Chicago heat wave deaths: up to 18 count

**According to the Chicago Sun-Times, eight Chicago residents died of heat-related causes over the weekend on top of at least 10 previous heat-related deaths in Cook County this summer.

La Crónica de Chihuahua
Julio de 2012, 12:52 pm

Chicago, Ill.- As the Chicago area revels in relief following its historic string of humid, 100-degree days last week, the Cook County medical examiner’s office Monday confirmed the heat wave’s death toll at 18 countywide.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, eight Chicago residents died of heat-related causes over the weekend on top of at least 10 previous heat-related deaths in Cook County this summer.

The victims are mostly elderly, ranging in age from 48 to 100, the Chicago Tribune reports, and the deaths have already surpassed the total number of heat-related deaths in Cook County last year.

In response to the deaths, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked the city’s Office of Emergency Management to analyze how the city responded to the heat wave and consider ways it could improve its use of resources in future heat waves, NBC Chicago reports. The office’s report is due in 60 days.

In the summer of 1995, a heat wave contributed to the deaths of more than 700 residents, a tragedy that was among the deadliest weather-related disasters in Illinois history.

The Chicago area saw three consecutive days of triple-digit heat last week as the high temperature in the city reached 102 degrees Wednesday and 103 degrees Thursday and Friday, falling just two degrees shy of the city’s highest recorded temperature in history: 105 degrees, set on July 24, 1934.