11 Texans Dead In Implacable Summer Heat...

 

STAFF REPORT

McALLEN, Texas | Maybe one more week of the worst of it, is what the boys in the weather center are saying today. It'll still be 100-degrees-plus for the next five days - and with a 30% chance of rain by next week - but we're far from out of the Annual Texas Summer Scorch.

Grab that bikini and get into it, Maria.

The real bad news is that 13 Texans have died since the onset of this latest heat wave, all blamed on an unrelenting "Heat Dome" that simply would not budge. Another heat-related death was listed in neighboring Louisiana.

This update: [ Eleven of the Texas heat-related deaths occurred in Webb County, which includes Laredo. The dead ranged in age from 60 to 80 years old and many had underlying health conditions, according to Webb County Medical Examiner Dr. Corinne Stern, who said the level of heat in the county was unprecedented.

The area has a higher poverty rate than the state average and that compounds the suffering, Stern said.

"The vast majority do not have air conditioning in their homes. They either have the fans off, or they have fans on but not proper ventilation," Stern said. "There has been at least one or two that have air conditioning but don’t want to run it due to the bill." ]

The Sun is urging all who have elderly relatives check-in with them daily. Make sure they get their meals and have plenty of drinking water. And pay their utilities bill, for Chrissakes.

Saturday is the day meaner July gets here. Whoa, Nelly.

Don't expect anything less than what we've seen and had for the past three weeks. The Dead of Summer is also known as July & August.

Hang in there.

This too shall pass...

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[Editor's Note:...Reporting for this story came from staffer Bill Salter. Photo atop this posting by Joe Hermosa...]