At least 14 people have died from heat-related causes in Tarrant County this summer
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSNewsTexas.com) — It may be September, but there's still no relief from the heat in sight and the brutal temperatures are proving to be deadly across North Texas.
According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, at least 14 people have died in the county from heat-related causes this summer. Their causes of death are listed as hyperthermia, which is when a person's body temperature is abnormally high.
Of the 14 people who died from heat-related causes since July, nine people were in homes without working air conditioning or where the AC was turned off. Twelve of the 14 people were over the age of 60.
"It's just sad. We know that a lot of these deaths can be prevented," said Philip Gonzalez, the marketing and communications specialist for Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County.
Meals On Wheels of Tarrant County provides nearly two million meals each year to elderly residents in need. But they also check in on them to make sure their homes aren't too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter.
"Our volunteers are our eyes in that case. If they knock on their door, they open the door and it's just an oven, they know something's wrong," said Gonzalez.
Meals On Wheels works with Tarrant County and TXU Energy to install free window AC units for elderly residents who suffer the most in the heat.
"Sometimes they can't afford to pay the high electric bills," said Gonzalez. "They may not have an AC unit in the home, it may be broken."
They've noticed an uptick in requests for air conditioners this summer. Since June, they've installed 136 units. And with no end to the heat in sight, they'll continue installing units in the weeks ahead.
"It's still over a hundred degrees and some of these people, their AC unit may have worked all summer and all of a sudden it kind of goes out or just stops working," said Gonzalez. "We're able to go back in. A lot of these units we put in are also heaters so come winter, they'll be taken care of as well."
On Tuesday, Tarrant County approved an additional $180,000 in funding to provide AC units for residents in need.
