Abroad

‘We’re surviving by wrapping frozen towels around us’: Irish struggle with Canada’s heatwave

BC’s record temperatures have led to deaths, business closures and empty streets

Louth native Rebecca McDonnell: ‘I’m not sure which is worse the 40-degree days or the nights when our house, which does not have air-conditioning, doesn’t get below 29.’

Fri Jul 2 2021 - 16:15

Louth native Rebecca McDonnell, now living in Nelson in Canada’s British Columbia, says she is “probably more anxious than most”, as Canadians struggle with a heatwave that is breaking temperature records daily.

“[This] is not our normal summer weather, as the 60-plus weather records that fell on Wednesday have shown. I’m not sure which is worse the 40-degree days or the nights when our house, which does not have air-conditioning, doesn’t get below 29,” she told The Irish Times.

“It’s so hot, many restaurants are closing, at 46-plus degrees it’s too hot for people to work. All manner of outdoor work is shutting down. Cooling centres are opening to support the vulnerable who need a cool place to shelter.

The “incredible” temperatures have come on the back of “extremely low” rainfall in May and June, and has left everyone “dreading” the looming forest fire season: “As the parent of a proud new rookie forest firefighter, I’m probably more anxious than most. I’m not in Louth anymore,” she said.

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Edel King moved with her husband from Ireland to Kamloops in British Columbia in 2013, where they now live with their daughters Cora (7) and Ruby (2) in a place that is “a playground for the four seasons, surrounded by lakes, backing on to beautiful grasslands and rolling hills.

Desert-like terrain

“In winter, it’s a haven for snow lovers and in summer a desert-like terrain. We love living here. However, right now things are not enjoyable,” she said, saying the local temperature records were broken mid-week at 46 degrees, while temperatures stay above 22 degrees at night.

“We are lucky to have air conditioning and have it running 24/7. Some areas of the town are experiencing power outages and Cora’s school ended early for summer vacation due to the air con unit breaking down,” she said.

Edel King with her family at their home in Kamloops, BC, which they moved to in 2013. She says the weather has not been enjoyable.

“It’s uncomfortable to be outside with the wave of heat hitting you as soon as you open the door. It’s very different to summer time growing up in Co Roscommon and Kilkenny,” she said.

Annmarie O’Donovan has resorted to laying wrapped icepacks on the bed and “praying that they would cool [it] even enough to get just a few hours sleep”, while the pillows are taken from the freezer.

O’Donovan, who has lived in Vancouver for six years, said she has “never experienced anything quite like this”, adding that the streets are empty, while the authorities are telling all businesses without air-conditioning to close down.

“I run a lovely beauty salon and we received calls the majority of the day with cancellations because people were afraid to go outside,” she said, while news began to break on Wednesday that the heatwave is killing people.

Most Vancouver buildings, even new ones, do not have air-conditioning. Local electricity demand is breaking records : “I spent my lunch break giving cold water to the homeless. We have a huge population of homeless and no public water stations to help.”

In Whistler Resort in British Columbia, Niamh O’Sullivan said local buildings, which are old, made of wood and filled with thick carpets, are made to deal with -15 degree frozen winters, not heatwaves: “Unlike our neighbours south of the border, air-conditioning is not common.

An ambulance drivies through Vancouver, British Columbia, during west coast province’s record-smashing heatwave. Photograph: Don Mackinnon/AFP via Getty Images

“The fans are sold out. The schools are closed due to extreme heat, though they only had a few days left anyway. The snow is melting so fast that the rivers are bursting through the banks and the nearby town has been evacuated due to flood warning.

Wildfires

“We are on a boil water advisory because our water treatment plant can’t keep up. The only saving grace is that the province is not ablaze with wildfires [yet]. ‘Til then, we will continue to keep the curtains drawn, only open the windows at night and take lake dips in work breaks.”

Natasha McGowan, living with her husband, Peter in English Bay, Vancouver, said temperatures jumped from 24 to 38 degrees within a day: “Canadians and Irish alike here are not acclimatised to 38/40-plus degree heat.

“Most homes, including our own are not well equipped for these temperatures and don’t have air conditioning. We have been surviving by freezing whole wet towels and wrapping them around us to keep cool,” she said.