More Air Conditioners Coming

This was on News Channel 3 last night...

FAST FACTS:

Shelby County about to get 200 more air conditioners

People must meet qualifications to get new air conditioner

County EMA is ready to set up cooling tents if temperature goes up

(MEMPHIS 6/23/2010) Shelby County Interim Mayor Joe Ford has been down this road before. "Good morning," he said, as other department heads gathered around a large meeting table. Joe Ford was honest as can be about this meeting. "I need the media to help us," he said. "This is a serious situation."

For the second time in two weeks Mayor Ford talked about what Shelby County is doing to try and help people survive this early summer heat wave. The Mayor's Action Line is continuing to take applications from people for free air conditioners. "We have about fifty left," Mayor Ford said, "but we're going to get another two hundred coming in the next several days."

In years past, a lot of people tried to use the free air conditioner program to their advantage. We're talking a lot of people. "Our past experiences," according to Community Services Director Dottie Jones, "show that of the people who've signed up for air conditioners, at least fifty percent of them already had air conditioning and just wanted a free unit." Jones says this year, however, there are tougher requirements for the program, and she hasn't seen any fraud.

The temperature, in the meantime, is watched by just about everybody. Often, during natural events, people talk about conditions changing by the minute. Nothing is changing in this heat wave. It just keeps intensifying, the heat, the problems, the concerns. And according to Shelby County Emergency Management, it needs to get a lot hotter before cooling tents are established. EMA representative Levell Blanchard told people that his agency is ready, and can put up two cooling tents quickly. The heat index has to get to at least 105 degrees for several hours in a row, or it just needs to reach 115 degrees. "We can set those up anywhere," Mayor Ford said, "and if they're needed, they're going up."

Here's the most difficult thing to consider. Summer is officially only 3 days old. Two people have already died from heat, and it's just June. "This is going to be a long summer," Yvonne Madlock of the County Health Department said, "and there could be a lot of troubles."

Doctor Kenneth Robinson is Chief Medical Officer for Shelby County. He's not just concerned about the elderly, or the children, he's concerned about everybody. "In this type of heat and humidity, everybody is at risk," he said. "Everybody is vulnerable."