Heat wave turns library into cooling center 

Triple-digit temperatures over several days can pose a challenge for almost anyone. 

For those living in homes with inadequate AC, and for people living outdoors, it can be deadly. 

“More people die from extreme heat than extreme cold,” said Molly Morris, team lead at Grand Coulee’s STAR Hub, a division of Rural Resources Community Action. “We are not strangers to this type of heat, but when it first occurs each year we have to reach back to our early training on how to cope.”

With the current heat wave expected to last into next week, Morris says she’s been handing out information to her program’s clients, from http://www.ready.gov/heat, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s disaster preparedness website.

“Open windows in the morning for a cool breeze and then close them up before the temps reach 80 degrees,” Morris wrote in a text message. “Keep curtains closed, and fans and air conditioners going to circulate air.”

For folks without air conditioning, “it may require them to seek out a cool place to spend the afternoon,” she added. “Maybe the library, a coffee shop or lakeshore.”

The Grand Coulee Library has opened as an official cooling center during regular business hours this week. It’s part of a network organized by Grant County Health District to respond to extreme heat emergencies in the summer, and cold in the winter.

“I’m expecting a lot of patrons coming by to keep cool,” said Sage Hachey, branch librarian, in an email to The Star. “I have personally heard from several patrons how helpful it is that the library is both a cooling center, and a heating center in the winter. We have a lot of people experiencing homelessness in our community and this is one of the only places to get out of the heat and for absolutely no cost. Libraries are one of the last places in society that are free.”

The Nespelem Community Center is also opening as a cooling center this week until 9 p.m. July 8-12, and from 8 a.m. to noon this Saturday and Sunday for shower use only, according to a broadcast put out by the Colville Confederated Tribes. The community centers in Omak and Keller are closed due to renovation and broken AC.

As of Tuesday evening, Coulee Medical Center had not seen an increase in heat-related visits, according to hospital CEO Kelly Hughes.

At Grant PUD, public affairs officer Christine Pratt said the utility is confident the grid will be able to meet demand during this heat wave.

“At this time, we don’t anticipate heat-related outages to our customers,” Pratt said, adding that utility employees monitor energy use regionwide in order to predict when “pinch points” could happen, where demand outpaces available supply.

“So far, based on what we’ve seen, we expect to see new daily record peaks for energy use in Grant County, but no problems with energy supply,” she said.

On July 4, around 900 Coulee City area households experienced an hour-long outage in the early afternoon, but Pratt said the problem was with an Avista transmission line that powers the Grant PUD substation in the area, and was unrelated to demand.

“We can’t speak about problems other utilities could have with their infrastructure,” she said. “If it happens, we’ll work with them to deal with it.”

Regardless, Grant PUD does recommend conservation measures, including closing blinds or curtains, washing clothes at night using cold water, turning off heaters in pools and hot tubs, charging electric cars at night, and keeping the AC set to 78 degrees or warmer, if health allows.