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The heat is on
By adamg on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 1:17pm
Frog Pond yesterday. Photo by Paul Marotta.
Boston today is robo-calling roughly 38,000 elderly residents, advising them to avoid outdoor activities and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
The National Weather Service has issued an "excessive heat watch" for eastern and central Massachusetts (except for the Cape and Islands) starting Thursday, with heat-index values (heat and humidity) exceeding 105 degrees:
THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. DURING OPPRESSIVE HEAT AND HUMIDITY...AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE IN THE SUN...DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS...TRY TO STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENT...AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.
Photo copyright Paul Marotta. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.
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Comments
Look at all those children.
Look at all those children.
Is this photo authorized?
From Universal Hub just a week and a half ago:
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/dont-try-taking-p...
typical half-baked safety advisory
And they are?
Nausea, dizziness, and
Nausea, dizziness, and headache.
what about shelters?
Drinking a lot of water won't help if you have impaired ability to do anything with it.
Do they advise people to get to a library, etc.?
Uh oh Adam, hope you don't
Uh oh Adam, hope you don't get in trouble for posting such a photo
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/dont-try-taking-p...
Boston Water Celebration, 1848
That photo reminds me of the October 25, 1848 Great Water Celebration, when crowds formed on the Boston Common to commemorate the completion of the first municipal water system in Boston, courtesy of the Cochituate Aqueduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_common_18...
For more information on it, I recommend Michael Rawson's "Eden on the Charles" book.
http://www.amazon.com/Eden-Charles-Making-Michael-...
Did Menino offer his sage advice, "If you have a fan, use it"?
A few years ago during a similar hot spell, Menino announced at a press conference, "If you have a fan, use it." No way! Really? Never would've thought of that.
Not to seem contrarian
But a fan doesn't necessarily help. Fans move air, but they use energy to do it which creates more heat and moving air doesn't cool you off per se, it's evaporation of sweat/body moisture that does.
Leaving fans running when you're not around only adds to the heat and since you're not there to sweat, there's absolutely zero temperature benefit.
Fans are great if you're around and sweating. Fans are great if the air outside is cooler than the air inside. Otherwise, running your fan can only make it worse.
"Not to be contrarian"
This is Boston. It's your obligation.
im at work. the
im at work. the airconditioning is working so well that i put on an extra sweater; im cold....!!
List?
How does the City have a list of 38,000 elderly residents' phone numbers?
Senior centers?
The city has a bunch of outreach and other programs, including for the elderly; I'm going to assume that as people sign up for programs, they're asked if they want to sign up for alerts like this.