Heatwave

I was sitting in my basement office at work when the lights went out. Shut my computer, went to my truck, drove to Taco Bell, got my usual, and headed back up 9th Street. Practically everyone was outside on their steps. I ate my dinner on my neighbors steps and trimmed my hedges. One thought I had was, "This is probably what life was like before television."

I always love it when unusual circumstances bring all the neighbors out. Big snowstorms, power outages, and the occasional fire. Of course, I usually prefer that fires and power outages don't happen, but when they do I see people that I don't normally see and there is usually a tangible sense that we are all in this together.

Meanwhile in Oxford Circle at the Boulevard and Large Street and in the 44-hundred block of North Reese Street in Hunting Park, several thousand people who had air conditioning also found themselves suffering due to power outages, possibly linked to the dangerous heat.

But as the sun left its wrath across the region, many were doing what they could to try to stay cool.

One North Philadelphia neighborhood all pitched in to buy a portable pool and moon bouncer for the kids on the block. "Basically the whole idea is to stay cool because of the intense heat," said Greg Lakroda.

- from 6abc.com