Much of Southwest Michigan is under a heat advisory, including Kalamazoo County.
With the forecast calling for temperatures near or above 90 degrees for the next several days, Kalamazoo Emergency Manager Justin Wolbrink emphasized the need for people to keep hydrated and stay in the shade in order to avoid heat related illnesses.
He added that there are plenty of places for people to cool off.
“We have one cooling shelter and 11 cooling centers open this week. They are all in the Kalamazoo metropolitan area and there are also cooling centers available in Portage, Oshtemo, and Comstock just outside of Kalamazoo as well.”
The one cooling shelter, where people can stay overnight, is at Kalamazoo Gospel Ministries.
Wolbrink added that the city also has three hydration stations, at MLK, Bronson, and Southside parks, where residents can get a water refill to help stay hydrated.
A list of cooling resources was posted on the Kalamazoo City Emergency Management's Facebook.
Matt Johnson is the public information officer for Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services.
He said the biggest risk during a heat wave is the increase of illnesses like heat stroke, adding that residents should be aware of how to spot the heat related illness.
“Knowing those signs and symptoms of a heat stroke; a headache, that that person might possibly become unconscious, an internal temperature above 103 degrees, a rapid strong pulse.”
Johns said that while elderly and very young residents are most at risk for heat illness, young adults can be affected too.
“What we saw with our last heat advisory, that heatwave that came through was that we had a lot of people in that age range that were reporting to the emergency department with heat-related illness.”
