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Wis. (WEAU) – County public health officials are worried about this heat wave because it’s just so difficult to cool off
“What makes this heat a little bit more concerning than usual is that there is not really a ton of relief that is occurring at the evening hours, so with temperatures that are continuing to stay in the 70s, it doesn’t give much people much relief from the heat,” said Joe Kelscheur, the emergency-preparedness specialist for the Eau Claire City-County Public Health Department. “A mixture of that along with the temperature and the humidity both remaining high kind of remaining high for multiple days at a time, that creates an environment that just makes it harder for people to cool down.”
To ensure that people are being safe in the heat, Eau Claire Transit has announced that there will be no bus fares until Friday
“By waiving bus fares through this extreme heat event, it allows people to have access to the city bus system, in which our buses do have AC, and it also gives them a chance to make it easier for them to get to a cooler place they might not otherwise have access to,” Kelscheur said
Many outdoor community events, from Chippewa Falls to La Crosse, have either moved indoors, postponed, or cancelled due to the extreme heat in order to keep people safe
“Wisconsin summers are a ton of fun, and they also can be really dangerous, with extreme heat being the number one killer in the state of Wisconsin, and the nation, for any out of all weather-related incidents, it’s time that we take extreme heat more seriously,” Kelscheur said
One place that some people are going to cool off is the Eau Claire Haven House
“I think we’ve seen a little bit more guests come here because of the heat, we’ve been averaging just under 100 people a day, and because of the heat I think people are staying longer and are able to be here throughout the day and just stay out of the elements,” said Brett Geboy, the community relations director for Hope Gospel Mission
They help many homeless individuals, but their number one service is safety
“This is really why we’re here. This is a community reaid
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