MAG looking for help for Valley homeless as temperatures rise
The Maricopa Association of Governments is asking for help, as it collects bottled water for its Heat Relief Network. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports.
MARK BRODIE: The network has been in operation since 2006, and provides both water and cool places for homeless Valley residents to go. Brande Mead, MAG’s Human Services Program Manager says water donations have been down so far this year from prior years. And, she says day-time high temperatures aren’t the only problem.
BRANDE MEAD: I think there is a difference when the night time temperatures stay hot, as I think we’ve experienced over the past couple of days and are expected to be high temperatures in the next few days, because their body doesn’t have that opportunity in the evening to cool down.
BRODIE: The state Department of Health Services says between 1992 and 2009, almost 1,500 Arizonans died from heat exposure. The most heat-related deaths in a single year came in 2005, when 225 people died. The agency says the state sees the most heat-related deaths in July.
