A powerful summer storm sweeps through Balkans with hail, rain and winds, killing 2

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday.

Heavy rain, hail and strong winds tore through Slovenia on Monday before pushing east to pummel Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and finally Montenegro on Tuesday morning. The storm sent temperatures plummeting in just several hours.

A worker died at a construction site in the Montenegrin coastal town of Canj while another person died from a lightning strike in Lustica, farther north along the Adriatic coast, the official RTCG television reported, citing police.

The report said that the storm on Tuesday toppled huge construction cranes in Bar harbor, wrecked beaches, ripped out trees and inundated streets.

Experts say human-induced climate change has brought wild weather swings, increasingly unpredictable storms and heat waves.

Footage from the Balkan region showed rooftops and facades poked with holes from hail, trees falling on cars and roads turning into rivers in Serbia's capital Belgrade and other cities.

Authorities in Slovenia said emergency teams responded to dozens of calls while egg-sized hail and winds destroyed windshields on cars, damaged power lines and homes, gardens and farms.

In neighboring Croatia, the eastern part of the country was hit hardest while some 1,000 firefighters joined emergency teams elsewhere. A fire broke out when lightning hit a house in the village of Bosnjaci.

The storm in northwestern Bosnia left several villages without electricity while cars and homes were damaged throughout the country.

In Belgrade, strong rain and winds late on Monday flooded streets and covered them in debris and fallen branches. Firefighters rescued people whose cars were stuck and put out six fires caused by lightnings. A portion of the main north-south highway remained closed Tuesday morning, state RTS television said.

Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic said storms and floods were a “new weather reality,” but critics blamed the problems on poor maintenance of drainage systems and rampant construction without updating infrastructure.

One person was pulled out of a car unharmed after a tree fell on it in the northern Serbian town of Beocin, police said.

Serbia's national carrier Air Serbia reported delays, saying refuelling of planes was halted because of possible lightning strikes.

Associated Press writer Predrag Milic in Podgorica, Montenegro, contributed to this report.

A municipal worker holds an owlet saved from a fallen tree after a powerful storm in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Municipal workers cut down a tree that fell after a powerful storm in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A municipal worker shows owlets rescued from a fallen tree after a powerful storm in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A municipal worker holds owlets rescued from a fallen tree after a powerful storm in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A person walks past a downed tree after a powerful storm in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A powerful storm has swept through countries in the western Balkans after several days of sizzling temperatures, killing two people and damaging houses, pulling out trees and flooding streets, officials said on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Around 134 million people in the U.S. are under alerts as an “extremely dangerous and record-breaking” heat wave broils much of the country, according to the National Weather Service.

Regions that may see temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or much higher into the triple digits (well above 37 degrees Celsius) include nearly all of the West Coast, the southern Plains, most of the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and parts of Florida, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The Pacific Northwest will see the mercury rising later in the weekend. Arizona will continue to sizzle as firefighters battle a wildfire near Phoenix, where some contend with burns from blazing hot asphalt, concrete or other surfaces. And more humid regions will see a muggy weekend.

“If it’s both humid and hot, you can’t really rely on sweat to cool you down to a safe level,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles.

It's a dangerous weather pattern hitting as fires burn in northern California, and just in time for a holiday weekend. When people are celebrating, “it’s very easy to get sidetracked,” staying out for longer and forgetting to stay hydrated, said Chris Stachelski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “And then all of a sudden you’re putting yourself more at risk."

Human-caused climate change is making heat waves longer and more intense. More research will be needed to link an individual event like this one directly to climate change, but given the overall trajectory, Swain wasn’t surprised by the forecast this weekend. Even so, "the pace of record breaking heat extremes and precipitation extremes is becoming a little bit overwhelming," he said.

This heat wave's expected duration, breadth and high overnight temperatures compound the risks to people's health. “I think this heat wave may end up being more consequential, more dangerous, and more record breaking in many cases than the heat waves that produce those slightly higher temperatures,” Swain said.

Stachelski added that even after the highest temperatures have passed, heat can still be dangerous, especially to the most vulnerable — the young, old and those without access to air conditioning.

Experts urge people to drink plenty of water and find air conditioning. Big Sur State Parks used Sabrina Carpenter lyrics to urge hikers to “please, please, please” avoid caffeine and alcohol, wear sun protection and know trails ahead of time.

The extended high temperatures that cook the West Coast will also dry out vegetation and set the stage to make the remaining months of the fire season more severe, Swain said.

“Heat is an underrated killer,” Swain said, referring both in the short term to heat waves like this one and to the broader trends of global warming. “It’s one we’ve long underestimated. And I think we continue to do so at our peril.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A temperature of 108 degrees is displayed on a bank sign in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. A heat wave with triple digit temperatures is expected in California's Central Valley for the next several days. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

A man cools off by the river in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Swaths of California sweltered Tuesday, and things were only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States with nearly 90 million people under heat alerts. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Water flows down the Oroville Dam spillway behind vegetation scorched in the Thompson Fire, in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

An air tanker drops retardant while trying to stop the Thompson Fire from spreading in Oroville, Calif., Wednesday, July 3, 2024. An extended heatwave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

An air tanker drops retardant while battling the Thompson Fire in Oroville, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. An extended heat wave blanketing Northern California has resulted in red flag fire warnings and power shutoffs. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Lilou Guerra, 16, of France is dressed for sunny weather during a heat wave while she takes in the view of San Francisco, while visiting Twin Peaks with her parents on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

A homeless man named Angel drinks a soda to keep cool during a heat wave in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)