Heat ends in eastern USA

Some relief rolled in after nightfall, as thunderstorms were reported in parts of the East.

Photo: Heat ends in eastern USA

Temperatures in Chicago and Detroit dropped Thursday, but they climbed to record levels in several cities, including 97 (36 Celsius) in Bridgeport, Connecticut; 98 (36.6 Celsius) in Islip, New York; and 100 (38 Celsius) in Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore, according to the National Weather Service.

Authorities have confirmed that heat played a role in at least 27 deaths in 11 states and Washington, D.C., since the scorching temperatures set in Sunday. Heat was suspected in at least eight other deaths.

New York City reported its first heat-related death of the year, an unidentified man whose body was found in Brooklyn. And in Hempstead, New York, an 83-year-old woman was pronounced dead of heat exhaustion.

In northern Indiana, heat killed an inmate at the mostly un-air-conditioned Indiana State Prison and contributed to the death of another, officials said Thursday, the AP reports.

In Michigan, the brutal temperatures may have caused the death of a 50-year-old man who was pouring concrete at a construction site, authorities said.