Stay hydrated; hot weather to continue despite evening showers
As people suffering from the current hotand-humid weather conditions see this week’s evening thundershowers as a welcome relief, experts still warn of daytime high temperatures and urge people to take precautions.
According to the Meteorology Department, the current weather pattern will continue till the end of May until the onset of the southwest monsoon.
Though nights will be cooler with evening showers accompanied by lightning, daytime temperatures felt by the human body could go up to 35-39 degrees Celsius, Met officials said.
This week, Anuradhapura and Jaffna districts recorded the highest temperatures of close to 35 degrees Celsius.
Reports said three people had died of heat-related health complications in the Anuradhapura district.
Coroners’ inquiries revealed that a 38-year-old farmer from Eppawala suffered a heart attack after being exposed to the sun for many hours. In another case, a 34-year-old man died after washing his head with cool water soon after arriving from outdoors. An 81-year-old farmer from the same area died while in the field on a hot afternoon.
The Health Ministry said it would continue to issue warnings for the next few weeks.
It urged visitors to the Anuradhapura sacred city during the upcoming Vesak week to take additional precautions, to stay hydrated and be watchful of the elderly, pregnant women, those with underlying health conditions, and children.
The heat could cause hypertension and aggravate heart ailments that could even lead to sudden heart attacks, said Dr. Inoka Suraweera, consultant community physician of the Health Ministry's Occupational Health Unit. She said those who were exposed to the hot weather should drink enough water and elderly people should not only drink enough water but continue their medication.
"We have instructed medical officers of health to create awareness at MoH levels with the participation of public health officers. We are also preparing guidelines on precautions to be taken during the hot weather periods," she said.
The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) this week requested authorities to ensure that security forces personnel, including police traffic officers, who are deployed on duty were well hydrated. It also requested the authorities to look into the possibility of adjusting their long working hours outside.
"We requested the authorities to make arrangements to provide these officers with bottled water or they should have easy access to water,” SLMA President Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne told the Sunday Times.
He said security personnel, construction workers, farmers and others who were exposed to the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., should drink enough water to avert any heat-related health issues.