The Wood County Emergency Management Agency has issued the following advisory:
For the next 2-days Wood County will be under an Excessive Heat Warning. Excessive Heat Warnings are issued when heat indices reach 105 degrees or higher for at least 2-consecutive days. A Heat Advisory is issued when heat indices reach 100-104 degrees for 2-hours or longer. Wood County will be split today with an almost 15-degree difference between northern and southern Wood County (85 degrees in northern part and 100 degrees in the southern portion of the county) . Tomorrow is expected to be 105 degrees though out the entire county.
During the next few days everyone should do their best to limit their time outside and/or exposure to the elements and follow a few simple rules.
- Stay hydrated: ¾-1 gallon of water per day and avoid sugary, caffeinated, or alcoholic drinks.
Always listen to your doctor as some individuals have specific hydration needs and specifications.
- Stay in the air-conditioning as much as possible. If you have outdoor activities planned, outdoor work, etc., consider catching up on indoor projects instead.
- Eat light snacks and meals throughout the day and consider drinks with electrolytes to replace the salt lost when you sweat.
- Take more breaks than you normally would and go into a cooler environment during breaks to give yourself some time to cool down.
- Stop what you are doing and go inside at the first sign of heat related illnesses.
- Monitor those around you to make sure they are not having medical issues. Remember, when individuals experience environmental medical emergencies, one of the first things to occur is confusion and cognitive issues. These people may not know they are becoming ill and need to get inside.
- Call 9-1-1 if someone does not recover after being inside or if their symptoms worsen.
- Call 9-1-1 immediately for anyone suffering a heat related illness and not sweating. This is indicative of Heat Stroke and this condition is extremely life threatening.
- Check on your family, friends and neighbors who are elderly and/or medically susceptible to environmental extremes to make sure they are ok.
It has been 10 years since we have seen this kind of heat. This will only last for a few days and try to postpone what you can.
