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Your Friendly Neighbor

Extreme heat

Ready.gov describes extreme heat as high heat and humidity, with temperatures above 90°F for at least two to three days.

Written for a household in St. Johns County and northeast Florida. This is a planning aid. Orders, zones, and shelter instructions come from the county and the state.

All guides · One-page card

Before

  • Ready.gov: a fan is not enough as your only cooling. Fans move air. They do not replace a cooler place.
  • Know a cooler place you can reach if the power fails: a friend, a library, a mall, or a cooling site announced by local officials. This page does not list sites.
  • Ready.gov and the National Weather Service say never to leave a person or a pet in a closed car.
  • Older adults, infants, children, and people with some illnesses are at greater risk (Ready.gov and the National Weather Service). Plan a check-in.
  • Lower the need for the oven. Shade windows. Weather-strip if you can do it as a normal home repair.

During

  • Drink fluids. Ready.gov tells older adults to ask a doctor before using drinks with extra electrolytes.
  • Stay in air conditioning if you have it. If you do not, go to a cooler public place when one is open.
  • Limit outdoor work at midday. Wear light, loose clothing and a hat if you must be outside.
  • Ready.gov heat-stroke signs include a body temperature above 103°F, hot dry skin, a strong rapid pulse, and confusion. Call 911. Move the person to shade and cool the skin while you wait.
  • Heat cramps or heavy sweating and weakness: stop, get cool, and sip water. Call a clinician if it lasts more than an hour or gets worse (Ready.gov).
  • Pets need shade and cool water. Pavement can burn paws (Ready.gov).

After

  • Keep checking on people who live alone, especially older adults, until the heat breaks.
  • If the outage and the heat overlap, use the power-outage guide. Do not run a generator indoors to power a fan.
  • Rest when cleanup can wait. Heat plus hard work is a bad pair.
  • Note what you ran out of, such as water, and replace it before the next hot stretch.

Checklist

  • A cooler place identified if home power fails
  • Extra drinking water
  • A check-in person for anyone who lives alone
  • Light clothing and a hat
  • No one left in a parked car
  • Pet shade and water

Sources

Official pages only. Open them for the full instructions.