Just after 8am, when temperatures are already reaching 80F, Mark Jalufka arrives at Sam’s Club to pick up 20 cases of bottled water.
Jalufka is the general manager of the Lions Club Tube Rental in San Marcos, Texas. Every day during the summer, he rents inflatable inner tubes to hundreds of Texans looking to cool off in the spring-fed San Marcos River. He and his staff work outside all day, and that means he needs lots of water.
“The whole idea is keep ’em safe,” Jalufka said.
The river stays a cool 72F (22.2C) year-round, even as outdoor temperatures soared over 100F (37.8C) this week. On a weekday, he’ll rent about 200 tubes. On the weekend, it’s more like 900. That doesn’t include the people who rent tubes from his competitors, or those who bring their own.
On any given summer day – and especially when it’s hot, like this week – thousands of Texans will flock to the state’s spring-fed rivers and float. Many bring along coolers with water, but also beers and picnic snacks to spend all day in the chilly river.
“Texans in general like the outdoors, and the outdoors can be miserable when it’s 103 degrees and 85% humidity, unless you have a place to cool off,” Jalufka said. “And most people don’t want to sit inside and watch the TV.”
Extreme heat gripped the state this week, with record highs throughout the southern US. In some parts of Texas, the heat index reached as high as 117F. Similar heat killed at least 279 people in the state last year, according to analysis from the Texas Tribune, and hundreds of heat-related emergency room visits were reported this month.
Such extreme heatwaves will become more frequent as a result of climate change, said Andrew Dessler, a professor at Texas A&M University and director of the Texas Center for Climate Studies.
“Climate is the average of the weather. When the weather changes, the climate changes. When the climate changes, the weather changes,” Dessler said. “Climate change just amplifies it, takes a hot event and makes it worse.”
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the operator of the state’s power grid, issued a weather watch early in the week, saying it expected an all-time demand record on Wednesday. Yet Dessler said that Ercot – which shouldered much of the blame for widespread blackouts during a deadly winter storm in 2021 – uses a small dataset that doesn’t account for a warming climate in its estimates.
“They could, if they wanted to, use modern technology of climate science,” Dessler said.
Ercot is funded by the Republican-controlled state government, which has pushed against using climate science to inform public policy. Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a so-called “Death Star” bill, which eliminated the power of its liberal-leaning cities to enforce modest regulations, such as mandated water breaks for construction workers. Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill last week, even as temperatures soared.
“In the midst of a record-setting heatwave, I could not think of a worse time for this governor or any elected official who has any, any kind of compassion, to do this,” said David Cruz, the communications director for League of United Latin American Citizens National (Lulac), a Latino civil rights group. “This administration is incrementally trying to move us backwards into a dark time in this nation. When plantation owners and agrarian mentalities prevailed.”
As temperatures hit 90F, men with refrigerated push-carts line up outside Dallas’ paleterías – Latino-owned ice cream shops – to stock up on frozen treats. The paleteros spend all day outside, pushing their carts through neighborhoods to sell popsicles and other Mexican-style ice cream.
“It’s very hard for them to stay cool because it is so hot outside,” said Araceli Ramirez.
Ramirez works at Paleteria Y Neveria Mexico in the historically working-class, Latino neighborhood of West Dallas. Even on the hottest days of the summer, paleteros come to the shop before heading out into the street, carrying lots of water, Gatorade or Pedialyte to stay hydrated.
The heat isn’t their only concern, either. Their cash-only business makes paleteros an easy target for mugging and theft. Add in a deadly heatwave, and being a popsicle man can be dangerous.
“They walk in the street, try to find a safe place to rest for 30 minutes, then go back,” Ramirez said.
This time of year, Ramirez said many paleteros slow their work schedule, only going out four times a week and resting for three days at a time to recover.
“It’s so hot for them,” Ramirez said. “They try to stay home, too.”
Not far from Ramirez’s paletería, near Dallas Love Field airport, Charlotte Barrett stays in her bedroom, trying to stay cool.
Her one air-conditioning unit sits in her bedroom window, but it went out last summer. Now it only runs a fan – no cooling. She stays between that unit and a small oscillating fan to get some relief during the hottest parts of the day.
“Anything after 11 o’clock, I’m down,” said the 71-year-old Barrett.
She arranges doctor’s appointments in the early morning, and trips to a nearby Walmart after 9pm to avoid the heat. Three times a week, she goes to work out at a local gym – mainly for the cold air-conditioning.
Barrett is on a fixed social security income, and has been trying to save up for a new air-conditioner, but said this heatwave caught her unprepared. She has applied for another window unit from a local charity that serves older adults in Dallas, The Senior Source, but hasn’t yet heard if she will receive one.
Stacey Malcolmson, the CEO of The Senior Source, said they have enough A/C units for 300 seniors, but about 450 applicants like Barrett are waiting for cool air.
“Older adults live in older homes where the insulation may not be as good,” Malcolmson said. “If you’re homebound, that would be stifling. It’s a huge health hazard.”
The late afternoon, when temperatures reach their triple-digit peak, is nap time at the Fort Worth Zoo.
The large mammals that live outside find shelter either in barns or shady areas in their habitat, and lie down for a long afternoon rest. Most of the animals at the zoo are accustomed to hot climates, said the zoo’s spokesperson, Avery Elander, like the Texas cougars or Australian kangaroos.
“We don’t have polar bears here,” Elander said.
The zoo is doing more to keep their keepers safe in the heat, like adding extra breaks for outdoor workers, adding extra cooling stations throughout the zoo, and adjusting hours starting next month to open earlier before things get too hot.
“You know when you open your oven and get hit in the face with that blast of heat? That’s what it feels like whenever you step outside,” said Kristen Garrett, the community outreach manager for the zoo.
But for the animals, they have to get creative.
Each day, the tigers, lions and primates get huge ice cubes play with. The elephants and gorillas get to play with large hoses-turned-sprinklers. The hippos spend most of their time floating in their water pools.
“Just like humans,” Elander said, “we’ve all kind of adjusted.”
