[Archived] City of Alexandria Urges Residents to Be Prepared for Extreme Heat

  For Immediate Release: July 22, 2016

The National Weather Service predicts that high heat and humidity in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area will combine to create heat index values of up to more than 100 degrees this weekend and early next week. The City of Alexandria urges the public to exercise caution in these extreme conditions. Prolonged exposure to excessive heat poses a potential for illnesses such as heat exhaustion, cramps, or in extreme cases, heat stroke. For more information on these conditions, visit the City’s How to Beat the Summer Heat webpage.

For the health of City personnel, yard waste collection will not occur on Monday, July 25, and Tuesday, 26. Residents whose yard waste collection day has been suspended should set their material out on their next scheduled collection day. Regular refuse collection will not be affected.

Here are ways to stay cool—and safe—during the extreme heat:

• Stay indoors — ideally, in an air conditioned environment -- and limit exposure to the sun
• If you must go outdoors, stay hydrated with two to four glasses of cool fluids each hour and wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing
• Provide pets with ample shade and plenty of cold, fresh water
• Do not leave infants, children, people with fragile medical conditions, or pets in a parked car. 
• Check on family members, neighbors and friends who may be at risk or do not have access to air conditioning, especially the elderly and people with special needs or medical conditions.
• Stay cool in one of the City’s air-conditioned facilities, such as recreation centers (alexandriava.gov/RecreationCenters) and libraries (www.alexandria.lib.va.us), or take a dip in a City pool (alexandriava.gov/Pools).
  • David’s Place, a facility located at Carpenter’s Shelter (930 N. Henry St.), will be open as a cooling station on Saturday, July 23, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and on Sunday and Monday, July 24 and 25, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Summer heat can bring storms and power outages. If your power goes out, contact Dominion Virginia Power at 1.866.366.4357 or visit www.dom.com to report the outage.

For more tips and information, visit the How to Beat the Summer Heat webpage.

For media inquiries, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.