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Cierra McClendon dips her nephew, 8-month-old Donell, into water from an open hydrant in a street in Detroit, Thursday, July 21, 2011. A heat wave is smothering the Midwest with a heat index well over 100 in most places. Paul Sancya, Associated Press
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Welder Dave Hirsack finds a little relief from the 95 degree heat with a drink of water as he and other workers build a new manhole for ATT on Midland Street, Thursday, July 21, 2011 in Bay City, Mich. The Bay City Times, Michael Randolph, Associated Press
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A skateboarder rides through an opened fire hydrant in Detroit, Thursday, July 21, 2011 where the National Weather Service says the temperature is expected to reach 100. Carlos Osorio, Associated Press
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Glenn Carter sits down in a chair to rest in the heat in Detroit, Thursday, July 21, 2011. A heat wave is smothering the Midwest with a heat index well over 100 in most places. Paul Sancya, Associated Press
By Associated Press

FERNDALE, Mich. — A suburban Detroit cooling center has extended hours as the area heads into what is expected to be the hottest day of a weeklong heat wave that pushed Michigan temperatures into triple digits.

Ferndale Recreation Director Julie Hall says the Kulick center housed numerous senior citizens overnight after their nearby apartment building lost electricity and air conditioning.

Temperatures soared Thursday afternoon to 100 degrees or more in several communities across southeast Michigan. Temperatures are expected to dip a bit heading into the weekend.

Lisa Blumentritt spent Wednesday night in her third-floor apartment despite the lack of power and says it was "difficult to breathe."

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She joined more than a dozen other seniors Thursday to wait out the hot weather in the cooling center.

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