‘So drained and so exhausted’: readers on severe heat and floods in the US
The US has been gripped by extreme weather, with millions of Americans either struggling with severe heat warnings or dealing with floods and tornado damage.
Parts of the US north-east braced for further thunderstorms and the potential for more floods while the southwest baked in unprecedented heat.
California, Arizona, Texas and Nevada were all under excessive heat warnings while thunderstorm warnings were also issued for several southern and western states.
The severe weather has been going on for days and experts predict it will continue over the weekend and into next week.
Readers across the US have got in touch to tell us how they have been dealing with the extreme conditions.
‘You can’t sleep because it’s too hot. When you go outside it’s even worse’
Houston is always hot in the summertime with the ever-present hurricane flooding issue, but lately we have been getting flooded even without hurricanes. When it floods there are issues with the water treatment facilities not working. So we have gotten used to boiling water after floods because sometimes they don’t make the boil-water notice publicly visible.
The power usually goes off, then you can’t sleep because it’s too hot. When you go outside it’s even worse. Not to mention the oil and gas companies do what they call “controlled release” during extreme conditions so the stuff doesn’t blow up, but the air quality gets worse outside when they do that.
In Texas we don’t really get much support for talking about climate change. It’s a state run by people who don’t want to talk about it and they don’t want to acknowledge it or even provide or build infrastructure to deal with it. So it’s kind of a sore subject in Texas, so that’s why I like to throw it out there. Keith Daniels, 40, library specialist, Houston, Texas.
‘The situation in cities, especially in Albuquerque, is dire for the unhoused folks’
My partner and I have the great luxury of being able to leave Albuquerque and live in the high mountains of northern New Mexico at 9,200ft elevation where the temperature is 20-30 degrees cooler. So we are privileged. However, a year ago this area was struck by wildfire and we were kept out for many weeks. Nearby Mora was devastated by the fire and subsequent flooding and has not recovered.
The situation in the cities, especially in Albuquerque, is dire for the unhoused folks, the poor folks, because Albuquerque is a crossroads in the south-west of two major highways so people tend to come there. So there’s a lot of unhoused people there yearround.
Temperatures in Albuquerque right now are over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit and holding and rising. The weather pattern usually brings monsoons at this time of year but apparently that isn’t immediately happening so the cooling down isn’t happening.
I’m not directly engaged in doing anything now as I’m basically retired, but it has a lot of concern for the people that are there on the streets. Even for people who have to work, Albuquerque does have a construction boom going on, but it’s very hard to work right in the sun and on the road crews. It’s just horrible and yet that’s probably the main employment for labor in the area. Bill Nevins, 75, writer, Black Lake Mountain area, New Mexico
‘We’re living with the constant threat of wildfires. It can be terrifying’
The Kern River flows, currently rages, from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, miles north of this area, into the valley where I live.
Most of us, because we choose to live in an area that’s in the wilderness, are equipped with insulation in the sense that in the winter we use wood burning and in the summer we use shade and tarps, whatever it takes to protect us from the sun. For those who don’t, and particularly those who live in mobile homes, it will get increasingly difficult. There are numerous homeless people in California and particularly in the Bakersfield area. When I go in for Costco or Trader Joe’s, the increase of homeless people is jaw-dropping and they will not be protected.
Here we’re living with the constant threat of wildfires. We have wildfires almost every year and now we have arsonists. It can be terrifying. We had an arsonist who set five small fires and had it been windy it could have definitely taken out an area that has one access [route] in and the same access to exit out. It would have been devastating. That’s what I’m concerned
about, and what we’re concerned about is the floods. I live in an area with the Kern River, which is one of the fastestfalling rivers in the United States. What our concerns are, are the wildfires but mainly what the velocity of the river is doing to the communities and to the reservoir here. Sukey Briggs, 75, southern Sierra Nevada foothills, California
‘You want to be comfortable in your own home’
I rent an apartment that has not converted to refrigerated air. I have evaporative cooling, so under these conditions inside temps are extremely high.
With the apartment being so hot inside, I have become anxious and somewhat depressed. Leaving the apartment to escape the heat isn’t really sustainable for the duration of the heatwave.
Lots of fans are going so utility bills will skyrocket and, of course, this is bad for the environment. Going to museums, malls and libraries during the hottest part of the day but not being able to be home is depressing.
I’m pretty lucky. I’m certainly not somebody who is in danger. My health is not that endangered or anything like that but, like I said, it emotionally does get to me.
You want to be comfortable in your home. You want to be able to come home and relax. But you feel like even if you go out, you’re so drained and so exhausted. You have to make sure you have water with you all the time and you have to be very attentive. Then you’re out and you see people who are working. You wonder when it is going to end and you can’t come home and relax because it’s hot and it’s hard to sleep, so it’s like a 24/7 thing that goes on. Joanne Mihalick, 61, teacher, El Paso, Texas
‘We adapt – that’s all we can do at this point’
We are in severe drought and have fairly intense heat. The heat is common in Missouri. The drought is impacting agriculture heavily right now, and the state is starting to discuss stricter management techniques. Last month, my family used over 10,000 gallons of water to keep our native trees and plants alive, which is about three times more than we typically use in the summer. It’s bad, and it’s scary to think about the ramifications of what is happening to our planet right now.
Last night we had the first rain we have had in weeks. I had to pull off the road because it was so heavy and the wind was so intense I couldn’t see. We received over an inch in an hour at my house and then it was gone. Last month was the same with the one rainfall we had that entire month. The storms are getting more intense yet are brief and irregular. Temperature fluctuations are more common too: it was 70F in July in Missouri, which is very uncommon, then quickly went to the upper 90s in two days.
We adapt – that’s all we can do at this point. Most people scurry from air-conditioned locations to their cars and back. Most laborers know the routine and stay fairly well hydrated while being out in the heat. If I do any yardwork, it’s in the morning while the sun is low. The drought will affect pricing for agricultural products in the fall, so people need to know that’s coming.
It’s amazing to read all the stories right now that are happening worldwide. I hope it’s an eye-opener for a lot of people. Bridget Ogden, 47, project coordinator for the University of Missouri’s regenerative agricultural program, Sturgeon, Missouri