French Heat Wave

by
Sidney Newsome
September 5, 2003

During August temperatures have been souring in France reaching 80 to 104-degrees. The fact the temperatures were so high, that it affected the elderly that were at home by themselves while there family went on vacation because of the French holiday.

This summer there have been thousands of deaths due to the heat. More and more elderly people are dying daily due to the heat. From high temperatures reaching the 80's, 90's sometimes reaching to 104. That might not seem like a lot to you but it in the cities in France there are a lot of people and its over populated. The houses are made out of concrete and brick and as we know bricks, stones, cement etc. attracts heat and keeps it in. So in France where there are lot of buildings and all them are made out of cement and brick it gets really hot and with no fans and air conditioning it starts to burn up.

In France they have a lot of elderly left alone because of the their families have taken the five week holiday. In which the whole family goes on vacation. Since the elderly are old the family decides to leave the elderly at home. Thats why the French government and the local news cast are telling family members and neighbors to check on the elderly.

Over this period of time an estimated amount of 13,600 died in France mainly in Paris since August an extra 11,435 deaths have been recorded in the last two weeks of August. The government of France is trying to find ways to cool people down such as making manmade beachs. French locals say that this is the most deaths they've had in a short period of time.

In the hospital when people come its hard to give them all their special needs and benefits because there are so many in the hospital and with no ice and air conditioning it's tough. The workers at the hospital feel desperate because more and more people are coming in and there is not enough supplies. More than 500 hospital beds have been made for the more and more people coming in. The doctors say its hard to tell people that their grandparents or even their parents have died. The French heat wave has taken toil on everybody.

The sick and elderly have manly died from dehydration and hypothermia. A French undertaker has told local sources that nearly 10,400 people have died in the first week of August. The deaths in France have sourced to 3,000 in one week. Now that the heat wave has killed so many the question is what is next to come and when will the heat ever end?

  1. French Heat Wave
  2. Hypothermia
  3. Dehydration
  4. The Elderly
  5. Cement and Concrete