for you. good morning to you, welcome to early start on this monday morning. i m zoraida sambolin. and i m ashlee. it s the kind of heat that makes it hard to breathe and it is still threatening millions of americans all the way from the midwest to the northeast this morning. about 16 people have now died from this heat since thursday when triple-digit temperatures unleashed killer storms that have now left millions of people without power this morning. it s incredible, but look how many states are now dealing with miserable conditions in ohio, 425,000 people are now without power. that s as of 10:00 p.m. last night. it s the same story in virginia and maryland, where hundreds of thousands of people are just waiting for the power to come back on. just a whiff of ac in these extraordinary temperatures. the problem there doesn t seem to be much of a let-up in sight. 20 states are under heat advisory warnings. and now a state of emergency has been declared by the gove
a brutal heat wave is making for a steamy and unbearable day and treacherous one, too. extreme heat is the number one weather killer in the u.s., claiming more lives than tornados, floods, even hurricanes. maria is in the thick of the heat in st. louis. what s it like out there? . reporter: it s hot. it s early in the morning and heating up quite a bit. we are in a city park and they have fountains here. kids are here in their bathing suits doing the best they can to stay cool. with the humidity here, it is expected to feel like 115 degrees today. a scorcher. the east coast is bracing itself. advisories have been issued up and down the eastern seaboard from georgia to connecticut. the fact is it won t let up. oklahoma city is facing its 13th
grids to the limit, southwest the human body. nine people have died because of his heat wave across the south and midwest. our rob marciano is live in atlanta. he s in piedmont park, in fact, as people down there also trying stay cool. reporter: yes, they are, across much of the southeast, as a matter of fact. we said it yesterday, we ll say it again. believe it or not, the heat is the number one related weather killer. so just do what you got to do to stay cool. especially in the humidity. it s tough for your body to cool down. certainly look after your neighbors if they are elderly or infirmed. across the southeast the heat and humanity, it doesn t cool down. it seems like there s no escaping this heat. reporter: how hot is it? yesterday, the asphalt tripped at 160. reporter: temperatures that can scald in a meat of seconds. there s no shade. there s no shade, no place to hide. reporter: whether you work or play in the sun there s no
bring us up to speed. the latest updates have come in. the storm system has come down to category 2. one miles per hour wind would make it category 3. it s been about the sheer size the last several days the amount of energy behind it and of course storm surge the number one weather killer is the biggest threat with the system. nothing changed as far as the amount of storm surge expected. rainfall amounts. number two killer. still expecting winds and rainfall in order of feet. we re talking about 83 foot waves that were measured on the eastern storm system in the past 12 hours. watch what happens here. as it approaches land. thursday afternoon. that s the wave height a max wave height in 30 feet. around the cape. so again wave height not storm surge. we ll explain that.
a row seeing temperatures over the century mark. today, lower to mid-90s in places like d.c. and richmond but not the 100 degree mark. look at new york, 81 degrees, the current temperature. it s trying to rain their but having a tough time doing so. atlanta, 98 degrees or so later on today. the tropical depression, which is going to make landfall in the next hour of two, heavy vein in brownsville. you mentioned, tony, this is a dangerous heat wave. heat is really the number one related weather killer. take care of your elderly. if you have neighbors who you know are frail, check on them, rap on the door and make sure e are okay and get through this together. wise, sage, wisdom, advice. other big stories we re following in the cnn newsroom. bp reportedly plans to cap the gulf oil well by july 27th.