Chinese cities open air raid shelters to relieve the heat as high temperatures cause fatalities

On Friday, cities all around China opened their air raid shelters to provide citizens with respite from the heat. This came as the country’s extremely high temperatures began taking lives.

A drought and a run of days with record-high temperatures are both occurring in northern China. According to the National Climate Center, Beijing saw a string of more than nine days this week with temperatures over 35 C (95 F), the longest such run since 1961.

Over the last week, a number of Chinese cities, notably Shijiazhuang in Beijing’s neighboring Hebei province and Hangzhou on the nation’s east coast, announced that they would be opening their air raid shelters to locals seeking relief from the heat. Wuhan is located in the middle of the country.

Authorities have banned outdoor work in the capital and other areas, and they have issued health advisories.

The intense heat has been blamed for two fatalities in Beijing thus far. Health officials said that a tour guide fainted and passed away from heat stroke on Sunday while conducting a tour of the Summer Palace, a large imperial park from the 18th century. A lady in Beijing also passed away after a heat stroke last month.

Health officials in Shaoxing, a city close to Hangzhou, announced on Thursday that they had noted fatalities brought on by the heat but did not provide any more information.

Cities in China, like the southwestern city of Chongqing, which is famed for its oppressive summers, have long repurposed their air raid tunnels as public cooling facilities.

Beginning in 1937, several Chinese towns began constructing air raid shelters in preparation for the Japanese invasion. When China’s relationship with the Soviet Union deteriorated and Beijing became concerned about a nuclear strike in the late 1950s, the construction drive picked back up.

The shelters now often include sitting spaces and provide access to water, beverages, medication for heat stroke, and sometimes extras like Wi-Fi, TVs, and table tennis equipment.

Weather experts issued a severe drought warning for northern China on Thursday, endangering crops and taxing already overburdened energy systems. Meanwhile, during the last several weeks, severe flooding in south China has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

Thursday was the third such milestone in a week that was already the warmest on record, with the Earth’s average temperature setting a new unofficial record high.