Excessive heat in Southwest poses added threat amid pandemic

PHOENIX (AP) — As people around them sat and napped, some sipping water in an air-conditioned shelter on another sweltering day in a summer of record-breaking heat, Gary Goodman and Lena Stewart spoke of the fatal dangers of living on the street.

“There’s been a lot of friends, a lot of people I know have passed away,” said Goodman, a 47-year-old California native. “I guess they don’t realize, like you know, the oncoming symptoms of heat exhaustion. So, we’ve been finding a lot of deceased people in the tents.”

Goodman and Stewart weren't together but sat at nearby tables last week in the Phoenix Convention Center. They can't say with certainty if those they know died as a direct result of the heat, but the numbers back up their suspicions.

Between June and August, Phoenix reported 50 days with a high temperature of at least 110 degrees (43 Celsius), surpassing the record of 33 days set in 2011, and July and August were the hottest months ever in the nation's fifth largest city.

Heat is the top weather-related cause of death in the United States. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more people are killed on average by heat than tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined.

The CDC notes that community cooling centers help protect the public during heat emergencies, but this summer they also increased the risk of coronavirus by gathering groups of at-risk people.

In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, authorities reported 55 confirmed heat-associated deaths as of Aug. 29, up from 38 all of last year. The county tracks heat-related deaths from May to October. According to the Department of Public Health Administration website, there are 266 cases under investigation, about double last year's 134 cases.

The record...