East Bay among hottest parts of Bay Area during heat wave
LIVERMORE, Calif. - The East Bay will be one of the hottest areas in the Bay Area this week.
Restaurants and businesses in downtown Livermore said they didn't see as many people as they'd normally see sitting outside on Monday evening.
In fact, we found more people dining indoors than outdoors in the partially enclosed patio area at Sauced BBQ.
"Don't cook, eat out, don't heat up the house," said Livermore resident Deborah Binkney.
Alameda County Fire Department said its first responders are already treating people for heat stroke and heat exhaustion, before the heat wave officially begins Tuesday.
"Most of us are not drinking enough water anyway... but dehydration with alcohol consumption in the sun, very overwhelming," said Alameda County Fire Division Chief of Medical Services Heather Marques. "Most of our Bay Area houses don't have air conditioning, we're not accustomed to having this kind of heat. If we lose power at anytime, we're going to lose our air conditioning."
Alameda County Fire said the most vulnerable populations are children, especially those playing team sports, the elderly, and pets.
"The elderly are often victims. We see across the United States when there are deaths during natural emergencies, it's usually heat that kills the most people, so take it very seriously, please," said Marques. "Check on your neighbors."
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Jose Reyes brought his daughter to cool off at the fountain on First Street in Livermore.
"Just making sure we have cold drinks, especially water, and always have a little cooler in the car just in case, especially when you have kids, you have to be prepared," he said. "We just have all the blinds closed to keep the house cool and do our part not to overuse the AC."
The Livermore Public Library is among several East Bay locations doubling as a cooling center during the heat wave.
"Or go to the city, go to San Francisco, go closer to the ocean and get fresh air," said Livermore resident Ben Makhlouf.
My residents in the Tri-Valley are used to hot temperatures, especially those who come from areas known for extreme heat.
"We're all transplants from Arizona, we're used to 128 degrees in the summer, so to me this feels nice," added Binkney.