Record heat scorches Washington region

Down on the tarmac, Dennis Frederick, Nathan Laryea and Tito Williams were not.

It was a bit warmer there, perhaps 130 degrees. And as they stood, arms folded, in sweat-soaked T-shirts and bright orange vests, they contemplated what awaited them in the cargo hold of the AirTran flight.

They figured 145 degrees, at least? Maybe 120 bags each? About 30 or 40 pounds per bag? Everything off and the new load packed after about 30 minutes in the hold?

Yes, indeed, it was hot Friday. Everywhere, people chattered about it, notably complete strangers who tend to break the normal silence in elevators and grocery lines whenever the weather ? hot, cold, snowy or rainy ? gives them something in common to discuss.

But it is not the 19th century.

There is air conditioning virtually everywhere for anyone determined to escape the heat.

Any number of predictable things happened Friday: Swimming pools were busy, people ate more ice cream and those who could do so fled town early for the beaches. The laundry list of heat warnings was trundled out for amnesiacs and visitors who have never known Washington on the eve of July.

The casual observer might have noted that the pace of the city seemed to slow in the heat, but that happens in this town every Friday ? winter, spring, summer or fall.

The people whose jobs allow them no escape ? hot dog vendors, construction workers, bike messengers, meter maids, baggage handlers ? sweated.

Some folks sought satisfaction or acclaim by exercising outdoors during the worst of it and sweated along with them.

How hot was it?

Records were set across the region as the heat wave that had bedeviled the Midwest reached full blossom here. The thermometer hit 104 degrees at National and hung there most of the afternoon. Dulles International Airport broke 100 degrees. All-time records also fell all over the South? 109 degrees in Nashville; 108 in Columbia, S.C.; 105 in Raleigh, N.C.; and 104 in Charlotte.

Just as it had been in the Midwest, the heat was blamed for several deaths, including three in Virginia.

?You need to drink a lot of water and stay in the shade,? said Williams, who acknowledged that shade is in short supply on an airport taxiway. At 35, he?s worked for eight years with Flight Service, the contractor that supplies baggage handlers for AirTran and several other airlines.

Frederick figured they each muscle about 1,000 bags a day.

?This humidity is unhealthy,? added Laryea, who is spending his first summer on the crew. ?We?ve had a couple of hot ones, but this takes the cake.?

Across town, Moira O?Malley, a 19-year-old American University student, and her friends thought Friday would be a great day to circulate a petition for immigration reforms. Then she stepped outside.

?Whoa. It?s so humid I can?t breathe,? she said, sweating dark patches through her T-shirt. ?We picked the worst possible day.?

Almost no one stopped to talk as they sought signatures at Farragut Park.

Except for a trio who tossed a ball for all of three minutes, the park was virtually empty.

In another park, McPherson Square, members of the Occupy D.C. movement returned to reclaim the ground where they camped out through the winter until departing two weeks ago. But Friday?s fiery temperatures ruined some of their planned protests, and they headed instead for air-conditioned museums and cafes nearby.

The few who remained guzzled cases of water.

But no one in town had it hotter than what Frederick, Laryea and Williams experienced at National.

?Gatorade,? Laryea said. ?Water?s not enough to replace the electrolytes.?

Frederick, at 6 feet 6 inches and 320 pounds, said working baggage in the heat was far worse than on the most frigid days of winter.

?When it?s cold out, you can just put on layers,? he said. ?And tomorrow .?.?.?

?It?s going be hotter,? they all said in unison.

Annie Gowen, Lena Sun and Susan Svrluga contributed to this report.

Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=0218ea21d1ab70e23093cf7db4d1e31d

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