WFCN —
Half of the people who perished in Arizona’s scorching summer of 2017 were homeless. This occurred during one of the city’s hottest summers on record.
As temperatures have progressively increased over the past decade, the proportion of heat-related mortality in the state attributable to people suffering homelessness has been on the rise.
People without homes are more likely to perish in heat waves. In the midst of a heat wave, nobody can survive if they don’t have access to cooling systems.
Not everyone who is homeless has access to a phone or cell service, so public messages like heat alerts don’t always reach them.
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Due to the fact that heat can make drug use even more harmful, homeless persons also had a higher rate of substance-related heat mortality compared to housed groups.
The potentially fatal consequences of methamphetamine and fentanyl, such as dehydration and hyperthermia, could be worsened by extremely hot weather.
Discussions like this one prompted the creation of this fact sheet.