Extreme heatwave leaves thousands of New Yorkers without power
HIGH temperatures leave energy providers unable to cope with increased demand, as people reach to put their air cons on high
TEMPERATURES soared to 36 degrees Celsius in New York on Saturday, the city's hottest day of the year, with local news reports claiming that the humidity meant that outside felt more like 43 degrees.
But although a hot summer day may sound appealing, the freak weather is putting a real strain on the city.
The state's power grid is unable to cope with the increased demand from people using their air conditioning systems on high.
Saturday saw the energy use for the state reach near-record levels, peaking at 32,076 mega-watts, compared to July 2013's all-time high of 33,955 mega-watts.
Energy suppliers experienced major outages, with one provider alone reporting that power was down in 4,000 homes across the state.
It is believed that overhead wires, unable to cope with the high temperatures, overheated and sparked.
One Brooklyn resident told a New York news station how she witnessed a melted power line fall without warning: "I was opening the car door to take something out of the car and the wire just fell.
"It just dropped — just like that."
Desperate to escape their hot homes, many New Yorkers chose to ride buses which had the air conditioning turned on high.
Queens resident, Joshua Lovato, said: "I felt like as if I was getting suffocated by the heat."
Energy providers were aiming to restore power to most customers by Sunday evening, but the heatwave is set to continue into Monday.
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People have been urged to conserve electricity, and turn their air cons down, or replace them with eco-friendly fans.
Meanwhile, the city's public pools are staying open longer, and 500 'cooling centres' - specially air conditioned buildings - are open all over the city.