With Baltimore headed for a second straight day of triple-digit temperatures, health authorities ordered that all residents be moved from a Baltimore nursing home plagued with air conditioning problems.
The 150 residents of Ravenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on West Franklin Street are being transported to new locations, said David Paulson, communications director for Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
About 40 residents were moved Tuesday — after a resident called 911 to report stifling temperatures — but conditions did not improve markedly, so officials called for the broader relocation in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday. The cooling system at the 190-bed nursing home hadn't worked since Friday, officials said.
Officials at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said the state would investigate the facility because of its failure to voluntarily report problems with the air conditioning. Inspectors would remain on-site 24 hours a day until the problem is solved.
"The equipment failure could easily have put clients at risk," Paulson said, describing conditions inside the facility as "unsuitable" and "irresponsible."
Today's afternoon high is predicted to reach 100 degrees again. Real relief will have to wait for the weekend, when temperatures are expected to hold in the 80s.
Cooling systems were struggling from Virginia to Quebec on Tuesday as temperatures soared. Triple-digit readings were reported in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Richmond, Va.
In the Mid-Atlantic, it was so hot that even machines had to slow down. Transportation officials cut the speed of commuter trains in suburban Washington when the tracks got too hot, because extreme heat can cause welded rails to bend under pressure. The state's MARC commuter rail system also reported "major" disruptions, including heat-related delays of 30 minutes or more during the evening commute because of switching and signaling problems.
The heat closed summer school for thousands of Baltimore-area students, but pushed officials to extend city pool hours. Health authorities opened neighborhood cooling centers, and utility officials ordered rotating shutdowns of residential air conditioners.
At the Ravenwood nursing home, no serious health problems were reported among residents, but a doctor was still on-site Tuesday afternoon conducting medical assessments.
"The situation easily could have become a catastrophe," said Robert Maloney, spokesman for the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management.
Cindie Pittman of Ravenwood's parent company said it was unaware of the problems until Tuesday. "As soon as we were aware of the problem, we got on it and got it fixed," said Pittman, chief financial officer at Foundation Health Services, the Baton Rouge, La., company that owns the nursing home.
However, Paulson said only one of four compressors was working Tuesday, and at least two dozen temporary units will be needed until repairs are made.
The 105-degree reading at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was the hottest in Baltimore in 27 years, and was tied for the highest reading ever at the airport, on Aug. 20, 1983.
The city's all-time record high is 107 degrees, set downtown on July 10, 1936.
The National Weather Service warned that dangerous heat will persist for at least one more day, and humidity will rise. Forecasters posted heat advisories for most of Maryland through 11 p.m. today.
The heat and strong sunshine combined with motor vehicle exhaust to produce unhealthy air pollution throughout the region. State environmental officials declared a Code Red air quality alert and urged everyone to avoid strenuous activity and outdoor exercise.
And in Baltimore, the heat triggered another Code Red Heat Alert. Health authorities opened cooling centers across the city and urged residents to check on anyone who might be struggling to cope with the oppressive weather.
"What we'd like to see is for all citizens to check on their family, friends and especially the elderly at least twice a day until the heat passes," said Dr. Anne Bailowitz, chief medical officer for the Baltimore Health Department. She urged residents who could to "stay home if you have cool air and water, and if you don't, get to a cooling center."
There is no air conditioning at all in half the schools in Baltimore, and that forced school officials to cancel summer school classes through Wednesday.
Without cooling, the schools are "like a furnace," said Keith Scroggins, chief operating officer for the city schools. "As much as we would like all these programs to continue, we have to look at the safety of the children and the staff."
Bebe Verdery, education director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Maryland, which recently released a report detailing the poor school facilities in the city, said, "City students are not only losing valuable classroom time due to a lack of air conditioning, but also due to faulty heating systems in the colder months. It's time for our leaders do what other cities and states have done — make city schools safe and modern for learning."
Scroggins said it would cost about $225 million to make sure all city schools are air-conditioned.
If they can't get cool at school, city kids can try the pools. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake ordered extended hours at city pools through Thursday. Those that normally close at 7 p.m. will reopen at 7:30 p.m. and remain open until 9 p.m. Those that close at 5 p.m. will reopen at 5:30 p.m. and remain open until 7:30 p.m.
"Families will have an opportunity to have fun and cool down together at the end of these dangerously hot days," the mayor said in a news release.
The demand for electrical power to spin air conditioners and fans was expected to peak at about 6,900 megawatts Tuesday, the highest so far this summer.
Linda Foy, spokeswoman for Constellation Energy, said that's far more than the 5,500 megawatts needed on a typical summer day, but still well short of the record 7,198 megawatts set on Aug. 3, 2006. "The system is holding up very nicely," she said. "We don't anticipate having any problems meeting customer demands."
Still, BGE did activate its Peak Rewards system Tuesday, transmitting radio commands to shut off participating customers' air conditioners for brief periods during the day to cut demand. It was the first time this summer the program had been triggered systemwide, Foy said.
Customers were also urged to conserve on their own. "When it's extremely hot, it helps us to keep the system balanced and may help to improve comfort levels," Foy said.
She urged homeowners to delay the use of heat-producing appliances, such as dryers and dishwashers, until after 9 p.m., to close curtains during the day and to raise thermostats to 78 degrees or higher.
No widespread power outages were reported in the area Tuesday afternoon. But BGE was adjusting work schedules to allow for additional staffing in light of both the high demand for power and the need to give repair crews time to take breaks and keep hydrated.
The best news from meteorologists was that high temperatures would ease back into the 90s on Thursday and Friday as an offshore low backs into the area with more clouds. A cold front due late on Friday is expected to usher in more seasonable weekend highs in the mid-to-upper 80s in Baltimore.
At the National Weather Service's forecast office in Sterling, Va., meteorologist Andy Woodcock laid blame for the heat on a ridge of high pressure that was centered directly over the Mid-Atlantic states.
"For the past several days, each day has been a little hotter than the last, and now the really high heat is on us," he said.
But having the high pressure centered over Maryland is not the worst scenario, Woodcock said. If it had been in eastern North Carolina, Maryland would have had much higher humidity. Instead, dew points Tuesday afternoon at BWI Marshall Airport were in the upper 50s to 60 degrees. The air begins to feel oppressively humid in summer when dew points reach 70 degrees.
But it was still oppressively hot, he conceded. And, it remains very dry.
The cold front due by the weekend may also drop some needed rain on parched Maryland lawns. But a real soaking may be further off.
"It's a tough time of year to see any real relief," Woodcock said. Summer storms tend to be spotty. "It's very hard to get widespread rains."
And when relief comes, it may be in the form of a tropical storm or its remnants. Meteorologists have a saying about that, Woodcock said: "We break a drought with a flood."
The good news is that after heavy snows and ample rains last winter and spring, the region is still running a precipitation surplus, and reservoirs are nearly full.
Tuesday: High 105 degrees, Previous record: 101 degrees (1999)
Wednesday: Forecast: 100 degrees. Record: 99 degrees (1993)
Thursday: Forecast: 92 degrees. Record: 100 degrees (1993)
Friday: Forecast: 93 degrees. Record: 103 degrees (1936)
Saturday: Forecast: 88 degrees. Record: 107 degrees (1936)
Sunday: Forecast: 90 degrees. Record: 100 degrees (1988)
Source: NWS. Forecasts for BWI-Marshall. Records for Baltimore.