Death Toll From Calif. Heat Hits 90

[Rose Siding]

(AP) Corpses piled up at the morgue and aid workers went door-to-door, checking in on elderly people in hopes of keeping the death toll from California's 12-day heat wave from rising.

California coroner's offices said Thursday the number of deaths possibly connected to the heat wave climbed to 90.

In Fresno County's morgue, the walk-in freezer was stuffed with bodies, with some piled on top of others, said Coroner Loralee Cervantes. With limited air conditioning, employees worked in sweltering heat as they investigated at least 22 possible heat-related deaths.
...
In Stanislaus County, which includes Modesto, California, officials were investigating whether sizzling temperatures were responsible for 20 deaths. Salvation Army workers walked door-to-door to check on elderly and other vulnerable residents.

Kern County was investigating eight possibly heat-related deaths. Among the victims were two Bakersfield brothers who were found dead in their beds in a home without air conditioning.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that California was making 75 cooling centers available to residents at fairgrounds statewide. Health officials also were contacting nursing homes to make sure they had evacuation plans in place in case their air conditioning failed, he said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/25/national/main1832269.shtml

[partylessinOhio]

1. Here is a very serious situation in America and very little media coverage

I heard more outrage non-stop that Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

[DemoTex]

2. Katrina-West

Same-old, same-old.

[raccoon]

21. Does that surprise anybody?

"very little media coverage"

Thanks to the folks in DU for bringing it to our attention, those of us who don't live in the affected area.

[babylonsister]

3. To acknowledge this would be to acknowledge global warming.

Can't have that! :banghead:

[Supersedeas]

24. thus, the corporate media makes it a non-issue

[Megahurtz]

26. I wish that Global Warming

made our weather cooler instead of hotter.
It would be easier to deal with that.

[CAG]

4. "Gov Schwarzy..:CA making 75 cooling centers available"

"to residents at fairgrounds statewide."

Funny how the "Corporations can do no wrong, govt can do nothing right" repubs run to the govt for solutions to problems such as these. Counter this with what the repubs let Enron do to CA during the heatwave in the late 90's.

[proud patriot]

5. we are finally getting a bit of a reprive in the Bay Area

My mom was telling me that many animals have died too.

:cry:

[Rose Siding]

6. I'm glad, pp, that you got a little relief

CNN had a piece today about peach growers. They expect to lose half the crop. The fruit is cooking on the trees.

This article mentions cattle, but it doesn't detail the problem. :(

[proud patriot]

11. Some of my tomatoes cooked on my plants

x(

[proud patriot]

12. Here's a link about the pets

http://cbs5.com/weathernews/local_story_205183644.html

[Ecumenist]

18. Well, they weren't exactly pets.....

but the worms in DH vermiculture "barrel" died.. It was so pitiful and he feels so guilty. They weren't out in the sun, BTW.

[anotherdrew]

7. anyone remember the FOX attitude when the heat wave was in France?

"why don't they get air conditioners?" and so on...

[SensibleAmerican]

20. I kind of agreed with that attitude

I was also in France during that heat wave.

The European heat wave was handled miserably. The conservative government of France did not make sure that the doctors were in the hospitals or the elderly had enough cooling. Whilst the young people can handle heat, old people can't.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. Living in a place not made for mankind -

.
.
.

what can one expect?

We build our houses above ground - that is the law in most places

If we want to live in a hot climate, we should be below ground, where even only 6 feet down it stays well below dangerous temperatures for us humans

But that would make too much sense

Silly me . . .

[bananas]

10. absolutely correct - new building codes should require a basement. nt

[kineneb]

13. sorry, won't work most of CA

We cheerfully call basements "indoor swimming pools"- many of those who have the misfortune to have one here will spend most of their winters pumping the water out...

The Victorian-era buildings in the valley were usually on 5' high foundations to avoid flooding. No basement included.

Ya' see, we get our rain in lump sums. Last winter we got 40-45", between October and mid-May. If we received the same amount throughout the year, basements might be possible. But not when we get huge storms. And in our case, being near Clear Lake, the water table is only down 25', in the summer.

[Ecumenist]

16. Kineneb that IS high water table!!

We're building a home with a walkout basement BUT it will be able 130 feet ABOVE the water table in Tehama County.

[raccoon]

22. Won't work for Lowcountry SC!

Or probably Lowcountry GA, NC, etc.

Probably all of FL.

[Hekate]

14. Old-fashioned adobe works well to keep a house cool...

So I've heard through the years. Thick walls would work well with single story homes, but not high rises.

But this is also earthquake country, so whatever building material you use has to be reinforced with rebar so it won't crush everyone around it in a quake.

Hekate

[gorbal]

15. Cob works well too

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/7148/cobpics.html

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/7148/pat_cob.html

I would love me a cute little cob house of me very own

[Ecumenist]

17. Hekate, are you in California?

Re Adobe walls, we're building a concrete home, ICF that is completely reinforced with rebar and a steel as well. This is what made our minds up for us, Exquisite insulation properties, etc.

[Hekate]

25. Yes, Central Coast. Normally a lovely climate.

I lived in San Bernardino County for about 3 years a long time ago. My husband lived in Fresno for a few years, also a long time ago. The high heat is really not for us, though our son followed his employer to Las Vegas last year and is quite happy.

Our aging tract home needs to be retrofitted with double-paned windows and double-paned sliding glass doors, at a minimum, because the insulation for its stucco glory seems negligable. One of these years.

Hekate

[Ecumenist]

30. San Bernadino, huh?

I absolutely hate San Bernadino county. My Aunt and Uncle live there. TOO hot, Dry and barren for my tastes. I DESPISE THE SUMMER HEAT and this blast furnace of a heat wave has been INSANE!! The humidity was unbelievable, with it being 59% at one point. If I have my druthers, I would move to the north coast, as in Mendocino, Humboldt or Del Norte.

Fresno is ridiculous under the best of circumstances in summer, as far as I'm concerned andthere's no way in Hell I would ever live in Las Vegas, good money or no. Bless you son, he's a trooper.

We're planning to build a ICF home which has lovely insulation qualities. Many of these homes have a VERY small central heating and cooling units due to the VERY thick walls, 8 to 11 inches.

[Hekate]

31. Cucamonga, to be exact. The "Inland Empire"

:eyes:
Housing was always less expensive out there, though, and I notice the old tracts of boulders and dry brush have all been built out with nice homes.

My son has real estate on his mind, and would never be able to buy here in SB county. Before he even got to Las Vegas he had a realtor looking for a house, and was actually able to get one in his price range. He's still sharing with room mates, but now he's his own landlord (and theirs).

But me? I don't think so. When my husband and I were younger and he was at the top of his game as a computer programmer, we used to consider his taking a contract in far-off climes, possibly even Saudi Arabia. My only condition was that we never sell our house here, because we could never buy in the area again. We ended up not moving for business anyway.

Good luck with your ICF house!

Hekate

[Ghost Dog]

23. Makes sense, in the right places. Like life on Mars, before the end... n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

27. ?

This isn't because California's got a hot climate, it's because of a freak heat wave.

It's the same reason thousands of French died a few years ago, and France strikes me as a perfect place for mankind to live.

Now that I think about it, wasn't there a freak heat wave that hit the Canadian prairies a few years ago killing dozens of people?

[Lisa]

9. the invisible disaster ...

And it is a disaster. A scientist who investigated the heatwave deaths in Chicago a few years back commented that people tend to ignore these events because they do not result in visible damage to buildings, etc. -- so they don't get as much media attention as hurricanes or blizzards, although the mortality can be even greater.

[SensibleAmerican]

19. The heatwave in Europe killed 50,000 people

That's 50 times more people than who died in Katrina. But guess which disaster got more coverage?

People need to be aware that heat kills. Whilst we can bundle ourselves up for the cold, we need electrical instruments to cool us in the heat.

[RebelOne]

28. As of today, Friday, it is 123.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/28/heatwave.ap/index.html

[Le Taz Hot]

29. Some additional information re the San Joaquin Valley

In Fresno, several cooling centers (schools and community centers) were opened up and a telephone number was provided for those who did not have transportation. This was in response to many many elderly and limited income people unwilling to turn on their air conditioning for fear of the cost. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, about 50 didn't take advantage of the cooling centers and have died in the heat.

In the outlying farming communities, Fresno Area Express has sent out air conditioned busses to bring people to air conditioned community centers.

Many many farm animals -- horses, cattle, pigs have died despite ranchers trying to stear the herds into shaded areas and turning the sprinklers and fans on them. We had 5 straight days of 112-113 degrees. Many domestic animals have died as well.

As for the crops -- most everything, particularly grapes, have literally cooked on the vine and fruits have cooked on the trees. Be expecting to pay a LOT more for fresh stone fruits and grapes/raisins/wines.

Mayor Autry (Fresno's mayor) may not be my ideal politically, but I have to give him and the City Council credit for making provisions to get people to air conditioned environments at little or no cost to them.

This has NOT been, by any stretch of the imagination, the west's version of Katrina. WE did everything we could to ensure people did not die during this time and I'm convinced that, if we hand't had done all that we did, there would have been hundreds dying here.

[Up2Late]

32. UPDATE: Death toll in California heat wave up to 126 (Reuters)

(Looks like the temps are dropping in California (to the 90's) over the weekend, but The Weather Channel" just showed a High Temp chart for Saturday that showed 110+(F) in SOUTH DAKOTA!)

Death toll in California heat wave up to 126

Fri Jul 28, 2006 07:19 PM ET

By Jorene Barut-Phillips

CLOVIS, California (Reuters) - The death toll from this week's brutal heat wave in California has reached at least 126, state officials said on Friday, although record high temperatures were finally easing.

The state's Office of Emergency Services said it had confirmed 69 deaths from heat stress, with another 57 fatalities believed to be linked to the extreme weather. Of those 88 were men and 38 women. Los Angeles County said it was investigating another six deaths believed to be heat related.

"This is the worst in recent memory," said Dr. Howard Backer, a medical consultant for emergency preparedness for the California Department of Health Services. "Temperatures are coming down, but there is a little bit of a lag from the time the temperatures come down until the health risks resolve."

Most of the dead were elderly, with the youngest 20 and the oldest 95 in Imperial County in the far south of the state.

(more at link) <http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=13010394&src=rss/topNews>