California should expect a ‘fourth dry year’ as drought persists
A couple can be forgiven for assuming they’re the only ones sweating in the heat. But for some California residents, temperatures on Friday, August 25, hit a scorching 100 degrees and they decided to stay inside.
California residents who have been affected by the drought should consider themselves lucky, as the state can expect at least a week of sub-freezing temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. The agency announced on Friday morning that a number of locations were forecasted to be between 0 and 10 degrees below average for the next week. This is the latest setback for the state that’s been in a drought for a year or more now.
According to the state’s Office of Emergency Services, the number of people reporting heat-related illnesses and injuries in the state during the past week has reached a few thousand. As of Friday night, there were a total of seven reported incidents of heat-related sickness and injuries throughout the state.
During the past week, the following locations reported heat-related illnesses and injuries:
Bakersfield, Bakersfield Medical Center (8 reported cases)
Lancaster, Lancaster Rescue Squad (4 reported cases)
Madera, Merced Regional Hospital (2 reported cases)
Murrieta, Murrieta Hospital (2 reported cases)
Porterville, Pacific Medical Center (1 reported case)
San Bernardino, Saint John Regional Hospital (1 reported case)
Temecula, California State University San Bernardino (1 reported case)
Temecula, California State University, San Marcos (1 reported case)
San Luis Obispo, California State University, San Luis Obispo (6 reported cases)
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said that the heatwave has caused a “great deal of hardship” for the region’s residents and had resulted in 20 homes and businesses being evacuated.
“Our resources are stretched extremely thin, and there are very few resources that can help us with this situation,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department public information officer Sgt. Ken Stier. “We are currently working with our neighboring agencies, California State University, San Bernardino, University of San Bernardino,