“Are you in the sun, or are you not in the sun? Are you in the water?” Selinger said. Scott Selinger, assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School, said there is no hard and fast rule about when heat becomes dangerous.
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Heat-related illness and death can occur at surprisingly mild temperatures-humidity and exercise can turn a warm day deadly. Heat-related illnesses are also often not reported to public health agencies, so comprehensive counts are nearly impossible. And that’s just the official tally: Heat deaths are often caused by organ failure, which means they’re easily misclassified. About 70 Texans have died each year of heat-related causes since 1999. Heat has become one of America’s most prolific environmental killers, causing at least 10,000 deaths in the U.S. In Texas, at least two dozen-likely a significant undercount-died of heat-related causes last decade. It also meant homeless residents had less time to prepare for extreme heat, which is becoming more common as climate change wreaks havoc on weather patterns. Texas’ record-breaking heat this May cut short the reprieve of spring weather. Potter is one of more than 3,000 Austin residents who were homeless as of a 2021 federally mandated count. I know pretty much what I’m doing, and I knew what to prepare for as far as heat,” Potter said. “I’ve been on the street a long time, so I learned my way around. Anything to keep his body temperature down. Water was his saving grace then-he would use it to stay hydrated, and on nights when he couldn’t find a place to sleep that had any airflow, he’d get up every now and then to splash water on himself or soak his shirt. “The night is when things get a little questionable,” Potter said.Īt the time, Potter would often sleep on benches. Potter, who has lived on the street in Austin for about 10 years, said public libraries are some of the most popular places for unsheltered residents to go during the day when the heat gets unbearable.
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It’s where he went on some of the hottest days of the year, soaking in the air conditioning and filling up his two-liter water bottles. Last summer, the downtown branch of the Austin Public Library was Steven Potter’s oasis.