NWS Issues Extreme Heat Warning; Cooling Shelter Open At Mercer County Senior Citizens Center
Image: NWS.
The National Weather Service’s Louisville office has issued an extreme heat warning for Harrodsburg, Mercer County and portions of south central Indiana and central Kentucky. The warning expires Thursday, July 2, at 9 p.m.
Cooling shelters—air-conditioned facilities for vulnerable populations, including older adults, individuals experiencing homelessness, and those without air conditioning at home—are being opened across Kentucky. Locally, the Mercer County Senior Citizens Center (1475 Louisville Road) is serving as a cooling shelter from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily until Thursday, July 2. For more information, call 859-734-5185.
The NWS is warning about dangerously hot conditions with heat index values of 105 to 115 through Thursday. The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. According to the NWS, when the body gets too hot, it begins to perspire or sweat to cool itself off. If the perspiration is not able to evaporate, the body cannot regulate its temperature. When the atmospheric moisture content—the relative humidity—is high, the rate of evaporation from the body decreases. There is direct relationship between the air temperature and relative humidity and the heat index, meaning as the air temperature and relative humidity increase, the heat index increases.
Here are some survival tips, courtesy of the NWS:
• Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.
• Do not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.
• Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
According to USAFacts.org, the number of extreme heat events has been on the increase since the middle of the 20th century. And with the increase in the number of extreme heat events, there has been a corresponding increase in heat-related deaths . In 2004, 297 Americans died from excessive natural heat, the lowest figure recorded over the past two decades. In 2018, 1,008 Americans died as a direct result of heat exposure. But in 2021, heat-related deaths increased to 1,600, a 59% uptick from only four years earlier, and a 439% increase from 2004. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which actively tracks daily and weekly heat-related illnesses, shows that 1,714 US deaths in 2022 were due to “heat-related” causes.
