Lewisburg, W. Va. Mayor John Manchester on the race to restore power to residents as a food and water shortage grows.

(CNN) –– Though it is Independence Day, a national holiday, utility workers will continue working feverishly to help the more than a million people stuck in an unrelenting heatwave without power.

Excessive heat warnings were in place Wednesday for portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri Illinois and Kentucky with the National Weather Service saying that those areas would be scorched with temperatures near or above triple digits. Heat advisory warnings were in place for a handful of states, including parts of South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and West Virginia.

As of early Wednesday morning, about 1.1 million customers scattered across 11 states. And as crews tried to restore power many were left overheated and frustrated. In the West Virginia city of Parkersburg on Tuesday some residents said they were without power for four days.

This morning on "Early Start," Brian Todd describes the dire situation in West Virginia, where the states is now facing a food and water crisis.

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