This summer’s heat has claimed the life of a second St. Mary’s County man.

On Friday, Aug. 3, “there was another heat related death in St. Mary’s County,” said Tracy Kubinec, acting county health officer for the St. Mary’s County Health Department. “The subject had medical issues and cardiovascular disease complicated by hyperthermia, but there were other medical issues that were the primary cause,” she said. Hyperthermia is a condition where the body takes on more heat than it can cool off.

The man was cutting grass at the time, Kubinec said.

Survivors of the Hollywood man did not wish to be interviewed.

The high temperature last Friday was 90 degrees with a dew point of 77, making it feel much hotter, said Hollywood weather observer Wes Gleason. “Actually that day was not much different than the week prior,” Gleason said.

But it’s been a consistently hot summer. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that 38 people in the state have died this summer from heat complications. Eleven of those were in Baltimore. Last year, the state total was 34.

State and county health departments do not release the names of those who died from the heat.

The St. Mary’s man was between the age of 45 and 64, the state reported.

Another St. Mary’s County man, Bernard “Buddy” Ellis, 72, of Leonardtown, died last month in a Leonardtown apartment that did not have air conditioning. Ellis also had emphysema. He died on July 8, the last day of a brutal heat wave with temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees.

jjbabcock@somdnews.com