The heat is hitting Arkansans hard this summer. While many people have access to air conditioning, there are still residents who could experience heat-related illnesses as a result of the rising temperatures.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center, the peak of summer heat for the Little Rock area is from Aug. 1-5. This has been determined through an examination of a 30-year trend.
Tim Davis, chief medical officer with the National Disaster Medical System, said in a press release that heat-related illnesses cause more than 600 deaths every year across the country, and from 2001 to 2010, more than 28,000 people were hospitalized
because of heat-related illnesses.
To prevent heat-related illness, Davis recommends that people spend time in air conditioning, drink plenty of nonalcoholic fluids, choose lightweight clothes, limit outdoor activity to morning and evening hours, and protect themselves from the sun by wearing brimmed
hats and using sunscreen.
In Arkansas, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program provides financial assistance to 60,000 households each year to cover home energy costs such as gas, electricity and propane. According to the Department of Human Services website, LIHEAP has two ways — Regular
Assistance and Crisis Intervention Programs — to help with home energy costs. Both programs provide financial assistance to eligible households with a one-time-per-year payment to the energy supplier. Under certain circumstances, the financial assistance can be delivered to the applicant.
Those in need of assistance can contact their local Community Action Agency. Residents in Lonoke and Pulaski counties can contact the Central Arkansas Development Council at (501) 315-1121. Residents of Cleburne and White counties can contact the Community Action Program for Central Arkansas at (501) 329-3891. The agency for Jackson and Woodruff counties is Crowley’s Ridge Development Council, which can be contacted at (870) 802-7100. Contact the North Central Arkansas Development Council, which covers Independence, Izard, Sharp and Stone counties, by calling (870) 793-5765.
Charlie Morris, executive director of the North Central Arkansas Development Council,
said the summer program is more limited than the winter program, but there is still assistance available for low-income residents who need help with their energy bills.
“It’s all income driven. We serve the low-income [applicants]. There are guidelines that we have to follow for them to qualify,” he said. “We have offices and case managers in each county we cover that they can contact for assistance.”
Because it serves low-income people, Morris said, the NADC sees a lot of familiar faces throughout the year, but there are people in need who do not know about the assistance that is offered. Similar programs exist elsewhere, but it’s just a matter of knowing who to call when help is needed.
“A lot of times, there may be folks who just moved here from other states,” he said. “These programs are all across the nation.
It’s federal money that’s filtered through the state and then to us. … We’re here to help.”
For more information about the Arkansas Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, visit humanservices.arkansas.gov/dco/Pages/SupportServices.aspx. For more information about how to protect yourself, your family and your neighbors from extreme heat, visit emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/index.asp.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.