The current heatwave in France is supposed to have caused (or hastened) the death of 1500 to 3000 people all over the country....
Mainly old people, not in a great shape, they did not withstand dehydration, or other indirect causes, caused by the very high temperatures which are prevailing in France, for a few weeks allready.
Hospitals and morgues are overburdened ....

This just proves (if need be) that (at least) some of what is said on this site and forum, is no B.S. : to survive, you need water, first of all.

And heat doesn't kill in Sahara or Death Valley only ....


Alain

P.S.:
another consequence of this heatwave : there are threats on electricity production, mainly due to the high temperature of the water in rivers, used as a coolant in thermal or nuclear power plants.

I live in a mediterranean country where those high temps are a fact of life all along summer, every year.
Nobody dies here due to heat, as things like "drinking" are already instinctive. Also things like avoiding exposure to the direct heat/radiation of the sun and seek some shelter during the hottest hours of the day are well heeded.

Almost every place is air conditioned, cars too by law.

Many years ago while serving in the desert, we were told to drink not less than 20 liters a day. This helps if temperatures are "reasonably " low. A group of people was cooked while crossing at midday a granite rock area, which was at some 70 Deg C. That's heat shock and not much could be done to save them.


This year was a tougher one- I perceived more hotter days than in previous years. In our shop (a foundry) we had more damaged electric and electronic components due to the heat than in previous years.

The weather is going downhill and gathering speed- I think.

Take care.

Frenchy,

Last I heard there was talk of the country going into some sort of state of emergency or something. Hope it doesn't come to that.

And they say the worst of the hot weather is over...

-James

Last estimations of the death toll were more in the 10000 (ten thousands !!) range !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read that in the paper this morning - that is terrible! And thousands more across other European countries...

Interesting that your President was critical of "society" for failing to watch out for the elderly victims. However, I am not certain that I understand what he means by "society" - does he mean citizens or government or...?

Regards,

Tom

citizen ........ and he certainly is right ...
He just forget that this crisis demonstrates our hospitals are now unable to face a crisis, by lack of manpower and lack of available beds. And that's due to the government policy.

Alain

Alain,

What are river levels in France and across Europe? I have read of some river levels being extraordinarily low. Do you know of any problems with drinking water? How is the snowpack in the mountains? Sorry to badger you with questions, but I wonder about things like that - we take potable water for granted in most of the developed world. I have seen and dealt with first hand how people react to loss of potable water in both the 3rd world and here in the US - loss of electricity is almost minor compared to loss of drinking water.

I live in a region of many rivers and plentiful aquifers here in the upper Mississippi River valley. Our munincipal water is safe, abundant, and inexpensive. We have a minor drought this year (perhaps not minor to local farmers), but all the local municipalities modified water intake systems about 13-14 years ago during a drought to further ensure their ability to draft water into the treatment systems. My city is also cross-connected with a small town not on the Mississippi that is on a series of deep wells, so even if the river went substantially dry, we could receive at least sustainment water (this in addition to webs of munincipal interconnections on this side of the Mississippi).

The Iowa side of this metropolitan area is another story... the major city privatized their water system over a decade ago and since then it has grown to be the water supplier for the entire county. Technical, financial, and political issues have long prevented across-river connections between the Illinois and Iowa metropolitan areas. I know enough about their operation to be concerned about lack of redundancy.

So how is the water situation in France and the rest of Europe?

Regards,

Tom

Hi, Tom !

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions.

I guess rivers level must be low.
All they said a few weeks ago, was that the rivers water temperatures were too high for the power plants, using it as a coolant. So EDF (our national electricity provider) had to shut off some plants. And with the higher than normal demand for electricity, power shortages were feared.

The water table must be low, for sure, but I don't know if it has reach a critical level yet.


Alain