At least 13 people have died from the heat wave that has hit the United States for two weeks, in addition affected by a deterioration in air quality linked to forest fires in neighboring Canada, local authorities said on Friday.
A heat wave is hitting the southern United States hard, especially Texas and Louisiana, with temperatures often exceeding 40°C, and for which experts point to the role of global warming.
“Ten residents of our county died in connection with the heat and an 11th person, living in a neighboring district but transported to one of our hospitals, also died,” a spokesman for the Texas county told AFP on Friday. of Webb, located on the edge of Mexico.
Last week a teenager had lost consciousness, then his life, during an expedition in the natural park of Big Bend under a temperature flirting with 48 degrees Celsius according to local authorities.
In the midst of a heat wave, a 62-year-old lady was also found dead in Louisiana in an area where a storm left thousands of families without electricity and therefore without access to air conditioning. “His death was heat-related,” the US state health department said.
Heat wave in Guadalajara, June 12, 2023 in Mexico / AFP/Archives
In Mexico, more than 100 people died between June 12 and 25 due to an extreme heat wave that hit the desert north, bordering the United States, and the capital, the secretariat said this week (Ministry ) Health.
In the very north of the continent, Canada was still facing mega forest fires on Friday that led to unprecedented episodes of air pollution in major cities in Quebec and Ontario.
Smoke from Canadian forest fires continued its path further south, in the Midwest and on the American east coast, where a total of around 120 million people are currently experiencing an episode of air pollution according to local authorities.
This Friday, the air quality in cities like New York or Philadelphia was deemed unhealthy, according to the government platform Airnow, which assesses air quality in the country.
2023-06-30 18:07:10
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