ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LU STAFF WRITER NOTE: Above
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on May 22, 1996.
Wallace Saval was incorrectly indentified Tuesday as interim Pulaski
County school superintendent. He is the intern superintendent in
Peterseburg. Bill Asbury is superintendent of Pulaski County.
THROUGHOUT THE STATE, high temperatures are causing school closings, heat-related illnesses and general discomfort.
When schools close early because of a lack of air conditioning, you know it's hot.
Monday's 93-degree high in Roanoke tied the record for the date, set in 1962.
"If we don't break the record, I don't think we'll feel shortchanged," said Ken Kostura of the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
The temperature in Norfolk hit 97, melting the old record of 96 set in 1877. It was 95 in Richmond.
Schools in Pulaski County were among many around the state that sent students home early. Some plan to close early again today.
Wallace Saval, interim Pulaski County school superintendent, said elementary schools don't have air conditioning and the temperature had reached 85 in classrooms before 10 a.m. The temperature was rising a degree every 10 to 15 minutes, he said.
Saval said Pulaski schools will open this morning despite the heat. "We're going to try to make it through the day, but we'll be watching."
The county's air-conditioned high school remained open.
The weekend heat surge has put local air conditioning installation and repair companies at least a week behind in schedule.
"We had one emergency service man who put in 12 hours on Saturday and 10 hours on Sunday," said Toni West, vice president of operations at Joe Prillaman Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. in Salem. "And he didn't even make a dent in the calls."
The company had six men out answering calls Monday, including the owner, instead of the one man it usually has.
"We've told people that it'll be two to three days before we can take regular calls," West said. "We've had to make judgment calls and are trying to get to the sick, elderly, and people with allergies first. I just feel bad that we can't get to everybody in the same day."
While the demand for air conditioning repairers has surged, American Electric Power appeared to be coping with the year's first heat wave. Spokeswoman Victoria Ratcliff said the company wasn't even close to hitting a peak power output Monday.
Fortunately, hospitals haven't been as busy as those charged with cooling folks off. There were no serious heatstroke or exhaustion cases over the weekend, but Cami Jones, director of Emergency Services at Lewis-Gale Hospital, still advises caution.
Infants, the elderly, outside workers, people on medication - especially antidepressants - and previous patients are the most predisposed to heat-related illnesses, Jones said.
Here are some ways to stay cool:
Wear light cotton caps and clothing - it will help your sweat to evaporate, which keeps the body cool;
Take frequent breaks if you're working outside;
Drink electrolyte fluids - such as Gatorade and 10-K - moderately and frequently;
Don't drink too much water and high-sugar drinks, like soda.
The heat is the result of a Bermuda high pressure system dominating the region with a warm, but stable, air mass. Today's forecast calls for temperatures from the upper 80s to the lower 90s.
Kostura expects a cold front from the west to be here Wednesday, cooling things down. But, as is usual with weather, there are no guarantees.
Staff writer Betty Hayden Snider and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ARNE KUHLMANN/Staff. 1. Marc Moore (above) lets go of aby CNBrope swing, plunging into the Roanoke River, as Mike Dilcher (top)
and Mike Reynolds hold on Monday afternoon in Wasena Park. An
unidentified man (right) floats down the Roanoke River near Wasena
Park in an effort to escape the heat. Monday's high temperature
didn't break the record for the date but tied a record-high 93
degrees, previously set in 1962. color.