Summer heat in Texas has reached intense highs in recent months and, in some cases, has proven dangerous.
Health risks are associated with high heat, and even indoor spaces are not exempt, NBC 5 reported. Recently, workers and volunteers at the thrift shop Coat of Many Colors spoke about their efforts to deal with a broken air conditioning unit in the store in Bedford.
Emily Brock, a volunteer, said, “It’s just really humid. It’s thick air. We don’t have enough circulation, and when we have no A/C. It’s really difficult to keep standing.”
With no air conditioning, temperatures inside reached the mid-80s, NBC 5 reported. Guy Housewright, the store manager, said it caused customers to get lightheaded. “People get sort of lightheaded, turn very, very pale white, and you can just tell that something’s not right,” Housewright said.
Employees at Coat of Many Colors witnessed the heat take a toll on some customers, according to volunteer Pat Beasley. Bradley told about a woman who was shopping recently and needed fast assistance. “There was a young lady checking out, and I could tell by the look on her face, her color changed. She immediately needed to sit down,” Beasley told NBC 5. “We gave her some water, and she was OK, but definitely, she was not feeling well.”
Thankfully, the air conditioning was fixed last week.
The emergency medicine physician with Baylor Scott & White McKinney, Dr. Mark Maynard, also spoke to NBC 5 about the impact dangerous heat can have. Maynard said elderly residents and children are the most vulnerable groups when it comes to heat.
Maynard said that it can be hard to tell whether something is wrong with people experience forms of heat exhaustion. “If they’re normally active at this time, and they’re more sleepy, or they just feel hot to the touch, it’s probably not a bad idea, just go ahead and work on cooling measures at that point,” he said.
Finding an area to cool off and drinking plenty of water were two of the methods Maynard recommended for fighting the summer heat, both inside and outside.
Outdoor attractions in North Texas have also been impacted by the high temperatures, NBC 5 reported. For example, the Dallas Zoo has seen fewer guests in recent months, according to officials.
“This has been a hot one,” mammal curator Keith Zdrojewski said. “We give access to [cooling areas] for the animals at certain temperatures, depending on the species, in Texas heat. That’s usually about 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. But this summer, sometimes it’s at 11 a.m. in the morning when the heat index is where they should have access inside just to help beat the heat.”
Six Flags Over Texas had seen fewer riders on roller coasters, but rides like Pirates of Speelunkers Cave had seen steady guests, according to NBC 5. Brad Malone, a spokesperson for the amusement park, said they had also added cooling stations to help park goers.