Heat wave increases Calif. fire threat

[sang56]

Carolton, Hope you're surviving the heat wave. If you have time, you may want to do a quick translation of the following article so people on this forum could better sympathize with your situation and learn a few new words at the same time.

Heat wave increases Calif. fire threat
By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer Sat Sep 1, 8:18 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Utilities urged customers to ease up on electricity use and officials opened cool shelters as California continued to swelter under a heat wave Friday. Meanwhile, cloudbursts laced with lightning unleashed downpours in the mountains and deserts, leading to flash flood watches and warnings. Firefighters also watched for lightning-sparked wildfires
The steamy conditions were expected to continue into midweek.
"When I opened the door, the heat almost knocked me down," Joan Porter told KCAL-TV as she sat in an air-conditioned senior citizens' center in Altadena, a foothill community northeast of Los Angeles that topped 100 degrees.
A Los Angeles utility reported power outages to nearly 4,800 customers with high demand. Meanwhile, a regional utility said it supplied a record amount of electricity to some 13 million people in Southern California and attributed the power demand to increased use of air conditioners.
The hot weather began Wednesday and may have played a role in the death of an 81-year-old hiker who became exhausted and ran out of water in inland Riverside County.
The heat also may have played a role in the crash of two small planes taking off hours apart Thursday at an airfield east of Sacramento, officials said. Two people died and two critically injured in one crash, and two were injured in the other crash.
The thinner warm air may have provided less lift for the planes as they took off, suggested Bob Petersen, air squadron commander for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.

[ThachThao]

How are you, Ms. Carolton? How is the weather now?

[sang56]

More bad news for Southern Cali
Calif. heat leaves 14,000 without power
(Cali nóng bức làm 14 ngàn người không có điện)
1 hour, 44 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES - Temperatures headed back toward triple digits Monday, the seventh day of a heat wave that has contributed to blackouts leaving thousands without air conditioning.
Temperatures as high as 108 (độ F, hơn 42 độ C) were expected in the Hollywood Hills, with the mercury likely to pass 110 in the region's desert areas, according to the National Weather Service. At 7 a.m., the weather service said, it was already 77 in downtown Los Angeles, where thermometers peaked at 100 on Sunday.
About 3,500 customers in scattered parts of Los Angeles still had no electricity early Monday, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokeswoman MaryAnne Piersen said.
"Probably more than 90 percent of them are due to stress on the system due to the heat," she said. "Different pieces of equipment get fatigued and blow out, so they have to be replaced."
Lightning striking power system equipment during scattered desert thunderstorms added to the strain on the system.
Some 20,000 Southern California Edison customers in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties also had no electricity, spokesman Steve Conroy said.
"We expect at this point to make solid progress at getting a lot of the service back during the morning and midday hours," Conroy said.
The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state's power grid, said no major shortages were expected Monday, but it urged customers to conserve.
Dozens of cooling centers were opened across California on Sunday for people who had no air conditioning as temperatures hit 109 in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley and more than 100 in other parts of the state. Parts of the area of have triple-digit highs since at least early last week.

[carolton67]

Mr. Sang56 and ThachThao thank you for asking whether I am holding up in the heat. I am practically melting and the air conditioning has been running from morning to night. Good thing we haven't had any power loss like many other places due to the high demand in electricity. What's worse is that it is also very humid. It feels just like Vietnam or Florida. You take 3-4 showers a day and as soon as you get out and get dressed you are sweating again. We had a relatively mild summer here with decent weather and just as we were approaching the end we were hit with a heat wave. The same thing occurred last year. These things usually last about 2 weeks and it's the price we have to pay in exchange for 3 months of mild summer weather. I had to head to the beach to escape the heat. Why don't we let ThachThao or any other member translate the news that Mr. Sang56 posted about the weather. ThachThao is getting very good in her translations and it will help her and others to improve.

[MANH NGUYEN]

Just remind Mr.Sang56:
14,000 homes, not people, I believe.

[sang56]

Just remind Mr.Sang56:
14,000 homes, not people, I believe.

Where did you see the word "homes" Manh Nguyen? I was translating with out thinking much. While you may be right, reporters typically tend to spell it out if they mean other than people. For examples: 14,000 houses (businesses, etc.) destroyed; 10,000 cattle slaughtered; 10 cats kidnapped.

In the U.S., the number of people living in an area can be obtained from the census (thống kê) records.