Extreme heat grips the state: but are your fellow citizens really there for you?
I just had one of the most jarring experiences I've ever had on a steaming hot day. I was so sick from heat I needed to take refuge at 1 Financial Plaza here in Hartford, as I awaited the bus to the library. It would take about 5 to 10 minutes for said bus.
But as I waited, suddenly the elderly female guard cried out, "Hey! Can I help you?
"Oh, I just need to stand here five minutes until my bus comes," I told her.
She shook her head without emotion. "You can't do that."
"But I am getting sick outside!!" I even explained that I had been to the cafeteria downstairs many times in the past, but there wasn't even enough time to run down there now. She did not care.
She is 75 and works for Allied Universal in Hartford, which I know because she told me her age after I told her mine, 64. But I had said mine as proof that extreme heat was especially dangerous. When she told me her age I said I would never expect her to stand outside in this.
She mocked my telling her I was a journalist and before I left, hurled a grenade: "You are ignorant!" I told her I was not. She dug in, "YOU ARE IGNORANT!"
This may have been racism (she's Black). This may have been some twisted gendered ageism where old people dump on other old people. I don't know what it was but it was inhumane. I have left a message for her bosses, tweeted about it, and contacted the governor and the mayor of Hartford.
In this weather, treat others the way you would want to be treated, the way you would want others to treat your mothers. My mother died on a day like today in Waco. She had a catheterization that never should have been administered for its risk to her heart on a day she was so strained. Here in Connecticut NBC reported yesterday that: "Cooling centers are opening across the state as officials urge residents to stay hydrated and check on vulnerable neighbors during the prolonged heat wave.
Governor Ned Lamont has activated Connecticut's Extreme Hot Weather Protocol as a prolonged stretch of dangerous heat is expected to impact the state through at least Sunday evening.
The protocol took effect at noon Tuesday and will remain in effect through at least 6 p.m. Sunday. The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Heat Watch for most of Connecticut, with the hottest conditions expected Thursday and Friday, when temperatures could reach 100 degrees and heat index values may climb to 110 degrees.
State officials are urging residents to limit time outdoors during the hottest parts of the day, stay hydrated and check on older adults, young children and anyone with underlying medical conditions.
Anyone who needs relief from the heat can find the nearest cooling center by visiting 211ct.org or by calling 211."
Because of climate change, we will continue to experience rougher winters AND summers. According to NOAA, widespread extreme heat is caused by a massive, stagnant atmospheric "heat dome." These high-pressure systems trap stifling air like a lid, causing excessive heatwaves and spiking heat index levels to dangerous degrees. Long-term global warming and ocean heat storage also intensify these patterns.
Photo, Wikimedia Commons Images, 1928: Unknown author

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