Wake County keeps cooling stations open amid dangerous heat wave

Wake County kept its temporary cooling stations open daily through at least Monday, July 20, as the county braced for another round of dangerous heat. Libraries, regional centers and Wake County Health and Human Services sites served as the main cooling locations during business hours, giving residents a place to rest and hydrate when home air conditioning was not enough or not available.

Darshan Patel said temperatures that high are dangerous for anyone, especially people without an air-conditioned space to cool down. The county treated the stations as a public-safety measure because prolonged heat can trigger dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke before people realize they are in trouble.

The county had already extended the stations through at least July 11 and then through at least July 17 before pushing the end date out again. The county said the heat index could reach 109 degrees, and Wake County had opened the same network earlier when the heat index reached 100 degrees.

Some locations were set to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on July 20. The hours left them most useful for people already near libraries or county facilities, but less accessible for residents dealing with housing instability, utility shutoffs or long workdays outside the home.

Raleigh hit 106 degrees on July 5, and NOAA documented significant heat waves across the central and eastern United States in July. CDC and NIOSH guidance identifies older adults, children and people with chronic health conditions as among the most vulnerable in extreme heat.