraska 15Jaques scores twice and Hensley posts a shutout as Minnesota tops Boston 3Zhang Zhan: Chinese journalist arrested for reporting on COVID released after 4 years'President Raisi murdered thousands and targeted people in BritainMexico's presidential front