For 31 straight days — from the last day of June through Sunday, the second-to-last day of July — Phoenix has hit at least 110 degrees, not merely breaking its 18-day record in 1974, but setting a significant new one.
Andrea Cribbs, 40, holds her dog, Tinkerbell at a respite center in downtown Phoenix on July 28, 2023. Tinkerbell was given booties so he can walk outside without burning his paws on the pavement.
This has been Phoenix’s July in hell — an entire month of merciless heat that has ground down people’s health and patience in the city of 1.6 million, while also straining a regionwide campaign to protect homeless people and older residents who are most vulnerable.“I’m so sick of this,” Rae Hicks, 45, said this past week as she sat with her 7-year-old son on the floor of a clammy cooling center in Tempe, their suitcases clustered around them.
“It’s wearing on people,” said Kevin Conboy, a physician assistant with Circle the City, a medical charity that treats homeless people across Phoenix. “Everyone’s temperatures are hovering at 100. Everyone. is complaining of feeling so fatigued, and tired.”Even the group’s mobile medical buses are succumbing to the heat, forcing them out of service to get repaired.
“We are very full,” said Dr. Kara Geren, an emergency-medicine doctor at Valleywise Health Medical Center in central Phoenix. “We have everything from heat cramps to heat stroke and death.” Even the local news media seemed to hit a breaking point this past week, when The Arizona Republic cried out: “Will the inferno never end?”
Many of Phoenix’s shelters are full, and waiting lists for publicly funded housing are weeks or months long, families said in interviews. They find Davis’ number scrawled on whiteboards at cooling centers, get it from shelter employees or other people on the street, and call in a last bid for help. On Thursday afternoon, he had 268 unread text messages.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NHRA 2023 Sonoma Nationals Final Qualifying, Sunday Pairings: Austin Prock Grabs First Top Spot This yearBob Tasca III takes top spot in Funny Car; Gaige Herrera holds on in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Read more »
Good News Sunday: Addison girl with health issues receives puppy after loss of her dogIn this week's Good News Sunday column, we recap stories about a girl with health issues receiving a free puppy, an event offering free haircuts and school supplies to Elgin area kids, and a retired pastor who took an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
Read more »
First Alert Forecast: Bright, warm and comfortable Sunday!First Alert Weather: After sweating it out for several days, relief is finally here! Watch GerardJebaily's full forecast.
Read more »
Market Meltup, Crypto Influencer, Epic Pix: Sunday Asia BriefingNavigating the stock market meltup, the biggest thing in crypto and how to take epic holiday photos: Sunday Asia Briefing
Read more »
NBC 5 Forecast: Dangerous heat ahead; Heat Advisory and Air Quality Alert for SundayWonder about the weather forecast for North Texas? Get the forecast for Dallas-Fort Worth from the weather team certified most accurate by WeatheRate.
Read more »