ER visits spike in Texas as 13 people die in US South from extreme heat

A ‘dangerous’ heat dome will remain across much of the US South until the Fourth of July holiday weekend

Nearly 60 million people were under heat alerts in the United States on Wednesday as “dangerous” temperatures continued to grip southern states and parts of Mexico.

The relentless, triple-digit heatwave – exacerbated by the climate crisis – has entered its third week. The severe conditions have caused 13 deaths in Texas and led to a spike in emergency room attendance across the state.

Mid-week temperatures were forecast to surpass 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) in much of the Southeast and high humidity was expected to push heat index values above 115 degrees (46 Celsius) in some areas.

From 18-24 June, Texas averaged 837 heat-related ER visits per 100,000 – up from 639 visits per 100,000 over the same time period in 2022, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The number of ER visits is likely to be higher as not all medical centers are counted in state data.

Paramedics have responded to more than 100 heat-related incidents in the past two weeks in Austin, city officials said, more than half the city’s heat-related 911 calls since April.

A total of 13 people have died from heat-related illnesses, including 11 people in Webb County, Texas, the local medical examiner reported on Tuesday. The deceased ranged in age from 60 to 80, and many had underlying health conditions, according to the public official.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, a 49-year-old man died on Sunday after being discovered on a sidewalk as temperatures hit 97F (36C).

In nearby Keithville, a 62-year-old woman’s death last Wednesday was also blamed on the heat. Relatives found her after she had spent several days without electricity because of earlier severe storms, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said.

Firefighter EMT William Dorsey lifts a migrant woman suffering from heat exhaustion onto a stretcher in the border community of Eagle Pass, Texas on June 26, 2023 (REUTERS)

Last week, a man and his 14-year-old stepson died while hiking in extreme heat at Big Bend National Park in West Texas, where temperatures soared to 119 degrees (48 degrees Celsius).

Postal worker Eugene Gates Jr, 66, collapsed and died while delivering mail in Dallas. The US Postal Service is now allowing earlier starting times for letter carriers, according to the National Association of Letter Carriers Lonestar Branch.

This month is on track to be the hottest June on record, forecasters said, and is set to continue into the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Behind the record temperatures was a heat dome that had lodged over the region.

In Mexico, several heat-related deaths have been reported by local news, although President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed otherwise. The popular resort areas of Cancún and Tulum on the Yucatán Peninsula are experiencing blackouts, according to reports.

Texas public officials urged residents to conserve electricity where possible to protect the power grid as it reached record use. The state grid has unique vulnerabilities when it comes to outages as it stands alone from the rest of the country, and therefore unable source from elsewhere.

Fernando Oviedo splashes his face with water in between placing gravel at a new build in a residential neighborhood in the middle of the day during a period of hot weather in San Antonio, Texas (REUTERS)

Days of power outages are compounding the health crisis. More than 10,000 residents have been without power since the weekend in central Arkansas after storms, and 30,000 residents were experiencing outages in Tennessee.

Texas isn’t the only state watching power supply and demand closely. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., which oversees the nation’s grid reliability, put two-thirds of the continent at risk of shortfalls in the event that temperatures spike above normal this summer.

Residents experiencing extreme heat were being told to limit outdoor activities, stay hydrated and find ways to cool down.

Meanwhile on the west coast, California was facing its first major heat wave of the year on Wednesday, according to NWS, while fire conditions were primed due to high heat and aridity in parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

With The Associated Press