City officials warn residents, ramp up services for extreme heat hitting Chicago area

City officials warned that sweltering temperatures gripping the Chicago area this week pose a significant risk to vulnerable communities, including older residents, people with disabilities, young children and those without access to air conditioning.

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning that will remain in effect through Wednesday evening. The heat index — which means what the hot air feels like when combined with humidity — will approach 105 degrees at times.

By 2:30 p.m. Monday, it was 90 degrees at O’Hare International Airport. Forecasters expected the high to reach 92 degrees.

“Extreme heat can be very dangerous,” said Mayor Brandon Johnson during a morning press briefing at the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications on the Near West Side. “This is the time to check in on our neighbors, especially elderly neighbors or those with disabilities or health challenges. Let’s do what Chicagoans do best. Let’s look out for one another.”

NWS meteorologist Mike Bardou said during the briefing three-day stretches of heat like this week’s “have only occurred twice since the beginning of 2013.”

Bardou added that overnight temperatures were also an issue. Due to overnight temperatures remaining in the upper 70s and low 80s, residents are less likely to recover from daytime temperatures, he said.

The risks prompted Johnson to invoke the historic 1995 heat wave. 793 Chicago residents died in the heat that year.

“Chicago knows perhaps better than any other city in America, the dangers of extreme weather and particularly heat,” Johnson said. “From that tragedy, the City of Chicago learned how to be more proactive and responsive to our residents.”

The weather service is not forecasting records to be broken, though temperatures may not be far from record levels, said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

And due to the possibility of thunderstorms, there may more of a range of temperatures on Thursday and Friday, Izzi said. “We just don’t have a great view at this point.”

Chicago last saw a similar stretch last summer, when heat indices reached 100 or higher for four straight days from June 21 to June 24, Izzi said.

Preparedness efforts

The city’s Department of Family and Support Services has activated six community service cooling centers and 20 senior centers all readily available until Thursday. The Garfield Community Service Center will remain open through Friday and will extend its hours until 8 p.m.

Residents will have access to 287 cooling facilities across the city, including Chicago Public Library branches, Park District facilities, City Colleges campuses and police district stations. Residents can locate the nearest cooling center by calling 311 or visiting the city’s website.

DFSS Commissioner Angela Green said more than 31,000 robocalls were sent over the weekend to senior citizens offering wellness checks and reminding them of available resources. Street outreach teams will also be providing bottled water to the unhoused community, in addition to connecting them with shelters and cooling centers.

Department of Buildings Commissioner Marlene Hopkins said inspectors will enforce the city’s cooling ordinance during the heat wave, ensuring qualifying residential buildings and care facilities have functioning air conditioning or accessible cooling areas.

Chicago Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt said firefighters and paramedics are adding resources across the city while reminding residents never to leave children or pets inside parked vehicles, even for a few minutes. She also warned residents to avoid using illegal fireworks and to practice water safety during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Residents are encouraged to drink plenty of water, avoid alcohol and caffeine, wear lightweight clothing and remain indoors whenever possible. Those without air conditioning should keep blinds closed while slightly opening windows for ventilation.

Officials stated anyone experiencing a medical emergency related to the heat should call 911 immediately, while non-emergency requests for cooling centers, wellness checks or other city services should be directed to 311.

ComEd said it has pre-staged additional crews and equipment across its territory and is monitoring conditions around the clock during the heat wave, ComEd spokesperson David Perez in a release.

Customers can report outages to ComEd by texting OUT to 26633, calling 1-800-EDISON-1, using the ComEd mobile app or visiting ComEd.com.

Chicago Public Schools said all summer programming would be held inside with air conditioning Monday through Wednesday under the district’s extreme heat policy.