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 "The costumed characters really suffer in this heat. They have to stay
inside," said John Oren, who had loaded up on sunblock, bottled water and
diet soda before setting up a stand where he sells wind chimes in front of
the Kodak Theatre.
Only Catwoman, bundled up in what she acknowledged was an uncomfortably
hot suit that included a leather mask, tights, corset and boots, was brave
enough to step outside and meow to passers-by. Like her comic-book
counterpart, she declined to reveal her true identity.
Although Tuesday's high of 99 in downtown Los Angeles was 7 degrees below
the record for the day, it was still 17 degrees above normal. The
temperature reached a record high 113 on Monday.
Tourists carried not only cameras Tuesday but also bottles of water and
-- usually a rare sight in sunny Southern California -- umbrellas to shield
themselves from the sun. Several said the heat caught them by surprise.
"We had to buy new clothes. We brought winter clothes," said tourist
Jenni Kinsey of Cardiff, Wales, dressed in a halter top and shorts, and
clutching a nearly empty bottle of water.
"Water and lots of beer," she said with a laugh. "That's how we're
keeping cool."
Residents out to walk their dogs carried two bottles of water, one for
the animal and another for them. At the edge of the city's sprawling
Griffith Park, trainers at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center were struggling
to keep scores of horses cool by hosing them down, limiting their workouts
and running cooling fans in the stalls.
"They're just like people. Just because they're bigger doesn't mean
they're tougher. The heat is hard on them," said trainer Lisa Thorpe as she
checked on a retired racehorse named Silverado Man. As if in agreement, the
horse nodded its head.
As the heat wave continued, schools curtailed or canceled physical
activity. One campus moved cheerleading practice from Monday afternoon to
Tuesday morning.
"We stretched for like a minute, and then we just sat down," Aubreann
Loving, one of the cheerleaders at Arcadia High School in the Los Angeles
suburb, said of Monday's canceled practice. "It was too hot to do anything."
No heat-related deaths were confirmed, but the Los Angeles County
coroner's office was looking at two possible cases.
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Coroner's Lt. Fred Corral said heat stroke was suspected in the
Monday death of Sally JoAnne Menke, a film editor on Quentin
Tarantino movies, who had gone hiking in Griffith Park. Hyperthermia
was also suspected in the death of Arquimedes Mestre, 57, whose body
was found on a street in Pomona.
The unrelenting heat also placed huge demand for power on utility
companies as people ran their air conditioners nonstop.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power recorded its highest-ever
demand for electricity Monday, causing transformers to blow up or burn out
and leaving thousands of people without power. The department said more than
11,000 customers remained without electricity Tuesday in the city, while
Southern California Edison was working to repair heat-related outages for
more than 18,000 customers.
Southern California Edison said the peak electrical demand Tuesday was
19,955 megawatts, the highest it has recorded since Aug. 31, 2007, when a
record high of 23,303 megawatts was reached.
"Because we've had such hot nights, people are still running their air
conditioners, etc. So the equipment really doesn't get a break," said Edison
spokeswoman Vanessa McGrady.
Nor was it getting a break in Sam Stanley's limousine, which was parked
in 99-degree heat along Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday. "I set it at 65," he
said of his air-conditioning. "People want me to set it at 60, but you can't
do that. If I do that, the engine will freeze up."
As for how he keeps looking sharp -- standing outside the car in a
buttoned-up dark blue suit while everyone around him was sweating -- Stanley
said with a laugh: "You gotta be cool, brother, you gotta be cool."
[Associated
Press; By JOHN ROGERS]
Associated Press writer John Antczak contributed to this story.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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