PROMISE LAND, Pa. — It’s not exactly flowing with milk and honey, just ask the area’s struggling black bears, but the Promised Land offered respite Sunday to people in the northeastern city trying to escape a nearly one-year heat spell week that only threatened to intensify.
Those with the resources fled to pools, beaches and higher elevations such as Promised Land State Park, 1,800 feet (550 meters) in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains and about 2 1/2 hours from the city of New York and Philadelphia.
From the Pacific Northwest to the southern Great Plains to the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor, more than 85 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories issued by the National Weather Service. The agency warned of “extremely oppressive” conditions from Washington to Boston.
Even in the Promised Land, temperatures were forecast to climb into the upper 90s (32 degrees Celsius), but with the shade of the forests, cool lake water, and mountain breezes, it was more than tolerable, said the visitors.
Rosa Chavez, 47, a high school teacher in Manhattan, applied sunscreen on a beach at Promised Land Lake. She and friend Arlene Rodriguez, who was accompanying her, had just experienced the European heat wave while on vacation last week in Florence, Italy.
“The heat follows us,” said Rodriguez, 47, a real estate agent and property manager.
Numerous record highs were expected to be tied or broken in the Northeast, the weather service said.
Philadelphia hit 99 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) on Sunday before even factoring in the humidity. Newark, New Jersey, saw its fifth consecutive day of 100 degrees or more, the longest such streak since records began in 1931. Boston also reached 100 degrees, surpassing the previous daily record of 98 degrees established in 1933.
At least two heat-related deaths have been reported in the Northeast, and officials warned of the potential for more.
Philadelphia officials extended a heat emergency through Monday evening, sending workers to check on the homeless and knock on the doors of other vulnerable residents. The city also opened cooling centers and placed air-conditioned buses at four intersections for people to cool off.
Forecasters urged people to wear light clothing, drink plenty of water, limit time outside and check on the elderly and pets.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu declared a heat emergency until Monday and kept a dozen cooling centers open.
Sporting events were shortened or postponed. Organizers of the New York City Triathlon cut the distances athletes had to run and bike. This weekend’s Boston Triathlon was postponed from August 20-21.
On the West Coast, forecasters warned extreme heat was arriving earlier this week and will continue into the weekend. Temperatures could break daily records in Seattle, Portland and Northern California on Tuesday and rise to the highest level since last year’s heat wave that killed hundreds of people in the Pacific Northwest.
Many homes in the often rainy region do not have air conditioning, and authorities warned that indoor heat is likely to rise during the week, increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses, which medical officials in boston emergency
Back in the Promised Land, Chavez said he has asthma and needs to keep his inhaler close, especially “when the heat is so thick I can’t breathe.” Breezes and clearer air in the mountains help, he said.
It was already over 80 degrees by mid-morning when Mhamed Moussa Boudjelthia, a 31-year-old Uber driver from Queens, fired up a grill on the beach to cook kebabs. He and another friend from Queens had escaped the hot chaos of the city during the day.
“It’s very hot there,” Boudjelthia said. “There’s also too much moisture.”
His friend Kamel Mahiout, 35, agreed as he stood in a cooling breeze: “It’s crazy in New York City.”
The heat withered even less than an hour away, at lower elevations. In Scranton, Pa., Sunday’s high was expected to be 97, not dropping below 70 overnight.
“That also leads to danger. People are not going to get that relief overnight,” said weather service meteorologist Lily Chapman. “This stress on the body builds up over time.”
The area has also been drier than usual, he said.
Regular campers and cabin dwellers in the Promised Land attribute an unusual number of bear sightings to the dry conditions. Animals scour neighborhoods and campsites for scraps as streams and bays dry up.
“It’s hot today,” said Alex Paez, 34, of Scranton, sitting under a shade canopy on Promised Land Beach. “If you don’t need to be outside doing something productive, stay inside.”
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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report; Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana; Michael Hill in Albany, New York; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; and Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida.
