Death toll from triple-digit heat in Tennessee reaches at least 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A heat wave continued to bake parts of the South on Tuesday, raising the number of heat-linked deaths in Tennessee to at least five and buckling roads in Mississippi.

The temperature in Memphis hit at least 100 degrees again Tuesday, the fifth consecutive day of triple-digit highs, as hot air blanketed the south-central portion of the nation. Monday’s top reading in the city was 105.

“The latest two deaths were a 75-year-old man found in a home with no air conditioning and a 77-year-old woman found in her backyard, where she apparently had been gardening, Chancellor said.

The heat-related deaths have involved people in homes with no air conditioning or those who have been active outdoors.

The National Weather Service predicts Memphis temperatures will rise beyond the 100-degree mark through Friday. Temperatures were in the 90s at midday Tuesday from the western Plains to the East Coast, with scattered readings of 100. \

Excessive heat warnings were issued for southwestern Tennessee, northern Mississippi, parts of western Arkansas and most of Missouri.

Blistering conditions buckled busy highways in Jackson and Vardaman, Miss., snarling traffic, officials said.