A typical Charlotte summer day with a high near 90 degrees isn't classified as extreme heat — that's reserved for “abnormal” temperatures, like the recent heatwave where heat index values jumped well past 100 for days straight. People without permanent homes, however, experience these temperatures differently since they are often outside all day, unable to cool off.
With limited resources and nowhere to go, how do people living outside manage during the summer? WFAE’s Stella Mackler has been talking to groups that help these people, as well as those that live in tents, cars and other places on the streets. She joined WFAE’s Nick de la Canal to discuss what she’s seen and learned.
Nick de la Canal: We’ve heard that heat affects different populations in different ways. What does that consistent heat exposure do to people living outside?
Stella Mackler: I mean, we’ve all felt it the last few weeks — just walking from our air-conditioned cars into air-conditioned shops or offices or houses, right? Today the heat index is over 100 degrees again. It’s just brutal, these Carolina summers that slap you like a hot, wet towel across the face. The number one thing I heard from researchers, outreach workers and unhoused people themselves is that the heat is exhausting, physically and mentally. I spoke with one man, T, who lives in an encampment near Interstate 77.
T: (The heat) just drains you so quickly, having to go over those train tracks and walk up the hill and climb around the fence. And then you still have to get to the train or the bus stop. It's brutal.
Mackler: T said he is always looking for a little bit of shade or water, anything he can use to cool off.
T: The way that my tarp is set up, rain water can go into a bucket. Literally, I was just taking cupfuls of water and just kind of trying to keep myself cool.
Mackler: He also said he feels sick more often. His experience is consistent with research that shows being outside all day in the heat, with nowhere to cool off, can cause illness and exhaustion. Some people have also mentioned feelings of anger and depression.
De la Canal: Do the tents that T and other people live in protect them from the heat at all?
Mackler: Actually, it's pretty much the opposite. The tents heat up during the day and then retain that heat during the night, which can make it even hotter in the tent than outside of it.
This is a Catch-22 for people living outside. Their body is fighting the excess heat exposure they’ve had all day. (Then) they can’t go to sleep to help their body recover because it's too hot in the tent.
De la Canal: So, it's hot outside, it's hot — or hotter, in the tent. How do people adapt? Is there anything they can do to try and stay cool?
Mackler: There are some strategies. Living near a water source is a big one. This could be a creek or even a spigot on the side of a building. Sometimes people leave their tent windows down, but then bugs can get in. So this doesn’t always work.
Spending time in the shade is another big thing. Dr. Kelsey Ellis is a climatologist at the University of Tennessee who researches how unhoused people experience high temperatures. She said finding shade can be harder than it sounds.
Ellis: (The homeless) were often kicked out of any shaded spots they found themselves comfortable sitting in. It was like they weren't allowed to stay sitting on a bench downtown in the shade. They just kept being pushed to move.
Mackler: Finding water and ice is also difficult, Ellis said. Even if people could afford it, they rarely have a place to store the ice, like a cooler or a fridge, to keep it from melting.
De la Canal: Is there anything going on at the city level to help provide for and protect unhoused people during the heat? Is there something we can do just at the community level?
Mackler: During heat waves, the city and county do provide free rides on CATS to air-conditioned spaces like rec centers and libraries. But people have to be able to get to those bus stops. The county also gives out fans. One thing Ellis mentioned repeatedly is that it's important to provide these cooling resources, even if there isn’t a heat wave.
Ellis: Weather that's extreme to us is different than the weather that's extreme to them and because they're exposed for 24 hours a day. It doesn't require a heat wave to make them at risk to succumb to heat-related illnesses.
Mackler: Street-outreach workers, at organizations like Roof Above and Hearts for the Invisible, work in collaboration with the city and county. They bring people water, ice, snacks and anything else they need. They also tell people where cooling centers are and how to get there.
Jessica Lefkowitz, the director of Hearts for the Invisible, suggested that people keep cold or frozen water bottles in their cars and pass them out on the way to work.
Lefkowitz: That one frozen water may be the difference of somebody passing out from heat exhaustion, or maybe even death … just literal cold water could save someone’s life.
Mackler: If that interaction feels intimidating, Hearts for the Invisible and Roof Above take donations, too. Outreach workers and researchers alike have said a single water bottle goes a long way.
De la Canal: Water bottles, good to know. Is the heat and the health risks associated with it expected to get worse?
Mackler: Yes. As the planet continues to warm, temperatures will rise and research shows more and more people will be exposed to extreme heat. The development we see in growing cities like Charlotte will add lots of heat-absorbing concrete and reduce the tree canopy, compounding risks.
At the same time, the number of unhoused people in Charlotte is growing. The most recent annual count found 444 people living on the streets, in their cars, parks and encampments. That’s a 16% increase from last year and the highest since 2010.
Heat is the number one climate risk in Charlotte. We’ve already seen a four-fold increase in extreme heat days over the past few decades.
It’s also a global issue. Extreme heat is becoming the new normal. We had the heat wave here on the East Coast two weeks ago, and now in Europe. And unsheltered people in Charlotte, around the country and around the world face the greatest danger.
