The National Weather Service has extended Extreme Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories for most Nevada communities through this weekend.
Residents in southern Nevada can expect highs between 110 and 120. The average daily high for this time of year is 105. For northern Nevada communities, highs could reach 103 – also well above the average for the region.
It’s creating dangerous conditions that could easily send someone to the hospital.
Case in point, the Clark County Coroner has reported 46 heat-related deaths. At least 12 of the victims were unhoused.
To keep people safe during the extreme heat, Clark County has opened dozens of cooling stations around the Las Vegas Valley.
However, as the temperature and the death count climb, some are asking if those cooling centers are enough, especially when it comes to keeping Nevada’s homeless populations safe.
“That's way too many [deaths],” said Brent Nowak, an engagement liaison for Shine a Light, a Las Vegas-based homeless outreach organization. “If one person is dying from exposure, we have a real problem.”
One of the biggest hurdles, said Nowak, is education – not just that cooling stations exist, but where they are and how to get to them.
“I'm not sure that the unhoused population is educated on exactly where they are, but I know that they are out there, and if we can connect people to these resources, it's a step forward in the right direction.”
Nowak said the institutional nature of many county cooling stations may also keep some people away.
“If you take a look at some of these county-funded programs and city-run programs, they're all the same. The furniture is the same. The paint is the same color. The training for the staff seems to be the same. So that could be trauma that somebody has faced in their past, where they don't want to connect with a county-funded program.”
“The biggest missing piece in Nevada is funding,” said Jackie Spicer, coalition coordinator for the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition, which has pushed for greater heat mitigation efforts in recent years.
“All the cooling centers that we have are unfunded in Clark County, hence why they are at public locations like libraries,” Spicer said, adding that "funding could also be used to improve and expand cooling centers, so we could have more locations and provide more resources.”
Another complication is that most cooling centers operate only during business hours. Spicer said county officials need to find ways to provide 24-hour help.
“In Clark County, we have significant overnight extreme heat temperatures as well. So, at the end of the day, if people are getting kicked out of a cooling center, they're essentially just out on the street.”
She said during the next legislative session, her group will work to help create a statewide heat office that can provide more resources for communities like Las Vegas and Clark County.
As a note, KNPR did reach out to Clark County for comment, but did not receive a response.
Guests: Brent Nowak, engagement liaison, Shine a Light; Jackie Spicer, coalition coordinator, Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition
