http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-07-28T232318Z_01_N28237050_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-CALIFORNIA-HEATWAVE.xml&src=rss&rpc=22By Jorene Barut-Phillips
CLOVIS, California (Reuters) - The death toll from this week's brutal heat wave in California has reached at least 126, state officials said on Friday, although record high temperatures were finally easing.
The state's Office of Emergency Services said it had confirmed 69 deaths from heat stress, with another 57 fatalities believed to be linked to the extreme weather. Of those 88 were men and 38 women.
Los Angeles County said it was investigating another six deaths believed to be heat related.
"This is the worst in recent memory," said Dr. Howard Backer, a medical consultant for emergency preparedness for the California Department of Health Services. "Temperatures are coming down, but there is a little bit of a lag from the time the temperatures come down until the health risks resolve."
Most of the dead were elderly, with the youngest 20 and the oldest 95 in Imperial County in the far south of the state.
Especially hard hit over the past week was the state's Central Valley, a major farming area. In Fresno, temperatures had exceeded 112 degrees F (44.5 C) for five days in a row, the longest such streak since 1898.
"While this type of triple-digit weather is common for the Central Valley, this is the first time we had 11 straight days and I think the humidity levels were different," said Henry Renteria, director of the Office of Emergency Services.
Normally this time of year Fresno is still hot, with the average high July temperature of 97 F (36 C).
POWER OUTAGES
Many people continued to suffer inconveniences after a week in which more than 2 million Californians went without electricity at some point amid record demand for power.
More than 2,000 customers in the town of Clovis outside Fresno experienced a power outage on Friday.
"It's easily attributed to the four to five days at 112 F (44.5 C)," said Darryl Mello, who was replacing a transformer for utility company PG&E under the hot sun. "The whole system in Fresno and Clovis is feeling the heat. Underground cables are experiencing too much amperage and no chance to cool off."
Without electricity, Denise and Peter Widmer of Clovis kept to their backyard pool to keep cool, even dumping their dog into the water. They listened to a solar-powered radio and said they planned to cook for guests later on an outdoor grill. "We're finding alternative ways to entertain," she said.
Local coroners who had struggled with many bodies earlier in the week saw a calmer situation by Friday.
"It had been pretty busy at the beginning of the week, up until Wednesday evening," said Ralph Ghimenti, who works in the coroner's office in Stanislaus County in Modesto. "We were almost at capacity ... Things have slowed down considerably."
A spokeswoman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff-Coroner said most victims had died of heat stroke. "Core body temperatures in excess of 108 degrees F, (42 C)" said Gina Leguria. "We had one guy come in at 111 (44) degrees."
State farm officials said many cows had died and tree fruit such as peaches, plums and nectarines were ruined.
California heat kills 25,000 cattle: official
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/27/060727234618.ryu821kk.html
Jul 27
A heat wave baking California since mid July has killed 25,000 cattle and 700,000 fowl, prompting emergency measures and crippling the sector for months to come, analysts said.
Central California between Bakersfield and Redding is home to approximately 2.5 million cattle. Roughly 25,000 died because of the triple-digit temperatures since July 14, according to Andy Zylstra, president of the California Dairy Campaign.
"The timing is horrendous," he told AFP. "The price of milk is down 30 percent while feed, fuel, electricity prices are all up, and now we have these tremendous losses. It's just a kick in the head."
The losses amount to 1,500 to 2,500 dollars per head.
Milk production in central California is also down. Tulare-based Land O' Lakes Creamery normally produces 1.6 million gallons (6.0 million liters) of milk daily. The company has been reporting losses of 400,000 gallons (1.1 million liters) a day, according to Zylstra.
Disposal of the cattle creates another economic drain on strapped dairy farmers, and the sheer numbers of carcasses heading to the rendering plants has forced some counties to declare a state of emergency. Normally outlawed as a disposal method in California, many of the dead cattle are buried in landfills or composted on site.
"Composting is the best alternative method," said Zylstra. "Come six months, there's nothing left but the plastic ear tags -- not even any bones or teeth."
Disposal methods vary by county based on the water table, according to Zylstra.
Though not sustaining the losses of the dairy industry, poultry farmers are also disposing of millions of pounds of chickens and turkeys in landfills. Most central California poultry farms house their birds in ventilated, water-cooled barns that keep the temperature at 76 degrees F (24 degrees C), according to Bill Mattos, President of California Poultry Association.
"But when the temperatures reach over 100 degrees F (38 degrees C), it can be devastating to the smaller producer," Mattos told AFP. He estimates that 700,000 birds have been lost in the summer heat.
The heat also decreases the breeding success of the livestock. "Cows just don't get pregnant in the heat," said Zylstra. "Nine months down the road we'll be seeing the long-term effects. Just like people, cows just aren't as frisky in this kind of heat."
Heatwave hits vegetable supplies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5223836.stm
Supermarket vegetable aisles may be the latest victim of the hot summer.
High temperatures mean vegetables are maturing faster than farmers can pick and package them, an agricultural body has warned.
The extreme heat has struck down crops across Europe, with economies in the east suffering in particular.
In Poland and Hungary some crops are expected to be 40% below normal yields, the Association of European Fruit and Vegetable Processing Industries warned.
It said the very hot weather was creating a short picking season that might deplete frozen vegetable supplies.
Continental crisis
The heatwave has also raised the spectre of forest fires in Central Europe, adding to farmers' concerns.
In the UK the Processed Vegetable Growers' Association (PVGA) forecasts price rises and shortages as the extreme weather bites into harvests.
The PVGA predicted that yields of peas, broad beans, cauliflower and spinach could drop by 20%.
But the fears were contradicted by Sainsbury's, which remains confident that it can keep its stores full of fresh produce.
Don't panic
"This is a bit of a storm in a vegetable basket and we do not envisage any shortage," a Sainsbury's spokeswoman said.
She pointed out that the season for some greens was coming to an end in the UK, and other vegetables - such as carrots or potatoes - were in plentiful supply.
While Sainsbury's has a policy of sourcing food from the UK whenever possible, it does import vegetables from overseas, meaning that supermarket shelves are less vulnerable to local factors.
Fears that the very hot weather will disrupt vegetable supplies stems from the way each line of produce is managed on the farm.
Crops are planted so that each field is ready to be harvested at different times, allowing vegetable pickers to keep up a steady supply throughout the season.
Very hot weather has wrecked this schedule and left farmers scrambling to bring in crops before they spoil, according to the PVGA.