By Josh Rabe
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK)
Copyright 2006 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
Oklahoma’s high temperatures have caused at least two deaths and possibly as many as five, a state medical official said Tuesday.
Others forced to work outdoors had to find ways to cope with triple-digit heat that’s plagued the state for the past six days.
The heat wave could come close to matching 10 consecutive days of 100-degree temperatures central Oklahoma saw in July 2001, but a cool front is expected to push temperatures back into the mid 90s on Saturday.
Although the current heat wave may not break any state records, its effects already have been deadly.
The two confirmed heat-related deaths occurred in the Oklahoma City area, said Kevin Rowland, chief investigator for the state medical examiner’s office.
Raymond Patterson, 76, of Oklahoma City was found dead Sunday. Rowland said the man’s air conditioner was broken.
Harriett Stahl, 62, of The Village was discovered dead Monday. Stahl’s air conditioner had not been turned on, Rowland said.
Three other deaths in Oklahoma are being investigated as possibly heat-related, Rowland said. A 77-year-old Tulsa man was found Tuesday morning; a 54-year-old Krebs woman was found Sunday and a man from Coffeyville, Kan., died at a northeast Oklahoma emergency room Tuesday. The Emergency Medical Services Authority issued a heat alert again in Oklahoma City and Tulsa on Tuesday.
Paramedics in Oklahoma City responded to 14 heat related calls on Tuesday, said Lara O’Leary, spokeswoman for EMSA.
An excessive heat warning is also in effect for most of central, northern, southern and western Oklahoma through Thursday.
Heat of the day
Carl Speir, who’s been working outside restoring a building into office space for the state attorney general, said the extreme heat slows progress. He and others from All-Seal Waterproofing and Restoration started work Tuesday before 7 a.m. to limit exposure to the high temperatures.
“I try to work through lunch because it’s so hot,” the 48-year-old Oklahoma City man said. “It’s brutal. You’ve just got to slow your pace down.”
Huie Arnold, who works for a roofing contractor, said he was surprised the temperature was only 106 degrees in Oklahoma City Tuesday afternoon after climbing down from a roof covered with molten tar.
“Up there, it’s probably 120 degrees,” Arnold said.
The tar used on the roof is heated to 550 degrees, he said. In the intense heat and sunlight, it takes hours to cool.
Another worker, William Goodwin, said he had been pouring cold water on his wrists to keep from overheating.
In Alva, where temperatures climbed to 108 degrees, Robert Babcock spent the day cleaning out a storage warehouse at the local farmer’s co-op.
“It’s kind of like working in an oven,” Babcock said. “We are only going out there 30 minutes at a time, then we have to come back in.”
Temperatures at Cherokee, Medford and Lawton also topped out at 108 Tuesday, while Fairview saw a statewide high of 109.
Finding shelter
In Tulsa, 223 people lined up for the Salvation Army Center of Hope’s lunch line to escape the midday heat, said Tracey Booth, the center’s executive director.
About as many have been staying overnight at the shelter, which is one of two designated cooling stations in the city, where temperatures climbed to 101 Tuesday.
Although the center is used primarily for the homeless, Booth said she convinced one woman living in a trailer with no air conditioning that it would be better to stay at the shelter Tuesday than to return home and risk serious illness.
The Tulsa Weather Coalition is quickly running out of single room air conditioning units it loans to people left without air conditioning, said Sherry Thurman, agency coordinator.
The coalition provides the units at no cost to people in low income households with certain medical conditions that increase their risk of heat-related illness, Thurman said. Requests have been coming in so fast, the nonprofit will soon run out of its stock of about 200 units, and some qualified applicants could be turned away, she said.
Statewide, more than 200 public libraries, seniors centers and businesses have opened their doors to anyone left without air conditioning or anyone who needs a place to cool down.
Residents in the Oklahoma City area can find the nearest Cool Zone by calling 211, the HeartLine social services hot line, or by logging on to NewsOK.com for a complete list of Cool Zone locations.
The 211 service is available to most Oklahoma City and Tulsa residents. The service also can be reached in most of the 405 area code by calling 286-4057.
Transportation to several of the sites is available, including locations in Oklahoma City.
Highs today and Thursday are expected to remain about the same as they were on Tuesday. Central Oklahoma could see a high around 105 today and parts of the state could see highs around 108, said Doug Speheger, a meteorologist at the National Weather service in Norman.
Contributing: Staff Writers Joe Wertz and Chad Previch