Palm Springs mayor urging residents to stay indoors during heat wave

Palm Springs Mayor Grace Elena Garner urged residents Sunday to stay indoors amid an uncharacteristically long heat wave.

“For lifelong residents like me, this isn’t unusual. But what is unusual is that duration,” Garner told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.” “And what we see is that we have workers who are outside every day doing gardening, working on AC repair, and then, of course, are unhoused. And those populations are really getting the brunt of this impact. If they’re not able to be inside during our hottest hours, it really impacts their health.”

She said firefighters are attending to more heat-related incidents, and hospitals are also treating people with more heat-related issues. She noted that her community is lucky to have a Level I trauma center and robust education. “But,” she said, “it still is really important for people to stay inside.” 

Temperatures reached well into the triple digits this weekend in Palm Springs, Calif., where temperatures were predicted to range from 114 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, as of Saturday. 

Garner said she agrees with the mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., who called for more federal support. Phoenix just broke its record for the number of consecutive days of at least 110-degree temperatures — hitting the 19th consecutive day last Tuesday. 

“We absolutely need more support. We are seeing the impacts of climate change, and, you know, as I said for me, this temperature is something that I’m used to. I’m a lifelong resident,” Garner said. “What I’m concerned about is the rest of the country, the rest of the world who is experiencing this extreme heat for the very first time.”

“When your body isn’t used to these high temperatures, it can go into a shock. So, if we don’t act now, if we don’t make sure that we’re putting in … the actions that we need to reduce the impacts of climate change, we are just going to see this get worse and worse,” she added.