Chicago fell victim to a five-day heat wave in July 1995, which resulted in “over 600 excess deaths, 3300 excess emergency department visits and a substantial number of intensive care unit admissions for near-fatal heat stroke.” The event proved to be the second most deadly heat wave in United States history with heat indexes reaching a record high of 52 degrees Celsius. July 13 provided the highest temperature of the stretch, reaching 41 degrees Celsius. Rather than one specific reason the heat provided so many fatalities, but rather a combination of man-made environmental changes, ethnic changes and a few other aggravating factors. Between July 12 and July 17, heat-related deaths were so drastic there was no more room in the morgues. Left with few other options, corpses were kept in refrigerated trucks in parking lots. Ambulances were in short supply as emergency lines flooded with calls regarding heat-stroke. Additionally, the event had plenty of media coverage, with death tolls emblazoned on the television screens of Chicago’s viewers. Some argue the excess coverage caused the city’s residents to claim the event was a media fabrication in attempt to gain a larger audience. To this day, there are still those who remain skeptic regarding the disaster’s severity. However, the deaths were real and were exacerbated due to man’s interaction with the land.
The main source of the high death toll is derived from changes brought on by human settlement. The city environment which had developed resulted in an urban heat island. In the case of extreme warm temperatures, an urban heat island will likely prove deadly, as the blacktop used in a city’s excessive streets and the dark roofs of apartment buildings absorb heat and keep it there more so than typical throughout the night. In temperature studies of the event, researchers found nighttime heat in urban areas to be 2.6 degrees Celsius hotter than in rural areas. Typically, there is a .3 degree difference between urban and rural temperatures. This data shows the presence of the urban heat island in Chicago and how it worsened with the heat wave. Furthermore, dew point temperatures in the city were slightly higher at night than in daytime, as the ground absorbed and maintained high levels of heat. Due to the heat’s capture in the black surfaces, temperatures continued to rise. Not only were urban areas hot, but they built up heat. Additionally, the lakefront was significantly cooler than the more inland urban sprawl due to the lake’s breezes. Besides the issues arising from the urban heat island, the city also fell victim to a temperature inversion, which occurs when temperature rises with land height. During the disaster, the air became still and mostly devoid of wind, which left the resulting air to stagnate. Not only were warm air, humidity and pollution trapped within the urban heat island, but there was also no wind to carry it away. As a result, those without air conditioning essentially baked in their homes, with indoor temperatures averaging 32 degrees Celsius at night. In the case of the Chicago heat wave, the temperature inversion caused the effects of the urban heat island to be much worse than is typical.
Certain demographics featured higher death tolls as others as well in the disaster. While the elderly, who already had health issues, showed high mortality rates, particular races also suffered losses. In 1995, many of Chicago’s African-Americans were living in poverty so they stayed in public housing developments, such as Cabrini Green. The projects provided sub-standard housing and often had no air conditioning, which was a vital component to surviving the heat. Further worsening the situation were high levels of crime and gang activity in these areas. While opening a window may have assisted some in letting hot air move out of their homes, it could also attract a burglar or murderer. Rather than be victim to such an attack, everyone kept their windows shut and locked. Indeed, the areas with the highest death rates were between 94 and 99 percent African-American. As the CDC socially-examined the heat wave’s victims, they found higher vulnerability in those who “did not leave home daily, had a medical problem, were confined to bed, lived alone, or lacked air conditioning, access to transportation, and social contacts nearby.” In the case of those living in the Chicago slums, poverty left them with no air conditioning or transportation and the crime-rate left them scared of their neighbors. Interestingly, while many Hispanics also lived in poverty, their neighborhoods featured more social cohesion. Their neighbors were more likely to check up on each other during the heat wave, so social isolation was not so much of an issue. Still, many chose to overlook the surprising mortality statistics featured in the African-American community due to the “harvesting effect.” In the case of disasters such as this one, rather than the heat wave being the cause of death, it is often considered as a force which makes death more likely for those who are already ill. Thus the hot temperatures speed up the dying process rather than cause it completely. Researchers later decided there were 692 deaths in excess of those which would normally occur and only 26 percent could be attributed to the harvesting effect. Regardless, those living in the worst conditions were most likely to die due to heat-related illnesses in the disaster.
Still, there were further reasons for the event’s severity. The city of Chicago was not prepared to handle the disaster. City officials did not even claim the event as an emergency situation until the final day. While they did provide five cooling centers, the delay in declaring an emergency situation caused them to not be fully-utilized. Many died simply because hospitals were too packed to provide assistance and sufficient ambulances were lacking. While poverty-level was an important factor in maintaining electricity, many were without power regardless, as the city took on heat-related electrical outages.
