AUGUSTA – Maine’s top doctor on Friday wrote a prescription for handling the heat this weekend: Keep cool. Be lazy.
Don’t mow. Don’t scrub. Don’t climb a mountain or go on the treadmill.
“We’re so used to going at full speed. It’s hard to think that because of the weather we need to slow down,” said Dr. Dora Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control. “Take it easy. The lawn can wait.”
As if you didn’t already know, much of Maine is in what meteorologists are predicting will be a heat wave.
The temperature hit 90 in Lewiston-Auburn and Portland on Friday and was expected to reach that mark each day through Monday.
“It’ll be very, very warm,” said Channel 13 meteorologist Max Riseman. He predicted inland areas such as Lewiston-Auburn, and especially western mountain areas like Norway and Fryeburg, would see an official heat wave, three consecutive days of 90-degree or higher temperatures.
The last official heat wave, according to National Weather Service data, was in 1999, Riseman said. There could have been heat waves in parts of Maine, but only Portland’s temperatures are archived. Portland and other coastal areas are cooler than inland places.
Stay cool, hydrate
Heat waves ought to be taken seriously, Riseman said. They killed thousands of people in Europe last summer.
Mills agreed, saying people need to use common sense and listen to their bodies.
“Lay low and stay cool,” she said. Getting wet from the garden hose, the shower, a pool, lake or ocean will work. The middle of the day, from 11 to 1, is a good time to lie down and rest, she said. “Stay hydrated. Alcohol is not good because it makes your body dehydrate.”
The old and the young are more vulnerable to heat, so it’s especially important that they drink plenty of water.
People without air conditioning go to department or grocery stores to stay cool, Mills recommends. Relief also could be found at beaches, but Mills recommended people stay in the shade in the middle of the day. Cooling off in a swimming pool or lake is also good.
As Friday wore on and the temperature rose, pool supplies, fans and air conditioners were selling at stores.
“This humidity really kills me,” said Carole Bradbury of Minot as she looked over air conditioners at Wal-Mart in Auburn. As an emergency medical technician with Minot Rescue, she works different shifts. It’s important to get quality sleep, she said.
People can be suffering heat strokes or dehydration even though they aren’t sweating, Bradbury said. If urination by noon is still yellow, that can be a sign of not enough water, she said.
Animals also need be protected from the heat.
They can really suffer, said Leeds dairy farmer John Nutting.
During hot weather Nutting lets his cows out to pasture earlier in the day and keeps them in shade. When they’re in the barn during the afternoon they’re hosed down with water while he turns on extra fans.
When it’s hot his cows give 5 to 10 percent less milk. “They’re more lethargic, just like people.”
Nutting said he was looking forward to Tuesday when the forecast calls for the heat wave to end. “I’m counting the minutes,” he said.
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