An excessive heat warning will be in effect today for Lorain County and nearly all of the Midwest. The warning begins at 10 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m.

According to the National Weather Service, oppressive heat and humidity will remain across the region, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees. These hot temperatures combined with the humidity levels will produce heat index values of 105 to 115 degrees. This will pose a significant risk of heat illness.

The National Weather Service recommends drinking a lot of fluids, staying in air conditioning and out of the sun and checking up on relatives and neighbors.

If you must be outside, they recommend rescheduling any strenuous activities for early morning or late evening, wearing light weight and loose-fitting clothes, drinking plenty of water and knowing the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Click here for signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends frequent rest breaks in the shade or air condition. Anyone overcome by the heat should move to a cool location and call 911 if they believe they are suffering heat stroke.

ELYRIA — An 11th Street man says he was able use a beer bottle to fight off a pair who threatened him with a machete and a handgun early this morning.

According to a police report, the 40-year-old man said he walked out of his house about 1 a.m. after he saw the man approach. The man, whom he identified to police, threatened to kill everyone in the house, he said.

The victim said another man, who he didn’t know, then pulled a black handgun out of his waistband.

He said he threw a beer bottle at the man with the gun, and the pair fled the scene in a car with three other men.

The man went to the police station, where he signed complaints for assault and aggravated menacing against the man he knew the identity of.

According to the report, the man had minor abrasions on his arm but didn’t need medical attention.

LORAIN — A boil alert is in effect for 30 homes on the east side of Lorain following three water main breaks in the city today.

Everyone affected is being notified, according to Water Department supervisor Dennis Tihlblad.

“If they are affected, they were handed a letter,” Tihlblad said.

The boil alert only affects residents in close proximity to a break from this morning on Kansas Avenue, just south of East Erie Avenue, Tihlblad said. That break has already been fixed, Tihlblad said early this afternoon.

The alert will be affect until 24 hours after the Water Department takes a clean samples of water.

Another break is currently being fixed on Haddam Street between Garfield Boulevard and Cleveland Street. That break is currently being fixed without a loss of pressure, so, for now, no boil alert has been issued, Tihlblad said.

A third leak is in the area of Narraganset Boulevard and Edgewood Drive, Tihlblad said. He said crews won’t know if it’s an actual main break or just a leak until they get there.

To be safe, water in the affected area should be brought to a boil for three minutes before it is used for drinking or cooking, Tihlblad said.

LORAIN — A Lorain man who was being turned over to sheriff’s deputies on a warrant had to be pepper-sprayed when he struggled with deputies. After that, he deficated in the back of a cruiser.

Terry Atkinson, 59, is charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct persisting.

Lorain officers had found Atkinson highly intoxicated and combative, according to a sheriff’s report, and took him to 3810 Broadway to be turned over on the warrant.

Atkinson, who had great difficulty standing and was slurring so badly he couldn’t be understood, complied with putting his hands on the trunk of the cruiser but refused to be handcuffed, the report said.

He then pulled away from deputies and balled his hand into a fist. Atkinson again ignored deputies’ demands to put his hands behind his back and was pepper-sprayed and finally subdued.

Atkinson was then put in the rear of the cruiser and defecated while being taken to jail, the report said.