Chicago Heatwave Flashcards
Disaster makes visible______
The social distribution of vulnerability
When was the Chicago heatwave?
July 12, 1995
What was the Chicago heatwave?
The heat came announced
The NWS forecasts were correct and the onset was recognized several days in advance
on July 12, 1995, the NWS predicted a maximum heat index of greater than 100˚F for the following day and issued a Heat Advisory, few people considered it a potential medical emergency.
“the Chicago Department of Health, which had been monitoring the weather and had recommended that people modify their behavior because of the heat, expected that only a few people would experience anything more than is comfort as a result of the hot weather.”
Why were people in Chicago not prepared for the heatwave?
Many Chicagoans were not prepared
“heat waves are easier to predict than more short-lived and highly localized weather events like tornadoes.”
“Unfortunately, a heat wave connotes discomfort, not violence; inconvenience, not alarm.”
Places like Chicago and Milwaukee “had extensive disaster preparedness plans for other weather events like floods or blizzards, but neither had an official plan for responding to heat emergencies.”
The City’s power supply was heavily taxed
Extreme heat may be one of the most least understand of the deadly weather phenomena. Why?
In contrast to the visible, destructive, and violent nature associated with “deadly weather”, like floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes, a heat wave is a “silent disaster.” Unlike violent weather events that cause extensive physical destruction and whose victims are easily discernible, the hazards of extreme heat are dramatically less apparent, especially at the onset. Often heat waves are not clearly recognized as public health emergencies.
The temperature forecasts in Chicago were often taken from O’Hare Airport. Why is this significant?
It’s hotter in the city than in the county. The temperatures were lower at the Airport. Urbanization created a “heat island” in the city.
“During the 3-day period from July 13-15, 1995, approximately _____ daily maximum temperature records were set at locations from the central and northern Great Plains to the Atlantic coast.” (NOAA)
70
What was July 14th called?
A parade of death. The heat began to break people down by heat cramps, heat syncope or fainting, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke.
It is reported that the baseline death rate per day in Chicago is 72. On Friday July 14th, ___ Chicagoans died. This was followed on Saturday by another ____, on Sunday 241, Monday ____, and Tuesday 106.
188
365
193
How do you define a heat-related death.
“One of the difficulties in measuring the mortality associated with a heat emergency is the lack of definition for heat-related death that is both standardized and practical.
Using the strict definition of hyperthermia as the basis for classifying deaths requires that a core body temperature of 105˚F or above be measured at the time of, or immediately following, death.
However, deaths frequently occur that, judging by the circumstances of death, are clearly heat related but a core body temperature is either unavailable or not meaningful (because the body was not discovered until hours or days after death) and which, thus, cannot be strictly called hyperthermia deaths.” (NOAA)
What happened to hospitals during this heatwave?
“At the same time that bodies were beginning to accumulate in the city morgue, hospitals were also being inundated with people who had been affected by the heat. Some hospital emergency departments began to turn away ambulances on July 12 because they had insufficient capacity to accept additional patients; by July 14th, 18 hospitals were on “bypass status“.” (NOAA)
What did Chicago’s mayor say about this issue?
“It’s hot. It’s very hot. We all have our little problems but let’s not blow it out of proportion… We go to extremes in Chicago. And that’s why people like Chicago. We go to extremes.”
What happened July 15th? What was the result?
The city finally issues a heat emergency warning
The city’s heat emergency plan called for declaring a heat emergency when air or apparent temperatures were expected to exceed 40.5˚C for two consecutive days
The result was a very high rate of preventable death.
What are the four contributors to the production of social isolation?
1) An increasing number of vulnerable seniors living alone
2) A culture of fear that prevents many seniors from interacting with their immediate neighborhood
3) The degradation/fortification of public spaces and housing, making seniors feel trapped
4) The phenomenon of increasingly isolated men as they age
How is geography linked to destiny?
At risk populations in Chicago Low income African-American Elderly Neighborhoods of exclusion
- 73% of the 525 deaths that were medically confirmed as heat related were over the age of 65
- The death rate for seniors over 65 was 16 times higher than those under 65
- Although African Americans make up only 39% of the city’s population and African American seniors represent less than 1/3 of 4. Chicago’s residents over 65, Black seniors constituted 45% of the deaths for Chicagoans 65 and over
- Men were 2.5 times more likely than women to die
