Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, Second Edition with a New Preface by Eric Klinenberg
In 1995 Chicago faced a blistering heat wave. Many people across all groups died. However, poor minority men living alone in certain neighborhoods tended to die at higher rates. The book explores the causes of some of the excess deaths. Many of those that died lived alone and valued their independence. However, neighborhood characteristics had significant impacts on survival rates. North Lawndale and Little Village were next to each other, but had very different death rates. Little Village has been growing and has a dense, primarily Hispanic population with many community resources. North Lawndale, on the other hand, has been losing population and had a small fraction of its peak population. There were few community resources and a there had been a significant population shift. Elderly were afraid to open their doors or windows and felt few ties to the community.
In addition to demographics and community, government resources play a role. While there are many public resources available, people, especially those most in need, do not know how to access them. There are public housing facilities for low-income seniors. However, are not enough to go around. There are also problems when these locations are extended to broadly, leading to drug use and crime that discourages elderly to go out. Crime and the perception of crime can be a big problem. In the past heat waves, people would spend time outside - cooling off at the peach, keeping windows open or even sleeping outside. Now with the fear of crime, none of that is done.
Other factors also came into play. Air conditioning can be nice. However, it costs money to run, and many of the poorest can't afford it. Power outages can pose problems for those used to living with air conditioning who no longer have it. Water can also help cool, but if too many hydrants are illegally opened, people may not have water pressure in their houses.
As the country becomes less dependent on their community and more dependent on government, it becomes more challenging to deal with unexpected large-scale issues. How much should we hope our government to protect us from disasters? Chicago had learned and adopted some new policies that resulted in a significantly lower death toll in 1999. While there were plenty of warm nights, there was not nearly as much negative coverage of the heat wave.
