http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/08/12/europe.heatwave/index.html
From what I see, Paris has been slightly above 100F for 10 days. I’ve survived these temps for 10 days AND WORSE… let me tell you about DC in august.
Anyway… I guess it’s not uncommon for the elderly to die in the heat, so I’m guessing that Paris is hugley over-populated with perhaps a million plus people?
If only it would top 90 here for once this summer…
Chicago had a similar thing happen in July 1995, with 465 deaths being certified as heat-related. Most of the deaths were in the elderly, but a CDC report noted that a disproportionate number of blacks were affected. They were unable to separate out other socioeconomic factors to analyze this further.
I would suspect that Paris probably does not have a lot of air conditioners in homes, even window units. Fans wouldn’t be of much use according to this quote from the article:
Here’s a good summary of the disaster. Is Paris experiencing a lot of power outages? That’s one big contributing factor, and really hurt Chicagoans that year.
Anyone is at risk at those temperatures if proper precautions aren’t taken.
Paris has many millions of people, especially is the surrounding suburban area is considered. It’s at least as big a city population-wise as New York or Los Angeles, if not bigger.
I’m betting that there are still many domiciles in Paris that aren’t air conditioned (I know this is true in Spanish cities like Barcelona). High ceilings and big windows (where available) can only do so much. It seems likely that many Parisians are at risk to heat stroke in their own homes, and I’m sure there are many who are not accustomed to taking precautions against such unusual heat.
Paris has eleven million people which makes it slightly smaller than greater NY. People at this latitude just aren’t prepared for this sort of heat, usually the max. temp is a few degrees over 30C and even then only for one or two days a year. Air conditoning is rare in homes as being well-insulated against the winter cold they remain cool during short periods of warm weather.
Yep, there is no air conditioning unless you’re in a store or an office (and not all have it) . Our windows open wide and are not the “guillotine” type you can see in North America, therefore, it is almost impossible to have a window unit.
I live in an area where the temperature regularly reaches 110[sup]o[/sup]F; 115[sup]o[/sup] isn’t all that uncommon and the highest officiial temperature that I know of was 121[sup]o[/sup].
The trick is to take it real easy and don’t even get close to dehydration. People here regularly work outdoors, play golf and tennis. Even I walk 9 holes of golf summer afternoons, but I do it at a real easy pace and drink about 1-1/2 liters of water during the 2-1/2 hour stretch.
I suspect that those who are not used to high temperatures try to continue their activities at their normal pace and just overexert. You can lose an awful lot of water and electrolytes when you overdo at high temperatures, especially in a relatively humid atmosphere like Paris.
Now, when you Europeans ask “Why do American convenience stores and restaurants have such large drink sizes?” and “Why do Americans put so much ice into drinks?” , they’ll hopefully understand.
What…no America bashing in here? 
Urban sprawl and heat do not mix very well. Sure, alot of areas top out at a high of 104 for consequetive days, but that is the peak, and the low temp at night gets more survivable and the overall temps are likely more moderate.
The problem with urban heat waves is that there are areas that are greenhouses just storing and building the heat…and the peak temp might be 104 f, but the temp range for the day doesn’t drift very far from that…even at 11 pm at night, it can still be 90!
So, for weeks in an urban area, the temps are 95-105 for 75% of the day while the evening temps dip into the 80-85 range for a few hours. Homes/neighborhoods stacked close together aren’t even reflected in the ‘official’ temperature and might never see a temp below 90 for weeks…even at night at 3am.
So, watch the comparisons such as "Oh it was 105 here yesterday and everybody was fine’. Trust me, with 10 million people trapped in temps that rarely dip below 90 for weeks, people will die. Not comparable to an area with 250,000 people who see highs hit 100, while the rest of the day is more moderate.
PUH-LEASE. Urban heat is brutal and merciless on a whole different scale not used by ‘weathermen’.
Yes, we do now. We even understand now that there may be a point in a/c sometimes.
Amen Philster!
I think maybe the title of this thread should be “Are Parisians dropping dead at 104F?”
I was actually thinking about posting a thread questioning Yahoo’s use of the headline Heat wave kills more than 100 in France. The article isn’t exactly clear on the number of deaths. It starts with the claim of “a top Parisian physician” that more than 100 people have died. But it then goes on to talk about how the French government is denying those claims. And it ends by saying “At least 28 people are known to have died in Europe from heat-related complaints in the past 11 days – 24 in Spain, two in northern France and two in Italy – but heat is the suspected cause of dozens of other deaths.” ([sub][sup]emphasis mine[/sup][/sub])
So, hundreds of deaths? Maybe. While there has certainly been widespread illness due to heat, I think it’s irresponsible of both CNN and Yahoo to put the 100 deaths in their headlines on the basis of one doctor’s claims. I’m not denying at all the possibility that there have been 100 deaths, and I know from the Chicago case that it could happen, but it seems that the media is jumping on the numbers with far too little evidence.
Any French Dopers who can jump in here with more substantive information? And please do take the advice posted in this thread about avoiding heat-related illnesses seriously – it could save lives.
I would agree that some more evidence would be desireable.
However, I don’t see that figure as being unreasonable if you look at the Chicago example - the worst part of the heat wave was only 4 days long, and the heat-related deaths peaked two days after the heat index peaked (on the second day of the worst part of this heat wave); this makes sense in light of the quote from the summary article/interview that says. “After about forty-eight hours of continuous exposure to heat, the body’s defenses begin to fail.” So after 10 days of 100+ temperatures in an area where AC in homes is not common (vs. in Chicago where many/most people who can afford it at least have one window-mounted AC unit), I can’t say that 100 or so deaths would be astonishing in comparison.
As for the French government’s claims, well, the city of Chicago’s government minimized the issue at first as well. They denied there was a problem at first - even as hospital ERs closed due to overcrowding and the morgue overflowed - then delayed implementing their own heat emergency plan.
Again, more sources that are confirming this would be best; I am merely saying that if you use the '95 Chicago incident as a model, this is not out of the realm of possibility.
(note : I am French living in the States)
I check the web on a regular basis to keep track with the French news. And so far, all the French bits of news I have seen are as bad as what you are saying SpoilerVirgin.
The article I read on TF1.fr/news talks about 100 deaths, but the goverment is denying it, or at least not confirming it.
The article talks about a horrible situation in hospitals and retirement homes and even says the morgues are all full. I believe they only refer to Paris and its immediate region.
My parents live in the lower Alps (in the Drome region) and we are quite used to hot temperature in the summer, but they are telling me how horrible it is. There is nobody outside before 6 pm as it is an absolutly unbearable heat. And, they are lucky to be in a little village, few cars, and lots of “fresh” air there.
I can’t even begin to imagine, Paris, Lyon or Grenoble…
I do believe at least 100 people are dead, I actually believe there’s more, unfortunatly in the senior citizens group.
I was in France for vacation in June, and it was very hot then (90 to 95 every day for 10 days), my parents tell me, since I was there, it is hotter and still hasn’t rained… (all right, a few big thunder storms but nothing that helped).
My 2 Francs… well, Euros.
I don’t quite buy the “continuous heat” explaination. I grew up in Sacramento, and remember plenty of times when it’d still be 90 degrees at two AM. I think they just experienced a run of eleven or so 100 plus days.
I think air conditioning/ventilation is a factor, as is habits. People who are used to the heat learn pretty quickly how to recognize heat exhaustion and the beginnings of sunstrock, which can easily be mistaken for some other kind of illness. They also know how to react when you start feeling these symptoms (for example, sipping room temp water is better than gulping ice cold water) and have recreation acitivities that involve either water or air conditioning.
The French Surgeon general has said the number of deaths is not out of the ordianry, though this has incensed French doctors who say that inadequate prepartion were made for this eventuailty.
What defintely is going in is that French hospitals are choc-a-bloc with extra patients due to the heat.
The building construction doesn’t help matters. Stone and cinderblock and concrete insulate to some extent, they keep temperatures even to a great extent through simple inertia. It takes a long time heat up or cool down a big pile of rocks.
The first few days, we were nice and cool in the house. It could get up to 40 degrees Celsius (104F) outside and we still had 75F inside. Now, we’re up to 85F in the house, and it doesn’t go down much at night. The temperature outside drops to 66F at night - but the period of time that it is that cool is too short to have much effect on a pile of rocks that has been heated in the sun all day. The temperatures in the house go up a little each day - and we’re using all the tricks I know from growing up in south Louisiana.
We actually have fans in the house, which many people don’t. The living room and the master bedroom have ceiling fans, and we’ve got a couple of little portable ones to carry around and for the kids’ rooms at night. We know to open the windows at night to let in the cool air, and to keep to doors and windows closed against the sun and the warm air during the day. We drink plenty of water and make sure the kids do too.
Some folks don’t know these things. Lots of folks don’t have fans. Very few have A/C. We don’t because the units that are available (when not sold out) aren’t very efficient. Since the windows here open differently than in the US, you don’t have window mounted A/C. The whole thing sits inside the house with an exhaust hose to carry the hot air out - a very sizable portion of the heat never makes it, so you’ve got the A/C blowing cold air and leaking warmth back into the house. They are also expensive as all get out.
Heat is a problem for people who aren’t used to it. Hell, there even comes a time when you MUST turn off the fans because you are better off without them. If you don’t know how to deal with heat, it can kill you.
Like Even Sven says, lots of folks here don’t know how to recognize heat exhaustion or heat stroke - or what to do it they did realize what the problem is.
100 dead in Paris with temperatures above 104F? Bet your ass, and more to come.
I’ve seen a couple of references to having to turn off fans in extreme heat because you are better off without them, can I ask why you would be better off with no breeze?
The evaporation of your sweat can only cool you by a few degrees. If the temperature and the humidity are such that your sweat can’t cool the air coming into contact with your skin to below your body temperature, then the fan will actually help warm you. In that case, you are better turning off the fan.
Wow, thanks for the answer, and I hope I never experience that kind of heat.
My condolences to those who’ve lost people in Paris. The heat wave here in Chicago in 95 was horrible. It wasn’t just that it was really hot (it was) but entire neighborhoods were without power, sometimes for stretches of days. I had a window unit a/c and I ended up spending about a month just living in my bedroom. I closed off the rest of the apartment because it was too much to cool. I do know what it’s like to not have a/c at all though and it’s not fun.