The heat was ruthless Wednesday as thousands of Allen County residents who lost power during last week's storm marked their sixth day without electricity.

The temperature hit 101 at Fort Wayne International Airport, tying a record for Independence Day set in 1955, said meteorologist Nick Greenawalt of the National Weather Service in Syracuse.

As of late Wednesday, about 10,000 customers of Indiana Michigan Power had no electricity, according to the utility's website. I&M had given late Wednesday or earlier as an estimate of when power would be restored.

I&M spokeswoman YaVonda Ulfig said crews will be working into the weekend to repair the remaining outages.

"We're hoping definitely for sooner than later," she said.

Ulfig said crews have started restoring power to smaller areas and individual customers. "That work can be a little more tedious," she said.

In all, Friday's storm knocked out the electricity to of 78,000 homes and businesses in Allen County. The utility said So far 68,000 of those customers have their power back, the utility said.

The storm disabled dozens of traffic signals in Fort Wayne, but by Wednesday afternoon, signals at only one intersection, – South Coliseum Boulevard and New Haven Avenue, – were not working, city spokesman Frank Suarez said in an email.

The weather service has predicted highs of 101 today, 105 Friday and 95 Saturday. Fort Wayne records for July 5 and 6 are both 99 degrees, set in 1988.

Cooling shelters:

• New Haven United Methodist Church, 630 Lincoln Highway East, New Haven, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
• Jerry Fox Lifetime Sports Academy, McMillen Park Golf Course, 3900 Hessen Cassel, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
• Jennings Center, 1330 McCulloch St., noon to 5 p.m.;
• Community Center, 233 W. Main St., noon to 6 p.m.;
• Red Cross Shelter, First Assembly of God, 1400 W. Washington Center Road, 24 hours.