Homelessness, heat a fatal combo
Fears grow in big cities ahead of brutal summer temperatures
Brutal heat waves hitting the U.S. and other spots across the globe threaten the homeless more than most, experts say, as the number of homeless people are swelling amid pandemic evictions and societal and economic pressure.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 600 or more people are killed by extreme heat annually. This summer, large cities and other places with high homeless populations are bracing for more of the same and trying to find ways to protect this vulnerable population.
Homeless people are 200 times more likely to die of heat-associated causes than those who have shelter, according to climate scientist David Hondula, and climate change is exacerbating the situation as it contributes to longer-lasting, more intense heat waves.
“As temperatures continue to rise across the U.S. and the world, cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, New York or Kansas City that don’t have the experience or infrastructure for dealing with heat have to adjust as well,” said Hondula, who heads a newly created agency in Phoenix devoted to heat mitigation.
In one example of how deadly heat can be, in a county including Phoenix, out of the 339 people who died of heat-associated causes in 2021, at least 130 were homeless.
“If 130 homeless people were dying in any other way it would be considered a mass casualty event,” added Kristie Ebi, a professor of global health at the University of Washington.
With global warming amping up temperatures, and drought exacerbating heat waves, recent summers have been among the hottest recorded.
“The core of the heat right now” is in the south-central portion of the nation, such as in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erickson told the Daily News. It’s also hot heading eastward into the Lower Mississippi Valley and the Southeast, then expanding northward, he said, adding that urban centers like Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis could see triple-digit temperatures.
Big cities with their concrete, brick, asphalt and other hard, industrial surfaces that absorb heat can trap the warmth.
“The problem at night is that in these urban areas, even at nighttime, it just stays dangerously hot for those who can’t seek shelter,” Erickson said.
This makes it dangerous to homeless people, especially if cooling centers close after the sun goes down.
It doesn’t take long for heat-related dangers to manifest in the body, Erickson said.
“It doesn’t take long for the body to get dehydrated, suffer heat stroke, conditions like that,” he said. “Heat exhaustion, heat stroke, that can take effect anywhere from a matter of minutes to a half hour, depending on what the person is doing.”
Homelessness could be accompanied by a lack of access to proper hydration and other mitigating factors.
“With homelessness that also is a factor — a way to find fluids, a way to find shelter, a way to stay out of the direct heat as much as possible,” he said. “Just to stay hydrated can be challenging.”