As Heat Bakes the Region, Officials Take Precautions

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Heat, Humidity Smother Area
The fiercest summer heat to hit the Washington region in four years led officials to throw open cooling shelters and sent tourists in the nation's capital scurrying to their hotel swimming pools for relief.

At the Oasis Center for the Homeless Aged on Vermont Avenue NW, Phillip Howard took heed. He said he did not go out to sell Street Sense newspapers yesterday because he feared that the heat would aggravate his high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis.

"I'm just chilling, drinking water and watching a movie today," he said.

Utilities reported relatively minor power outages at peak hours yesterday. At one point, more than 3,300 homes were without power in Northern Virginia, but by early today, Dominion Virginia Power's outage figure had dropped to 311.

Pepco had about 3,000 customers without electricity at one point yesterday, although the cause of the outages wasn't clear. Early today, Pepco reported more than 2,200 outages in the District and nearly 650 in Montgomery.

Spokesmen for the utilities expected supply to exceed demand through the end of the heat wave. Pepco said its power usage record could be broken this week.

Pepco spokeswoman Debbi Jarvis said the utility issued a call about 12:30 p.m. for conservation, at the request of the multistate interconnection to which it belongs.

The heat and humidity were hard on Metro riders dismayed by out-of-service escalators. At any given moment, 40 to 45 of Metro's 588 escalators are typically broken or scheduled for routine maintenance, said David Lacosse, Metro's director for escalators and elevators.

"If you have any health issues, please do not climb the Dupont Circle escalator on a hot day like today," he said.

Metro officials said they were not aware of any riders who became sick from the heat while climbing an escalator that was out of service. But last week, passengers at Huntington and Bethesda said riders were complaining about being out of breath while trudging up broken escalators. Those escalators have since been repaired.

The heat did cause a kink in the rail between the Cheverly and Deanwood stations at the height of rush hour yesterday, delaying passengers as trains were forced to share a track for an hour while repairs were made.

Tourists felt the full force of the heat, as shirts stuck to backs, makeup melted and ice cream cones turned into dribbly messes. But there was little cause for complaint, visitor Joyce Chapman said -- it was just as hot back home.

"We were foot-touring today," said Chapman, of Spartanburg, S.C., as her sweating fiance, Jack Hughes, nodded. "But we're kind of miserable. I guess we'll go back to the pool at the hotel."

Others managed to see a pleasing side to the scorching heat.

"It's much better hot than wet," said Lowry Igleheart-Keach of Henderson, Ky., studying restaurant options on Main Street in Annapolis. "I'm a sunshine person."

Some people, of course, had no choice but to tough it out.

Postman John Horwath drove his route through Leesburg yesterday in summer uniform: blue shorts and a short-sleeved cotton shirt that was half unbuttoned. "Wish I had a tank top," he said.

"They call it the dog days of summer. That's what it feels like," he said as he unlocked mailboxes at a group of townhouses and sifted through an armful of mail.

On such hot days, he said, it's easier to walk the route than to ride in a truck with sealed windows and no air conditioning. To keep cool, he packed a 64-ounce bottle of Gatorade and a plastic container full of ice. But, he said, nothing helps -- until 4:30 p.m. when his shift ends and he can go home.

Staff writers Christian Davenport, Daniel de Vise, Michael Alison Chandler, Shearon Roberts, Philip Rucker, Megan Greenwell and Martin Weil contributed to this report.