Extreme Weather Grips the Country
The United Nations has put out a warning that the current heatwave will have a severe impact on human health as high temperatures hit the planet. The growth in heatwaves in the northern hemisphere has increased six-fold over the past four decades.
In this country, almost everyone has been running for shelter from above average temperatures or torrential rains and there isn’t much relief in sight.
David Miller has our weather wrap.
Transcript
This week, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttegieg visited locations in Vermont where rains had either flooded or swept away portions of the Green Mountain State. A recent federal disaster declaration will help ease the pain of the estimated millions of dollars in damage.
In nearby Connecticut, a swollen river swept away a mother and child. Last week, rain and hail did significant damage to crops across the state.
Midweek, an EF3 tornado struck North Carolina. The twister heavily damaged this Pfizer plant. According to company officials the facility produces 25 percent of the nation’s sterile injectable medications. The event is expected to lead to long-term shortages as Pfizer rebuilds or sends work to other sites.
As North Carolinians were cleaning up, torrential rains flooded communities in Kentucky a week after hail destroyed crops in the eastern part of the state. Here in western Mayfield, flash floods were triggered after waves of thunderstorms. No injuries were reported but firefighters rescued several people from homes and stranded vehicles. Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency. More rain is forecast for the region.
Those not being drenched continued to endure scorching heat in areas from California to southern Florida.
Death Valley, California experienced record temperatures that briefly made it the hottest place on earth over the weekend.
Across the country, drought continues to tighten its grip. As of the Tuesday reporting deadline, heavy rains did little to improve overall conditions as temperatures across the country were up to 9 degrees above normal.
According to the Weather Prediction Center, weekend weather will include precipitation across parts of the central and southern High Plains, the gulf coast and east coast.
Next week temperatures are expected to remain above normal across the entire country.
For Market to Market, I’m David Miller.
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