Utility crews are making slow progress in restoring electricity to millions of households amid a record-setting heatwave in the eastern US that showed no sign of abating soon.
Temperatures shot back into the 38C range in many areas yesterday, prompting the National Weather Service to warn of the prospect of severe thunderstorms including large hail and damaging winds.
"Cities from St Louis, Missouri, to Washington DC are forecast to approach or break daily record high temperatures for yet another day and there may be more all-time records broken," said AccuWeather, a private weather service.
Several million households made do without electricity two days after powerful thunderstorms knocked out power lines in nine states, notably in the mid-Atlantic region.
At least 14 people died in Friday's storms, according to US news media, in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Kentucky and the District of Columbia.
Pepco, the utility that serves Washington and some of its suburbs, said it may be a full week before service is restored to all its customers by teams of linemen that included reinforcements from as far as Oklahoma and Florida.
"The devastation is extensive and while we expect to have the vast majority of customers restored by the end of day Friday, restoration for some customers may extend into the weekend," said Pepco regional president Thomas Graham.
The situation got so bad that neighbouring Canada has offered its helping hand, saying it was sending about 200 power restoration specialists to the Washington metropolitan area.
Canadian public utility Hydro One said the Canadians will start in the Washington, Baltimore and Virginia areas as early as tomorrow.
"Hydro One crews have a long standing history of assisting neighbouring utilities when help is needed the most, and this time is no exception," company vice president Len McMillan said in a statement.
"Cooling centres" remained opened in many urban areas as refuges for those - notably the elderly - unable to cope without air conditioning, and at least one major supermarket chain gave away free ice to all comers.
Firefighters supported by water bombers managed over the weekend to contain much of the Waldo Canyon inferno that killed three people, destroyed nearly 350 residences and left many hundreds homeless.
