On the tarmac of Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley, the sun is so strong it makes the tar glisten. It’s barely noon in this residential suburb of northern Los Angeles (California), and the thermometer is already around 100 degrees ° F (37 degrees ° C).
To face the heat wave, some inhabitants came to take refuge in a municipal center for the elderly, transformed by the city into cooling center, a refrigerated room accessible to residents who do not have an air conditioner at home. Installed on chairs spaced apart due to the pandemic, visitors watch TV in the dark while waiting for the temperature to drop.
Some are homeless or do not have an air conditioner at home. Others cannot afford to keep the air conditioning running all day. This is the case of Carlotta Valdado, a retiree from the neighborhood. Unlike others, I am lucky to have a small air conditioning unit, but it costs me more and more. It is sometimes very hot for several days in a row, including at night
, she explains. When you reach very high temperatures, over 45 degrees, like last year, you have to use air conditioning. Refrigerated centers are therefore a good initiative
.
3 million inhabitants without air conditioning
As the heatwave approached, the town hall opened five cooling centers in retirement centers located mainly in disadvantaged areas of Los Angeles. Most of the city’s libraries are also used as heat shelters. As soon as the weather forecast indicates temperatures above 32 ° C, we coordinate with the emergency services to open rooms.
, explains Rose Watson, spokesperson for the Parks and Recreation Department at Los Angeles City Hall. According to federal statistics, some 3 million Angelenos (out of 13 million) do not have access to air conditioning.
While the number of refrigerated centers in the megalopolis is still far from sufficient to meet the needs of the population, cooling centers at least have the advantage of better optimizing energy resources, unlike room air conditioners.
The massive use of air conditioning during a heat wave last year, for the first time in 20 years, forced the authorities in California to impose power cuts on the population. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity, sometimes for several days in a row. A scenario that could repeat itself this summer.
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