City urges residents to stay cool as heat deaths rise

IT FEELS LIKE HELL in Philadelphia, and it's expected to get worse this weekend.

So far, the scorching temperatures have left four Philadelphians dead. Others have suffered from heat-related illnesses. And with temperatures expected to top 100 on Saturday, officials said that more deaths are possible.

The city on Wednesday issued an excessive-heat warning that runs through Sunday.

"Help your neighbors, help your family, help your friends; everyone knows someone who is potentially vulnerable under these circumstances," Mayor Nutter said at a City Hall news conference on Thursday. "It could be a senior citizen on your block, it could be a family member, a relative … check on them, check to see that they're OK."

The most recent heat-related death was a 70-year-old man whom police discovered on Sunday inside his West Mount Airy home in a second-floor bedroom, said Jeff Moran, Health Department spokesman.

Moran said that there were several running fans inside the home, but that all the windows were closed, which he said is a potentially deadly combination. Last summer, there were 35 heat-related deaths in Philadelphia.

Dr. Steven Alles, with the city's Health Department, said that seniors; people with chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease or kidney disease; children; and pregnant women are "vulnerable to excessive heat."

The city offers a number of cooling centers, among them libraries, recreation centers and senior centers. For information on locations and hours of operation, call the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging heat line at 215-765-9040 or the city's nonemergency call center, 3-1-1, or go to readyphiladelphia.org.