Elderly woman suffering in extreme heat – KIRO 7 News Seattle

SEATTLE – This heat is especially dangerous for the elderly and the disabled trying to survive, many only have fans available. A Seattle woman worries she won’t survive the night.

In her prime, Janice Bjorklund traveled around the world with the Civil Air Patrol.

Now this Seattle resident worries that she won’t survive this heat wave – the same heat wave that brought people much younger than herself to Lake Washington to cool off.

“The highest I’ve seen is around 115, tomorrow maybe 120 with 107 outside,” said Björklund.

Bjorklund, 83, said she was keeping an eye on the thermometer in her house in the Green Lake Plaza apartments, which was hitting triple-digit temperatures indoors. She also has heart disease and uses a walker.

“I have three heat sources here and I told her this was probably the hottest room in the building,” she said.

That single fan is all it has to keep this Seattle Housing Authority apartment cool.

An ice cube tray in front of the fan does not bring much relief either. She said she was told that management cannot get air conditioning for her west-facing apartment.

“And I told them that that would be completely illogical in a concrete block house that stores the heat,” said Björklund, “especially like me when you have the roof over your head and the stairs over there. So heat it. Heat like this. Warmth from above. “

She worries that she won’t make it through the night.

“Because I was kind of dizzy and thought I was getting heat stroke,” she said.

This is a real concern that doctors have warned about. It can affect almost anyone, especially the elderly and disabled.

Nevertheless, the heat also puts a strain on the non-disabled, such as the staff in the Blu Water Bistro. Owner Bart Evans said he would turn off the ovens and serve cold meals.

And tomorrow?

“Tomorrow you know what, it’s in the air,” said Evans. “I told my staff that we would work with the (cold) menu all day until further notice.”

He even said if it was too bad he would just switch off and let his staff cool the day wherever they want.

As for Bjorklund, KIRO 7 turned to the Seattle Housing Authority. We will let you know when we hear something.

© 2021 Cox Media Group