The first hour
- Move to the coolest, lowest room in the house. Close blinds on sunny windows.
- Drink water before you feel thirsty.
- Take a cool shower or bath, or use wet cloths on your neck and wrists.
- Never leave kids or pets in a parked car, not even for a minute.
The first day
- Go to a cooling center, library or mall during the hottest hours if your home is too hot.
- CDC: fans alone don't prevent heat illness when it's in the high 90s. Use them with cool water or go somewhere cooler.
- Eat light meals and avoid using the oven.
- Do outdoor tasks before 10 am or after 6 pm.
- Check on older adults, babies, and anyone sick twice a day.
The first week and beyond
- Know the signs. Heat exhaustion: heavy sweating, cool clammy skin, weakness, nausea. Move to a cool spot, sip water, loosen clothes.
- Heat stroke: body temp 103°F or higher, hot red skin, confusion, fast pulse. Call 911 and cool the person right away.
- Plan cooler nights: open windows when it's cooler outside, and close them in the morning.
- Keep medicines cool. Some get weaker in heat.
Get ready now: checklist
Your checks save on this phone.
Common mistakes
- Relying on a fan in very high heat.
- Drinking lots of sugary or alcoholic drinks.
- Waiting until you feel sick to cool down.
- Forgetting pets need shade and water too.
Keeping kids calm
- Make it a water game: spray bottles, a kiddie pool in shade.
- Babies and toddlers overheat fast. Dress them lightly and offer fluids often.
- Teach kids to tell you if they feel dizzy or sick.
Gear that helps
- Battery or USB fan: my pick, O2COOL Treva 10-Inch Battery/AC Portable Fan with USB Port
- Cooling towels: my pick, Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towel
- Spray bottle
- Reusable water bottles
- Blackout curtains
- Reflective window film: my pick, VViViD 8 mil clear shatterproof security film (4 rolls)
- Oral rehydration packets: my pick, DripDrop ORS Electrolyte Powder Packets, Variety Pack, 32 ct
- Wide-brim hats
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Sources
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Prepper tricks for this
Staying Cool Without Power (9)
Wet sheet in the window with a fan
Cost: Free (plus a battery fan if you have one, about $15-30).
Why it works: Water evaporating from the sheet pulls heat out of the air passing through it, like a homemade swamp cooler.
How to do it
- Soak a thin cotton sheet in cool water and wring it out so it's damp, not dripping.
- Hang it over an open window where a breeze comes in, or in front of a battery fan.
- Re-wet it every hour or so as it dries.
Safety: Works well in dry heat. In very humid weather it barely helps and can make the room feel muggier. Watch for drips on floors and outlets.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Frozen water bottles in front of a battery fan
Cost: Free if you already have bottles and a fan.
Why it works: Air blowing over ice cools a little as it passes. It's a personal breeze, not air conditioning.
How to do it
- Before a heat wave or storm, freeze a few water bottles or jugs (leave a little room for the ice to expand).
- Set one in a shallow bowl right in front of a battery fan, pointed at you.
- Keep the rest in a cooler and swap them as they melt. Drink the cold water afterward.
Safety: It cools you sitting right in front of it, not the room. Keep the fan away from water.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Cool your feet, wrists and neck
Cost: Free.
Why it works: Blood vessels run close to the skin in these spots, so cooling them cools the blood circulating through your body.
How to do it
- Fill a basin or bucket with cool water and soak your feet for 10-20 minutes.
- Wet a washcloth or bandana and put it on the back of your neck, wrists or underarms.
- Take a cool (not ice-cold) shower or sponge bath before bed.
Safety: If someone is confused, stops sweating, or has hot red skin, that may be heat stroke: call 911 and cool them right away.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Wet bandana or cooling towel
Cost: Free; cooling towels are about $5-10.
Why it works: Evaporation pulls heat from your skin, the same way sweat does.
How to do it
- Soak a cotton bandana in water, wring it out and tie it loosely around your neck.
- Re-wet it whenever it dries.
- Add a few ice cubes folded inside for extra cooling if you have them.
Safety: Works best in dry heat. Don't rely on it during hard work in extreme heat; take breaks and drink water.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Sleep low: ground floor or basement
Cost: Free.
Why it works: Hot air rises, so upper floors get the hottest. Earth around a basement stays cooler.
How to do it
- Move sleeping spots to the lowest floor of the house.
- A basement is often the coolest room in summer.
- Sleep on a thin sheet or mat directly on a cool floor if needed.
Safety: Never run a generator or fuel-burning device in or near a basement. Avoid basements during flooding.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Block the sun, especially on the east and west sides
Cost: Free to about $5 for emergency blankets.
Why it works: Sunlight through glass is one of the biggest sources of heat in a house. Reflecting it back out keeps rooms cooler.
How to do it
- Close blinds and curtains on east-facing windows in the morning and west-facing windows in the afternoon.
- For the sunniest windows, tape a Mylar emergency blanket or foil-covered cardboard to the glass, shiny side facing out.
- Outdoor shade (awning, tarp, shade cloth) works best because it stops heat before it reaches the glass.
Safety: Leave at least one window you can see out of and get out of.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Open up at night, close up by day
Cost: Free.
Why it works: You're flushing the house with cool night air, then sealing it like a cooler during the day.
How to do it
- After sunset, once it's cooler outside than inside, open windows on opposite sides of the house to make a cross-breeze.
- Put a battery fan in one window facing out to push hot air out.
- In the morning, before it heats up, close windows and draw the blinds to hold the cool air in.
Safety: Use window locks or stops that only let windows open a few inches if security is a worry.
Source: Ready.gov: Extreme Heat
Pre-freeze water before a storm
Cost: Free.
Why it works: Ice is stored cold. A closed fridge keeps food safe about 4 hours; a full freezer about 48 hours (24 if half full).
How to do it
- When a storm is forecast, fill clean containers about 90% full with water and freeze them.
- Pack empty space in the freezer with them; a full freezer stays cold longer.
- During the outage, keep fridge and freezer doors shut. Move a few frozen jugs into the fridge to keep it cold.
- Once they thaw, the water is drinkable.
Safety: Throw out perishable food that's been above 40°F for more than 2 hours. When in doubt, throw it out.
Source: FoodSafety.gov: Three ways to keep food safe when you lose power
MYTH: A fan alone will keep you safe in extreme heat
Cost: Free.
The truth: When the air is hotter than your skin, a fan just blows hot air on you.
What to do instead
- The truth: fans feel nice, but the CDC says they won't prevent heat illness once temperatures reach the high 90s.
- In extreme heat, go somewhere with air conditioning: a cooling center, library, mall or a friend's house.
- Check on older neighbors, babies, and people with health conditions at least twice a day.
Safety: Know the signs of heat stroke (confusion, very high body temperature, hot skin) and call 911.
Source: CDC press release: fans will not prevent heat illness in the high 90s