The ongoing transit strike is making it even more difficult for Chilliwack seniors to avoid the heat, and Patti MacAhonic is looking for solutions.
The executive director of Ann Davis Transition Society said two older women came into her office Tuesday and nearly collapsed. Both were overheated and needed care. As MacAhonic helped them cool down she thought about the tough situation thousands of Chilliwack seniors are in this week.
The City of Chilliwack doesn’t open its cooling centres until daytime temperatures reach 33 C or nighttime temps reach 17 C. The thermometer peaked at 32 C Tuesday, just shy of what’s required for the city to declare an emergency. When MacAhonic phoned the local fire department she was told that when cooling centres aren’t an option, seniors should seek refuge in a cool public place like a mall or a library.
“But we have a bus strike, so people can’t get to the malls and the libraries,” MacAhonic said. “They have to walk to get some place cool and they can’t do it because of the heat, and nobody’s really thought about this.”
RELATED: Chilliwack rainfall in June way below 30-year average
RELATED: Hottest May since Chilliwack temperature records began in 1895
MacAhonic said it’s something that needs to be dealt with quickly, because there’s no end in sight to the transit strike and even hotter days are coming. As far as solutions go, she suggested lowering the threshold for cooling centres to open, or finding money for some sort of transportation to get people to cool places. She’s attempted to speak to Chilliwack-Kent MLA Kelli Paddon about it and she’s had discussions with the City of Chilliwack.
“People are coming in to our office and they’re just done,” she said. “This is going to take some pulling together of the community to protect our most vulnerable. Maybe some community service groups can come together or the government can come in with a piece of temporary funding to help us through this. I know it’s a caring community and we need to figure something out.”
According to the provincial government, 619 people died during the heat dome of 2021. An event like that presents its own unique challenges, but higher-than-normal temperatures are becoming the norm in B.C.
“We’re still in the very beginning of July and they’re projecting a long, hot summer,” MacAhonic said. “We’re not even into the hot, hot days yet and the lack of buses is adding a whole other variable that puts people in further danger of heat-related illness and death.”
“I don’t think anybody’s talking about this and it’s an urgent problem.”
MacAhonic urged anyone who knows a senior to check in on that person and offer assistance if needed.
“We need to be extra neighbourly and right now,” she said.
@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.