Orange heatwave alert: in Montpellier, increased vigilance for the most vulnerable

Le mercure dépassera 35 °C le jour, et 22 °C la nuit, les prochains jours. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

L’Hérault est placé en vigilance orange canicule depuis ce mercredi 31 juillet. Pour faire face aux risques, la Ville de Montpellier se mobilise.

Getting hotter and hotter. Placed on orange heatwave alert by Météo-France since Wednesday, July 31 at 12 p.m., the Hérault department has been experiencing a heatwave for several days that is also hitting Montpellier, with temperatures exceeding 35 deg C during the day and 22 deg C at night.

Faced with this situation, the City, the Metropolis and the Social Action Center (CCAS) have launched a plan to raise awareness and protect the entire population, with an emphasis on on people most vulnerable to extreme heat.

Cool points and emergency room for the homeless

Local stakeholders remind us of the good practices to adopt: it is essential to take shelter, avoid travel and physical exertion especially during hot hours, cool off regularly by drinking and enjoying cool places, take care of your loved ones and the most vulnerable and get informed and follow the recommendations issued by the authorities and Météo France.

Beyond these gestures, the cool points and drinking water points are mapped on the website montpellier.fr/canicule. Several Golden Age clubs, municipal swimming pools, museums, media libraries, cinemas, heritage sites and administrative buildings are part of it. Some of them are exceptionally extending their opening hours until Friday, such as the Pavillon populaire, open continuously from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Managed by the Red Cross, the Pelloutier hall, 15 place Zeus in Antigone, has been opened to homeless people.

The CCAS is stepping up its checks

At the Montpellier CCAS, we remind you that any retired Montpellier resident over 62 (over 60 if they are recognized as unfit for work) or with a disability, living at home, can register on the register of vulnerable people to benefit from telephone support during the heatwave. “We call every day to find out if everything is okay. With the move to orange alert, we are doubling the monitoring and sending mobile teams to make home visits.”

At the same time, the “blue plan”, triggered with the orange alert in the seven nursing homes managed by the CCAS, makes it possible to ensure the care of the elderly.”“We have two agents dedicated to each nursing home until August 31 to strengthen the workforce. They distribute water and drinks to residents, close windows during the day to keep the air cool and ventilate at night”. Menus have also been adapted, offering lighter dishes, and misters have been installed.

Vigilance maintained until Friday

The orange alert will be maintained at least until Friday, August 2, Météo France indicated on Wednesday. In Hérault, placed at this level of alert with 41 other departments, the hottest day of the week should be this Thursday, August 1. At the same time, the national heatwave plan has been activated annually between June 1 and September 15 since 2021. Still according to Météo-France, the number of days of heat waves should double by 2050 and heatwaves could be up to five times longer than those of 2003.