Record high temperatures, storms batter eastern US

Violent evening storms following a day of triple-digit temperatures wiped out power to more than two million people across the eastern United States and caused two fatalities in Virginia - including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home, a police spokeswoman said yesterday.

Widespread power outages were reported from Indiana to New Jersey, with the bulk of the service interruptions concentrated on Washington, DC, and the surrounding areas.

On Friday, the nation's capital reached 104 degrees - topping a record of 101 set in 1934.

More than 20 elderly residents at an apartment home in Indianapolis were displaced when the facility lost power due to a downed tree. Most were bussed to a Red Cross facility to spend the night, and others who depend on oxygen assistance were given other accommodations, the fire department said.

tractor trailers toppled

The storms, sometimes packing 70 mph winds, toppled three tractor trailers on Interstate 75 near Findlay, Ohio.

Besides the 90-year-old woman, who authorities didn't identify pending notification of kin, a man driving his car was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition, a park police officer was injured by an uprooted tree in the northern Virginia county, and an 18-year-old man was struck by a power line.

At least four utility poles fell on a road in Columbus, Ohio, making it too dangerous for people in four cars to get out, police said. One person was taken to a hospital.