According to the National Weather Service and everyone else in the mid-state, it’s hot. So hot, in fact, that the NWS has issued heat advisories for this week.
With temperatures nearly reaching the century mark today and tomorrow, folks at the NWS in Memphis, Tenn. felt the need to issue the advisory. Natives of Tennessee know that the actual temperature is not the only thing to worry about, though. The heat index – how hot it actually feels – is the scary part. The NWS is reporting the heat index could reach up to 114 on Monday or Tuesday.
Those on staff at Lipscomb have been told to take the warnings seriously, too.
“While we haven’t been told anything directly about today, we have been told to take several precautions in the past,” said Steve Durham, an event operations worker at the university. “On days like this, [the university] tells us to drink fluids regularly, take breaks and to break up the amount of time spent outside.”
In 2010 there were more than 20 heat-related deaths in the state. A majority of the deaths were a result of negligence towards the elderly or an infant. In one case, a resident at a Shelby County nursing home was left unattended for more than two hours.
The Tennessee Highway patrol is adamant about the issue. It’s too often that one hears about a child being left inside a vehicle while the person in charge goes inside for “just a second.” The THP wants to remind motorists on the issue:
“On a typical sunny, summer day, the temperature inside a car can reach potentially deadly levels within minutes.” said by THP Colonel Tracy Trott in a statement issued to tn.gov earlier this month. “Even on a mild day at 73 degrees outside, an SUV can heat up to 100 degrees in 10 minutes and to 120 degrees in just 30 minutes. At 90 degrees outside, the interior of a vehicle can heat up to 160 degrees within several minutes.”
With temperatures close to 100 degrees, think about the consequences. Since the issue has become so relevant recently, Tennessee, along with 18 other states, has laws that prohibit leaving a child unattended in a vehicle.
Leaving people unattended isn’t the only way to be attacked by the heat, though. Sports are also a big factor in heat-related illnesses. Between softball, baseball and football camps, summer camps and trying to enjoy a summer, kids, teenagers and adults alike are subject to OD’ing on the heat.
For Middle Tennessee Christian School students Abby and Kassidy, participating in Lipscomb’s softball camp, the heat is something they’ve come to know very well.
“They’re telling us to drink a lot of water,” said Abby Magnuson, a rising junior at MTCS. “We can just take breaks whenever and go in the dugout and grab water.”
The girls are no strangers to the heat. They’ve spent a majority of their summers playing softball. In doing so, the pair have found ways to stay out of harm’s way during the hottest times of the year.
“We play tournaments on the weekend,” Magnuson said. “We try to drink as much water as possible during the week to prepare ourselves.”
The NWS is urging folks to stay on the lower floors of buildings, wear loose and light clothing, eat light and cover your windows that receive significant amounts of sun. Doing these things will keep you
So, do yourself a favor and stay inside as much as possible the next few days. If you do have to go outside, though, make sure you have plenty of water, you’re in a pool or you have somewhere to go to cool off.