Floods, heat waves and fires across U.S.

Children wait at the Swann Memorial Fountain at Logan Square for permission to cool off in the water in Philadelphia, where temperatures reached 100 degrees Tuesday.

11 June 2008

United States-While states in the Midwest battled with the effects of drenching thunderstorms and flooding, residents on the East Coast dealt with another day of temperatures nearing 100 and fires raced across parts of Northern California.

Engineers in Wisconsin kept watch over rain-deluged dams after a major collapse nearly emptied Lake Delton in a torrent that washed away houses and a highway.

The California fires destroyed dozens of homes, threatened hundreds of others and left a firefighter severely burned.

Scores of schools in the Northeast, meanwhile, planned to close early for a second day in classrooms that lacked air conditioning.