City of Austin offering help to residents during excessive heat warning

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for Sunday, July 10 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

Temperatures will range from 107 to 108 degrees.

If you need a place to cool down, here's a list of cooling centers that will be open in Austin on Sunday.

  • Gus Garcia Recreation Center – 12:30 p.m.-5 p.m.   
  • Givens Recreation Center – 12-4 p.m.   
  • George Morales Dove Springs Rec Center – 12-4 p.m.    
  • South Austin Recreation Center – 1-5 p.m.   
  • Dittmar Recreation Center – 10 a.m.– 4 p.m.   
  • Austin Recreation Center – 12-4 p.m. (Showers are closed.)   
  • Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) – 8 a.m – 6 p.m.  

CapMetro will offering free rides to cooling centers and no one will be turned away from one.

If you plan to be outside, wear loose clothing, wear a hat, use sunscreen, and drink more water than usual. Don't over-exercise.

By city ordinance, all construction workers are supposed to have at least a ten-minute break for every four hours of work. 

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City of Austin Utilities has a Medically Vulnerable Registry. If you have a critical illness and there's a power outage, they will work with you to find backup plans. 

Plus, the city won't cut off your electricity if you haven't paid during extreme temperatures. However, they encourage you to work with them to find payment options. 

Never leave kids or pets in your car, and check up on the elderly, sick, or those with air conditioning.

People in Austin share their reaction to the heat.

Jade Costello recently moved from Buffalo, New York.

"It's something to get used to, it's hot," she said. "I just wanted to go out for a couple minutes, take a couple pictures of the city and come right back in. You can't walk across the whole bridge, it's too hot."

"I can stand it for spurts, and I miss it when it's gone, but I got to get in the AC," Allan Griego said.

"It's terrible. It's awesome for a good tan," Brendin Cervera said.

People are doing what they can to stay cool.

"Going to the Greenbelt, jump in the pool at my apartment, keep the shade on, trying to stay under the trees," Cervera said.

"A lot and a lot of Gatorade, tons of Gatorade everywhere I go," Griego said.

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