Sweltering temps spark safety concerns across U.S.
It's the middle of July, so the heat is expected, but the temperatures throughout the eastern portion of the country have been downright unbearable and dangerous, reports CBS News correspondent Vladimir Duthiers.
It's not technically a heat wave yet, but millions in the Northeast are suffering through the hottest stretch of the summer.
"I know that it's like, really hot, but this is like, excruciatingly hot. I cannot stand the heat," Towson, Maryland, resident Stephanie Henry said.
Over 20,0000 customers lost power in portions of New York City on Monday due to the climbing temperatures, leaving many without air conditioning.
"83 degrees in the house! It's horrible; it's awful. Look, I'm sweating like a pig," Staten Island resident Sarah said. "I just took a shower, I have to take another one. This is awful."
Power lines in Brooklyn caught fire, possibly from the surge in demand for electricity. At New York's Penn Station -- the busiest rail hub in the country -- passengers sweated out hour-long train delays in the sweltering underground heat.
This kind of heat can be dangerous. people have to make smart decisions.
"I want the most important message here to be that we focus on the safety of ourselves and our families, people in our communities," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Much of the country is blanketed in a swath of suffocating temperatures -- combine that with the humidity and it feels much hotter than it actually is.
Monday, a dramatic rescue was caught on camera just west of Philadelphia. According to reports, two children were accidentally locked inside a hot car as temperatures soared into the 90s. Officers were successfully able to smash the glass and rescue the baby and another young girl.
Over the weekend, a toddler was discovered alone in a hot car in a Kansas parking lot. The woman helped smash the glass and rescue the child. Ten children have been killed in the United States from hot cars since the beginning of the year.
Construction crews battled the heat in Baltimore, while summer football practice took on the temperatures in Tulsa.
Doctors advise staying out of the dangerous summer heat, and paying attention to warning signs of overheating.
"So things like confusion, sweating, your heart rate becoming faster, breathing faster, anything that's out of the usual," Sinai Hospital's Dr. Bahareh Aslani-Amoli said.
"What do we do? I'm 87 years old. I have to sit and sweat in here and drop dead?" Sarah said.
In Texas, it felt close to 110 degrees on Monday, which caused the asphalt on a busy freeway to crack.
It was already over 80 degrees in Times Square early Tuesday morning, and temperatures were expected to climb into the mid-90s, with the heat index hovering near 100.