POTOMAC, Md. (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of people from Illinois to New Jersey are still without power after a line of deadly storms struck last Friday. A week of more unpredictable weather and sweltering temperatures has followed.

In West Virginia, the leader of the National Guard said he hadn’t seen a more widespread power outage in the state in decades. In Ohio, the chief of a major utility said the damage was worse than what was caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike in 2008.

At least 27 people have been killed in the storms or their aftermath since Friday, not including deaths from heat-related causes.