7 more confirmed heat deaths in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- The scorching heat wave is now blamed for 13 deaths in Missouri, a dozen of them in the St. Louis area.

The number rose Tuesday after the St. Louis County medical examiner reported the death of a 93-year-old University City woman. Her body was discovered Saturday inside her home. The window air conditioner was working but was set at 95 degrees.

It was the second heat-related death in the county. St. Louis city officials reported 10 heat-related deaths in the city, and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services confirmed one in the central part of the state. Details about the victim were not released.

An 88-year-old woman on the Illinois side of the St. Louis area also died. Relatives found her body Sunday. An air conditioner had been switched to "heat" instead of "cool."

St. Louis, like much of middle America, suffered through an extensive period of dangerously hot, humid weather that began in late June. The city recorded 10 straight days of 100-degree weather before rain on Sunday ushered in cooler temperatures. Highs in most of Missouri this week are expected to be in the upper 80s and low 90s.

Seven of the deaths in St. Louis were confirmed Monday by the city's Medical Examiner's office: Six people ages 62 to 84 and one child. Authorities say 8-year-old Altamesa Dobson died Friday after she was found in a room without an air conditioner, though other rooms in the apartment had air conditioning. An investigation continues.

State health department spokeswoman Gena Terlizzi said the death toll around the state may rise because the state confirms a heat death only after the death certificate is filed, and those certificates aren't always filed immediately.

St. Louis Health Director Pam Walker said many of this year's victims "suffer from a cognitive disability or mental illness. Some of them resisted offers of help." Many of the victims either did not have air conditioning or didn't have them plugged in or turned on.

Health officials have reached out to advocates for people with cognitive disabilities and the mentally ill, asking them to provide the names of at-risk clients so that case workers, friends, neighbors and relatives can check up on them when the weather gets hot.

"Go to their homes and make sure the air conditioner is on and is working properly," Walker said. "It is important to be insistent. They must be in an air conditioned room, even if they don't want to be."

The heat wave has drawn comparisons to the summer of 1980, when the temperature in St. Louis topped 100 degrees on 18 days and was blamed for 153 deaths. Since then, air conditioners have become more common, better heat warning systems have been put into place, and improved public service efforts have helped reduce the number of heat deaths and illnesses, health officials said.