By Colneth Smiley Jr., Renee Nadeau Algarin and Ira Kantor
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — The hottest day in eight years yesterday sent public safety workers rushing to aid the elderly and homeless as other Bostonians streamed to beaches, pools, movie theaters and ice cream shops.
“People are getting smoothies for lunch instead of regular lunch,’' said Lori Peljovich, owner of boYo frozen yogurt shop on Beacon Hill, who saw her business spike 40 to 50 percent.
The temperature peaked at 100 degrees — just one degree shy of the 1911 record, said Charlie Foley of the National Weather Service. It was the first time since 2002 that the mercury hit 100 in Boston.
“The mercury doesn’t hit 100 degrees all that often across the area. Today’s high temperature is only the 24th occurrence out of 129 years of official record-keeping,’' said meteorologist Neal Strauss. “The normal high for this time of year is actually 81 degrees.’'
The temperature hit 103 in New York City and 102 in Philadelphia, breaking records for the day. The temperature also soared past the century mark in Washington and Newark, N.J.
In the Hub, city officials opened dozens of air-conditioned cooling centers.
"(Seniors) are just exhausted from the heat,’' said Judy Ryan, staff assistant at Condon Community Center in South Boston, a cooling center serving the elderly. “It’s wearing on them.’'
Boston EMS received around 20 calls for heat-related illnesses before 3 p.m. yesterday, said spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan, who noted symptoms to watch for include headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.
“Avoid caffeine and alcohol,’' Mehigan advised. “Stay hydrated, drink plenty of fluids like water and Gatorade.’'
On the streets, outreach workers from Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, Pine Street Inn and other groups were out in force.
“Our outreach van that usually goes out during the night is out during the day bringing out water, sunscreen and bug spray,’' said Pine Street Inn spokeswoman Barbara Trevisan.
Despite near-record demand for electricity in the region, there is no concern of brownouts, said a spokeswoman for ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator, noting the long holiday weekend when offices were closed, the weak economy that has pushed down energy demand and improved energy efficiency all dampened electricity use.
Today’s temperature is forecast to top out at 89, and tomorrow’s will drop to 85.
In the meantime, The Coolidge Corner Theatre was seeing a bump of 30 to 50 percent, said staff manager Nancy Campbell.
“Most people are grateful to have a place to refuge from the heat,’' Campbell said. “A few complain that it’s too cold.’'
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 Boston Herald Inc.