Cooling stations open across Vancouver Island amid extreme heat wave

Cooling stations open across Vancouver Island amid extreme heat wave
CHEK News
As British Columbia continues to melt amid a record-breaking heat wave, some communities on Vancouver Island have set up places for people to come and cool down.

As British Columbia continues to melt amid a record-breaking heat wave, some communities on Vancouver Island have set up places for people to come and cool down.

The City of Victoria has set up a cooling station — or misting station as they call it — at Royal Atheltic Park. The cooling station will be open until 8 p.m. Monday.

Additionally, the city says the Vic West Community Centre, Quadra Village Community Centre, Burnside Gorge Community Association building and the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource building are all open, fully air conditioned and available for public drop-ins.

Elsewhere, cooling centres have opened in Sidney and Port Alberni.

The Town of Sidney has opened the SHOAL Centre, located on Resthaven Drive in Sidney, as a cooling centre until 5:30 p.m. on June 28. It will also be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on June 29. The town is urging all visitors to follow physical distancing requirements and all other COVID-19 protocols.

Meanwhile, in Port Alberni, the city has turned the Echo Centre into a cooling station. Residents have until 9 p.m. on Monday to visit the Wallace Street facility, which is fully air conditioned.

Vancouver Island temperatures continued to remain at record-breaking levels, with numerous cities surpassing the 35 C mark and Duncan, Victoria both climbing above 40 C.

Environment Canada has issued heat warnings for the region and warned that Monday’s daytime highs would range from 33 to 43 C combined with overnight lows of 18 to 22 C in multiple areas on Vancouver Island.

A total of 60 temperature records fell Sunday in B.C., including in the Village of Lytton, where the mercury reached 46.6 C — breaking the all-time Canadian high of 45 C, set in Saskatchewan in 1937.

Environment Canada warns the “prolonged, dangerous, and historic heat wave” could ease as early as Tuesday on B.C.’s south coast and in Yukon, but won’t relent until mid-week, or early next week, elsewhere.

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