Air conditioners are a hot commodity in Nashville as summer heat bears down
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After temperatures reached the high degrees Fahrenheit in June, Alexandra Mistekevic’s two-bedroom apartment in Nashville, Tennessee became so sweltering that the air conditioning could only cool the shared living and kitchen areas.
Her 8-year-old son couldn’t even sleep or play in his bedroom, it was so hot.
“My eldest wants to go to his room, but I can’t because I’m afraid he will overheat,” says the mother of two.
This week, Nashville and Memphis were under heat advisories as temperatures soared into the high 90s and the heat index in both cities topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday. Cooling centers were opened in both cities Nashville’s Office of Homeless Services and other community services conducted heat checks and offered rides to shelters and cooling centers.
Mistekevic found relief through Nashville Metropolitan Action Committeewhich offers free window AC units to seniors, families with young children and people with medical conditions affected by the heat.
On Tuesday, as the daily temperature rose to 36.7 C (98 degrees F), Mistekevic filled out an application and later that same day she was able to pick up an 8,000 BTU window for her eldest son’s bedroom.
Now she can rest better knowing he has a place to sleep and can play with his toys, especially since summer was just starting to show high temperatures.
“I sweated more this summer than any other summer,” Mistekevic said. “Just like this summer, I have the feeling that it is going to be very bad.”
Temperatures in Nashville and Memphis are expected to rise back into the mid-90s on Friday, with more high heat days in the forecast for next week.
Marvin Cox, the director of community outreach who manages the air conditioner program, said the AC units on his office shelves are a hot commodity this time of year. They gave away over 200 units last summer and this summer they sent them out as soon as they have new units because time is of the essence to prevent heat-related illnesses.
Cox said he has heard from people who claim their whole-house air conditioning units are failing to keep up with continued consecutive days of high temperatures and humidity.
“We know it’s been really hot, 96, 97 degrees here in Nashville. Probably one of the hottest Junes that I feel like I’m a part of,” Cox said.
Last year the US experienced the most heat waves since 1936, experts say. A AP Analysis Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that excessive heat has contributed to more than 2,300 deaths, the most in 45 years of data.
The program does not receive any subsidies, so the AC units are typically purchased by the agency or rely on donations of new AC units or monetary donations.
“We just want to be a blessing to families, especially seniors and families with young children,” Cox said. “We know it’s going to be hot. Their physical well-being is very important to us. That’s why we want to make sure we can serve as many families as possible.”