Jul 19 2005
8 Dead, More Expected
“Last summer, 34 Arizonans died of excessive exposure to the heat, according to the health department.
July is the hottest month of the year in the Valley, with an average high of 106.6 degrees. It also is one of the most dangerous months for heat-related fatalities, with an average of 18 such deaths a year.” Taken from The Arizona Republic
We are living under continuous excessive heat advisories.
I don’t get it. Every year thousands of people transplant into Arizona, more specifically, Phoenix and the surrounding areas. Why? To purposely move to a state where there are record highs reached and beaten every summer is beyond me. What is the draw to a state that has little rainfall, constant drought conditions, and seering summer temperatures? I realize that most folks come here for the mild winters. Arguments ensue about it being a “dry” heat. Who the fcuk cares when you have to suffer through 8 months of living in a convection oven just to enjoy 4 months of mild weather?
When I was a child growing up in the Greater Phoenix area, I recall the heat not only being less than it has been over the past few years, but it didn’t seem to bother me as it does now. I recall cruising around town in the middle of the day in a Volkswagen Bug with no air conditioning and vinyl seats. Ew. I couldn’t do that these days. I am too big of a priss.
The very old, the very poor, and the homeless are the ones who are hit the hardest by these heat waves. Of the 8 found dead from heat related complications, 7 were homeless. The 8th victim was an 80 year old woman.
The rainfall during our famous “Monsoon” seasons has dropped significantly over the years. On July 18th, we saw our first good storm of the season roll through the Valley. Out where Rachel is, she reported good rainfall. In my area, we barely got spit on. That’s how it is around here. Hit or miss when it comes to any rain, if there is any in those clouds that blow through with a vengance every day during monsoon season. The most we can usually expect is to be pounded with blowing dust. Yea, nothing but a wall of dirt headed your way. There’s nothing worse to piss off a woman who just finished cleaning her house, than to have it bombarded with a wall of dirt to enter through the vents and land a layer of dust all over everything.
When I was a child, the monsoons brought vicious storms and buckets of rain that blanketed most every city and rural area in the state. These days, the rain fall is so minimal that the state has been stuck in a drought for 7 years. The lakes and rivers are beginning to dry up. Their levels get so low in some places that you can’t even take a boat out any longer.
It doesn’t bother me that all of these people want to move here. It has sent our housing market through the roof and our economic situation is improving almost daily within the state. I just don’t understand it at all! I can only fathom that this must be what the weather in hell is like.
