At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country

A woman grabs water from a bucket on the National Mall in Washington DC during 250th anniversary celebrations on 4 July. Photograph: Dominic Gwinn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen A woman grabs water from a bucket on the National Mall in Washington DC during 250th anniversary celebrations on 4 July. Photograph: Dominic Gwinn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock At least 25 people die in US as record heatwave scorches swaths of country More than 20 states reported temperatures above 100F as heat dome sits over eastern US during holiday weekend At least about two dozen people have died amid the perilous climate crisis-driven heatwave that has scorched swaths of the US with record temperatures. As a huge heat dome sits over the county’s eastern half, extreme heat gripped millions of people in the days leading up to the US’s semiquincentennial on Saturday – and beyond it. More than 20 states experienced have reported stifling temperatures more than 100F (38C), marring celebrations. And more than 140 million people remained under active heat alerts across the US on Sunday. Officials in New Jersey believe the extreme heat was a factor in the deaths of 22 people across 10 counties there, mostly in central and northern parts of the state. Many of the individuals were found in homes with no air conditioning, outside their residences, on the street and in parked cars, according to officials. US heatwave threatens 250th anniversary events and World Cup Read more The first of those deaths occurred on Thursday, and the ages of the deceased in question mostly range from their mid-30s to their 80s. Preliminary findings cause investigators to believe the deaths are heat-related, though the chief state medical examiner for New Jersey would later determine the exact cause of death for each. “This is not a typical summer heatwave,” the New Jersey department of public health said in a statement. “This type of heat can quickly become life-threatening to humans and to animals of all ages.” The National Weather Service (NWS) has said cool air from the north in the coming days is going to lower some of the most extreme temperatures in the region, including New Jersey. The Fifa World Cup final is scheduled to be held in the New Jersey city of East Rutherford on 19 July. Elsewhere, a heat-related death was reported in Cook county, Illinois, Natalia Derevyanny, a government spokesperson, told NBC News . The cause of that death was recorded as organic cardiovascular disease – with heat stress as a contributing factor. Hinds county in Mississippi reported the death of 74-year-old Mitchell Ray Cooley due to heat exposure on Thursday, state officials said. Cooley had been reported missing, and his body was found the next day behind a gas station, the county coroner said in a statement. View image in fullscreen People watch the Sail 250 parade of ships at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on 4 July. Photograph: Adam Gray/Reuters “Mr Cooley suffered fro