CHICAGO - A heat wave caused the closing of government buildings that lacked air-conditioning and prompting warnings to residents to keep as cool as possible intensified last Monday in the nation’s midsection.
18 states were put in a heat warning, watch or advisory stretching from North Dakota to Texas and East to Ohio. It is also said that as many as 13 deaths in the past week in the Midwest could be blamed on the effects of the heat.
Computer systems in Oklahoma's state agencies were turned off and 1,000 employees were sent home, according to spokeswoman Sara Cowden of the Department of Central Services. "We're shutting everything down that generates heat," she added.
