More than 100 million people, around a third of Americans, were under extreme heat advisories this weekend and that record-breaking heat was expected to continue into the new week.
There were advisories from coast to coast, with the south-west and parts of the west hard hit and officials warning that conditions could get worse in Arizona, California and Nevada.
Residents were warned to “take the heat seriously and avoid time outdoors” by the National Weather Service, which said it was “potentially deadly to anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration”.
Cooling centers extended their hours in some cities and emergency rooms prepared to treat more people with heat-related illnesses.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the forecast for Sunday was for 118F (47.7C) and it was expected to be the city’s 17th consecutive day of 110F (43.3C) or higher. The record was 18 days, in 1974, which the city seems likely to pass on Tuesday.
According to the Maricopa county health department, there have been 12 heat related deaths in the Phoenix area so far in 2023, with 55 other deaths currently under investigation.
“Record heat continues across the region today and through most of this upcoming week,” said National Weather Service Phoenix on Sunday. It shared safety tips such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors.
Ahead of the weekend, David Hondula, chief heat officer for Phoenix had warned: “This weekend there will be some of the most serious and hot conditions we’ve ever seen.”
Hondula said just one location, the Brian Garcia Welcome Center for homeless people in downtown Phoenix, planned to be open 24 hours and directed people to shelters and other air-conditioned spaces for the night. During especially hot spells in the past, the Phoenix convention center has opened some space as a nighttime cooling center, but Hondula said he had not heard of that possibility this year.
Stacy Champion, an advocate for homeless people in Phoenix, took to Twitter this week to criticize the lack of nighttime cooling spaces for unsheltered individuals, saying they are “out of luck” if they have no place to go.
Emphasizing how dangerous the heat can be, police in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise said on Saturday that its officers on Friday found two older women sweltering at home in 114F (45.5C) temperatures with just a tiny, overtaxed air-conditioning unit that failed to cool most of the house.
After the women were taken to senior center to cool off, the department’s community services team bought and installed an adequate air conditioner and several fans in the home.
In Las Vegas, casinos offered respite from the heat for many. Air-conditioned libraries, police station lobbies and other places from Texas to California planned to be open to the public to offer relief for at least part of…
2023-07-16 14:04:28
Article from www.theguardian.com
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