BALTIMORE (AP) - Public health officials say Maryland's heat-related deaths have surpassed last year's total.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says four more heat-related deaths, which occurred earlier this summer but only recently were found to be heat related, raises the total to 38 deaths.
That compares with 34 in 2011.
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Fowler tells The Baltimore Sun that some of the deaths involved victims who were without air-conditioning after a derecho storm in June.
He says heat is often not the main factors in the deaths; victims usually have underlying medical conditions.
