The refrain, “Feeling hot, hot, hot!” heard along the North American east coast is not from party revelers singing the popular calypso song by that title, but millions of people exclaiming how hot they have been since Sunday.

All along the east coast from Florida up to Montreal, Canada, North Americans have been experiencing an unusual, sweltering heat wave. Ironically, South Florida which is one of the hottest regions in North America was relatively ‘cool’ with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s. In Baltimore, New York City, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Boston residents were trying to cope with temperatures that rose as high as 103 degrees on Tuesday, and over in Toronto, Canada people battled the 99-degree temperature.

Today (July 7), the heat index (factoring in humidity) approached 107 degrees, and in New York City and 103 degrees in Toronto. These high temperatures have not been experience in some parts of the country since the 1950s.

The heat wave has not only been awfully uncomfortable, unless people find themselves in air-conditioned comfort, but it has been very dangerous, especially for the elderly and people with heart and respiratory problems.

Several people in the upper east coast were taken to hospital with heat stroke and other problems; and three people, at the time of writing, were reported to have died.

The National Weather Service today issued a heat alert for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington and all of Delaware and New Jersey. The heat wave, especially in the northeastern region of the continent was expected to ease by Friday, but the weather service has forecast higher temperatures for the southern states, including Florida.

Although the heat is particularly dangerous for seniors, medical personnel have advised that it can be bad for anyone. Miami emergency room doctor, Dr. Ferdinand Specter said that the problem with excessive heat is dehydration. “The hotter the human body becomes, the more it loses water. If water is not replaced this can lead to heat stroke or severe complications with those who are afflicted with problems like hypertension, asthma, heart and respiratory problems. Heat waves can be very deadly. In 2006 when the temperature hovered around 95 degrees on average in New York City for several days, over 40 people died from heat related problems.”

The best advice to counteract the heat is to drink plenty of water. Also, where possible, stay in an air-conditioned room or building and if one have to work in the sun they should take periodical breaks in the shade (and drink plenty water), and wear loose, preferably white clothing. Dr. Specter advised that people who are accustomed to taking long walks or jogging in the days should postpone this during a heat wave (which normally lasts three or more days), or walk or jog at night.

Another often related problem with heat waves is that they create unusually high demand for power, as more people crank up their air condition units. Since this week there were many instances of loss of power along the east coast. Power companies in New York and Philadelphia said the increase in power usage have been the most in many years. City managers are weary of lengthy power outages, which could seriously escalate the health problems related to the unusual heat. A representative for Florida Power and Light (FPL) in Miami said the company is prepared for unusual demands should the temperature rise further. She said so far, there have been no unusual power outages.