Meanwhile, in Chicago, children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases were being cautioned to stay indoors for a wholly different reason: polluted air.
"It is essential to have a way to cool down and interrupt your heat exposure."
The stationary high pressure system across the South that is trapping the heat and humidity, known as a heat dome, has been lingering for the last few weeks, causing the sweltering weather.
The heat wave claimed the life of a 14-year-old boy who was hiking in the Big Bend National Park in Texas on Friday when the temperature reached 119 degrees.
Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Callaghan, LaToya Cantrell, Brendan O'Brien, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter
Organizations:
U.S, National Weather Service, NWS, REUTERS, New, Big, Thomson
Locations:
Chicago, Arizona, Texas, Florida's, Dallas, New Orleans, Mobile , Alabama, Houston , Texas, U.S, Canada, United States, Arkansas , Tennessee, Oklahoma