Hello and welcome to your South Florida.

I'm Arlene Bornstein.

From record breaking heat to severe rain and damaging floods, South Florida has been hard hit by extreme weather over the last few months.

May was the hottest on record in South Florida, with temperatures reaching well into the 90s.

And when you factor in the humidity, the feels like temps reached 110 degrees plus.

This is what led officials to declare the year's first heat advisory.

Prolonged exposure to extreme heat poses many health risks, especially for the most vulnerable, including young children, the elderly, outside workers and the homeless.

Joining me now with more on heat related illnesses and ways to protect yourself is Doctor Elaine Diaz, medical director of care management at Baptist Health Baptist Hospital.

Doctor Diaz specializes in emergency care, and we're so glad to have you here on this topic.

Thank you.

Nice meeting you.

Nice meeting you as well.

So tell us who's at most risk for heat related illnesses and why.

So for heat related illnesses most at risk would be um, usually younger children like less than four, um, elderly people over usually 65 people who work out in the sun and are very exposed to the heat, um, because of their job, you know, that that they have they're exposed for long periods of time.

Um, certain people like with high blood pressure because of certain medications they take, people that are a little bit more overweight tend to, um, be able to, to retain heat for a little bit longer.

(Arlene) And we were talking earlier.

The heart condition can also contribute to those who are most vulnerable.

Right?

(Elaine) Correct.

(Arlene) Tell us a little bit more about that.

(Elaine) You know, they.

Take medications that tends to be like a diuretic.

And then they tend to go to the bathroom.

So they start out a little bit behind and dehydrated to begin with.

And obviously the heat causes you to be very dehydrated.

So you're already starting a little bit at a loss there.

(Arlene) Have you noticed an uptick in people coming in for heat related illnesses and emergencies?

(Elaine) There has been a bit of an uptick for for us in the Ed.

Um, you know, they come in from multiple things, from basic really bad sunburns to then the heat cramps that eventually you, if you don't take care of, could lead, obviously, to heat exhaustion and eventually to heat stroke if we don't notice these warning signs before.

(Arlene) So let's break down the differences between heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

But let's start off with exhaustion.

What are the signs?

(Elaine) So the signs.

Could be that you develop like pale skin.

You could get muscle cramps.

You can develop headache, you can have nausea vomiting.

You can get dizziness, fatigue.

Um, pretty much an elevated heart rate.

Those are the signs and symptoms that you can get from heat exhaustion.

(Arlene) Well so helpful.

So what would be the best way to treat this type of heat exhaustion that you've described?

(Elaine) With heat exhaustion, you would want to obviously come out of the heat, the exposure to the sun, you would want to.

If you're wearing a lot of layers of clothing, take some of that off.

If drink, obviously fluids and being fluids, being water and being like these sports drinks, you know, the powerades, the stuff that has electrolytes that we can replace back into our body.

(Arlene) And now let's move on to heat stroke, which is a medical emergency.

These warning signs are important to to know.

Tell us about that.

(Elaine) So for heat Stroke um, you could develop your skin turning really red.

You lose ability to sweat, which is a big a big factor here.

Right.

Um, you can seize, you can faint, you become confused.

Altered mental status.

Biggest difference between these two is that you would develop a temperature, a core body temperature of greater than 104, which you wouldn't see in heat exhaustion.

(Arlene) What do you do if you're in a situation and you believe someone's actually experiencing heat stroke?

(Elaine) So for heat stroke, it's pretty similar to heat exhaustion.

The problem that I guess the goal is not to let it get to that point.

So you'd want to get catch on to the signs of heat exhaustion before heat stroke, right?

So you'd want to, um, hydrate and do pretty much the same things that you would do by drinking some water, drinking the electrolytes, the sports drinks that we drink.

You would come out of the sun.

You would again, if you notice people like that, you would be able to put ice packs.

Um, you know, a lot of people use like, like the freezer vegetables.

You could put them under their armpits and their groin area in the back of the neck, because that would help reduce core body temperature quickly.

You can give them water, obviously, if they've fainted on you, if they've collapsed on you, if they're completely altered, you need to take them to the hospital.

At which point probably it's safer just not to do much and just get them quickly to the hospital.

But if they're able to speak to you and talk to you, the first line of treatment would always be to give water and hydrate.

(Arlene) Doctor Diaz, thank you so much for this wonderful information, South Floridians, all of us need it.

It’s been tremendously important.

Thank you so much.

(Elaine) It's been my pleasure.

Nice meeting you.

Thank you very much (Arlene) We can't forget our beloved pets are vulnerable to the heat, too.

So here are some tips to keep them cool and safe this summer.

(Maria) Super important to consider the heat schedule in the city, we don't recommend having your dog in the middle of the day when the sun is up.

So try to walk them really early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun is setting.

The dogs do have pads in their in their feet that protect them, but it's not, you know, all weather.

And if you touch the pavement and it's really hot, especially puppies, because their feet are not yet very, um, hardened.

And you'll sometimes see that they're like trying to just like, not put, you know, their feet on the, on the pavement.

So those are important things to consider.

And then absolutely never, ever, ever leave your dog in the car, even if you're running for a short like to buy a bottle of water.

Don't do it because this heat is just extreme.

Um, and it will trigger something really, really dangerous in your dog.

Also have water available, shade available.

Some people will leave their dogs in their yard, but they don't consider that when the sun is up, there's areas or the majority of the yard may not get a good cool area.

And so sometimes dogs will be in just a scorching heat with no shade.

And those are dogs that will be at risk of having a heat stroke.

Mostly you start seeing like panting, a heavy panting, and the dogs get very injected, so their eyes get very red, their gums get very red.

They start salivating a lot.

They drool a lot.

So dogs exchange temperature by their breath.

And so, for example, dogs with flat faces that don't have a lot of surface, or when they get stressed, they just are snoring.

So frenchie's Bulldogs, those dogs that don't have a big open airway, they just have difficulty exchanging air.

So you have to be more careful with those dogs, and then it goes into a dog that just does not want to move.

They try to seek shade or cool spaces, and people will make the mistake of, you know, trying to force them.

Either they take them out plain in a really hot day and then they have to walk home, for example.

And so that is when it reaches a A very dangerous point.

In the case of cats, it's mostly the stress related.

Um, when they just are not able to, uh, compensate.

Well, so then they'll stop panting as well.

Um, cats are a little bit they're a little bit wiser in the sense that they don't really want to please us as much.

And they know, like, I'm hot, I'm just going to stay here.

Um, so cats are a little smarter in that sense.

Dogs will try to please their owner.

And if even if they're hot, they're like, I'm going to go play basketball with you.

And they will, you know, run after your bicycle and just do anything that the owner asks, even at their own health, um, risk.

So when we have those issues, we need to absolutely let the dog not, you know, not force them to exercise, put him in a cool place.

Ideally you can wet them.

Um, ice is not recommended because sometimes people will ice them and then the ice will actually bring them to another extreme.

So it just makes sure you cool them down.

Sometimes fans are a good idea.

And then absolutely, if you're concerned about your dog getting a heatstroke, go immediately to your veterinarian because these are early signs.

But what's going on inside the body is a lot more alarming.

So things like cardiovascular compromise, lung compromise, and even something as severe as bleeding internally can be triggered by the heat.

So super important if you are in doubt that your dog is having a hard time with the heat, visit your veterinarian.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

(Arlene) Trees are vital to keeping neighborhoods cool.

According to the nonprofit American Forests.

They reduce heat related illnesses and even lower utility costs, improving quality of life.

But in many low-income neighborhoods, the lack of trees worsens the already high levels of heat and pollution.

Now, a new exhibit in Miami is exploring the environmental and social implications of tree canopy disparities through art and conversation while celebrating the beauty of nature.

This is under a simple tree canopy policy project featuring Brandon Clark.

This is an experimentation and art and advocacy.

The goal of this show is to present aesthetically pleasing art by an incredible conceptual artist from Miami Dade County, an architect by day, an artist at night.

But combining that aesthetic with a policy advocacy around promoting tree canopy and working-class communities, particularly African American communities.

More vulnerable communities tend to have less shade, which means more heat, which means fewer spaces for community gathering.

This show really highlights that injustice and really highlights the inequity when it comes to the ways in which climate impacts these communities.

(Christopher) I went to Hampton University.

Hampton University was founded under a simple tree.

The name of that tree is called Emancipation Oak, and under that tree was the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in the South.

And I've always been fascinated about the history of African Americans to trees.

You know, many of these people in my history did not have buildings.

So everything happened under a tree.

And my university was literally founded under a tree where this woman by the name of Mary Peek, began to educate free, emancipated folk during the Civil War.

And that led to the founding of one of the most important universities in this country.

So that's kind of how, you know, some of the roots, if you will, of how the show conceptually got started.

(Rebecca) I am very involved in a big project at FIU, a four-year project called Commons for Justice race, Risk and Resilience, which is funded by the Mellon Foundation and is managed by the Extreme Events Institute at FIU.

It's this four-year investigation looking at eight black and brown communities across Greater Miami as regards to how each of them is coping with, understands resilient within climate change, the climate crisis with particular attention to natural disaster.

My job on the grant was to work with artists and curators throughout Miami to support them in their projects along those themes.

Since Chris and I had worked together and he had mentioned that he was working with artists Brandon Clark to create this show, it was a perfect match.

And through the Mellon grant comments for justice, we've been able to support this exhibition and we've been able to support programming and so forth.

(Christopher) Our show is broken down into three sections.

We have a show that's focused on the crown or the canopy of a tree.

We have a section that's dealing with the roots of a tree, and then we have a section that's dealing with the leaves, and we have installations that reflect all three of the parts or the major parts of a of a of a tree.

This is an installation of five pieces called evergreen one, two, three, four and five.

This is evergreen one.

This is what nature looks like when it's not bothered by humanity or development.

Brandon, of course, assembles on the back of of canvases because he wants you to get inside of the image and the art as you go down from evergreen one, two, three, four and five, you're going to see less of the moss.

And that's a metaphor for what's happening in our community.

The second section is called uprooted, and it's an installation of Dade County pine trees that were uprooted from Hurricane Andrew.

Brandon was able to gather several of these uprooted trees and install them, and we can actually see the roots of a tree.

These ten pieces represent ten trees, individual trees in the community where I personally gathered the leaves from to embed in the artwork that Brandon Clark designed and painted.

You'll see an acrylic cover with words.

All of these together make up a poem.

(Rebecca) They chose particular trees, in particular neighborhoods that play a role.

And a lot of that role is to is partly to create social infrastructure, is to create a gathering place for communities.

When that tree is no longer there, it's not just the heat, although that's of course, incredibly important, but it also weighs on the kind of social spaces for communities to gather.

So, I mean, why should people care?

I mean, people should care because I would say it's a human rights issue.

If you have a neighborhood with a lot of concrete, especially with all the development going on, fewer trees, I mean, people are hotter and hotter.

Maybe they can't afford air conditioning.

I mean, you can think about the multitude of scenarios that weigh on these communities and make day- to-day living that much harder.

And a lot of that really has to do with these issues of environmental injustice, including the fading and the lessening of tree canopy.

(Christopher) I know through my past experience working in government relations that it's people that move things long standing.

And when people decide they want something, policymakers follow, it's really that simple, especially when it's something that has no partisan value.

It's really so intuitive that once you just acknowledge it, we got you.

(Rebecca) What Chris has done is, has planned a series of events that really are meant to be kind of advocacy events.

It’s not just you walk in and you're like, oh, I feel sad or I feel mad or how beautiful, but to take that and affect change, because in the end, I think that's the power of art, that's, you know, that it's not just to look at it on the walls, but art has the potential for people to have individual emotive connections to things and to issues that so deeply affect all of us.

And to take that and get the right people in the room and affect change.

(Christopher) We have to engage people, create the culture of of understanding what tree canopy does to your community, how important it is for your community and your children.

And then from there, policy can be advocated.

We need to cool off our community.

It's very important.

From a policy perspective, it's very important.

But from a social gathering perspective, I think when we understand that this is important, then it makes it a lot easier to make the policy choices necessary, because I don't think, again, I don't think anybody can argue with the importance of shade.

(Arlene) Aside from life threatening heat, another worry for South Floridians extreme rain events causing dangerous flooding in much of our region.

Here to share how Palm Beach County prepares for such extreme weather and resources for residents is Mary Blakeney, director of Palm Beach County's Public Safety Department in the Division of Emergency Management.

You have a big job.

Yes, especially down here.

Absolutely.

We never know what the hazard might be.

So, you.

Know, there is such a great effort at the Public Safety Department.

Tell us more about the goals and how you see in the vision for it.

Well, you know, there's a lot of hazards that can impact us in South Florida.

So, you know, preparedness is all the same, whether we're preparing for a flood or a hurricane or even a wildfire.

The most important thing is that people take the time to make a plan and build a supply kit and be prepared.

But the first step in all of that is understanding what could impact them in their community.

It’s really important that people know their own individual community and the risks that they're faced with and as well as understand what impacts them at their home.

And that's really important for people to really take some time and understand those hazards and those disasters that can impact them.

(Arlene) Right.

And right now, what I think the most impactful thing we're dealing with is back in May, we felt extreme heat that the temps could have been maybe in August.

Tell us about that.

And what's the plan of action?

(Mary) Well, you know, we're really taking an approach in Palm Beach County.

And I know a lot of our peers in South Florida in general, are really taking time to educate our residents about extreme heat and what can impact them, but also educate them about the resources that are in our community each and every day.

So, for example, in Palm Beach County, when we've had heat advisories come out, most recently, we've sent out information to our residents so we could educate them where our public libraries are at.

You know, it's a perfect time for people to go inside of a public library, read a good book, maybe surf the internet, and take that time to cool down, especially in the where the heat is the most extreme in midday.

And then also take advantage of public spaces like parks and rec, splash pads or pools, or even go to the beach.

Because really, we're worried about that, that midpoint of the day when the heat is the most extreme.

(Arlene) What about those who are unsheltered migrant workers?

(Mary) There are some of those resources, and we've really done a good job at trying to do that outreach and education to our business community, as well as some of those places where the homeless and those migrant workers are outside.

You know, we need to make sure that there's access to to water and that they have opportunities to rest and go in the shade.

And we really rely on getting that information out to those individuals that those farmers that are using those types of workers to educate them about that as well.

We’ve done that throughout our county, working with our agricultural industry, but also we've worked with our homeless outreach teams and our law enforcement because they're the ones that interact each and every day with some of our homeless population and educate them about going out there, speaking to those individuals and telling them to stay hydrated, get out of the direct sunlight.

You know, it's a constant education campaign when it comes to these hazards that are becoming more and more common.

(Arlene) Right?

Absolutely.

South Koreans has seen a flooding, you know, way, way outside of what we've seen in hurricane season, even.

How do people protect themselves and their properties there?

Know your zone.

I've seen that.

What would you recommend.

(Mary) So individuals really need to understand their home.

First of all um, people have a have confusion at times about when we when we talk about evacuation zones for hurricanes and then when we talk about flood zones, there are two very different things.

Um, evacuation zones have everything to do with storm surge, but flood zones have everything to do with what could be inland flooding.

People, first of all, need to understand if they live in both an evacuation zone or a flood zone, the next thing that they need to do is any home can flood, regardless of being in a flood zone with extreme events that we're having.

We've seen homes outside of flood zones have flood water inundation.

The best way to protect your home and your property is to make sure you get flood insurance.

And that's very separate.

That's a separate flood insurance.

It's a separate policy from your homeowner's insurance.

We know that that's a difficult time right now when we talk about insurance.

Yes.

Um, but really the cost is minimal to take advantage of a flood insurance policy.

And it could really protect an individual's entire life savings if they've invested in, in their home.

People need to really take advantage of taking advantage of flood insurance.

(Arlene) Do you know where someone might know where they can find out their zone?

(Mary) Yeah.

Each of the county emergency management websites will show individuals they usually have a lookup tool for.

In Palm Beach County, you can simply type in your home address.

And it's we have a very simple lookup tool to look up if you're in an evacuation zone for hurricanes, or also what your flood zone is.

Most county emergency management websites have that information.

Simple, easy tool to look up a matter of minutes to find out information about where you live.

(Arlene) And what I hear.

A lot is don't rely on your city or county to do everything for your private property.

It's really important to be ahead of the game because there's limited resources out there.

(Mary) Individuals really need to take the time now to be prepared.

Um, and we need to be prepared all year long.

Flooding can happen outside of hurricane season, but then we're always worried about hurricane season as well.

And there are several risks.

I mean, we're in South Florida.

We're susceptible to tornadoes.

Floods.

Yeah.

Um, hurricanes.

People need to be ready for any and all of those hazards.

So they need to make that that plan for what them and their family are going to do in the event of a disaster.

But also, that's why we tell people, you know, make a disaster supply kit, and we tell individuals to have that supply kit for 5 to 7 days.

We encourage you to have seven days.

That way you don't have to leave your home at any point.

You know what a lot of people don't realize about Florida, and South Florida in particular, is the way our drainage system was set up.

It's set up to hold water in the streets.

It's set up to hold water in the swales.

That's okay.

It is okay if you have water in your swale or water on your street.

What is not okay is when it starts coming into your home.

That's when it's a problem.

You need to understand what flood history has happened in your community.

And if you've had flooding in your street, that's okay because that's part of the flood control system.

And that's why we encourage people to have that supply kit, because if they have to be sheltered in their home and not leave, they're ready with at least seven days worth of supply.

So they can do that.

(Arlene) Anything about what not to do.

(Mary) So what we don't want people to do is venture out, right?

Um, whether it's flood waters or whether it's just immediately after a hurricane, people need to stay in their homes while they can.

If they can, that's if floodwaters are not coming in.

That's a that's a different story.

But if there's water outside in your street or in your swale or there's downed trees, you need to stay inside because we don't know what hazards are lurking in that water.

The water can be contaminated.

There could be downed power lines.

So individuals need to stay at home if they can if water is intruding your home, then you need to to call and call your local emergency number and work on how you're going to get out of your home.

If you can leave safely in your own vehicle or walk out, then they can do that.

But you need to call those emergency officials.

If your home starts to have water intrusion.

(Arlene) How do you get those communications out, especially for those trying to get out of their home, but they rely on public transit?

(Mary) Yeah, it's really difficult because in some areas, you know, our public transit system can't drive through flooded streets.

A lot of the levels of the buses are very low.

So those individuals, you know, each of our counties have an emergency communication system where we can actually notify individuals on their landlines and their cell phones.

We can actually take an area, a geospatial area, and actually make an emergency call to those residents residing in that area.

And we really only save that type of communication for those public safety, life threatening emergencies.

But if it's something like an area that's experiencing floods, you will get an automatic call on your phone, people need to heed those warnings.

If they get a warning about a flash flood or a hurricane warning, those are going because you're in imminent danger of that situation and you need to heed those warnings.

(Arlene) And that's.

Alert.

PBC, at least in Palm Beach County.

(Mary) In Palm Beach County is alert PBC.

But each of the South Florida communities have some version of an alert.

But also that could be launched by our weather service partners as well.

Some of those systems are automated and can be launched either through the National Weather Service or your local county emergency management.

(Arlene) And it's not just the county that can help in these situations.

Residents can also be relied upon.

You have a program called CERT.

Tell us a little bit more about that.

And that's an acronym for Something longer I'm sure correct.

(Mary) Each of the communities have what we call CERT teams, community emergency response teams.

It's basically neighbor helping neighbor type of a situation.

And the CERT program is actually a 24-hour curriculum.

It's free of charge for individuals to take advantage of that.

And you learn things from basic search and rescue to first aid, to going through the basic things you need to know.

Turning off the gas line using a fire extinguisher.

It’s a really good program for residents to take.

And then communities.

There are several communities which have formed a team of members in their community to be able to go around and help their neighbors in times of disaster.

(Arlene) And teenagers can do it, too.

(Mary) Absolutely.

And Palm Beach County, we've launched launched a teen Cert program where we've had high school aged students go through the program.

And it's actually sometimes the high school age students talking about the program at home have encouraged their parents to go through the CERT program.

The more we can be prepared within our communities, the better off we are, the more resilient we are in times of disaster.

(Arlene) And we keep hearing about this season being active.

We need all hands on deck.

Teenagers, their parents, everybody to help out.

Potentially.

But hopefully we won't get anything.

But all the predictions and forecasts say it's going to be a busy season.

What’s the approach and what might be the new plans?

(Mary) Well, I think individuals need to make sure that they're helping, right?

We're a whole community.

It takes the entire community to respond to a disaster.

We need the residents to really focus on their disaster plans and their supply kits.

We in emergency management have really been focusing on some of those areas that we've looked at in previous years.

You know, we've had two years in a row of catastrophic hurricanes hitting the state of Florida with Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Adelia.

We’ve taken those lessons learned from those storms, from those piers on the west coast of Florida and really looked at our plans here in our local community and said, where have the gaps been?

Do we need to exercise and train and something we never have before?

And we've really geared up to to really focus on those catastrophic disasters because of those lessons learned and those other communities.

And we need our residents to be prepared and help us to be a resilient community.

(Arlene) It's very important down here because we can't take it for granted that we've sort of been missed in our general area, but sadly, the state of Florida has taken some hits, we appreciate everything you do.

And thank you so much for joining us.

For more on this and other resources, follow us on Facebook at your South FL and to catch up on past episodes, head over to South Florida PBS.org.

Forward slash YSF.

I'm Arlene Bornstein.

Thanks for watching.

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