USA: People flock to fountains and seek out icy refreshments to cope with extreme heat in Washington D.C.

Record ID: 333075

  • Title: USA: People flock to fountains and seek out icy refreshments to cope with extreme heat in Washington D.C.
  • Date: 10th June 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) REPORTER ASKING: "What do you guys think about the weather today?" CHILDREN ANSWERING: "Hot! Hot. Too hot. It could make you like sweat your brains out. I wish it was colder." CHILDREN PLAYING IN WATER MISTER WOMAN EATING POPSICLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZOO VISITOR WAYNE WHYTE SAYING: "Cup of ice...just got this ice at the end of the trail and it's almost melted already." ZEBRAS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZOO VISITOR PATRICK TAYLOR SAYING: "No matter how hot it gets, it's never too hot to come to the zoo." TAYLOR HANDING LEMONADE TO HIS GRANDSON, TELLING HIM TO DRINK SOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZOO VISITOR PATRICK TAYLOR SAYING: "It's very important because you need to stay hydrated. We're sweating and as we sweat, we need to put things back in." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZOO VISITOR AMANDA LAIRD, WHO IS VISITING FROM SEATTLE, PUMPING UP MISTING DEVICE, SAYING: "You pump it up. Here, I'll keep you cool a little bit." LAIRD SPRAYING MISTER ON DAUGHTER IN STROLLER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZOO VISITOR PAUL LAIRD, WHO IS VISITING FROM SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, SAYING: "The first day we got here it was like huhh, so I think we realized there was no transition. It was a little cold, like 45, 52 (degrees Fahrenheit) was the high in Seattle and we went here and that first day we were here it was like heat index was like 115, so there was no, there was no transition." EMPTY AREA ON ZOO GROUNDS AFTER ANIMALS WERE TAKEN INSIDE TO AVOID HEAT BOY RUNNING THROUGH FOUNTAIN, JUMPING CHILDREN PLAYING IN FOUNTAIN WOMAN AND TODDLER IN FOUNTAIN BOY PLAYING IN FOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ON THE JOB (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING: "Ice cold water for a dollar." MAN WALKING ON FOUNTAIN, CHECKING WATER, GETTING INTO FOUNTAIN MAN HUGGING FOUNTAIN
  • Embargoed: 25th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA2OUXRQVCALQU3NO0MUBS310OB
  • Story Text: Extreme heat steamed the eastern United States on Thursday (June 9) as temperatures neared 100-degrees in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.
    At the fountain in Dupont Circle in Washington, a group of women dipped their feet in and a man waded through the water to cool off.
    Across the street, a thermometer outside a bank read 95 degrees at midday.
    One woman blocked the sun beating downtown streets with an umbrella and a man wheeled a cooler full of ice water for sale for one dollar a bottle.
    People crowded under misters at the National Zoo, where school field trips went on despite the heat.
    "Melting, like a melted ice cream cone, yeah, dripping everywhere, very hot," Genevieve Rowley, who was supervising a group of elementary school students on a field trip from Richmond, Virginia.
    Asked what they thought about the weather, the group of students responded in unison.
    "Hot! Hot. Too hot. It could make you like sweat your brains out. I wish it was colder," they said.
    Vendors sold bottled water and popsicles to overheated visitors.
    Wayne Whyte cooled off with ice, but found it didn't last long in the heat.
    "Cup of ice...just got this ice at the end of the trail and it's almost melted already," he said.
    Zebras munched on hay in the hot sun, but many of the zoo's outdoor areas were empty after zookeepers took animals indoors to avoid the heat.
    Still, Patrick Taylor said the heat would never keep him from taking his grandchildren to the zoo.
    "No matter how hot it gets, it's never too hot to come to the zoo," he said as he handed ice cold lemonade to the children.
    "You need to stay hydrated. We're sweating and as we sweat, we need to put things back in," Taylor said.
    The Laird family was shocked to feel the heat after leaving the cool weather of Seattle.
    "It was a little cold, like 45, 52 was the high in Seattle and we went here and that first day we were here it was like heat index was like 115, so there was no, there was no transition," Paul Laird said. The family purchased a portable mister from a hardware store to stay cool.
    Water also drew children to a fountain in the city's Columbia Heights area, where they jumped through cool columns of bubbling water.
    While the temperature will not climb quite that high in New York City and northeastern New Jersey, the humidity will make it feel like it, with a heat index of up to 102 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
    Heavy thunderstorms are expected to move east Thursday afternoon, with a threat in the Philadelphia and New York area from late afternoon into the night.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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